The night before a fishing trip always gets me excited. Thinking about what to throw and what kind of fish I might encounter keeps my mind running to the point where I can hardly sleep.
I wake up before dawn, pour some coffee into my tumbler, and head out. As I hook up the boat to my car and start thinking about the fish and the bait, the excitement just keeps building. Then I glance up at the sky, and daybreak has begun.
The sky, painted with the soft gradients of early morning, is even more beautiful in person than in photos.
After about an hour and a half, I arrive at the lake. The sakura are in full bloom. Spring brings me plenty of trouble with pollen allergies, but it’s also the season when flowers begin to bloom and I can fish surrounded by that energy of life.
I finish preparing quickly and get out on the water. I fish with a focus on reading the progression of the season. In spring, I feel that soft swimbaits are especially effective—they can produce subtle, natural actions that hard swimbaits can’t. Still, since I’m also testing prototypes, I tie on the EDEN9 and a deep swimbait.
Because this lake sits in the mountains, the seasonal progression might be slightly delayed. But that’s exactly why the fish that are starting to move shallow right now should be big.
It rained the day before, and water is flowing from an inlet that’s usually dry.
I had hoped for some stained water, but lakes like this in the mountains rarely get muddy. I slowly glide the EDEN9, targeting fish that I expect to move up shallow. Time passes with no response.
Curious about the soft swimbait, I tie on a Nate’s Baits 9. I cast it onto a shallow area rising up from deeper water, using the bait’s presence to draw fish in. As I reel slowly, just when I think nothing is coming up, a fish suddenly rushes out from submerged cover near the boat. I shift from a slow retrieve to a faster one with a change in tempo, and it bites aggressively.
But it only gets hooked for a split second—then it’s gone.
Frustrating, but at the same time, it confirms how effective soft swimbaits—especially paddle tails—can be in this season.
There’s something addictive about this style of fishing. Even the way they bite feels unique. At one point, right after I lightly snag the bait on underwater structure and pop it free, a fish charges in and bites hard—but again, it comes off. It’s clear I need to rethink my hook setup.
I finish lunch quickly and return to the spot where I had action, revisiting it multiple times at different timings. But the fish are no longer responding. Maybe I showed them the same bait too many times, or maybe I could have experimented more with color changes. Something to improve for next time.
I kept throwing swimbaits until sunset, but I didn’t land a fish that day. Still, I was able to identify several points to improve on the prototypes. The deep swimbait, especially after redesigning the tail, now has a really good action.
There are still some refinements to make, but I think it will be ready in time for the peak season from summer into fall.
I’ve also come up with ideas for new baits—ones I strongly feel are needed based on my experience in the U.S.—so I want to start building and testing those as well. Even though I couldn’t quite sync up with the fish this time, I learned a lot. And being able to fish while surrounded by blooming sakura made it a great day. Sakura really are beautiful.
I’ll keep writing about my fishing in Japan, but I also need to finish writing about my U.S. trips soon… lol
Hopefully next time, I’ll meet a true spring giant.
