Smart Body, Bait Silhouette

A new option in egi (squid jig) for boat squid fishing has arrived! Development of the DripBait actually began some eight or nine years ago, before the word "omorig" had even started to circulate. But the explosive popularity of the MonroEgi night-squid tune created a production-capacity problem, and development was put on hold. In recent years, however, boat night-squid fishing has seen a wide range of techniques and approaches take shape, and we came to feel that an egi with "a silhouette closer to the baitfish" was needed. So we resumed development. The body uses a rigid urethane foam material to deliver a truly [Smart Body] and [Bait Silhouette].

A Silhouette Close to the Baitfish

Most of the baitfish drawn to a boat's fish-attracting lights are slim little fish such as sardines and silver-stripe round herring (kibinago). The idea behind the "DripBait" is to match its silhouette to that bait so as not to give the squid any sense of wrongness. What made us start thinking that silhouette matters so much was the recent "black craze." Squid that have risen up respond noticeably better to colors with a strong, dense silhouette. If colors like black that project a clear silhouette are effective, then surely an egi with an even more bait-like silhouette is called for. It was with that thought in mind that we picked up development of the DripBait, which had been on hold, once again.

Mimicking a Weakened Baitfish

Watching how squid feed, you notice they rarely charge into a school of baitfish to hunt. More often they lock onto a single target, striking the moment it strays from the school, or they prefer to prey on weakened bait. Wondering whether we could reproduce that kind of bait-like movement with an egi, we tuned the balance for a "horizontal fall." Fall rate is important too: too fast and the window for enticing a bite is too short; too slow and the egi loses out to the current. The setting we arrived at was a [fall rate of 5-6 seconds per meter].

Fall Rate of 5-6 Seconds per Meter

As with the development of the MonroEgi night-squid tune, we initially set the fall rate per meter as slow as possible for the DripBait as well, out of a desire to lengthen the window for enticing a bite. However, under conditions like cast omorig or fast current, the egi's movement inevitably became unstable and bites grew harder to detect, so in the end we set the fall to 5-6 seconds per meter. Doing so made bites dramatically easier to draw.

For Winter Spear Squid, Too

Among the products that represent KeyStone are sutte such as the "rigid foam floating sutte" and the "floating-plastic hybrid-hook" sutte, all designed with an emphasis on slimness. These were brought to market in response to requests from commercial fishermen, for the reason that "the baitfish the squid are targeting are slim." We believe they are especially effective for winter spear squid (yari-ika, also called tenashi-ika or sasa-ika). Why do slim floating sutte appeal to spear squid? It is said to relate to the length of the squid's tentacles. Traditionally, winter spear-squid fishing was commonly done with slim plastic prawn-jigs (plazuno). The reasoning is that the spear squid, with its slim, short tentacles, has a weak grip when clamping down on bait, so it prefers to feed on slim bait it can hold firmly. For all these reasons, the DripBait should prove its worth in winter spear-squid fishing as well.

Compared with the MonroEgi Night-Squid Tune

The difference from the MonroEgi night-squid tune is as shown in the image: against the proven, rock-steady Monroe night-squid tune, the DripBait offers less resistance and works highly effectively as an ika-metal dropper. With a new option added to the lineup for omorig and ika-metal droppers, the fun of going on the attack grows even greater. * Additional sizes for the DripBait series are also under consideration going forward.

Handling Precautions

The DripBait is designed exclusively for squid fishing. Under normal use it will not break easily, but if a greater-than-expected load is applied, the egi may break. - Past cases While a hooked squid was being reeled in, a fish such as a red sea bream attacked the squid, snapping the carbon shaft that secures the crown hook (kanna) and causing the loss of the crown hook. A fish such as a pufferfish hooked the egi, and after landing, the fish thrashed while the hook was being removed, breaking the body. Please understand that in cases such as these we are unable to offer compensation.