Hogs_n_Logs

So far the feed on the bassmaster website is inconstant, lots of freezing and going to stock screen (aka technical difficulties). The youtube stream is constantly playing but its a desk crew watching/commentating the weigh in but has inconsistent coverage of the weigh in itself. Not great lol

Should be a good classic. Somewhat tough/challenging conditions but the fish being caught are quality. Makes it much more interesting and really tests all aspects of the anglers ability than a total slamfest or a tourney were theyre just scraping out bites on small fish.

Hand pours are hit or miss. The few guys that are really good at it and understand lure design in terms of fine tuning plastic hardness/salt content etc can be worth buying from if you want specific stuff. Almost everyone peddling stuff in my area on FB or outdoor shows is just pouring stupid colors of medium plastisol into whatever flavor-of-the-week mold + a fluke and senko and advertising it as "custom baits". In general mass produced plastics from good brands are a superior product and much more consistent, especially lure designs that use multiple hardness/salt content plastic on different segments of the bait, which is the key to the effectiveness of many modern plastic lures.

Sounds like your pops was the right choice. I read the first post and even if you didnt mention your relation to either choice I wouldve chosen your dad no question. No offense to option A but his downsides aren't really teachable things that are likely to improve, were as your dad just needs to figure out the details. Just tell him bass can feed like a tarpon, tuna, redfish, or grouper and its just about figuring out what the big ones are doing on that day in that BOW lol.

Did alot of bank fishing over the past 2 years. This may be personal preference and fishing style but the more things you have to set down and keep track off, compounds into many annoying effects and negatively effects actually fishing. It eventually got to the point were I have everything on my person at all times. 1 rod/reel combo. I use a "standard" baitcast setup, 7 foot mh etc. Whether you get a hip bag or backpack, I would make sure its something were the strap system is well designed. I personally use a small mountain hiking backpack, the strap and suspension system locks it onto your body so it is not sliding around or unbalancing you when you are casting or moving. This can be much more annoying than you think. All tackle is in one mid sized but deep tackle box with no dividers(meiho vs1200) is how I do it, its a bit unorganized but allows you to stuff a lot of lures/tackle into a small container. Having multiple boxes is very cumbersome and annoying when bank fishing and take up massive space in your bag, with just one its easier to slip it in and out with one hand. I keep this box empty and dedicated for this, and stuff it full of tackle from my organized boxes before i go out. Something I never do on the boat but do for bank fishing is remove plastics from their bags and stick it in with everything in this hard box, many times pre rigged on t-rig hooks etc. The point is, its way easier and less annoying when all your tackle is centralized in one container when fishing on the bank, IMO. One spool of line, all in one pliers, and sometimes a scale rounds out the rest of the pack. Lure selection, essentials and confidence baits supplemented with choices based on the BOW and conditions. Set up like I described above, you can fish, rig, and move spots(even tricky terrain) seamlessly without ever setting your gear down. For me this made bank fishing much more enjoyable and effective.

I cannot tell if this is either a masterful satire on FFS/electronics haters or genuine thoughts from the mind of the most crazed bass purist alive. Either way its great and keep on doing you man.

I only have knowledge of stuff in the Tokyo/Saitama/Kanagawa area, but: Joshuya is the most easily accesible chain. They have a ton of locations in the Tokyo area, including some of the most popular areas of Tokyo. Puts 99% of US tackle shops to shame, but is middle of the road in Japan, they have all the JDM essentials but not much rare gear or from smaller companies, and their rod selection can sometimes be lacking outside of big names like Shimano. Staff at all locations have been extremely professional in my experience, with each staff member usually specializing in a species. CASTING is kind of like Joshuya but generally considered to be inferior in most ways. Still better than almost all US shops, but no reason to go since Joshuya exists IMO. Tackle Berry is a chain that specializes in used gear that he will def want to check out. Again, tons of locations from small satellite cities to the most crowded parts of Tokyo. However, quality of selection is heavily dependent on the particular store. Google reviews can be a good way to weed out the less stellar ones. Sansui is a chain but they are generally alot smaller than the others but have more curated gear selection focusing on fly fishing and premium tackle for bass and saltwater. BanBan is another chain and the best tackle shop I've ever been to. Basically Joshuya on steroids. They are in less-accessible areas typically on the outskirts or more "suburban" parts of the Greater Tokyo Area, hard to access without a car. Literally have everything you could ever want, from the basic JDM staples to more rare items like DRT TK's, bass puzzle etc. Rod selection superior to Joshuya. For efficiencies sake, assuming your son cant take a full day to shop for fishing gear, going to a Joshuya and Tackle berry should be more than enough and the most efficient and easy to get to. If he is in Ikebukuro when in Tokyo, the Joshuya, Tackleberry, and Sansui locations are all within 100 yards of each other and are a 5 minute walk from the train station. Be forewarned that for some reason they are nestled in a mini-red light district, with sansui being next door to a brothel lol, but its completely safe if you avert your eyes.

I dont think Lews will ever really compete with Shimano/Daiwa because you are always paying the middleman with Lews. The fact that Shimano/Daiwa are actual OEMs and not essentially marketing/importing firms like Lews and Abu means that their development and manufacturing systems will always be inherently more streamlined.

I also find myself using the Rhythm wave more and more. I used to use the Keithech for everything and its still my go to for t-rig/jig trailer, but for situations were im using a screw lock swimbait hook the hull bellied lures I find myself choosing the hull shaded baits. The Do-live shad is fantastic too but jackall products are typically much cheaper in the states than other jdm brands, I believe because their distribution is handled by shimano.

The staff of the stores im referring to definitely seem like fisherman, but they seem to have a passion for filling their coolers with a limit of fish by any means necessary rather than passion for sport angling. An example, theres a time of year cisco come inshore and can be caught at piers, a popular lure/method is "jigging" huge 1-3oz spoons with giant trebles, for a fish with a mouth you can barely fit your thumb in.... lol

I'll be honest, besides a couple saltwater focused places in FL, I've never had a great experience at a small tackle shop anywhere in the country. Paltry selection that is either poorly curated or 90% focused on budget gear to catch the local meat fish. Staff often nice enough but not that helpful. BPS and big chains are typically garbage too, my local ones are always sold out of fundamental stuff like wide gap hooks or line, and their rod/reel selection is pathetic for being touted as a fishing superstore. I would kill for any type of brick and morter shop that focused on mid-high end gear, particularly for rods. Would happily pay the small shop premium to be able to try stuff out before purchasing.

Theres different general types of swimbaits, some better than others at different things. Fat impact and its copies have round body with ridges to increase drag on the body portion of the lure. Most versatile, killer rigged any which way or as a trailer on nearly anything. Prone to pinwheeling or nosediving at times, which is sometimes preferred sometimes not. Skinny dipper/ez shad/ easy shiner are smoother bodied and more hydrodynamic. Arguably better and more versatile in terms of action when using a more or less steady retrieve since less drag on the body gets the tail going quicker. Jackall rhythm wave/OSP do-live shad etc etc have "hull shape" body which makes the bait have a horizontal position fall and great balance. My fave for when im pinpoint casting specific small target areas, usually weightless. The relative thickness/stiffness of the main body portion means these have a bit less tail kick in my experience. OSP HP fish is an innovative new one that came out recently, sure to be copied by the usual suspects soon. Has an odd tail, almost like a huddleston. Semi hull shaped body, insane action moving or paused, when rigged weightless it will almost pauses like a jerkbait if you kill it off a fast retrieve. A good one to try out if you're looking for something new.

Should be completely fine. I've always felt that the advantage of slow action rods for crankbaits is overstated. In fact in my experience a "fast" action rod that has a good tip(ie a good jerkbait rod) will often be able to fish a larger variety of cranks than standard crankbait rods, the backbone allows it to not get overpowered retrieving oversized or deep divers but it can still fish light cranks effectively due to the whippy tip.

Fish get conditioned to lures but remember they have no cognitive ability, its pure unconscious instinct. BUT instinct is often more powerful than cognition particularly when it comes to recognizing danger(be it fish or human). Think about the sensory inputs a bass was/is receiving that led to it getting potentially conditioned to a lure in the first place. With that said its just as likely to be a change in that body of water. Especially if you are in a place that gets a proper winter or lots of water level fluctuation. Fish populations, location and behavior can change dramatically from season to season.

I have the 704R model. They are very nice , but have sometimes goofy specifications as they are designed to be "all-around" type rods for the Japanese market (ie guys that want a rod that can do both LMB as well as saltwater stuff like Japanese seabass or rockfish etc) Excellent value as well, great blanks and top hardware, looks and feels like a 300-500USD rod, very cleary levels higher than the Zodias and Expride(which I also own/love). A tad heavy. I think the Megabass Levante is slightly better for the money, but those beat everyone in that category, although one thing I like about the scorpions is they use larger guide eyes. Judging by just the pictures of the Daiwa Kage, I'm fairly certain the Shimano is miles ahead in terms of fit/finish but they appear to be competing in different price brackets(not accounting for exchange rate) so not a fair comparison.

Was gonna say, these look remarkably similar to Shimanos scorpion line.

Apparently wakasagi populations past 10 years or so have boomed as bigger bait species like gills populations declined particularly on lake biwa(word is thats coming back around though) which is why these style lures have been hot in Japan. The only way I've ever seen people fish them is deadsticking on completely slack line and letting it sit sometimes for ungodly lengths of time. When this bite is on its what 90% of the people on the water seem to be doing, although I think its mostly during the wakasagi spawn. I bought a few of OSP's wakasagi lures for this use on the recommendation of a friend but my immediate thought was "these are going to be absolutely useless for me in the states" lol.

Instead of visibility, like BassKat mentioned the lines hydrodynamic drag in relation to the fishes lateral line senses, IMO is THE most overlooked factor in lure fishing particularly with species like trout. I think its the primary factor in why casting upstream/upwind/up current catches more fish rather than the way fish are facing to feed etc, and why trout fisherman swear by light lines even when targeting huge steelhead and browns. I briefly spoke with a shimano pro staffer that specializes in Japanese sea bass fishing(very similar tendencies to steelhead) and he said the no1 factor that separates good and bad fisherman particularly in rivers or heavy current is their ability to minimize line drag through the water while still being able to be in the strike zone and impart action on the lure. Or more specifically, minimizing the angled vertical length of line in the water that is cutting through the water column in a horizontal direction. Bass seem to be less sensitive to this than some other predator species, but it is still a factor that if you start to pay attention to it will make a ton of things make sense. For instance, with crankbaits, you notice when you get the retrieve "just right" on that particular lure the reeling resistance is minimal but still good wobble, its because you found the right combination of rod tip angle and retrieve speed were the vertical length of line in the water has minimal horizontal drag. Non-hardbaits this is less of a factor, but consider why slack lining a senko is the most begginer friendly fish catching method, were as some people can't get bit on a jig were as others can fill the livewell everytime with them. In relation to how this factors with mono vs flouro and line thickness: depending on the lures weight and resistance, less stretch potentially makes minimizing vertical line drag easier due to more direct input to the lure. Flouro = minimal stretch until reaching its breaking point; Mono = immediate and consistent stretch all the way to its breaking point. Diameter of line most important factor in determining a lines breaking point regardless of brand/model. Thicker line less stretch given a certain resistance, but larger surface area = more potential drag. As for knots, using any good knot that has a doubled connection through the eye eliminates most problems with flouro knot strength.

Learning this a while ago left me to wonder about FC's viability as a method of shock absorption particularly as a leader line. I've always preferred FC to mono because while I do like some stretch in the system, every mono I've tried is just too stretchy, which in hindsight is like you mention simply because mono starts stretching almost immediately. Experimenting with braid to leader setups on heavier swimbait baitcasting setups as well as trying medium/big game saltwater fishing with spinning tackle for the first time I had some incidents that made me lose a lot of confidence in FC in terms of use as a shock leader, with the stiffer rods and heavier tackle being less forgiving on the line. It'd be interesting to see some kind of test that has flouros stretch characteristics graphed. When you pull flouro lightly with your hands, it does feel like it has some stretch and rebound(springiness), were as say when you're trying to break off a snag you can feel it being pulled like taffy before it breaks(unlike mono which can leave you flying backwards from the sudden tension release haha). Is that initial springiness you feel when pulling FC by hand have shock absorption value, or is it nonetheless heavily compromising the line? I've heard FC explained as a type of glass rather than plastic, so I assume the structure of it might be damaged even with this minimal stretch. @FryDog62 do you have any thoughts on this from your testing? I guess what I'm trying to get at is: if the invisibility/handling characteristics of flouro is preferred, is it perhaps better to discount shock absorption/stretch entirely and essentially treat it as zero-stretch when it comes to choosing line diameter/strength, rod choice and drag settings.

Jokes aside this guy probably meant to type 12500yen and typed 125000. I dont think even the biggest OSP/Namiki fanboy in Japan would buy it for 12500yen though hence why hes trying his luck on the international market haha

There are a ton of these style of bait in Japan with all the big brands having their own variant. Its a surface bait, almost always deadsticked on the surface using ultra light line with surface chop/wind/current doing most of the work action wise. Imitates a dying smelt. Did it once, extremely boring fishing style. But deadly certain times of year on lakes/reservoirs in Japan that hold wakasagi(a kind of tiny smelt), its sometimes the only thing they'll hit. A guide told me hes seen fish come up from 20+feet down in stained water to hit these on livescope. However its a extremely location/condition specific lure and is likely has very limited use cases in the States for bass. Might be killer for some other species or if your BOW has massive amounts of tiny 2 inch schooling baitfish.

Stuff in the 150-180mm range will catch bass of any size in almost any part of the country. I think the problem most people have with not catching fish on these is fishing these lures is relatively difficult and has a learning curve. First they can be hard to cast precisely. Typically you are not fishing these in open water, you have to cast a cumbersome heavy jointed very un-aerodynamic bait fairly accurately around some kind of structure. Second working them is a learning process and depends heavily from bait to bait. Your first time with these you will have a hard time maintaining an action that catches fish. Also, many people try to "feed" the bass the bait if they get a follower, in most cases this is the no1 way to turn a bass off of the bite. Third, a thing that makes these baits so fun/good is you can really play with the action once you get good. Modulating speed, climbing/sinking, and cadence depending on whats going on is what really gets the best results out of these. Tuning the lures to your preference once you figure it out is also key. All of the above sometimes results in very inefficient fishing for fish of any kind for beginners. They are a ton of fun to fish and fished properly I dont think anything has the fish drawing power and if you get decent at working them you can elicit bite reactions from the fish before your eyes. In some ways its almost like fly fishing.

Maybe a bit off topic but its the opposite with a couple twists. The original Hybrid Hunter was designed by a Taiwanese lure maker("Strike Pro") in the mid 2000s. It got a reputation as a secret weapon by various local sticks on some big tourney lakes down south. The lure company started going under, and one of those sticks who also happened to be a lure tester for SK(Todd Castledine) tipped SK off, SK bought the design(maybe tooling too?) and the rest is history. The 6th sense model actually got quite a bit of flak when it came out for being a HH copy. The bill design has been around for decades but never quite implemented like with the SK. Like you said killer bait. I love the full size and my main fishing buddy always has the Jr tied on.

Jighead + plastic like others have said have been a staple for any predator species for decades. I think the "new" label comes from bass fishing up until recently being so cover orientated, and open water fishing being dominated by bottom techniques or hardbaits. Up until 10 years ago or so the common knowledge was bass are always stuck to structure or on the bottom, much prefer slow moving presentations etc. Nowadays its becoming more common knowledge that bass are simply just a very versatile predatory fish, and can feed like a tuna or a catfish depending on its environment and seasonal conditions. As for the "new" style plastics and jigheads, ya old style plastics that have been around for years will catch fish. But the new style ones make it much easier to efficiently fish this way, as is the case with most "trendy" lures that fans of old lures love to hate on. Stuff like the sakamata shad are much more stable and hold horizontal position better than old style grubs or flukes on a jighead. The fish will hit a old powergrub or a fancy hover bait if its presented correctly, the new style plastics just make it much easier to present for longer each retrieve.

Excalibur Fat Free shad isnt particularly incredible but it was my first crankbait fish. Still have it, havent used it in years though. I feel like bass stuff got it fairly good in that not too much good stuff gets the axe and the stuff that does theres usually something better that was developed. In contrast legendary salmon lures/colors seem to be dwindling every year, most likely due to buyouts of the companies paired with the relatively small regional areas were theyre used=less volume than bass lures=less incentive for big fishing to produce.