Yamamoto's Dream

It Starts with a Dream from Heidi Roth on https://vimeo.com">Vimeo

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The Gary Yamamoto Bait Company has a name that sounds more Japanese than anything but the company and the guy behind it would probably give apple pie a run for its money. Gary Yamamoto is An American, an air force vet and a bass tournament fisherman, but he is probably best known for his soft plastic fishing lures. His baits are still made in his factory in the USA by a mostly Native American Workforce whose ancestors were catching fish in the local lakes  and rivers long before anybody decided to wrap an apple in some pastry.  

But I am not here to provide free adverts, I am here with you guys to give this film a once over and see if we cannot learn something from these glimpses into his factory. Eyes peeled everybody there will be a test later.  

Beautiful stingy, biting, crawling things from Ootani of Japan

This little collection of creatures that wouldn’t look out of place behind the glass cabinets of a natural history museum are as you have guessed; handmade fishing lures from Japan. Their creator  Yuusuke Ootani lives a little northwest of Tokyo and sells his lure under the name Ootanikontyuukan to those samurai who have given up the sword in favour of a rod and river or lake full of bass ( those lucky bass).

Ootani carves the originals from wood and then makes a mould which he uses to cast lightweight resin  copies. He then hand paints the tiny stripes and details before fitting handmade wings, legs and hooks.

At the moment he sells his creations only in Japan and I sense those words may result in a few groans in other parts of the globe but he has plans to spread his wings. (I could not avoid that pun)

In the meantime we shall just have to be content to stare in wonder while we ignore our wives who are shouting for us to ‘get off the internet and come and get our dinner’.

This is his facebook page when your allowed back on-line https://www.facebook.com/ootaniyuusuke.ootani

The art of lure making, a film from WR Baits

I have been a big fan of the WR Baits, Youtube channel for a long time, Willem is a young guy from the Netherlands with probably a more varied fishing career than many and a way of using the camera that is often pure magic. I knew this latest film from him was going to be a firm favourite before I had even watched and I was not disappointed.

If your appetite has been wetted I strongly recommend you check out his show-reel and as always, likes and shares are the currency of the tinternet.  

Soft plastic creature baits made easy with ComposiMold

I am guilty of wanting to endlessly experiment with new lure making methods and this is a great one from a small US company called ComposiMold. Using their, reusable mould compound and a quick set silicone the world of making soft plastics appears to be a little more accessible, there is no hot pvc and wearing breathing apparatus..

The first video is straight copy of cheap toy bug but in the second there is kit with interchangeable parts so you can come up with your own baits which I really like as an idea.

I think I may have to put this on my wish list and see if it lives up to the videos but the principles are pretty sound and they seem like a nice bunch people that is until I watched the video below. I think they may have made this with a little bit of tongue and cheek but still I feel like I have wandered into the strange bit of the internet. Go check them out and if you give it go, let me know about your bait making adventures.   

ComposiMold website LInk