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Coach Haru: Love/hate relationship lure fishing for ono

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I love to catch Ono and hate them also. I lost so many lures by them. Of course it’s a part of game but…..   usually ono fights very hard in the beginning then slows down in the end. Once I see the ono near surface, ono is pretty much done. Easier than Mahi or ahi even bigger Kawakawa, they fight even on surface. When I fight hard then suddenly lose the tension of line, what? @#$%! Ono cut the line! That feeling is very bad. $20 jig, leader, assist hooks sometime cut PE line sucks. It’s not fun to tie PE and leader on yak. 

I lost one of front assist hook. It had 150lb coated braid. I can feel when I lose one hook during fight. I thought I lost this ono but thank god, tail assist hooks snagged on his bod,y that saved it. Here are some tips for fishing for ono. My friends use a foot to 2 ft long wire leader connected to leader but I snapped connection many times when fighting fish. Also I catch much less than without wire leader. Maybe distracts jig action??? So I use thin wire assist hooks. 

There are many kinds of wire hooks, plastic coated, outside is braid line, inside has wire. I don’t use short or small jig, too easy to lose. Because jig fits in Ono’s mouth then tooth touches leader. Most of time I caught ono when jig falling. When line gets slack ono run over the leader or PE main line, lose without notice. Especially PE is not strong against sharp objects. Jigging is basically vertical fishing. Way up with jigging is not the only way to catch fish, letting the jig fall down to the bottom also catch fish. Jig is falling to imitate wounded bait. Center balanced jig stays sideway position when line is slack, but no tension no feeling. Ono cuts line without notice., When line gets tension, jig’s head goes up to be diagonal or vertical. Need technique to keep the jig sideway with line tension. As soon as fish bites, set the hook hard and never slack the line. About tail hooks, when jig is sideways, it is 50/50 chance fish attack head or tail. Also back up hooks. Like I had ono break one of front assist hook line, the other was slightly hooked on lip but tail hook hooked on behind gill to save the fish. Long center weighted jig goes sideways well and also fall more slowly so jig can stay in water more longer than fast sink rear weighted jigs. Ono bites mid section and with long jig will not reach to the leader. So have length of assist hook line(maybe wire) longer at least 1/3 of jig length or an half. 

I get bite at between from 100-250ft drop off. But always bite at mid range and a few feet below surface. I’ve never caught on surface lures like poppers and minnows. Always a little deeper. Seem to me they always hang out with Kawakawa and sharks. Kawakawa hit surface lure all the time. Even though, I still drop the jig to the bottom. Because not only ono I look for when falling, pay attention to depth, colored PE remember the color when hit the jig on the bottom. So stop the jig at the right color depth, when you feel the fish on the jig set the hook. Also fast retrieve is good too. That case fish bite on the tail go jig, want to have good but smaller hooks.  Time to go near shore fishing. Aloha

Coach Haru: Rigging jigs Japanese-style

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A greatly under looked component to jigging is the way the assist hooks are assembled and attached.

Coach Haru:

This is my hook system for the compact tungsten jig.  Blade on jig is super popular in Japan now. It works to imitate tail of fish to swim more realistically. Flashes and spins to appeal. In murky water, fish might not see jig but see blade, blade itself is smaller than jig so if fish attracted to smaller bait it works good. It is popular now because these days there are less jerking jigs. In the beginning of jigging, we used heavy rod and reel, heavy line and jig (like diamond jig) and needed big muscle. Development of jigging focused on light gear. Rod, reel, line, jig, even hooks are going to super light because industries are more marketing jigging fishing for women and children. As well style of fishing. Regular jigging needs a lot of techniques. One pitch jerk, short jerk,  half jerk, long jerk, slow jerk, fast jerk and in Japan each spot has own jerk, Jakajaka maki, Tsushima jerk, Tanabe jerk, Haru’s jerk, etc. But for beginners like women and children, required high skill need to catch fish will keep them away, so industries have developed swimming jigs. Swimming jigs just needs reeling. Jig wiggles and flashes to attract fish. So jig makers took idea from bass fishing to use a blade. It works very well. When nobody have bite the only bladed jig gets bite very often.    

Hirauchi hook is flattened hooks to shine to imitate shirasu ( baby sardine). It creates scene of small jig is biting shirasu, predators see the small fish is vulnerable.  Hirauchi hook Idea is come from making Udon, soba  noodle also famous Japanese swords.  This Hirauchi hook has been developed to use in sabiki and fishing for isagi (chicken grunt). Flattened hook catches water to dance, shines to attract fish. I use for Halalu and other similar size of fish. My friend who owns charter business in Oahu uses Hirauchi hooks for catching opelu. He does not use any flies or plastic worms just those hooks. And he catches a lot. I think he uses gold color. Most people in Japan use regular assist hook. Because Hirauchi is not strong as regular hooks. So its not good for aiming a large fish like pelagic fish. Also edges on hooks make bigger holes that hooks come off easer. Hirauchi is good for not so big fish. The first priority of assist hook is light and strong then appearance is the second. Like ulua, kahala, Ojisan (goat fish) and bottom fish like opaka, onaga suck bait create turbulence that hooks must be light to go into inside mouth. Light hooks the key of it. In Japan,  Hamachi is the most common jigging target. Most assist hook are designed for Hamachi jigging. Here in Hawaii, targeting for ulua better to use light hooks, for pelagic like Ono or Ahi, strength is the priority. 


Fly assist hook. The green tungsten jig in first picture has a fly hook. I use a squid skirt for assist hook, sometimes use it for trail hook like inchiku. The idea is to make fish think artificial jig is eating or chasing plankton or small squid. Often target fish eat very small bait like small baby squid, shrimp, and others. When fish bite, I can feel, fish aimed fly assist hooks or jigs. Most of time, fish nibble during jig falls, fish is aiming fly. Or sometimes doesn’t feel any bites but fish on, that’s another fly hook bite.  When catch Ulua or Kahala, check where the hook on mouth. Assist hook was hooked on lips not inside mouth shows fish didn’t attacked jig. If those fish attacked jig, they suck the jig into mouth it must be deep as length of assist hook or whole jig into mouth. While jigging, and fish attacked violently, the fish attacked jig.

Coach Haru: Right handed people should use a right handed bait caster

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Coach Haru explains why right handed people should use right handled bait casting reels, and why he takes both a spinning reel and bait casting reel on his kayak. Very good tips, pay attention! 🙂

Coach Haru: I don’t like too many stuff on yak.  I usually carry 2 rods. I don’t fish with dead or live bait.  So I don’t need a rod for catching bait. Reason I don’t fish with bait, when fish bite bait, many time they swallow deep so that fish’s survival chance is less than lure fishing. I only take fish for my friends and myself. Others gotta go back to sea. I don’t even like treble hook much. I clip barb to make barbless or use single hooks on plugs too.  

On the photo below, bait cast reel is left handle model but every other bait cast reels that I have are right handle model. Basically bait cast is made to crank with right handle for right hand stance. Editor’s Note” Coach Haru is a striking coach. 🙂

Many people who cast with right hand stance use left handle model because no need to change grip when reeling. Bait cast reel is made to cast with handle side is top because weight of reel is designed to cast easy and far. If handle side is down and cast with right hand stance, it’s not good as the other way. Manufacturers designed it that way. Left handed people should have left handle, right handed for right handle. People say not convenient for switch hands every time cast, but cast grip and reel grip are different.  

Casting grip.  The hook on the rod is between first and middle fingers. Thumb is on the spool to control backlash. 

Reeling grip. The hook on the rod is between ring and pinky, thumb on the reel not on the spool. Some right handed people use left handle model because don’t like to switch hands but cast less and grip gotta change anyway. When fight big fish,  fight fish with spinning rod is pull up and reel. Bait cast is reel vs fish straight reel without pull with rod. Especially bait cast rod is soft to make precise jig action.

Slow jigging is good with bait cast. But off shore jigging are vertical fishing so no need to cast no need to switch. I use right handle because I have used right handle bait cast so many years that easier for me. Also I switch to spinner with left handle when one arm gets tired. 

Usually I take 2 rods. Right handle bait cast with metal jig.  Left handle spinning reel with right bait casting rod with plug. I set spinning in right pole holder, bait cast on left holder. Go to the destination, I troll with the plug, when I get the point or found fish in fish finder, stop and drop jig with bait cast. While jigging if I see boil on surface, switch to spinning cast the plug to the boil. When I go to next spot, troll plug again.   I put left handle spinning rod in right side of holder. And right handle bait cast in left side, because location of handle. Pick the rod with right hand, reel with left hand. Cast with spinning rod, the other rod is in left side that can cast without the other rod in the way. Left handed people should do opposite. 

Coach Haru: Testing the little tungsten jig

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Coach Haru was able to give the compact 60gm tungsten jigs a solid test off his kayak just outside of Hilo Bay.

Coach Haru: This jig can swim, fall fast, cast far, and has less water resistance. When windy day from shore, or even against wind, small heavy bullet-like-jig flies very far. I use 10”6 jigging rod with PE 30LB, 5000 high gear spinning reel and can cast almost 100 yard.

“Match the bait” is key word for searching the best bait for the fishing. Often see a boil on the surface, cast a lure but fish don’t take. It might be the issue of size of bait they are feeding.  Need to find out what fish are eating by knowing each season what kind bait come to near shore. I gut the first fish I catch to see what is in fish’s stomach. Often the lure used is the same size of bait found in the fish. So if fish is not interested in the lure you’re using, change size to small like this tungsten jig.

I like 60g and 80g because they are not heavy and designed to cut the air to fly fast and far. Off kayak and boat, if used vertically, the jig drops very fast. Less water resistance that’s good for strong current or double current. When you see fish in the fish finder, jig can reach the fish zone fast. 60g can reach 300ft, 80g can go deeper depending on current.   For shore casting, on the first cast reel straight in as soon as hit the surface with rod tip up like 11o’clock position. It makes the jig to skip on surface like surface plug. I caught many Kawakawa (sumagatsuo) that way. A couple times try on surface , then next is straight reel in midrange, and next is start from bottom. If there no bite then change to jerking or mix with fast, slow, stop and go, short jerk, long jerk, slow jerk.    For shore cast with this tungsten 60g, I use 10”6 spinning rod and  reel 5000SW, colored PE 30LB( 8X), 40lb fluorocarbon leader 4ft-8ft depend on place. For kayak,  6”6 medium type bait cast rod and high gear bait cast reel, colored PE 40lb, 30LB fluorocarbon 15ft.  

I tuned up the demo jig Scott gave me. Changed eyes to red. Red eyes imitate wounded bait, 2 front hooks are Hirauchi (flattened metal) to shine those hooks. Blue assist line matches to the color of fish make it invisible in water. The rear blade is very popular in Japan now. Many makers make it now. What it does is imitate tail section. If the jig doesn’t wiggle well when straight reel in, this blade makes it to act like it’s swimming. Also blade is shinning more than jig so in murky water the blade shows up better. I thinks that fish takes the blade because it is small bait separate from jig. Rear hook is hirauchi hook too. I use Daiwa snap. It’s easy to change jigs, this small and thin snap has 75lb strength. But I don’t use deeper range and bigger jig over 100g I use solid ring and split ring.

This dobe papio must have thought the jig and blade was a tasty bait fish!

The other style tungsten jig I added a treble hook and blade to the rear and a single assist hook to the front. This white papio liked that look!

Coach Haru: Tips to make you a successful jigger

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With kayak and boat jigging getting really popular in Hawaii, Coach Haru has provided some simple tips to keep in mind while scouring the depths for something strong pulling and delicious.

Coach Haru: Most of time fish bite the jig during the fall. Angler feel fish bite during the jerk but really fish take a jig when jig is suspended or the moment of the fall. Japanese fisherman say “making MA” which means, make timing. Jerking or reeling makes moment of suspend or fall to let fish have a chance to take a jig. Toothy pelagic fish attack jig during reeling or jerking up. They bite tail so need hooks on tail of jig. Jigs made to fall straight down, fast, are tail weighted jig. Purpose is to use on windy day for casting. Long distance cast.

From boat or yak, strong current makes it hard to reach the bottom. I use only center balance jigs from yak because I don’t have to cast far. If there’s strong current, I pedal my Hobie to keep against current while jig is falling or use I use a sea anchor. Falling is more important than reeling up. Basic of fishing is how long can keep bait including lures in the water. As long as jig falls, chances of bite is great.

You have to feel how the jig is moving in the water. Any lure fishing angler has to know how it works. If no mental image of lure action, hard to make MA. Artificial bait won’t move by themselves. All about anglers skill. Fish is not too stupid. They know when is the best time to attack bait. When bait are wounded and not be able to get away. Angler who can perform wounded weak bait will hanapa’a.

Fast action and slow action: Slow action for appearance. For example there is a bait ball boiling. Cast a lure into the ball. Lure must be more appealing to the fish since it’s competing against huge group of real bait. Slow or suspend the jig to show the lure. As soon as you leave the ball, reel fast to perform bait running away. Imagine if I am a fish, what attracts me is easy meal. I think humans are the same way. Easy $$$ is best of all!

Coach Haru: Japanese Jigging Tips – Part #4

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More Japanese jigging pearls of wisdom from Coach Haru!

Coach Haru: There are 3 type of signs of bait fish in fish finder. The elongated shape on the left shows bait isn’t being threatened. Maybe no predators around. Drop a jig on it but you might not get a bite at all.

Center one is looks very balled up. They got security alert, must stay closer together. Often predators you’ll see predators on the fish finder. Best time to drop a jig. Jig moves different from other real bait. Jig is falling through bait, fall out of the group, predator’s instinct kicks in.

And last one on the right, they got attacked. Bait are spreading all over mix with bigger fish in. It’s harder to get attention from predators because they are very busy chasing real bait. Artificial bait can not win against real ones. So see this round ball, drop jig now.

Assist hook rigging depends on type of jig. For example, center weighted jig’s purpose is to fall longer, sideways. Chance of fish biting the head or tail is 50 – 50. Ideal to put on both sides. But line attached to the head so eventually line gets tension head lift up so no need equal size hook on the end. Bigger on head, smaller on tail. Long center weight jig, I put 2 hooks on each. Make sure both hooks don’t hook each other. Tail weighted jig like early Shimano butterfly jig should not put on tail. They are not good swimming jig, so no need.

Tail weighted jig made for swimming, fast retrieve jig can have treble hook on tail because head and rear balance don’t matter. Slow pitch jig like flat jig needs to have both on both ends. And must have light cord on assist hooks. They must not obstruct action of the flat jig. Also light hooks like titanium.

I used to catch Ono with assist hook made with thin wire leader with treble hook tied with metal crimp.  It worked good. Toothy fish like Ono, ahi, mahi, kaku, they bite bait not suck to swallow like Ulua or kahala. Need shorter assist hooks. Best is 1/3 the length of the jig. Ulua, kahala, others like Moana, weke, those are suck the bait in to mouth, need longer assist hook to make sure hooks go into their mouth deeper. Most of fish attack head of bait because chasing from behind bait is much difficult for them. Their target is the eyes. That’s why all those lures have eyes and very realistic eyes.

Rear weighted jig: 
For shore jigging, casting distance is the most important. Long cast has more chance of a bite. Especially, when there is a bait boil, you want to reach to the boil.

Rear weight jig stays in water longer, showing jig to fish longer. Can search wider area. When cast it, heavy tail goes first, stays good form to fly. For off shore jigging, it can reach deeper water fast. When you see bait ball in the fish finder, rear weight jig can reach the bait ball fast and it falls almost straight that aiming at the target accurately.  Also rear weight jig shakes tail like swimming but depend on shape (cut to make edges). Rear weight jig is not good for long jerk or slow jerk. It doesn’t stay in the water flat or side stance, it falls straight. Fast jerk or retrieve is better. I use a rear weight jig with spinning reel, stiffer rod(tip) to control the jig. On medium current, off shore, I use 60g for 100ft.  150g for 200ft, 200G for 300ft.

Coach Haru: Japanese jigging tips – Part III

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Coach Haru has so much jigging wisdom, these tips have been broken into multiple posts. Lot of wisdom here for beginning and advanced jiggers!

Shimano Flat Fall, second from the top, is a slow pitch jigs. The rest can be jigged fast, or retrieved to “swim” back to the boat

Coach Haru: Most of Major Craft Jigpara are made for retrieve in high speed. That’s why they have treble hooks in the end. High speed retrieve, fish chase and attack from behind, treble hook wiggle like tail. Assist hooks on tail is for slow jigs. Long or flat slow center balanced jig falls slowly with side way. Some jig has eyes on the tail too. When I go out with boat, I have 3 rods. One is casting rod with spinning reel (Shimano Twin Power 12000) PE 80lb main line, leader 100lb, I have bait reel (Shimano Ocea Jigger) PE 60lb main line, leader 40lb. For slow jig and long center balanced jig. Fast jigging (Daiwa Saltiga 8000), PE60lb main line, leader 80lb. Jig 250lb-300g, jig for 100 fathom or more depth.

I like to use lighter gear because fun to fight, make me thrilled, also when I defeat the fight, fish won’t spool out whole line,  just snap leader or take lures. I found so many long mono line in water in Hawaii. Can you imagine that marlin spool out 500 yard line. Line killed so many marine animals. For me, fishing is game like boxing. Boxing is not street fight. Boxing is game. Needs lots techniques, strategy and have to practice. I’m an MMA coach but my favorite style is boxing. When my plan works, that is satisfaction. 

Lumica 120gm (4 oz) jig used as the sabiki weight, no hooks

There are many jig sabiki in the market. There are from super light to heavy. When fish are not biting lures , use smaller jig like a compact tungsten jig. If still fish are not biting, I use jig as the weight on a sabiki. Size of flies on sabiki is are an inch or less, leader on fly is 15lb to 30lb. There is Nomase( live bait fishing) sabiki which can keep the bait fish on sabiki continue to fish not detach the bait from fly. The leader of fly is longer than normal sabiki so bait can swim better.  Use a jig instead of lead weight. Prefer swimming jig but not long center weighted jig since that can tangle line and flies easy.   Daiwa TG bait or Jigpara are good. I don’t put hooks on jig because I don’t wanna lose the jig, especially the expensive TG Bait. Also, I put 2 flies out more than that. I had tried home made jig sabiki had 4 flies; Kawakawa hit it more than one, I lost entire set up so I use just 2 flies. Also it’s shorter that easier to use from Kayak. Jig is swimming jig, when reel it, jig wiggles makes flies dance good. Here is a Japanese video of a jig used as the sabiki weight. He has assists hooks on his jig and catches bait on the jig too!

Editor’s note: There are underwater videos taken in Japan, of fish reacting to various objects jigged on the bottom. Haru refers to those videos below.

Now you know when fish bite. When the jig is suspended the moment or starts to fall, that’s the moment the fish bite. But fisherman feels fish bite on the way up. But fish already bit the jig. Fish doesn’t feel the hooks because the moment, jig has no tension. That’s why need to set the hook hard. When fish bite the jig, fish face down so hit hard, pull hard, fight hard. Reeling tairaba, fish is face up to chase it so when fish bite, no need to set hook because line has tension, face is face up, easier fight and no need to set the hook. Plugs as well. Reeling plugs on surface, fish comes from under, face is up to take the plug is easier than jig is taken by fish face is down. 

For jig fishing, gotta find the fish first. You must show the lure.  Important is to make sure the lure is in fish’s sight. Most of the time you drop a jig to the bottom. You can see your line and bottom on fish finder, you gotta feel the bottom with the jig. Is it sand or rocks or artificial reef or wrecked ship? What ever it is, you gotta feel it to identify exactly where your jig at. Gotta put a jig in fish’s sight. Sometimes jigging catch fish out feeding time. Bait fishermen not catching , but jigging fishermen catch. Because jig can make reaction bite. Agitate fish. Make them piss off so they wanna attack. Most of toothy fish react aggressively. It’s reaction bite. Jig must drop on fish. Very important for fish to see jig. It has no smell or sign of life, fish will not come to jig from far. If there is no fish on fish finder, I don’t jig.

Coach Haru: Japanese jigging tips – Part II

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Coach Haru is a well known and well respected MMA striking coach. He’s been effectively jigging off his kayak in Hawaii using techniques learned in Japan and would like share his insight with us.  We’re super blessed to have a jigging sensei share such hard earned knowledge. Coach Haru feels that jigging can be very effective when done correctly, and the assist hooks allow for the safe release of fish you don’t want to take home. He loves the challenge of using lures only to capture his prey. Currently he’s in Japan and hopes to return to HI when the quarantine lifts.

Coach Haru: Tairaba (see previous post) is 100 years old. Started in Nagasaki Kyushu and Tokushima Shikoku. It was just round lead with a hook and put shrimp on to catch Tai (red snapper). But shrimp became expensive so commercial fisherman started to use plastic instead.  

There is a Japanese proverb “catch Tai with a shrimp”, back then red snapper was not high end fish. Shrimp was more valuable and expensive.

It was in March, 5 min from my house in Kobe, I got a Buri (wild hamachi) with the 40g halalu color.

New style jig has a flasher plate in the tail. Bass shop sells those plate. Putting it on the tail of jig is popular right now. This is by Hayabusa Jack eye Maki Maki.( reel it reel it). It can cast very far then just retrieve it fast and stop and go. In the morning, most of predators on the surface casing bait, then sun comes up, they go down. Cast it when jig hit the water, fast retrieve and stop for the moment then go again for a couple times. If there is not bite then drop a jig to mid range. Still not bite then drop to the bottom. Just reel it fast.

Now retrieve jig instead jig up and down is popular because easier and anybody can do, not get tired for fishing all day long. Especially from kayak, sit down to fish has less angle than stand up to jig. When stand up most of time tip of pole is down. Jig up to straight but sit on kayak, pole points straight and jig up. When fish bite and have to set the hook, there is not much angle to set the hook hard because tip of rod is already up. Miss fish more than fish from stand up. That’s why retrieve lure is better for kayak fish. I had a Hobie Pro Angler that allowed me to stand up to fish on the kayak just like boat. But changed to Hobie Revo 13, it was harder and lost fish a lot because fish wasn’t hooked well by short angle of rod position. 

There are many jig sabiki in market. There are from super light to heavy. When fish are not biting lures, use smaller like tungsten then still fish are not biting, I use jig sabiki. Size of flies on sabiki is are an inch or less, leader on fly is 15lb to 30lb. There is Nomase (live bait fishing) sabiki which can keep the bait fish on sabiki continue to fish not detach the bait from fly. The leader of fly is longer than normal sabiki that bait can swim better.  Use a jig instead leads. Prefer swimming jig but not long center waited jig can tangle line and flies easy.   TG bait or Jigpara are good. I don’t put hooks on jig because I dont wanna lose especially TG bait. Also I put 2 flies out more than that. I had tried home made jig sabiki had 4 flies, Kawakawa hit it more than one, I lost entire set up so I use just 2 flies. Also it’s shorter that easier to use from Kayak. Jig is swimming jig, when reel it, jig wiggles makes flies dance good. I will post a picture when I make my own jig sabiki. 

Coach Haru: Japanese style jigging tips – Part I

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Coach Haru is a well known and well respected MMA striking coach. He’s been effectively jigging off his kayak in Hawaii using techniques learned in Japan and would like share his insight with us.  We’re super blessed to have a jigging sensei share such hard earned knowledge. Coach Haru feels that jigging can be very effective when done correctly, and the assist hooks allow for the safe release of fish you don’t want to take home. He loves the challenge of using lures only to capture his prey. Currently he’s in Japan and hopes to return to HI when the quarantine lifts.

Coach Haru:

Tairaba by Daiwa Baylover

These are the most popular lures in Japan now.

Tairaba style jig is good from kayak. Drop it and reel it, no need action, just reel it even fish bite still just reel it. No need to set hook, just reel. The easiest jigging style from yak. Long time ago, Shimano released Lucanus modified Tairaba but didn’t sell well. In Japan, Tairaba is very popular because no need technique just reel it. It is good for bottomfish like uku, opakapaka, onaga, roi, even pelagic fish. But use smaller hooks that big fish can break easy and it’s not cheap.

Tairaba Japanese video 1: https://youtu.be/MDkTPu0Sq2w

Tairaba Japanese video 2: https://youtu.be/j_rvnPYU0rk

You can use a baitcaster with Tairaba, no need to impart action, just reel.

Metal vibration by Big Backer

Set Upper diving minnow by Daiwa

These jigs, metal vibration, and diving minnow can fly so far. Can cast almost 100 yard. I wanna take them to Big Island for shore fishing someday.

Also popular is squid skirt. 3, 4 inch skirt under Tairaba or simply put a weight (1/2 or 1oz) in the head, drop it down to the bottom and just reel it up.

Color of lure is very important. Blue or natural fish color for sunny, daylight with clear water. Silver, glow color, zebra glow for dawn time. Pink for cloudy sky, gold with red or gold with green for murky water.

Usually Hawaii has sunny and clear water, I like to use blue, blue pink, sometimes pink. Deep water I use glow or zebra glow. West side I had good time with gold green. Daiwa sells TG Bait. People call it as bait not lure. It is made with tungsten that’s heavier than lead. Small silhouette than the same weight lure so when fish hesitate to bite bigger lure it works and goes deeper because of small size.

Slow pitch is hard with strong current or windy day. Center balance, long jig is fine when line goes diagonal or even side way by strong current but flat slow jig is hard make action right because it spins.

Jigs like Major Craft Jigpara that are made to swim is good for that. Because just reel it makes jig swim. I used Jigpara cast off kayak. As soon as hit water reel fast as I can. Caught kawakawa, ono, kaku, when I went to buoy caught so many aku and shibi.

In Japan use jig like metal blade. Cast and reel not jig. Many companies making jig to swim.

More gems from Haru to come soon!