Winter 2018
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WB: How about your victory at Thousand Islands? A western guy packs baits from two western-based companies and goes across the country to the furthest possible place he can and wins the event. (Yamamoto and Frenzy – yes, the baits catch fish everywhere; but they both have their homes on the West Coast)
HARAGUCHI: I just love fishing the northern smallmouth fisheries. I feel very comfortable there, because they are like fishing Shasta or some other lakes like we have here in California.
They are lakes that lend themselves well to dropshotting, the Frenzy Baits Nail (which is my confidence bait) and the Frenzy Baits Wack-A-Sack jig for a little something different. These are baits which are just very comfortable for me.
Being a Westerner, there is nothing that we don’t throw or we haven’t thrown at least a little bit somewhere, especially the finesse techniques and that helps out a lot.
I fished the dropshot and the Wack-A-Sack through all three stops of the Northern Division and exclusively used a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm on a dropshot and a wacky-rigged Pro Senko on a Wack-A- Sack at Thousand Islands, where I won the event.
WB: You mentioned Yamamoto Baits, what are the must-haves in your arsenal for traveling the United States, competing on the Tour.
HARAGUCHI: The Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm, the Pro Senko and the plain Senko are all go-to’s throughout the year. I will throw the Nail and the Wack-A-Sack with a Pro Senko, a regular Senko or a California Roll. I will also throw the Senko weightless. For colors, I keep it pretty simple with a green pumpkin or watermelon and a shad pattern.
WB: Last year, you were 2nd in the FLW Tour Co- angler standings and this year you beat that, earning the title. You also won AOY for the FLW Costa Series Northern Division and the Thousand Islands victory over 177 other co’s. Does the success make you just want to retire, so you don’t have to deal the pressure of topping this season?
HARAGUCHI: It was an amazing season. The good Lord blessed me and I am really humbled to do what I did. It’s been a great year. It’s going be a hard year to top. I am going to do the same thing, fish hard every day and where I end up, I end up. I just love going out there, fishing with the guys and being part of the camaraderie. •
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