The character
After the one in Granville, he was in Brest at Logonna Daoulas. Of course, I didn't miss this meeting. He came to present his vision as a fisherman, and his creations are made to answer the questions he asks himself on the water's edge. He's a truculent character, with a perfect command of French, which he handles with humor, and his speech is punctuated with anecdotes, both in France and in his native country.
His vision of fishing is unquestionably modern, even if he has been developing or participating in the development of major lures for almost 30 years, all over the world and for the biggest brands. He thinks in terms of fish, mainly sea bass, his favourite fish. He is constantly on the lookout for "THE ULTIMATE LURE", the lure that will systematically trigger an attack.
His speech
His creations have been available from distributors since the beginning of the year, and we've already written a few articles here on the models currently on the market. He explained to us the different ways to handle his Rafales and Mirages to optimum effect.
These lures are highly technical in their construction, but very easy to handle once in the water. No big gestures, no violent twitching to make the lure move, just a delicate, linear retrieve that's smooth and slow enough. The lure swims and undulates by itself, as I explained in a previous article.
Hiroshi's main concern is the vibrations the line can cause, especially if it's a bit belly-heavy and you use braid. He prefers to use a very good nylon, which is less prone to this feedback of vibrations in the line. His watchword is: the lure must move without making the line sing! When casting, he also recommends regaining contact with the line just before the lure hits the water, to avoid taking up any slack at the start of the retrieve, as the lure is effective as soon as it starts moving. The retrieve is linear, you can play with the retrieve speed, you can also stop reeling to make the lure go down into the water. A sinking lure, it will be most effective between 50 cm and 1.50 m depth.
As for colors, he likes yellow, a little fluorescent, iridescent, and has a soft spot for pink. He rightly explains that fodder (like sardines) in moving water has pink sides. While his lures are fitted with sturdy treble hooks, he's not averse to singles. He recommends using double or triple the size of single hooks than triple hooks. As weight is important, the two mounted singles should have the same weight as the original trebles.
When it comes to lure sizes, it's more for the larger sizes, with a forthcoming model, soon on the market, to be a little over 160 in length.
A lipless is also coming soon, and he's taking advantage of his visit to France to test them out. Due to its shape, this lipless will not transmit vibrations into the blank, so more on that soon.
Meet him
There are still two conferences left, one in St Brieuc and one in Vannes, before he heads back to Japan. I can only advise you to go and meet this colorful character. His speech demonstrates a wealth of experience, recognized the world over, in the pursuit of sea bass, thank you Mr Hiroshi.
