The legend of this swimbait was born before the Bassmaster Elite Series ...

[WB Staff]

From Bassmaster.com

...The legend of this swimbait was born before the Bassmaster Elite Series began in March 2006 at Texas’ Lake Amistad. If Fred Roumbanis hadn’t shared some information then with a couple of his fellow anglers, there’s no telling how Elite Series history might have been altered. Takahiro Omori might not have won the recent Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake. Steve Kennedy might not have won the Elite Series tournament at California’s Clear Lake in 2007 or the Elite Series tournament at Georgia’s West Point Lake in 2011.

A key lure in those three $100,000 titles was found in the bargain bins at Bass Pro Shops stores. The story of the discontinued Bass Pro Shops XPS 6-inch soft plastic swimbait has been simmering under the surface for over a decade now. And thanks to Roumbanis, it might finally boil to the top in the form of a new lure with a new name by a different company ­– the Optimum Baits Boom Boom swimbait.

But let’s begin at the beginning, which pre-dates the Bassmaster Elite Series. Roumbanis, a native Californian and a longtime swimbait expert, led on the second day of the Western Open on Lake Shasta and finished second in the tournament that concluded on Nov. 19, 2005. He was using the Bass Pro swimbait.

Then – in the first-ever Bassmaster Elite Series tournament – Roumbanis finished second to Ish Monroe on March 12, 2006, at Lake Amistad with a four-day total of 101-13 to Monroe’s 104-8. And he was again relying on the old Bass Pro swimbait...

Click here to read the rest on Bassmaster.com http://www.bassmaster.com/gear/old-bait-won-t-die

[Will Hesch]

Great story, thanks so much for sharing that with us.

[Sam K]

I like the Boom-Boom. Thanks for posting the history. Always cool to hear the story behind a bait.