Anyone who ever caught big game on lures has probably seen plugs gouged or even destroyed.

Imagine what the fish would do to a balsa lure.

This ain’t no largemouth bassin’.

Yet balsa has a lot of great qualities for lures.

The Japanese company Sea Falcon is making big-game lures from balsa.

But the balsa is the core, and a thick resin coats the wood.

It’s a hybrid, and the resin keeps tuna or other big game from damaging the lure easily.

The resin also helps prevent the lure from absorbing water, becoming heavy and slowing the plug’s movement.

The company is a small workshop, enabling demanding standards with attention to detail, to provide the highest quality to the world, it says.

All aspects of production, from planning to development and manufacturing, are done in-house.

The company pursues the perfect balance of the materials, it says.

Not only the lure’s appearance,
but its action is an important point,
Sea Falcon says.

For appearance, the work on the lures includes things like applying more than 20 clear coatings and polishing
twice to produce a rich transparency to look like a small, lively fish, according to the company.

For action, reportedly 15 to 20 test
lures are created, changing the size of the balsa core, and adjusting the position of the weight in 5 millimeter increments.

Then the company’s president,
Tesuo Ito, personally brings the lure
to the sea to confirm the action,
Sea Falcon says.

Sea Falcon displayed the lures at this summer’s ICAST, the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, and was reportedly looking to expand its market to the United States and the world.

Sea Falcon also makes jigs and rod blanks.

The lures and other products might not even be available in this country yet, but American retailers seemed interested in carrying them.

For more info, visit Sea Falcon’s website.