A place you can't enter unless the tide pulls out
At high tide, the footing here is completely submerged. So you can only cast for the few hours after the water level drops.
Put another way, it's not a place anyone can just casually show up to. Which means the squid here aren't pressured either.
The depth is around 1–3 m. Weed grows in patches among the gaps in the rock, and you can catch glimpses of bait too. It was the kind of place where one look tells you "they're here."
In a place people don't fish,
there's a squid no one has taken yet. ── Azuma / Keystone Marketing Team
The color: Day Rock Brown
Weed beds, and bait present. That means the squid should be chasing fish.
What I pulled from the case was the "Day Rock Brown" of the EgiSharp No.3.8 V0+.
Trace this color back to its roots and it's the successor to Real Bait Brown. Built on a brown base that blends into rock and weed, it's an egi that's easy to show to squid chasing bait.
Why I chose this color
A hue tuned to bait ── Because it carries on the Real Bait Brown lineage, it's less likely to give squid chasing fish a sense of unnaturalness.
A brown tone that blends into the background ── Inside weed beds and reef it doesn't stand out too much, yet it keeps the silhouette firmly intact.
The first one I reach for when I want a naturalness that won't get seen through more than flashy appeal.
Cuttlefish, and then over 1 kg
Watching for the moment the tide starts to drop, I move into the spot. First, I check the signs of bait and how thick the weed is with my own eyes.
Making the most of the V0+'s slow sink rate, I drop it gently into the gaps between the weed.
Within a few casts, thunk — it loads up. I bring it in and it's a cuttlefish. The first piece of the answer, confirmed.
Without resting the spot, I run the same line once more. The breaks in the weed, then the rock edges, one by one.
The instant I set the hook, the drag screamed. The size was clearly different — an over-1kg bigfin reef squid.
On days when they're keyed in on bait,
Day Rock Brown.
Looking back once it was over
When I decide on a color in the shallows, I'm watching two things. What the squid are feeding on. And whether the color blends into the background.
For squid chasing bait, a flashy color doesn't click. The sense of wrongness comes first. On a day like today with fish present, choosing a bait-leaning color feels like the honest answer.
As for the background, over weed beds and reef a brown series settles in best. Day Rock Brown was a handy color that clears both of those.
The V0+ range, the No.3.8 size, and the color. Today just happened to be a day when all of it clicked together.
The time you can enter is limited. So there's no time to hesitate. On the very first cast, you go to place the day's answer. That's all it is.
EgiSharp & Day Rock Brown Q&A
It's a color that carries on the Real Bait Brown lineage, and it's especially strong on days when squid are chasing bait. It blends into the background even within weed beds and reef, yet the silhouette stays firmly intact, so it's less likely to give a sense of wrongness even in the day game. It's the first one I'd want you to try on a day when you feel "there's fish about."
As the name suggests, the V0+ is a model tuned to sink on the slow side, suited to shallows around 1–3 m deep. Because you can let it drift patiently over weed and along rock edges, it's easy to use when you want to fish tight while avoiding snags. It's a reliable one for situations where you want to show it slowly.
Since your window is short, not hesitating is what matters most. Read the productive color and range early in your first few casts, then focus on hitting the pinpoint spots. I do it with the mindset of not lingering and finding the answer in a short time. And, obvious as it sounds, don't neglect checking your footing and your safety gear. The tide comes back in fast, too.