RC in Tokyo Part I

Here is, the first part of my report. 

I have dreamed about going to Tokyo for at least 7 years. I tried to make plans before (and save money) without much success. This time I just went online, booked the hotel and pack my bags.
My interest for Japan goes beyond fishing. I have always been fascinated by the country's culture. It is not only a world of anime and fishing tackle, but also food, landscapes, architecture, arts, religion and other cultural aspects that makes this country unique.
Anyways, as a fishing blogger, I can write a little about Tokyo from that aspect we all love: fishing.

My blog deals mostly with JDM lures and tackle, so going to Japan was a big thing for me. I only had 5 days to spare for my trip so unfortunately I had to skip some plans I made before but still had time to manage some important visits and meetings.

First Day

I stayed in Shinjuku so the first thing to do was to visit the famous Sansui shop located in Shinjuku. I went there in the afternoon and despite being a small shop I managed to stay there for 45 minutes. The shelves are movable and all of them contained lots of stuff. One wall was full of saltwater lures, another one full of hooks , another lines, freshwater tackle and so on. It was lacking a little bit on fishing clothing but was pretty much stacked with hundreds of lures. I realized that they stock tackle according to the season. The LRF section was great but the offshore or, let's say, "heavy lures" section was not that great. Anyway the staff was very courteous and helped me with the limited communication. I couldn't take photos inside. Too bad.
I also got a Salt Lure magazine which I enjoyed "looking at it" a lot.

Sansui in Shinjuku was my first stop related to fishing tackle. The famous shop
is quite small but has lots of gear on the shelves. Too bad they don't allow
to take pictures inside. 

Second Day

The second day was the busiest one. I met with my great friend Takatoshi. He is an amazing guy who has

become quite a sensation on Facebook. One of the objectives of this trip was to meet him and spend some time together. I really value this kind of strong bonds with angler worldwide and meeting him was a great honor for me. 

He took me to Sansui Shibuya and Jumbo. These two are one of the biggest stores in central Tokyo and indeed it was quite a great experience.

One of the most important moments of my visit. Meeting with my fellow friend
Takatoshi. We spent a great day together. I thank him again for the great
hospitality.

I spent most of my money in these two stores. I got some nice lures and gear which I will review in my second part of the Tokyo Report.

Jumbo looked a little more spartan than Sansui, but nevertheless it had many products on sale. I really enjoyed the saltwater lures and the bag/clothing section. I got myself a nice hip bag and some lures for seabass and LRF.  

Also I got myself a shore jigging mook (magazine style book) and lots of Meiho boxes which I love to use.

Just before leaving the store I saw some nice and hard to find (for European anglers like us) 2012 tackle catalogs. I figured out they were free and I took those by makers like Shimano, Smith, Valleyhill and Tidewalk. Too bad they were missing the Daiwa master catalog but I cannot complain.

Second stop to the 3 stores Jumbo shop in Shibuya.
I found many interesting lures and gear at this shop.
This is where I have used my credit card heavily.

Second Sansui store. This is the famous one located in Shibuya. The first
floor is all saltwater stuff and this is where I have spent lots of time.

Second floor was full of fly fishing gear. This shop is just amazing.

My last stop was at Shibuya's Tackle Berry shop. These chain shop sells mostly used tackle which in many cases lets you find the deal you always looked for. The lures section was good and I managed to find some nice lures in mint condition at some ridiculous prices. Also found a brand new fish gripper and some treble hooks.

If you need second hand lures and gear just visit Tackle Berry.
This is the shop in Shibuya. I have found some amazing deals on lures
made by Skagit Designs and Smith LTD.

2012 Smith catalog.

Third Day

On my third day I have met for dinner with Jed, the owner of the famous online tackle store Cloud Nine Tackle. Again I was very excited about meeting him. I bought many items from his shop and meeting him in person was a great honor for me. We went to a nice restaurant where we had nice food and talked a lot about fishing techniques, lures and his online store business. We discussed the tackle and fishing trends in Europe, the comparison with the Japanese market, YEN and Euro currency exchange fluctuations and so on. It was definitely an amazing evening.
Almost forgot. I even ate some Mebaru Sashimi. I never had the chance to catch it but at least I tasted it.

Jed and myself at dinner. I thank him for the great evening.

If you go to Tokyo you cannot skip some great sushi and interesting places like Akihabara. I couldn't stop taking hundreds of photos. Here are some of them. Enjoy.

Anime everywhere.

Fish market. Notice the Aji on the left.

An icon for Japan: Gundam.

Nice Toyota GT car at the Toyota Car Museum.

Colorful night at Ueno.

Sake.

Sashimi. Delicious.

This is the rail system. Amazing.

Sake and more Sake.

I really liked this. I think it is a flounder.

Two beers I have enjoyed drinking during my stay: Asahi and
Sapporo.

More to come soon. Please wait for my part II.

Back from Japan

I just came back from an amazing trip in Tokyo. I am definitely going to share some of the experiences I had there. I was very lucky to meet some of my fellow angler I met on Facebook and my blog. I had the chance to visit famous stores like Sansui, Jumbo and TackleBerry in Shibuya.
Stay tuned for some report very soon!

Surfcaster's Journal 13

The new issue of Surfcaster's Journal is online. Enjoy

Lure Photos Style

Last night I have spent some time with my camera. I wanted to take random pictures of my favorite lures and work them on photoshop and other editing software. I really enjoy taking pictures of my lures, at least it is an easy activity that I can do when I don't go fishing. This weekend I will be home since I have some business related work to do. As usual when I don't fish (which happens a lot lately) I try to focus my time on the blog.

Anyways, please enjoy these new photos I have taken. Below you can see a Duel Adagio 85,Lucky Craft Blus Shot 30, Seaspin Pro-q 90 and a ZipBait Slide Swim Minnow MDS.



 

DUO Lures in a Colorful World

DUO Yurameki 

DUO Tide Minnow Surf 135

Aegean Expedition: The Report & Lures

Last weekend I found myself on a plane heading to a location in Southern Turkey. The expectations were high. It was my first trip of the year and I had many lures to try and catch fishes.
Overall it has been a disappointing trip. I spent two days on several locations and managed only to catch a small size barracuda. Well, this happens in fishing a lot but I wished for some better results after all.
If I must look at the trip from a positive side, I can say that I have enjoyed the company of a good fishing friend, I have seen some nice locations that I plan to visit soon again and, most important, I have tried some of the new lures that I recently got.

The Small Barracuda

My only fish came on a windless Saturday night in a small port. Two orange colored street lights were providing some attraction for small bait. Usually barracudas like this kind of environment. Slow waters filled with small bait fish are an ideal hunting ground during the night. We started casting at 21:00 and didn't get an hit for more than one hour. At a certain point, I started hearing some splashing on the surface and realized that barracudas were in the port for some hunting. At the moment I had a Rapala Maxrap 11cm blue/silver on the leader. I made a couple of casts and got a nice hit just 3 meters from my rod tip. A short battle and the barra was on the boga grip. A took the photo of my only fish that night. I kept casting the Rapala and some other lures including a yellow Seaspin Mommotti and a Daiwa Saltiga minnow. No results and no hits. My friend got a miss hit on a Ima Komomo and that was it.



The following day we went on a nice rocky shore. We spent 5 hours on the rocks with no results besides a nice sized barracuda chasing my friend's Ima Komomo for a couple of seconds. That was a nice sight for sure, but when you see a barracuda chasing the lure you really wish for a violent strike to happen.

The Lures


At least I can write some early opinions on some of the lures I have tried over the weekend. These are initial impressions and I definitely need more time to test them.

Seaspin Mommotti 140

This is a famous lure that is taking nice fishes all over the Mediterranean Sea. I was eager to test it with local barracudas and seabass.

What I liked: The action of the lures is good. It has a nice wobbling and rolling action on a regular retrieve but it really shines when you give good jerks. It looks like a wounded fish and darts left/right. I also enjoyed a very slow retrieve during the night. It has a fine rolling that can induce the strike or a lazy seabass.
The yellow color is very nice. I think it is very visible at night and can be used for barracudas and seabass during night fishing.

What I didn't Like: This is a long cast minnow and it does cast good. However I was expecting something a little better in terms of distance. It still has some good range but comes a little short compared to  the Daiwa Shore Line Shiner SL14 and Tide Minnow.

Overall:  3.75 / 5


Duo Tide Minnow Slim 140

I had very high expectations about this lure, and I was right. There are two important aspects in a long jerk lure: great castability and action. This lure has it both.

What I liked: It casts like a bullet. Once it flies, it really flies far away. It just casts like a bullet with no fluttering.I think the designer has gave importance to the lip and body design in order to decrease air resistance.
The action is good. The rolling action is great and it responds very well to short jerks of the rod. I think it has a little wider wobbling action compared to the Mommotti.
The finish: As all the DUO lures this one has a great craftsmanship.

What I didn't like: For now I don't have any complains. It didn't catch anything but only time will tell. There was not enough current so I cannot judge on how good or bad it keeps the swimming action under some strong waters.

Overall:  4.25 / 5


Seaspin Coixedda 100

This was a pleasant surprise. I heard good things about it and after a few casts I understood the reason of all the praises it receives.

What I liked: It casts like a bullet. It is only 100cm but fly really far away. Actually I think it is better than the Mommotti. The lack of the lip is a big factor but I also think the weight moving system gives a better result on the compact body. I think it really shines on that aspect.

The action is good. The tight rolling action is great and it responds very well to short jerks of the rod. It darts like crazy. A twitch with the rod tip and the lure just darts erratically. It is a extra shallow minnow so I think it would work great in extra shallow situations when chasing seabass.

What I didn't like: For now I don't have any complains. I need to test it better in the right environment. Maybe the finish is not as great I would like. After a couple of casts I have seen some scratches already. Anyway it is the action that brings to life the lure so not big complains here.

Overall:  4.25 / 5



Tiemco Sprat 130

I was very curious about this lure. I read great things on blogs and tackle stores.


What I liked: The action is what really shines in the Sprat 130. The big lip and bulky body provides some incredible wide wobbling  action. I read that it does a great job in rough waters and it looks perfectly plausible given the action and lip size.  Even a straight retrieve is enough to bring the lure alive.
The silver color looks great and seems that it will retain its shine for a long time.

What I didn't like: Despite the size and weight, the lure doesn't cast that great. I think it is normal given the not very aerodynamic bulky body and big lip. Don't get me wrong. It casts far enough but at 20gr. you expect a little more distance.

Overall:  4.25 / 5