Since 2004, Shinichi Fukae of Osaka, Japan, has spent many March and April days on Beaver Lake in Arkansas in pursuit of largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, and meanmouth bass, competing against hundreds of top anglers of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour. The meanmouth, a natural cross between smallmouth and spotted bass, is caught increasingly in reservoirs of this region. On April 1, 2006, I accompanied Shin as he explored Beaver’s crystalline waters, his ninth day of prefishing for the event.
At the first light of dawn, air temperature hovered around 51°F in the countless steep coves and hollows of this highland reservoir. As the sun rose over the eastern horizon, hints of redbud and serviceberry blossoms embroidered the reservoir’s 497 miles of shoreline. Water temperature throughout the lower portions of the reservoir was 53°F and the water’s clarity at some spots neared 20 feet. The reservoir’s level was rising a bit each day, but its elevation of 1,107.78 feet put it about 14 feet below normal.
His preparation would involve seven more days of prefishing. But by the end of his sixteenth day of fishing, his name would adorn the top of the tournament leaderboard.
Fukae’s Tactics
Shin Fukae’s strong suit is finesse fishing, and many observers call him a wizard at wielding a medium-action spinning outfit that sports a shaky-head jig and a 4-inch plastic worm. April traditionally is a grand time to utilize that combination in Beaver’s clear depths. Even though he’s adept at manipulating spinning tackle, he also relies on a football-head jig and deep-diving crankbait fished on casting tackle for Beaver Lake bass. In fact, he’d used a football-head jig to finish sixth at the 2004 Wal-Mart Open there.
His Tackle: Throughout our day on the water, Fukae had 6 casting and 5 spinning outfits on the front deck, all St. Croix rods matched with Shimano reels. He primarily used two spinning and two casting outfits. The only modification Fukae makes to his rods is reducing the diameter of the cork handles with sandpaper so they better fit his small hands.
One casting outfit was a St. Croix Crankbait AD70MHM rod fitted with a Shimano CTE200DC Conquest reel spooled with 14-pound-test Duel fluorocarbon line, for casting a wide-bill HMKL crankbait with a long transparent bill. His selected bait was semi-transparent with a gold hue, and Fukae customized its color by adding red polka dots to its back and black polka dots to the belly. To attach crankbaits, he uses a #1 Cross-Lok snap to the lure’s split ring. He tied the snap to the line with a Trilene knot and used that knot on all his outfits.
He fished football jigs with a St. Croix EC68MXF rod and Chronarch CH100MG reel spooled with 14-pound-test Duel fluorocarbon line. The brown 3/8-ounce jig was thickly dressed with a brown-and-black silicone skirt and devoid of a weedguard. The skirt was trimmed so it didn’t extend past the bend of the hook. The jig was backed with a customized green-pumpkin Berkley Power Hawg. This jig is similar to the one that Fukae used at the 2004 Beaver tourney.
One spinning outfit was an ES70MLF St. Croix rod and Shimano Stella STL3000FB reel spooled with 8-pound-test Duel monofilament. On this set-up, he fished a 3/32-ounce shaky-head jig Texas-rigged with a 4-inch greenpumpkin 68L Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worm available only in Japan. His shaky-head jig is called the Mayukyu Skip in the Shade jighead, designed by Japanese pro Norio Tanabe. It has a special collar designed to keep the head of a Texas-rigged worm in place. When Fukae fishes 15 feet and deeper, or if the wind howls, he often relies on an 1/8-ounce jighead.
