YAMASHITA - DROPPER LURE 8cm/10.5cm SQUID HOOK SQUID JIG

Yamashita Dropper Lure 8 cm / 10.5 cm

A dropper is not the lure that gets to the bottom — it is the lure that hangs above the one that does. On a two-stage rig, the weight goes on the end and the dropper rides on a short branch line above it, so a single drop presents two different baits at two different heights. Yamashita's Dropper Lure is built for that upper position: a baitfish-profile body in 8 cm (#70F) and 10.5 cm (#95F), across five patterns that run from natural (Sardine, Yellow Tail) to high-contrast (Red White, Red Green, Pink). It is the same thinking behind a uki-sutte, applied to a fish shape rather than a cloth squid body.

The upper position matters because a rig with one lure gives a following fish nothing to look at above the weight. The dropper fills that gap and lets you fish two profiles at once — a metal jig or lead sutte below setting the rhythm, a softer-moving body above catching anything that has come up to inspect. When one of the two takes most of the bites, change the other to match.

Key Features

• Purpose-built dropper for the upper position on a two-stage rig
• Two sizes: #70F at 8 cm and #95F at 10.5 cm
• Baitfish profile that pairs with a metal jig or lead sutte below
• Five patterns: Red White, Red Green, Sardine, Yellow Tail and Pink
• Natural patterns for clear water, high-contrast patterns for dirty or low light

How To Fish It

• Build the rig — Main line to a swivel, a 20–30 cm branch line carrying the Dropper, then 50–80 cm of leader down to the weighted lure. Keep the branch shorter than that gap so the two cannot meet.
• Let the bottom lure do the work — Drop, then lift and shake the rod. The dropper follows on a slack branch and swims with a delay, which is often what triggers a fish that ignored the leading lure.
• Long pauses — Stop every few lifts and hold still for five to ten seconds. The dropper settles slowest of the two, and that settle is when the upper position gets bitten.
• Size to conditions — Use 8 cm as the default and in clear or pressured water; step up to 10.5 cm where the water is coloured, the current is running, or the fish are feeding on larger bait.
• Pair the colours deliberately — Run a natural pattern above a bright bottom lure, or the reverse. Two of the same on one rig teaches you nothing.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — Sotong and cuttlefish on night boat rigs, plus tenggiri (Spanish mackerel), queenfish and small trevally over reef edges.
• North America — Squid on Pacific night charters, and rockfish, sea bass and mackerel taken on the upper position of a dropper rig over structure.
• Japan & East Asia — The standard upper lure on ika-metal and boat squid rigs, and used above a tenya or jig for hairtail (tachiuo) and small pelagics.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Southern calamari and arrow squid from boats; mackerel, scad and small pelagics on Gulf and Mediterranean marks; pollack and cod on European drops.

Specifications

Recommended Pairing

• Ika-metal or light boat rod with a sensitive tip; PE 0.6–1.0 braid and a 2–3 号 fluorocarbon leader
• A metal lead jig or lead sutte on the end, heavy enough to hold a near-vertical line
• Stiff fluorocarbon for the branch line — soft branch material wraps the main line on the drop
• A short wire trace below where tenggiri or barracuda are about