COLUMN : THE TINKERER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
If it ’ s creative , national award-winning writer Sean Ostruszka is all about it . He combines mad ingenuity with 20 years of knowledge and experience in the fishing business to design lures for professional anglers and top brands in the bass industry . the land of the rising sun ( and lures )
Exploring the pros , cons and mythical ethos of Japanese baits
T here ’ s always been a certain aura around Japanese lures .
For some of us , it ’ s an appreciation for the remarkably detailed finishes that make them look more like works of art than baits . Others point to their hard-to-get , “ secret lure ” reputation , which causes anglers to covet them like rare bourbon whiskeys . And still others look at some of the ludicrous shapes and actions and wonder what the heck the designers could be thinking .
Whatever your stance , there ’ s no denying that Japanese lure companies have had a massive impact on the sport of bass fishing . From their scarce origins , these lures are now in almost every angler ’ s tackle boxes , and some of the biggest lure trends in the last couple decades can be traced back to Japanese roots .
Let ’ s look at why Japanese lures got this aura to begin with , and how those designers continue to develop baits that create new trends in the sport . To do that , we go back to the 1990s . These days , it ’ s easy to take for granted the prevalence of companies like Megabass , Jackall , Duo Realis , Keitech , Lucky Craft and Deps , and how readily available their products are to purchase . Yet only a couple decades ago ( before the internet ), few knew about them . For those who did , getting their hands on their products was remarkably difficult .
That alone gave Japanese lures an aura of being secret , “ superior ” lures , according to Chris Rosell , associate product and marketing manager for Megabass . That reputation only grew when
26 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | FEBRUARY-MARCH 2024