Since I was able to catch some Flounders 2 weeks in a row, this time I went boat fishing. It was my very first boat fishing this year! I departed from Newport Beach (Newport Beach Landing) to catch some Sculpin Fish and Sandbass.

There were about 40 people on the boat with quite a few people, but because of the strong winds that day, a lot of people were getting sea-sick so I actually had a lot of space to fish. It took about 45 minutes to the fishing spot, and once I started fishing, I immediately felt a hit on my rod!! It was a 13 inch Scorpaenopsis! The rod and reel I had purchased half a year ago was doing great! Afterwards I kept catching more, and from adding the small ones also, I caught 9 fishes!!

My fishing technique that day was to drop the fishing weight to 160ft and to just wait, which was actually the captain’s advice to me. But I decided to drop it all the way down to the bottom and then lifted it about 50cm. Disregarding the swaying of the boat, I kept the line tension stretched tight and waited for a hit. I believe that was the reason I was able to catch a lot that day.

We then moved to our final destination to aim for some Sandbass. I used the Shell Spin and dropped it to 15m in depth. Here there was a bet going on to who can catch the first fish for the Jackpot! I got fired up and waited for a hit. After 5min a different fisherman caught a Sandbass and the bet was over! A 10 minute competition… what a short fishing time. However, out of everyone else not being able to catch much, I caught 9, so in result I’m very satisfied!

If only there was a heavier Shell Spin lure~!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

P.S. I made my fishes into Sashimi and ate it.

In this report, I want to talk about the SWBA Tournament which was held on April 2nd. There are 6 tournaments every year and it was the 2nd one this year (Also sponsored by Lucky Craft & IMA)!

It was located in Marina del Rey and over 80 boats participated in this competition. Every year there are more and more teams participating, but regardless, there were all eyes on our Lucky Craft pro staff Team Gerry (right image) and Team Jimmy (left image). They both had a very nice Bass limit!! They didn’t win the competition, but they were able to make it in the top 10 rank!! What skilled anglers… I asked Gerry in private where he was able to catch those fishes and he kindly answered, “in the rocky point”! We also made plans to go fishing together next time!

They use the same measuring system and equipments as the BASS/FLW tournaments, and each year it progresses. I’m confident to say that this SWBA, saltwater fishing tournament will definitely be the next big thing!
This day’s BIG BASS was 7lb!

And the winner was Team Hammer with a 19 pounder!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

P.S. I got to take a picture with the founder of SWBA!
(From the left is: Matt (IMA), James (SWBA), Eric (SWBA) and Lucky Craft reporter)

Lucky Craft fans all across the world~, it is time for the Daily Flash Minnow Report!

Continuing from last week, I had gone to the pier in Long Beach! Started my day at 6:30am and as the forecast said it was a sunny day! The highest temperature went up to 29℃ (84.2 F). At the pier, even in the early morning, there were already a lot of fishermen and the popular spots were taken by the time of my arrival. But there were still few spaces left and I was able to start casting with a FM110. Then I realized right below me was several flock of fishes! I thought I just might catch one today. However…while not being able to catch any, I observed my neighbors bait fishing carefully. If they weren’t able to catch any from bait fishing, I came to a conclusion that there probably aren’t any fishes below, so I decided to change locations!

Around 10 o’clock, there was barely any wind coming by and I decided to long cast in a very wide range from the beachside. I made sure to cast at the right timing by observing the wave movements, and cast behind the wave! Instead of aiming the very bottom, I tried to aim the upper surface to appeal the Flounders (Hirame)! I didn’t get any reaction from aiming 50cm from the surface with the FM110, so I changed it to the PT100 (White with yellow belly). With that I aimed from the bottom to the top. I continued to cast while traveling 3m, and as I was about 250m away from the parking lot, I suddenly got a hit!! I pulled quickly and then…!

It was a Flounder (Hirame)!! It was big and thick too!!! Is this my long desired legal size fish!? Full of hope, I carefully measured the Flounder… it was 53cm (21in) with just 1 inch short from being a legal size… so I decided to release it. “Tonight’s dinner mission” (Quoted by SHINGO) had to be carried over for next time.

Although from catching Flounder, I’m starting to understand more on how to catch them. I know now that it is good to have color on the lure belly, the aiming time is right around the approaching high tide, and lastly it is better when there is more water clarity.

P.S. The white hooded fisherman was also using the FM110 (Candy).

Sandy

The day before my fishing trip it rained pretty hard so I thought about canceling. But then I remembered what my boss had told me before, “The day after it rains, you can catch quite a few fishes~!” And the morning of my fishing trip, it was completely opposite of how it was yesterday, it was an amazingly sunny day! I immediately headed out to go fishing.

I grabbed a casting rod for the FM110 & a Drop Shot rig rod for the bottom surface and finally arrived at Alamitos Bay. The wind was blowing very strongly towards me so it was impossible for me to long cast. So I thought of a plan, I decided to move to the pier!! I was able to fully cast in 6 directions with the FM110 & PT100 and aimed the upper surface area. But when that didn’t work, I also tried aiming the bottom! I cast in a pretty fast pace at about 10 cast per spot while walking along the pier.

I then arrived at the end of the pier and still had absolutely no response so I decided to go back to the beach.

For some reason I didn’t want to give up. I went back to my car to drop off the materials I didn’t need and then grabbed only one casting rod, FM, PT, and PTDD lures with me. I went to the corner of the pier and beach. I started off casting the FM110 (Color: Aurora Black) but got nothing… I tried out the PT100DD right after.

Then… Bam!! I got a hit!! I tried not to panic and slowly retrieved… it was a Flounder (Hirame)!! This was my very first fish caught this year from Okappari (Shore fishing).

The size was about 40cm (15”) long and quite small, but I finally caught one with a Lucky Craft lure!! My goal since the 2011 New Year was to catch a fish from Okappari (Shore fishing)! And finally I met my goal!! Now I can go on the boat.

See you all soon!

P.S. The expensive trigger I bought on my Japan business trip finally paid off!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Date: 3/17/11

It is time for the Daily Flash Minnow again. But to start off, I would like to send my deepest condolences to the all the people who was and still are affected by the great earthquake of Kanto, Japan.

Today I went to a local beach, Newport Beach for my fishing trip! Due to the rain from yesterday, the water was quite cloudy and it was also a foggy weather. The temperature was low, so I made a choice on aiming the bottom instead of the surface. This time, I brought 2 rods and used the Bass fishing essential item, the drop shot rig. The rods are made exclusively for casting and I used the PT78XD & FM120DD as my main lures.

The first half of the day, I casted with the reliable FM120DD! But when I didn’t get any kind of reaction, I changed it to a smaller lure size and continued to do a lure rotation between these lures: PT 100DD, PT 78XD, and PT 78DD. Unfortunately, I still didn’t get any response, so I tried out a less motion type lure, the Valid and continued to retrieve. Again, nothing.

It was my last resort, the Drop Shot!! I long casted the Drop Shot and dragged it on the bottom surface. And when I felt a change, I shook it a bit and then just waited! I continued to do that and finally by the jetty I felt a hit!! I immediately reacted to it, but the worm torn apart and failed… It was probably because the hook I was using on the worm was too big, so it didn’t hook on too well…
No fish again! But I did find out that there are fishes on the bottom area, so next time I’ll have that in mind and challenge with a rig next time.

Sandy

The Daily Flash Minnow

Today I went to “The Ultimate Outdoor Experience” held at the Long Beach Convention Center. It is an event where they have fishing and hunting products, advertisements for fishing trip packages and accommodations, boat displays, training sessions and performances, and a whole lot of other outdoor related activity booths and displays. It is a very festive event with a lot of people. During the weekday it starts from 2pm, so I decided to explore new areas and stop by Long Beach harbor to throw my Flash Minnow for a little while. But as I thought, it was still too early for Okappari (shore fishing).

So I ended my fishing a little before 2pm and headed to the location of the event. 30 minutes before the venue opened, the line was already very long!! But I thought I was still pretty lucky to be able to come during the weekday because on the weekend, this line would most likely be 5 times worse!
I finally entered the venue after lining up for awhile and I was stunned by the amount of people and booths! The venue was very big and it would probably take me a couple hours to look at every single one of them!! It is a pretty big event.

In this event, tackle shops have special prices on their products and they can be purchased for a very good price. It is a good chance for all fishermen who came!! Also, there are workers from several booths passing out samples! Such fabulous fan services.

On this day I was able to meet our Lucky Craft regional pro angler, Gerry. I got to plan on going fishing with him this summer for this Daily flash Minnow report. (At this time as a pro staff, Garry was at the DAIWA booth) Please stay tuned for this summer’s Daily Flash Minnow report!
The Long Beach Exhibition ended, but on March 24th~27th, there will be another event going on in San Diego, CA – Del Mar Fairgrounds. So for the people who couldn’t make it to the Long Beach event, please try to make it to the San Diego event. For more information please visit the link below:
http://fredhall.com/index.php

See you soon!
P.S. I also ran into Matt from Optimum Baits and Mr. Hill from my fishing trip at Vail Lake (http://www.luckycraftlure.com/fm/?p=287).

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

To all Lucky Craft fans out there~ this is the Daily Flash Minnow Weekly Report!
To continue my report from my previous upload, it is now about my experience on making the lures!

4. After finishing on creating my original colors, I poured in the Plastic Sole into “Double Diamond” moldings while creating gradation between colors trying to make it look exactly how I want it.

But~~ that it is tough! At what timing do I pour it in and stop! The amount poured makes a big difference in the design. I needed to carefully pour in the liquid and before one dries, the next color needed to be poured in to make a good mesh between the colors. And this had to continue in an orderly manner to make nice gradations.

5. The pouring process was completed and I thought we were going to let it dry for about an hour, but then Matt said to me, “So we will wait for about 10 minutes! Then we’ll take it out of the molding! So while we’re waiting, let’s make the other ones!” I was extremely surprised by the speed from drying to completion.
After repeatedly making it, this is what was completed! (Shown Below)

Isn’t it nice! Isn’t it pretty! Doesn’t it look delicious! It is a masterpiece!

Since I had a lot of time left, I challenged on making baits other than the “Double Diamond” such as: Shad, Wander, Frog, Ikura (Salmon Roe)!! By the way, the other colors that I made were not from a sample lure and it is my very own original color: Limited for Saltwater the “Bloody Midnight Blue” color! And if I were to catch a lot with it, maybe it can be created for sale…! So excited to use it!
And now I won’t have any shortage on lures this season!

I want to thank Matt and everyone else who has helped me through my lure making and picture taking also.

See you again soon!
Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

It is again time for the Daily Flash Minnow Weekly Report!
This is a continuation of my previous report of my visit to the Optimum Baits factory! And I would like to finally talk about my experience making the lures! There were 5 major steps to the process:
1. Choosing my original colors
2. Choosing a molding (depending on the type of lure I want)
3. Color mixing and preparation
4. Official making of the lure
5. Lure completed

1. About choosing my colors, Mat has previously advised me to bring some Lucky Craft lures as a color sample so it would be a lot easier for me to have a color image of what I want to create.
I wanted to be able to create something that I could use for this Daily Flash Minnow Fishing Report which would be a lure used for both Bass and saltwater fishing. I had chosen a color I really like: the “MS MJ Herring”. I got a sample of that color ready and started on my task. The “MS MJ Herring” is actually not sold for saltwater fishing purpose, but it is a very nice color.
　
2. After choosing the color, I had to decide on a lure design and size out of the many Optimum Baits carries. And finally out of the various types they had, I decided on the popular “Double Diamond” lure shape. (They also carry shapes like BLT, Frog, Worm, etc.)

3. The original color I chose previously was divided into 3 Plastic Sole colors which were getting melted in advance. I then slowly added some glitters and others to create a scale-like texture. Maximum of 3 colors can be chosen at this time. Based on the “MS MJ Herring” sample color chosen previously, the layers were carefully inserted into each container. And the layers started from the stomach part of the body with a light pink, then clear with a semi-blue glitter, and lastly a green colored back very similar to the original lure color. This process is the most important part where it determines the completed lure, so the amount of the mixture was carefully adjusted. This part was definitely too difficult for me to do. In the pictures shows Mat adjusting the color mixture over and over to get the right color for the light pink color used for the stomach area. He even went under direct sunlight and continued to check its color.

The rest will be continued on the next report…

See you soon!
The next report is “Lure Developing Experience Finale”

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Lucky Craft fans all across the world~! It is again time for the Daily Flash Minnow!

This time I went on an OPTIMUM BAITS Factory tour with Mat and had the opportunity to experience making some lures. The factory is located in Temecula, CA which is about 65 miles (~104km) from the Lucky Craft USA office. Southern CA’s famous Diamond Valley Lake was near the factory also. When I arrived there, Mat gave me a very warm welcome and said, “Welcome OPTIMUM BAITS Sandy-san!!”(By the way, Mat is also very fluent in Japanese). Unlike Lucky Craft, OPTIMUM BAITS is its own original and personal manufacturing company that makes lures for Bass and saltwater fishing. “How are these products being made?” will be the main subject this time. For a rookie fisherman like me, I was extremely curious to know! The OPTIMUM BAITS lure features a special liquid called the plastic sole which they bring to custom processing where you can freely construct its shapes to a fish, frog, and a bug. It is a soft rubber-like material so it might be in the same category as a soft lure. Also, the colors are unlimited. Mat told me that special pro models and even customer original models can be created too! There is even a Lucky Craft and OPTIMUM BAITS collaborating lure product now on sale so please try it out! (I will only show an image of the package. The inside is a secret)

OPTIMUM BAITS information are the following:

Home: http://optimumbaits.com/OB2/
Shop: http://store.optimumbaits.com/home/index/1573.0

See you next time! (I will be introducing the OPTIMUM BAITS lures on my next report)

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Lucky Craft fans all across the world~! It is again time for the Daily Flash Minnow!

This time, instead of my usual fishing report, I will like to introduce tackle shops located in Southern California due to a request from one of my blog readers. And from now on, I will continue to introduce more tackle shops as well as my fishing reports (Fresh Water or Salt Water fishing).

So in this report, I want to introduce a tackle shop called “The Longfin” located in the city of Orange. In this store they carry a wide range of fresh and salt water hard and plastic lures. It is 2 stories high and on the second floor they carry apparel products. Of course, they carry our Lucky Craft CIF series as well.

It is about 10 minutes away from the Irvine lake, so if you have the time please try to stop by.

“The Long Fin” information:
The Longfin
http://www.thelongfin.com/
2730 East Chapman AvenueOrange, CA 92869 (714) 538-8010

See you soon!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow