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JDM lure looks great but hasn’t caught a fish yet?

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I’ve been running a lure comparison pitting a few JDM (Japan Domestic Market) top-water lures against the Shimano Waxwing, my go-to sub-surface lure.

One JDM lure in particular has trounced the competition.  The Waxwing had fallen behind until I resharpened its hooks and it made a strong come back the last time out.  Another JDM lure has the perfect profile of a chubby baby mullet, and has great coloration.  It hadn’t even gotten a boil, however.  I was told by my JDM supplier that the chubby lure rides higher in the water than the one trouncing the competition, and because of that, the predators aren’t able to see the lure as well.  He recommended weighing the lure down by putting on heavier split rings and hooks.

heavier JDM lureBecause that lure looks so darn cute I ran out and got the heavier Owner hyper rings and Owner 4X treble hooks.  Using the Daiwa heavy duty split ring pliers I got from my JDM supplier, sliding thick gauged hooks onto split rings was no longer an exercise in frustration.  I did a buoyancy test in an unoccupied oama tub and the lure floated much deeper in the water.

Since this was the only lure in the test that hasn’t even gotten a look, I started with the chubby guy today.  The beach was lined with conventional rods as if some tournament was going on.  I couldn’t fish my normal test grounds so I cast out about 20 yds from the last rod on the beach.

tagged kaku with JDM lure - blurredA few casts later and a 17″ kaku boiled on it and was hooked.  I kept the toothy fish hooked so I could leave it in the water, and tagged it.  Weighing that lure down really did make it more visible to predators.

I put the Waxwing on and didn’t get a single bump but I attribute that to all the activity in the water.

So at this point of the lure test, the Waxwing and the two JDM top-water lures have all caught fish.  Each lure has had its day under different circumstances. Another JDM top-water lure arrived in the mail today.  More testing is ahead.

JDM lure testing while the oama trickle in

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The oama are late this year, probably because there were still good numbers of oama around in the early part of the year.  The spawning weke must be confused by all this extra warm water.

Some oama have been seen around Oahu over the last few weeks but not in the large numbers that we normally have by the end of July.  Hopefully the oama do make it in soon before the traditional season (July to September) is over.

Free from chasing oama, I’ve been field testing Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) lures and comparing them to lures we can buy domestically.  In general the JDM lures have a more detailed finish and crisper response.  In the top-water testing so far, the JDM lures hold a slight edge over the Shimano Waxwing, which is made in Japan but sold in the US.  The top-water test isn’t really an apples to apples test because the Waxwing rides a little below the surface and only has a rear double hook, but the Waxwing was my go-to surface lure.  Both the Waxwing and the JDM top water lures have caught fish, but the JDM lures have gotten much more violent strikes and have always caught fish whereas the Waxwing got blanked the last time out.

kaku on waxwing

caught on black chrome Waxwing Baby

Testing has been on shallow flats, mostly casting from the dry sand, targeting the lure happy kaku. Kaku in the past have cut my 15lb fluoro main line but they have yet to cut me off since I’ve been using a 25lb fluoro leader. The leader has been nicked so I know they have hit it, but it’s held. Knock on flourocarbon. On this particular day, I started with the go-to black chrome Waxwing Baby.  Over the span of an hour, walking the sand I caught two small kaku.

kaku on JDM top water lure

kaku on JDM top water lure

I double backed and put on the JDM lure. In the same area, within 5 mins, I caught two more kaku that hit with much more aggression.  Both shot straight out of the water, shaking the lure in their mouth like a dog would shake a bone.

 

white on JDM lureOn another outing, I was surprised to see a 12″ FL white hit the JDM top-water lure 5 feet from shore.  It looks like it tried to stun it with its scutes and tail and got snagged on its side.

 

shibi on JDM lure

shibi on JDM lure

We even took the JDM lures off shore for a shibi (small ahi) tagging trip at the buoys and they worked while the larger Waxwing and the Shimano Orca Pop failed to register a hit.  Now that’s a pretty versatile lure.

Much more field testing is required but so far, the JDM lures have caught me with their refined appearance and performance in the water.  All the test subjects were released with a few holes but relatively unharmed.