Daiwa Saltiga 2015 Star Drag Reel MAGSEAL - May Debut

It's Coming!

New 2015 Daiwa Saltiga Star Drag

2015 Saltiga with MagSeal Bearing, Spool lock, DigiGear, Easy-Spool change, & Eva knob.

Two sizes.
Three speeds.
10、10H＝2015.05 DEBUT
15、15H＝2015.06 DEBUT
10HL、15HL＝2015.07 DEBUT

You can always check Daiwa's Official Japanese Site:all.daiwa21.com

According to the Japanese site they mentioned that there was a definite need to produce more than 7kg of drag and the aim was to produce a reel more capable of the 2025 model Bay Jigger also including the MAGSEAL technology already proven.

The reel will be able to handle the yellowtail winter run in the Sea of Japan.

 

 

Cultiva Owner STX-58 Treble Hook - Starting up with the Evolution !! - Winter Gear, 2015

NEW TREBLE HOOKS, COOL !!!!!!!!!!!!

Owner Cultiva for many many seasons has been the solid performing treble that have seen the lips of hundreds of fish. I'm pretty confident the only downfall for them is the start of "rusting" after a few trips rendering them useless.

My buddy Aki from Japan suggested giving them a try back in the mid 2000's and I haven't really found a need for replacement unless in a specific scenario.

Anyhow, the new STX version has released in 2014 and I was curious to the differences. Aki says: give them a try, but you know the older version works just fine, right?

They are ¥100 yen higher in price and seem to have a different coated surface. Let's hope they are up to par AND better than the previous.

Model used: STX-58
Size: 2
Purchased at Proshop Gil - Tokyo


Give them a try if you like...

Seven Islands Pro-Shop (Sheung Wan) Hong Kong - Winter Fishing, 2015

I've now visited a majority of the tackle shops in Hong Kong and have found most comfortable with Seven Islands Pro-Shop.  This was my second outing to check out the shop and I finally was able to enter this time.  The first time I had missed their opening hours by exactly 30 minutes. 
My enjoyment & affinity with their products is perhaps the reason for it.  Patriot Designs (PD), & FISHERMAN headline their tidy rod rack.

This shop has a decent catering of BIG game pelagic gear and dedicated jigging & popping tackle.  I haven't seen big stickbaits, poppers, and the like within range of what this shop has in all of Kowloon or the Island side, or even outside of Japan.  Nature Boy's jigs, Carpenter Gamma, and abalone Patriot Design's is a lovely sight.  It truly felt great to see a stocked inshore seabass arsenal as well.  My quest of catching the TAIRIKU seabass in Hong Kong waters remains and finding the shop is one stop closer for me to succeed graciously in my goal.

Whats new to me is the shop's own Hong Kong based fishing brand.  Seeing the brand Sea Venturex (SVX) made me acknowledge that these guys know their stuff.  From what I saw, there was a 8'1" tuna popping rod (which reminded me of Daiko), several models of long (amberjack style) and short jigs (tuna & CBONE style), a 2-piece land based casting rod range, and a telescopic bait rod (like a Kurodai rod) which seemed popular for the local game.

A quite surprising event happened.  While looking at the many photos shown around the shop I noticed what looked to be a popular lady angler from Japan.  Indeed it was not a personal acquaintance's spouse but nonetheless a pro-angler with television and print popularity in Japan (for over 20 years),  Kojima Reiko. 

FTW, I'm happy to have found such a dedicated tackle shop with true Japanese inventory accessible to me.  I picked up the October 2014 issue of SALT WORLD, that I left in Japan (showcasing my first season for Fall Sagami Bay yellowfin tuna), and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

If you ever make it to Hong Kong and need a suggestion for a tackle shop, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Seven Islands ISO & All Game Lure Pro-Shop.

Voila!

SHIMANO Ocea Jigger 1500P Reel (circa 2006) - Unearthing a historic gem from Japan

 PE3 Species Beware !!

Welcome the Original that did it all on the East Coast.  Envy and evergreen of party boat sharpies that had the edge of best tackle offered at the time.  Finally got my hands on one.

Brought myself to Seven Islands in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong today to share.  I was pleasantly greeted by a nice lady who is the mother of owner Simon.  We chatted it up about fishing and gear for over an hour.  She gladly helped me unearth this gem of a reel in the perfect PE3 size. (thanks for the help!)

Hopefully I can fit the fisherman knob on this older generation jigger as well  =D

Summer Tokyo Bay Fishing - Prelude June 9, 2014

June Suzuki Seabass – 2014 Prelude (the Great Wave of Kanagawa)

(An excerpt from my personal journal June, 9, 2014…)

As I travel on the bus from NRT –> YCAT I realize one thing:  I am happy.  Curvaceous smile, and if you would had seen me at that particular moment, it was one to signify that I knew all was right as I made it back here in the land of the rising sun.  I feel great, I feel eerily at home.  Some home, some place I loved prior and truly connected with.  The roads seemed familiar, the surrounding foliage and landscape as well without acknowledgement of any strange out-of-position feelings towards a right sided steering wheel.  Actually, I feel quite comfortable with it. 
I chose the driver’s side window without an invasive curtain for my view.  My flight ticket stub jammed between a squeaky window and its rubber flossing insulator or sealer.  Tokyo bound, Yokohama City Air Terminal is the next destination as the sun peeks through a cloud where they form low to the horizon.  Beams and blue skies seeping through.  5:35am locally. 
~

Tokyo bay is loaded with many species of fish, crustaceans, and various marine life.   I am grateful to the many fish that decided to entertain me and jump on the hook.  A mere eagerness to fish new water with an old friend rewarded me with more than just the targeted Suzuki, Lateolabrax japonicus (鱸)or just Seabass as most locals call it. 

It had been many years since the last time I set foot on the islands of Japan.  Honshu and it’s 34 prefectures and 227,962.59 square kilometers boasts 5450 kilometers of coastline with its highest peak elevation of 3776 meters or 12,388 feet atop what we know as Mount Fuji.

With all the possible bodies of water to fish out of from the Shimokita Peninsula in Oma, Aomori in the northernmost point, to the southern extreme of Kushimoto, Wakayama I was focused in on Kanagawa and the ports of Isogo, Yokohama.  Although my visit was short and I had a wedding to attend, fishing was on my mind. 

As we blast off out of the canal, the sights and sounds of Tokyo bay ignited a fresh indulgence of what the busy port has transformed the sea culture to become.  Concrete towers stacked into the sky fuming the exhaust of whatever was being made in their factories that led way to the open waters strategically populated with ocean liners, tugboats, commercial trawlers, and recreational fishing boats all traversing shipping lanes that spun out to further ports of call.  It’s a harmonic energy that transforms into one of the busiest destinations of trade in the world.