2026.10.22

Umitaro Sakana Sakana Spin H.S.T: A High-Speed Blade Jig for Spanish Mackerel

minagiman

Blade jigging for Spanish mackerel (sawara) and its younger sagoshi stage is at its peak in Japan right now. One lure getting attention is the Sakana Sakana Spin H.S.T (High Speed Tune) from ISSEI’s saltwater brand Umitaro, designed by legendary angler Haruhiko Murakami. As the name says, it is tuned purely for burning it back fast.

Full name: Umitaro Speed Sardine Sakana Sakana Spin High Speed Tune. It is a spin-off of the all-round Sakana Sakana Spin, rebuilt around ultra-fast retrieves.

Contents

Specs
H.S.T vs the original Sakana Sakana Spin
Key features
Colours
How to fish it
How it compares
Minagiman’s take
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Specs

Weight	Blade	Hook	Split ring	Japan price (excl. tax)
30 g	#2	#2	#4	880 yen
40 g	#2	#1	#4	920 yen
50 g	#2.5	#1/0	#4	960 yen
60 g	#2.5	#1/0	#4	1,000 yen

Nine colours across all weights.

H.S.T vs the original Sakana Sakana Spin

	H.S.T	Original
Concept	Ultra-fast retrieve for sawara/sagoshi	All-round, swims even slowly
Weights	30–60 g	20–40 g
Hooks	Large single (#2–#1/0)	Treble + single (smaller)
Blade	Small short blade (#2–#2.5)	Larger anchovy blade (#3–#3.5)
Idea	Big hook, small blade	Small hook, big blade
Targets	Sawara, sagoshi, pelagics	Seabass, pelagics, sagoshi, ribbonfish, sea bream
Price	880–1,000 yen	790–870 yen

Key features

Big hook, small blade. Sawara often bite at the spinning blade. A smaller blade and bigger hook put the point right where they strike — a practical fix for the classic “they bit the blade but missed” problem.
Short teardrop blade with much lower resistance, so you can keep burning it all day.
Hook-to-blade connection designed to prevent tangles and interference, improving hook-ups on blade bites.
Low centre-of-gravity anchovy body that flies straight and far.
A plain rolling swivel — on purpose. Instead of a ball-bearing swivel, it uses a tough rolling swivel that resists damage at high speed with less unit-to-unit variation; if it stiffens, cranking hard frees it again.
Welded split rings that will not open during a hard fight. To change hooks you need to cut the ring with nippers and fit a new one.

Colours

Colour	When to use
#022 Iwashi Glow	Sardine bait, dawn and dusk
#026 Aka-Kin Glow	Murky water, low light
#053 UV Green Gold	Cloudy days, stained water
#057 UV Mekki Silver	Default for bright daytime
#058 UV Power Pink	Extra appeal when bites are slow
#059 UV Rainbow	Daytime flash
#060 Ohashi Rainbow	Rainbow rotation
#061 Chart Glow Zebra	Dawn, murky water, visibility
#062 Pink Glow Zebra	Dawn and dusk appeal

Start with UV Mekki Silver for daytime and Iwashi Glow for dawn and dusk. Colour names are romanised.

How to fish it

Ultra-fast straight retrieve right after it hits bottom — what the H.S.T is built for.
Work through the depths to find the layer that gets bites.
Speed changes: a brief stop or slow-down mid-burn can trigger a strike.

Weight	Situation
30 g	Piers and beaches with a light shore jigging rod
40 g	Standard from shore; fast current or long casts
50 g	Shallow boat fishing, or heavier shore tackle
60 g	Boat blade jigging, deeper water, fast current

How it compares

Lure	Weights	Highlights	Price
Umitaro Sakana Sakana Spin H.S.T	30–60 g	Big hook/small blade, rolling swivel	880–1,000 yen
Major Craft Jigpara Highspin	30/40/60 g	High-speed blade jig with double hook	990–1,100 yen (incl. tax)
Hayabusa Jack Eye Sawara Spin 2	30–60 g	Hook always rides upward	about 900 yen

Minagiman’s take

With so many blade jigs on the market, the difference now is less about how they attract and more about how they hook. The H.S.T gives up the original’s versatility to match how sawara actually attack a blade — a very Murakami, field-born idea. For mixed species or slow retrieves, stick with the original; for dedicated sawara burning, the H.S.T. At around 1,000 yen, losing one to a toothy fish hurts less, too.