The sun came up. We changed colour. First cast.
The colour that worked at first light was not the colour that worked once the sun was up. After four or five hours of nothing, the answer came the moment we changed.
Why this video
The morning after part one, fishing tip-run off Takeshima in Kagoshima. The first squid came about five minutes after leaving the harbour, on Red Aji Orange — the colour picked as the standard opener for first light.
Then it stopped. Three hours passed before the next hit; for KEYSTONE evangelist Kubo, four or five hours went by from that first cast of the morning without a touch. All the while the sun climbed and the light changed.
Partway through, the colour went over to Galaxy Glow Olive — and the first cast after the change produced a fish. What this video happens to record is the handover from one colour to another across a single day. Not only what was caught, but when the change was made and to what.
Key Moments
Our Analysis
The first squid of the morning fell to Red Aji Orange. The better fish that followed came on Daybreak size 4.0 in Galaxy Glow Purple, on Daybreak size 3.3, and on Daybreak size 4.0 in Ruru Purple. Once the sun was up the jig went over to Galaxy Glow Olive, and the first cast after that produced a fish. The change was made on the light: "the sun is out, so Galaxy Glow Olive."
Change the light and you change how the jig reads underwater. A colour that works in the low light of dawn is not necessarily the one that works once the sun is on the water. A fish on the first cast after a change could be coincidence — but the remark that "this colour bailed us out last year too" suggests the same colour has earned its place under the same conditions more than once.
When the bites stop: stay with it, or change colour. On this day the answer arrived immediately after the change. What prompted it was neither the sounder nor the tide, but the light — the sun coming up. This is the argument for carrying several colours of the same shape, so that colour alone can be changed.
Field Data
- Country
- Japan
- Region
- Kagoshima
- Location
- Takeshima
- Time of day
- Dawn to daytime
- Target
- Bigfin reef squid
- Lure
- Daybreak
- Size
- Size 3.3 (35g) / 4.0 (39g)
- Colour
- Red Aji Orange / Galaxy Glow Purple / Ruru Purple / Galaxy Glow Olive
- Method
- Tip-run
- Angler
- Kubo
Beyond the Video
The footage is mostly the fish that were landed, but taken as a whole it was a hard day. The wind forecast mentioned in part one arrived as predicted, and they describe the boat drifting fast enough to make fishing awkward. There were four or five hours without a bite, and a painful loss when a PE line parted high up. Of the eight, one went home without a squid. "Last year was better" was their own summary. A water with 4kg and 5kg fish on the record still gives you this when the conditions do not line up.
The Lure's Role
Daybreak size 3.3 (35g) / 4.0 (39g)
A tip-run dedicated egi. The centre of gravity sits high so the jig works vertically. It comes in size 3.3 (35g) and size 4.0 (39g), with the colour range built so that colour can be swapped while the shape stays the same.
Four colours were in play: Red Aji Orange, Galaxy Glow Purple, Ruru Purple and Galaxy Glow Olive. Rather than changing size, they changed colour to match the light. At the end of the video the season here is put at through May and into June, with a recommendation to try it aboard BG Fishing Boat. The background to the trip and the water itself are covered in part one.
From the Workshop in Arita
The egi used in this video are made at the KEYSTONE factory in Arita, Saga Prefecture, Japan.
MADE TODAY IN ARITA
If it will not play, watch it on YouTube。
