THE ANGLAR - IZUMEZINA HOOK RINGED GOLD 4179 FISHING HOOK

The Anglar Izumezina Hook Ringed Gold 4179

Mejina (メジナ) is the Japanese name for the largescale blackfish — called gure in western Japan and 黑毛 in Taiwan and Hong Kong — a stocky, dark rock-shore fish that grazes weed and picks krill off the wash. Izu is the peninsula and island chain south of Tokyo where the fishery is at its most serious, and izumezina is the pattern named for it. The design answers one problem: a grazer does not engulf a bait, it nibbles first and swallows second. So the hook is short and compact enough to disappear inside a single krill or a pinch of weed, and the point is needle-sharp, to find a hold on the small movement when the fish finally turns down with it. The 4179 is the forged, tournament-grade carbon version: a chemically sharpened needle-cutting point, a retaining barb, a slightly offset point for contact when the fish takes side-on, and a solid turned-up ringed eye. Gold is the traditional colour for this style of shore bait fishing — a small point of flash beside a pale natural bait — and adds moderate corrosion protection.

Key Features

• Izumezina pattern — short, compact shore-bait shape for fish that nibble before committing
• Chemically sharpened needle-cutting point that penetrates on very little pressure
• Forged bend and shank, reinforced against opening under load
• Solid turned-up ringed eye — knot direct to leader, and the raised eye helps a short hook rotate into the jaw
• Slightly offset point to improve contact when a fish strikes and turns away
• Reflective gold coating for flash beside a small natural bait
• Twelve sizes covering everything from small bream to heavy shore work

How To Rig It

• Float rig with chum (fukase style) — The method this hook is named for. Sliding float to a stopper, minimal shot, hook tied straight to a fine fluorocarbon trace. Feed chum up-tide and drift the bait through it at the same speed, so the hook bait behaves like the loose feed.
• Bait it small — One krill threaded from the tail, a pinch of green weed, bread flake or a small paste ball. The point of the pattern is that the hook disappears; a big bait cancels it.
• Do not strike early — A grazing fish mouths, drops and takes again. Watch the float bury properly, then lift steadily and let the rod load. A hard strike pulls the hook out of the front of the mouth.
• Along the wash — Work the white water and back-eddies at the base of breakwaters and ledges, where these fish feed on what the swell knocks off. Keep line off the surface so the drift stays natural.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — Rabbitfish (dengkis, and 白肚 / peh tor in Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese) off breakwaters and rock walls is the closest local match — another weed-grazing nibbler the pattern suits exactly. Also yellowfin sea bream, croaker (gelama) and mullet (belanak) from jetties and seawalls, and tilapia, lampam and patin on paste and pellet in the paid ponds.
• North America — Opaleye off Californian rocky shore and kelp edges, a close relative of mejina fished with moss on the same light float presentation; also surfperch, sheepshead and tautog around structure.
• Japan & East Asia — The original fishery: mejina / gure on uki-fukase (ウキフカセ) float rigs with oki-ami krill and chum off Izu and Kyushu, 黑毛 on Taiwanese and Hong Kong winter rock marks, and kurodai on the same rigs.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Luderick, the Australian blackfish, is the same genus, fished with green weed under a float off rock walls; also drummer and bream. Safi in the Gulf; gilthead bream and salema on Mediterranean marks.

Specifications

Sizes follow the Japanese gō (号) system: the number rises as the hook gets larger, the reverse of Western numbering. #5 is the smallest here, #17 the largest, and the pack count falls as the hooks grow. Material: tournament-grade carbon steel with a gold coating — rinse and dry opened packets after salt use.

Recommended Pairing

• Light to medium float or bait rod, 1.5–4 kg class, with a soft tip to absorb the first dive
• 2000–3000 spinning reel, 6–15 lb mono or fine braid, drag set light
• 4–12 lb fluorocarbon trace tied direct to the ring eye; step up around barnacled rock
• #5–#9 for rabbitfish, bream and pond work; #13–#17 for heavier shore fish and bigger baits