ASKA 60 SR: Crawfish

Jackall Lures, known as Jackall Bros. in Japan, was formed in 1999, but the roots of the company stretch back to the early-1990s. That's when Seiji Kato, as a Daiwa employee, designed the TD Minnow. And that TD minnow, a revolutionary jerkbait, formed the tip of a spearpoint: From that single bait, a wave of Japanese lures, techniques and trends would rise to become a major force across the American bass scene.

Seiji Kato left Daiwa in 1994 in order to join an upstart lure manufacturer named Lucky Craft – a company created solely to showcase his talents. After years of success at Lucky Craft, with designs that included the Pointer Minnow, Bevy Shad, Sammy, LV and Flash Minnow, Kato left Lucky Craft to form Jackall Bros. with Japanese JB Top 50 pro Toshiro Ono. Kato wanted more creative control in the design and production of his baits, and he got that with the new Jackall business partnership.

The Jackall offices on the shores of famed Lake Biwa – home of the world-record bass – house several high-tech investments that help drive Jackall's innovative edge. Kato can design a bait, then send the specs to an in-house computer where an ultra-high-tech sculpting machine carves out the design in exact detail in a matter of hours. Then he can literally walk out the door and start testing it on Biwa. Shortcuts such as this mean Jackall can refine R&D baits many more times than its competitors.

Nowhere is such exacting detail more apparent than in Jackall's ASKA 60SR – a bait that spent 5 years in the development cycle. More than 100 prototypes were developed before the final production model took shape.

This square-bill crank, which could also be described as a "crashbait," is a silent runner (hence the SR moniker) and it's Jackall's first true entry into the red-hot American square-bill market.

These baits are meant to crash into rocky bottoms and woody cover – that's what generates strikes. The fiberglass circuit-board lip can handle the violence and the premium finishes are as striking and realistic as any in the Jackall line.

The slender body design produces a fast-wobbling and rolling action. The silent presentation catches more bass in highly pressured fisheries, or on following days in tournaments.

Perhaps the most important feature, however, is the internal magnet that creates an alternative center of gravity, which in turn produces a more stable and convincing retrieve.

Hook(s): Two short-shank Gamakatsu Hypershield trebles

Length: 2 1/2 inches

Weight: 3/8-ounce

Lip: Square fiberglass circuit-board

Running depth: 4 feet

Colors: Chartreuse shad--JP purple-chartreuse--Sparkle SS shad--Tennessee shad--Bronze/green shad--Crawfish--Super crawfish--Super shad