www.insideline.net

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Home Blog - Pete Weighs In TackleOrg2012: That’s the fact, Jack

TackleOrg2012: That’s the fact, Jack

Monday, 06 February 2012 07:53 Pete Robbins
E-mail Print PDF
User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

February 6, 2012

blog-jaka

I've started my offseason tackle organization substantially later than normal this year. Being a confirmed procrastinator, I will further delay the process of figuring out what needs to be trashed, repaired or replaced by blogging about little oddities that I find along the way.
I’m an absolute sucker for Japanese fishing tackle, the rarer the better so long as it still appears to be functional.
As the addiction has festered, I’ve realized that there are at least four tiers of Japanese tackle:
1. The manufacturers who’ve made a concerted effort to penetrate the US market and have gotten their products in the big box stores and/or major tackle retailers (e.g., Lucky Craft, Jackall, Ima);
2. The companies who have made some inroads into the US tackle scene, but remain largely available only through specialty retailers (e.g, Megabass, Deps);
3. The ones who are semi-familiar to in-the-know bassers, but haven’t really entered the US market in a meaningful fashion (e.g., Evergreen); and
4. The companies that don’t have name recognition among even most savvy US bass fishermen.
The last group is, of course, the most fun to ferret out. If nothing else it gives you bragging rights over your tournament partner when you start to whack the green fish on a bait that he not only doesn’t have, but probably can’t get in a reasonable timeframe. One tackle manufacturer that falls into the group is Imakatsu. I became acquainted with their products when I travelled to Japan in 2007. I became further intrigued when several Japanese anglers who fish the Bassmaster and FLW Tours told me that company president Katsutaka Imae is one of the most revered anglers in all of Japan, perhaps the best of all of them. As a result, I’m substantially poorer, having gone to the eBay well for Imakatsu products more than once since then.
The latest purchase is the “Jaka Jack” pictured here. It’s neither a flat-sided nor a round-bodied crank. Instead, it has curved sides that supposedly move more water than either of those categories. To be brutally honest, I have way more crankbaits than I’ll ever use, but this one sang to me. It’s downright sexy and I pressed the “add to cart” button without hesitation.

I've started my offseason tackle organization substantially later than normal this year. Being a confirmed procrastinator, I will further delay the process of figuring out what needs to be trashed, repaired or replaced by blogging about little oddities that I find along the way.

I’m an absolute sucker for Japanese fishing tackle, the rarer the better so long as it still appears to be functional. 

As the addiction has festered, I’ve realized that there are at least four tiers of Japanese tackle:

  1. The manufacturers who’ve made a concerted effort to penetrate the US market and have gotten their products in the big box stores and/or major tackle retailers (e.g., Lucky Craft, Jackall, Ima);
  2. The companies who have made some inroads into the US tackle scene, but remain largely available only through specialty retailers (e.g, Megabass, Deps);
  3. The ones who are semi-familiar to in-the-know bassers, but haven’t really entered the US market in a meaningful fashion (e.g., Evergreen); and 
  4. The companies that don’t have name recognition among even most savvy US bass fishermen.

The last group is, of course, the most fun to ferret out. If nothing else it gives you bragging rights over your tournament partner when you start to whack the green fish on a bait that he not only doesn’t have, but probably can’t get in a reasonable timeframe. One tackle manufacturer that falls into the group is Imakatsu. I became acquainted with their products when I travelled to Japan in 2007. I became further intrigued when several Japanese anglers who fish the Bassmaster and FLW Tours told me that company president Katsutaka Imae is one of the most revered anglers in all of Japan, perhaps the best of all of them. As a result, I’m substantially poorer, having gone to the eBay well for Imakatsu products more than once since then.

The latest purchase is the “Jaka Jack” pictured here. It’s neither a flat-sided nor a round-bodied crank. Instead, it has curved sides that supposedly move more water than either of those categories. To be brutally honest, I have way more crankbaits than I’ll ever use, but this one sang to me. It’s downright sexy and I pressed the “add to cart” button without hesitation.

 

Joomla Templates and Joomla Extensions by ZooTemplate.Com
Last Updated on Monday, 06 February 2012 08:01