Legendary Japanese professional angler Jun Shoji has comes along ways from living in the United States and never bass fishing to residing and winning bass tournaments in Japan. Bass fishing is now his passion and major fishing manufactures have taken note. ima is one of these companies. ima is known for having an elite group of bass anglers that not only endorse the products, but help develop the lures. Now, Shoji has joined the ranks of those elite anglers by creating the new IMA Beast Hunter.

 

The ima Beast Hunter (www.imalures.com) was designed to run 10 to 13 feet deep. “I designed the Beast Hunter to fish in the mid-depth range and around the hydrilla on Lake Biwa in Japan,” said Shoji. His technique for fishing the Beast Hunter is simple, but effective for catching largemouth. “I like to cast it out and start reeling it back just ticking the top of the grass. When the crankbait gets stuck, I will give the rod tip a pop to rip the lure free. This causes the kick back out of the grass breaking it free and bass just can’t stand that and strike it,” said Shoji. Shoji also noted that the Beast Hunter is a year round bait and can catch largemouth in any season. “Some of the features that make it such a productive crankbait is the shape of the lip, two stainless steel bb’s, raised gill plates, and having a thicker body than other crankbaits. It also dives deeper with less resistance than most crankbaits and has a unique wobble and rolling action,” said Shoji.

Shoji (Contact Shoji at www.metan-x.com or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) guides over 150 days a year on Lake Biwa the largest freshwater lake in Japan. Lake Biwa is famous for the 22-pounds 4-ounce IGFA dual World Record All-Tackle Largemouth caught by Manabu Kurita. The Lake has over 100 guides on it, but Shoji is the only guide that speaks English; in fact he sounds more like someone from California than Japan. Interestingly the country of Japan doesn’t allow anglers to practice catch and release of largemouth bass. “In Japan it’s against the law to release a largemouth bass if you catch one, but on Lake Biwa if you guide than you are allowed to,” explained Shoji.  “Lake Biwa has one main channel that they keep the grass cut down for ship traffic and the edges of the grass are prime areas for catching big largemouth. “The lake is shaped like a pan without any defined ledges with one end of the lake with deep water; I like to fish the grass edges and look for irregular contours in the grass,” said Shoji. The lake is located in Shiga Prefecture just northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto and has lots of marina to launch boats from. “If you go there, you will see lots of bass boats and aluminum boats bass fishing,” said Shoji.

So the ima Beast Hunter catches fish over in Japan, but what about in the United States? Apparently, bass love them everywhere. Bassmaster Elite Professional Angler Fred Roumbanis has caught bass on prominent tournament lakes like Kentucky Lake and Lake Guntersville. Initially, the Beast Hunter with be available in six colors including bluegill, hot craw, blue sexy shad, citrus shad, Fred’s perch, and silver lining. It comes rigged with #2 Owner treble hooks and weighs ¾-ounces.

Are you thinking about going over to Japan and fishing on renowned Lake Biwa for trophy sized largemouth bass? Shoji would be happy to guide you. No doubt, you will fish with a Beast Hunter crankbait.