A 41 cm seabass on ester line and a double soft lure

A 41 cm seabass on a double soft lure, with Red Eye ester line in Japanese size #0.4. Around midnight on 22 August 2020.

That was the double soft lure for you.

No school of aji was passing through, and we had been trying one thing after another.

My wife had caught just two lingering aji, each around 27 cm.

I had not even had a bite. By the end I was getting thoroughly irritated—excuse me.

A fast retrieve under the light

I put on a 7.5 g sinker and wound quickly through mid-water in the strong current, beneath the light.

Then—bang!

The drag sang.

There it was! Pulling the line all over the place. A big fish.

I looked at my wife beside me. Her expression was simply, “Hmm?”

“This is a big one.”

As I tried to bring it up, it pulled down harder. The drag went again.

What was this? It did not seem to be an aji.

The net was in the car

“The net!” I said.

The trouble was, someone would have to go back to the car.

I looked at my wife. No sign of movement.

What? Not going? Not going to get the net?

Her face seemed to say, “For an aji that might or might not be 30 cm? Surely you don’t need a net.”

Then the fish drove down again.

“The… the net! Please go and get it!”

At last, she moved. Phew.

Perhaps five minutes later, just as the fish rose, I could see a silver body.

A chinu—a black sea bream?

It came higher. A seabass!

At the surface, it gave the customary violent shake of its head, sending water flying.

Still hooked. Hmm. This might work.

Another strong dive, then it rose again. Two or three more repetitions, and it began to look tired.

Finally, into the net

Time to land it.

“Lower the net.”

My wife somehow seemed rather unenthusiastic. The net was still in the air.

“Um… could you lower the net?”

At last, it went into the water.

“Just leave it there. I’ll bring the fish into it.”

From about two metres away, I drew the fish straight towards us. It went directly into the net.

We had it.

A seabass on ester line!

My wife: “What lure are you using?”

“A double soft lure.”

“Ah. I see.”

How very calm.

The rod and line

The rod was an early 34 HSR-610 Advancement.

Although the stated casting limit was 5 g, I had cast up to 9 g without a problem in my own use.

So 7.5 g still felt as though it left me some room, and I used it as an everyday working weight.

For that crisp, satisfying feeling through the cast, though, perhaps 6 g was the limit.

In any case, it cast very well. I was getting more distance than with the HSR-73. The crispness felt wonderful.

I liked Red Eye ester line for its almost metallic firmness. At the same Japanese line size, it felt strongest to me, and it cut through the water well.

But I could not see it at night.

That was one weakness. Another was that it came only in 150 m spools—too short for me.

I cut back ester line as I used it on each fishing trip, so 150 m soon disappeared.

My final strategy? Yes: try not to cut off quite so much. Ha.

There is very little in the world that is good in every respect. I keep coming back to that.

Still, perhaps that is all right. It gives someone else the encouragement to develop something better.

The setup in my notes

• Main line: Red Eye ester, Japanese size #0.4.
• Connection: no intermediate leader; tied directly to a clip snap with a figure-eight knot, passing through three times.
• Homemade carrier sinker: 7.5 g, with 15 cm of sliding travel.
• Leader: Grandmax, Japanese size #1, 35 cm long.
• Double soft lure: Aji Adder Pro in clear, paired with Fisit Nude in silver.
• Hook: Split Shotter #6.

I found the figure-eight knot very strong when I passed through three times.

With three passes, simply pulling it tight tended to introduce twists. Before tightening, I used my fingers to slide the knot down to the end, then snugged it up.

I believe strengthening the knot was part of what allowed me to land that seabass.

The casting weights and knot-strength comments describe the author’s own experiments, rather than revised manufacturer limits or measured breaking strengths. The source calls the fish seigo, a Japanese term for a smaller seabass.

For photographs of the idea, see Two soft lures. A different kind of bite. A later outing with an early HSR-610 is described in A broken ajing rod on #0.4 ester line.