DAIWA PRODUCT FOCUS: EMERALDAS NUDE BY JASON LINARDOS

With all the great new products Daiwa have released this year none have got me quite as excited as the new additions to the Emeraldas range! New jig colours and a new range of rods all specifically designed in Australia for Australian fisherman. The new jigs aren’t just a bunch of randomly selected designs to appeal to fisherman. These jigs are actually very well thought out designs that encompass all the attributes that make a squid jig great. The Mango Shrimp colour has shot straight to the top of my go-to list and is just an amazing blend of colours that really works well in both clear water and dirty water. I have found it to work best on sunny days when the sun really reflects the bright green through the water.

Neon Blood Shrimp has been equally productive for me on dark overcast days and I expect this jig to be hit for night time squid fisho’s as well. The mix of dark red with bright white stripes is a contrast of colour that squid just seem to love.
The Neon Glow and Neon Metallic Redhead are both colours that have caught me great deal of squid since using them and as most squid fisherman have learnt over the last 5 or so years white is absolutely dynamite when it comes to Southern Calamari. The Neon Glow is a flat white that glows in the dark which is great for night time squidding while the Redhead breaks up the pattern a touch with some white stripes over a pearl metallic body and a red head to give it a bit of contrast which is great in shallow water over reefs.

The rod range has also had some great additions with new 7’ and 8’3” models. The 7 footers are due to be released later in the year. The blanks are both thinner and lighter now and more forgiving for using for long durations particularly when land-based. The real kicker here is the 7 foot models. A 7 foot Egi rod has never been available here before and the reason for this is that most of Japans Egi fishing is done land-based. Whereas here in Australia although many of us still fish land-based a large percentage of us fish from boats or kayaks. So the guys here at Daiwa’s headquarters in Sydney have designed rods to suit our fishing situation and where 8’6 and 8’3 are both great sizes for casting jigs a country mile, when it comes to bringing a squid boat side the length can make it very difficult. Anyone who has attempted to fish for squid with a long Egi rod out of a kayak would know the implications a rod over 8 feet long can have. The thing I love the most about the 7 foot rod is the ability I have to fish hard with it all day without getting sore arms from aggressively jerking 8 foot plus rods all day. The weight and balance really feel a lot more forgiving and when fishing from a boat it’s now the only size I will use. The new rods also come in both fuji k and AGS guides for those willing to take the step further to an even lighter outfit.