I like rain

I like fishing in the rain, but it was not my day today.

It has been kind of droughty around here, even though it is a rainy season now.
Today, we had a calm rainy day, and I expected fish were active. 

Small bluegill often rushed at my lures, but bass were much slower.
I got some nice bites on Harrison Super Frog, and Snagproof Moss Mouse around weedy areas, but I couldn't hook them up at all. I thought they're bass. Then, gave up fishing in weedy areas and started casting to a near shore area. When I cast a Pico Slasher, a nice-looking blackish green bass went at it and I could catch it (not so big). 
I finished fishing at 07:30 am and went home to have a breakfast.

<< Just checked how they float on the water >>

Today's tackle: ABU Ambassdeur 5000 De Luxe, Fenwick 2053, Stren 14lb (Low-Vis Green), Original Zara Spook, Lucky 13, Chugger Spook, Harrison Super Frog, Snagproof Moss Mouse, Pico Slasher, etc. 

BF=4/11

Specially ordered

I've just ordered a special lure again. It is a lot of fun to make a design by myself, imagining putting it into a lure body. I copied an idea from Heddon's GSD and CCB colors using a green check patterns imitating scales. I'm planning to make some extra ones, so contact me if you're interested in one or two.

Saltwater fishing

We had a good time offshore fishing yesterday. We had some bigger ocean swells in the morning, but they got calmer and calmer in the afternoon. Our main target fish was red sea bream, but unfortunately I could not catch them at all. The fish in the center of the top picture is one that I was given from another fisher (Thanks a lot!). We fished almost until it got dark, went back to the port at 21:00 pm, and went home in the middle of the night.

I felt extremely tired, but I got up early today and cleaned up all the fish before the first football match of Japan (The World Cup) begun at 10:00 am. I counted seven different species, a total of 15-20 fishes, and it was a very exhausting job to clean so many fishes at a time. Then, I cooked and most of them for dinner in the evening. All my family members like to eat fresh fish, and we enjoyed a lot.

When it rains,

When it rains, it pours. 
When I buy lures, my boxes overfill.
It seems a dozen is a good unit to pick up lures at a time, but soon later it turns out to be decent enough for life-time fishing.

I like these big minnows, too. Yes, Bomber Long-A's.
I've used 15A lures for more than 30 years, but have never tried 16A's and 17A's for bass fishing. I'm afraid these are too big, but I'd like to try them in Lake Biwa.

More Florida lures

Speaking of Florida lures, you cannot discount Jim Pfeffer baits. I've just got some Plastic Bananas that my friend has been strongly recommending. The green head/back one looks very beautiful, though I'm not sure if the 2-piece card box is a correct one (marked #120*) for the color. I can say the faded belly color of the frog looks either "yellow (#102)" or "white (#109)", but supposedly "white", as the yellow paint of the frog pattern on the back is brighter than the belly color. The red head one with red spots is well fished and just in fishing condition. I like the fish flashing color, too.

* The code of green head/back color is found to be #108, so the box is incorrect. 
   Now, I'm wondering what color #120 is like.  

PS: After writing this article, I went out for fishing early in the morning, but got skunked again. I went there just to breathe cool air and watch wild birds...

Today's tackle: ABU Ambassdeur 5000 De Luxe, Fenwick SP634 (custom), Stren 14lb (Low-Vis Green), Original Zara Spook, Chugger Spook, Jim Pfeffer Banana, Rebel Jumpin Minnow, etc. 

BF=3/7

Eger (Rhoden) stickbait

I recently bought a bunch of Florida lures, which include many 3-hooker stickbaits made by Eger Bait (later Rhoden). I didn't know of the correct name of them, but now find 'Dolphin'. All of them are without boxes but in mint condition, and I guess the previous owner collected them very carefully. I love Eger's color petternings, especially striped ones with dotted eye shadows. I got two matching ones with my Sweet 16s, yellow (orange) with black stripes (color #1604) and yellow with red stripes (#1602). Unfortunately, Eger was bought by Luhr Jensen in the early 2000s, and then Luhr Jensen was also bought by another company.

Factory Sample Zara Mouse

Presumably, this bait is a factory trial production (prototype) of Zara Mouse lures. Marketed ones were first sold in the early 1990s (1991?), so I can imagine that this bait was made in the late 1980s or a little later.

The same body as Meadow Mouse is used, but the line-tie eye is different. On the belly and tail, it has holes for hooks, but nothing is marked on the body surface. The fluorescent red eyes are carefully painted, much more carefully than marketed ones, but the tail slit looks roughly hand-filed.

I'm very happy to get it in my collection. I'm afraid this bait is not good for fishing because of bad attachment of single weedless hook, but it is a good collectible lure.