When it comes to Japanese fishing tackleshops or fishing manufactuers, you have brands that stick out for its brand and technology. Those who stick out for their quality and fan following.
But one Japanese fishing tackle manufacturer that sticks out is thanks to its founder, is FCL LABO, founded by Tsurusaki Yoshitaka, who originally worked as a lure designer for YO-ZURI. Before leaving in 1989 to start Atelier GL, which produces lures and jigs and sold the company and would go on to create his new startup, FCL LABO.
What is amazing is that his approach is quite old school. In fact, while many fishing companies promote their YouTube channel, while FCL LABO has one, what attracts people is the original website.
A website that looks oldschool during a time when Internet Explorer was a thing, when SMAP, Hamasaki Ayumi and Amuro Namie were topping the charts, when green public payphones were still a big part of Japan, in other words, it’s old school. But that’s perfectly fine. Most Japanese fish companies prefer Instagram, FCL LABO prefers Facebook.
You see, unlike Shimano or DAIWA with massive promotions and campaigns worldwide, FCL LABO let’s their products speak for themselves. Their products has a following and being one of the more pricier Japanese fishing products and they don’t believe in duplicating the market or following trends. They create products that they want to create and that is to create new ideas for greater joy in the sport.
But what the website does impart to fans of the brand is the whimsical blog posts by Tsurusaki Yoshitaka.
For example, when it comes to fishing basics, most would talk about their rod, reel, lures, even promote their product. For Tsurusaki, he doesn’t do that. He just writes:
Of course, as I mentioned earlier, bait and lures are fundamentally different things. Therefore, a piece of bait won’t fit perfectly into the shape of a lure. This requires certain conditions and techniques. These conditions and techniques are incredibly diverse, depending on whether you’re fishing at night, early morning, evening, early morning, or late evening. Unraveling these nuances yourself is the essence of this hobby. Some people might even use wooden sticks or store-bought lead rods as pieces (substitutes for bait). Simply put, if you’re not catching fish, it’s because you don’t understand the life cycle of the prey in that area. So, to catch fish, you need to start by gathering as much information as possible about the location, or by feeling it yourself. Of course, there might be times when you can catch fish in unfamiliar places because a well-known format already exists. However, generally speaking, this hobby cannot exist without an understanding of the fishing spots and the fish. I believe that building your strategy with this in mind is the true charm of this type of fishing. Of course, you might try formats developed by well-known figures for catching fish, but would you really play a game just by looking at guidebooks? Whether you constantly sense the atmosphere of the fishing spot and fish accordingly makes a huge difference. In offshore fishing, where you often rely on others, it can be quite tricky to determine where your own style begins. What are you doing? If you don’t forget that, fishing will become much easier. First, observe the situation and make your judgment. Unless you absolutely want to get results in a new place, I think it’s important to enjoy the process and delve deeper into it.
For theories of Tsurusaki:
Whether or not I’m attracting attention as an outlaw in the lure fishing industry, this page explains what kind of fishing I do and why. I’m just an ordinary person, not a mutant. First of all, please understand that the fishing I do on a daily basis doesn’t require any particular strength, and I’m simply doing it in my own way. I want you to know that I’ve chosen one path out of many methods that may yield answers
We don’t employ any testers or monitors Tsurusaki designs and produces everything himself. We will continue this policy going forward, and therefore we will not be accepting inquiries in that direction. Also, please be wary of suspicious individuals who falsely claim to be testers or monitors in online sales, etc.
His experiences lead to really good practical advice:
Japanese anglers are prone to status quo bias.
I’ve been working in this industry for 42 years now. I’ve been an angler even longer, but in the old days, nylon was the main material for fishing, and leader lines were only used in surf fishing or in systems where the line was separated by swivels, such as in live bait fishing. Only anglers who mainly use bait or soft plastics are aware of the concept of a leader, and it was common to connect the nylon main line directly to the lure. It was around the time that the famous old man introduced GT fishing to Japan that the idea of reinforcing the leader line spread among hardcore anglers, but it took a full 5-7 years for the shift from the predominantly direct connection culture to the idea that building a leader system was essential to the general public. I remember that it also took time to switch to fishing mainly using PE line because of the effort required to build the system. But what do you think? The fact that record fish sizes have been broken one after another must be largely due to overcoming those difficulties.
While the potential benefits of new technologies are understood, they are often cumbersome. Concerns about public opinion, safety, and other uncertainties lead to hesitation towards new approaches. This is understandable, as maintaining a skeptical attitude towards innovation and sticking to the status quo contributes to the survival of the existing system.
Our company also offers a variety of products, such as tapered leaders, sinking pencils with unconventional swimming mechanisms, and ridiculously large minnows. However, many people are afraid of change, and I know from personal experience that they often can’t accept the disadvantages that change might bring.
But what about today’s common sense, rather than today’s innovations? What do you think? Many of these things were rejected not so long ago. Fishing is expensive. Some people would even say it’s cheaper to buy equipment, right? That’s because we consider it a hobby, and we accept it ourselves. If everyone were a fisherman, most people would quit fishing as soon as possible. But since it’s a hobby, there’s no need to focus on the day’s catch. If my fishing season was ending tomorrow, I would stick to my usual, standard equipment and familiar gear. But if you want to continue fishing a week from now, a year from now, or ten years from now, then case studies and an understanding and discernment of new equipment are essential for developing your hobby. Anglers who are only thinking about catching more fish than others often don’t reach this point.
And even understanding the essentials of fishing:
If you replace the act and purpose of fishing with eating breakfast, the main purpose is to fill your stomach, and it doesn’t matter at all whether you start with rice, miso soup, or side dishes. You need to think calmly about what you should do to achieve the purpose and goal of catching fish. Whether you fish slowly, at a high pitch, or with long casts and fast retrieves with pauses, you are free to do as you please as long as you get results. However, the world is full of anxieties, and there is no end to anglers who only follow what others approve of. This is especially true in jigging. For example, in casting, there are various methods of enticing the fish, such as slowly, quickly, intermittently, still, just floating, just falling, etc. If you want to consistently catch fish from the same fishing spot, it is only natural to make that effort. Of course, lure choice is also related to this. Yet, it feels a little strange that there is a trend to celebrate using jigs a little slowly in jigging as if it were something special. It’s obvious that once the lure is out of your reach, your options are limited, and if you try to spread the idea that you’ll catch fish by casting and letting the lure float, people will just think, “What is this guy doing?” It’s clear that you’ll only be taken seriously, but there are far too many things that make me think that the people involved in developing jigging are thinking a little too childish. First of all, what do you need to do to catch fish, as I mentioned earlier? Whether you eat the side dishes first or the rice first, the first thing you need to do is be in a place close to your destination. In other words, if you want to eat breakfast, the first thing you need to do is be in a place where you can sit down before breakfast. Yet, if you’re relying on a captain whose intuition may or may not be good, and making plans months in advance, leaving the weather, tides, and other sea conditions to chance, you should realize that something is wrong, and I think it’s necessary to look at it objectively. Whether it’s shore casting or bass boat fishing, what is the first element of fishing? Identifying where the fish are. If you leave that to others and stubbornly push your own ego, it’s only natural that you’ll end up in a situation where no matter how much you do air jigging, you won’t get any results. However, it doesn’t reflect as severely on the results as it does on the shore, and the catch is adjusted in proportion to the amount of money you pay lol. So, when the remaining 10-20% of the negotiation on the boat gets into religious elements, it’s hopeless. People split into those who believe the emperor has no clothes and those who believe he’s dressed nicely, and they can never mix like oil and water. Well, they can do whatever they want there. I think there will be opportunities to receive various kinds of instruction at fishing shows and other events next year, but the basic point is as I mentioned earlier, and you should understand that whether it’s slow or high-pitch, or any kind of jig, if it’s in the fish’s mouth, it will basically hit. If you post a picture of a fish on social media, refugees will flock to the same fishing spot on the shore. That’s only natural and understandable. First of all, there must be a place and conditions. Everyone wants the answer because they know that’s the shortest path to the fish. The type of lure you use—whether it’s a carrot with a hook or a weight—wouldn’t significantly affect the results, though it might not be as romantic. However, if asked which is more important, the first condition is definitely more important, and the way you move the lure or the action of the rod are undoubtedly secondary or even tertiary. It’s something necessary for someone who catches 100 kg to catch 120 kg, to increase 10 fish to 12, not to go from 0 to 10. However, recently a new type of angler has been coming onto the boat. They say, “I want to catch fish with this,” and diligently cast some expensive 30 cm wooden pencil lure, even though everyone else is jigging. When asked about their experience catching fish with it, the usual answer is “never,” but they don’t give up and keep casting whenever they feel like it. From my perspective, they are quite a new kind of ascetic. Well, slow jigging probably has something to do with it. A yearning for the unexpected results of oneself—is fishing not fishing? This is a case that is a little incomprehensible to me, a Showa-era raised angler.
Heck, even the descriptions of the rods and lures are fascinating. For example, for the UC11.5ft 2S, the description is as follows:
UC11.5ft 2S (Double S) (spinning rod) – The latest version of the 2S series.
This time I made it longer. The reason it needs to be longer is because 11ft variants are popping up all over the place. Still, I think the current 2S is a very good rod, but I personally thought that if I was going to make a new one, I would definitely want to make a longer one. Of course, the longer it is, the longer the flight distance will be. In other words, if it is longer than 11ft, it will definitely carry more distance than 11. However, the feeling becomes worse.
It is a physical problem of carbon fiber due to its length. This is because the needs for length, weight and hardness are among the conflicting physical properties in our case. When the second version of the beta version was completed, I actually made a rod up to 12ft, but with the technology 14 years ago, it was rejected because the lightness and elasticity were not what I wanted. As time passed, I found a product that I was satisfied with at 11.5ft, so I decided to sell it.
It is a good rod that can demonstrate its superiority due to its length. How can the plug be used accurately? That is the basis of 2S’s design. Here is the tool I am looking for, which is not made by referring to any other rod.
And while they have many videos on YouTube, they haven’t really posted anything new since October 2018. But you get some good videos, specially on tapered leader:
He does have a new YouTube channel with a few videos:
But check out his YouTube channels and the website and read his blog posts! Fascinating and fun to read!
