Battle of the Japanese Jerkbaits

The title says it all. Even though there are a lot more lure manufacturers out there, the JDM market has it’s own, proprietary jerkbait category, unlike no other.

One of the most spectacular fishing techniques, of course if you remove topwater from the equation, is jerkbaitin’. I’m sure you won’t argue with me on this one.

The Battle of the Japanese Jerks is dedicated to the downsized jerkbait family, conceived specially for Area fishing. I’m in love with finesse fishing, no matter if it’s trout, chub, perch or whatever. The sheer elegance involved in light and ultra light fishing wins me every time.

Introduction
I’ll expose the competitors for this shootout. More lures would actually fit into this test, but I believe 4 is in perfect balance to get real results, right at the border of not getting superficial. You’ll notice some of them can be found all over the internet, while others are quite rare pieces of furniture. All of them are made from plastic and all are in the 10-15$ price range, in the premium lure category.

When spending money on these small baits I always question my sanity, mainly because it doesn’t really take a long time to lose one, considering I fish them with 4-6 lb line (maximum 0.18mm diameter).

Lucky Craft Pointer 48SP We all know about the notorious Pointer 78 SP. Yup! The one with the “bad reputation” of the best jerkbait on the planet. Not far fetched, but its 48mm child is up for the challenge.

Yo-Zuri Pins Floating Magnet Minnow 50mm.Due to the success of the Pins Minnow, Yo-Zuri has now added the Pins Magnet to the family. It benefits from the patented Yo-Zuri Magnetic Weight Transfer System, making them highly castable and precise for their size. I’ve had a few over the years, but this is the one that never failed me. You can tell from the injuries that never healed.

Smith LUNA 47SP and 47SP SH As you might already have read, this one is the Trout Shore World Championship winner. It flashes like no other jerkbait, and it casts just perfect. If you want this lure as bad as I did you will probably find it in the end.

Duel Sea Fox 50mm. A bit deeper diving than the rest of these jerkbaits it’s a fish catcher as well as an eye catcher. Even though meant for saltwater use I couldn’t resist it.

First impressions
There’s no doubt they all share quality components, but let’s see what we pay, and what we get. We won’t discuss the packing solutions for these lures, as it doesn’t count in the final result.

Lucky Craft Pointer 48SP
You can find them at about 14$ all over the internet now, even though they were really hard to find prior to 2010. As you would expect from a Lucky Craft product, the finish and detailing is impeccable. You just can’t resist those deep dark eyes. High quality trebles, very sharp, even though they can be easily bent. I don’t get that hung up on this detail, as I don’t really get to fish them with higher rated than 6lb line. The eyes, as on most JDM lures are 3D, even though they lack the holographic finish. They even went to the extent of adding scale like detail to the lures body.

Yo-Zuri Pins Floating Magnet Minnow 50mm. 10.95$, the cheapest of these four jerkbaits it came in an impeccable, but not very high gloss finish. It felt it had lesser protection than the Pointers. Yo-Zuri didn’t leave any details to chance either. Very well designed gill plates, bit more on the aggressive side, and as well as all JDM lures they are paired with 3D holographic eyes. The trebles even though very sharp, I had to exchange them with tougher ones. At the time I bought Yo-Zuri Pins Magnet Minnow I could only find them in the floating version. Interesting enough since I’ve had my first Pins Magnet they added both sinking and suspending version, which means the public loves them, considering they only cost 11$.

Smith LUNA 47SP and 47SP SH
I payed 36$ for 2 used Luna’s, shipping included. That makes them the most expensive on the list. Finish is impeccable, even though stated as used lures. Very sharp and durable trebles. Much harder to bend. They compensate in flashy action what they lack in detail. Smith has a more classic approach to detailing their lures, compared to the other Japanese manufacturers. Finish seems to be durable at first glance, but we still have to wait and see.

Duel SeaFox 50mm
In the cheaper premium baits range, the Sea Fox can be purchased for about 12$. The same detailing is as on the Pins Magnet, but heavier wired trebles, and sharp as well. I just could not notice the pixels in the paint job. I would’ve probably never noticed them if I wouldn’t have taken these pictures.  The color of the trebles don’t seem to bother me or the fish, so I didn’t feel like changing them so far. It also presents 3D holographic eyes.

These are the preliminaries. We’ll have to wait and see the results from the field tests. Stay tuned !