Major Craft Jigpara Highspin: A Budget High-Speed Blade Jig for Spanish Mackerel

Jigpara is a byword in Japan for “cheap jigs that catch”. Now Major Craft has added a proper blade jig for Spanish mackerel (sawara, and the smaller sagoshi): the Jigpara Highspin.

The 30 g is 990 yen including tax. With blade jigs now routinely around 1,500 yen each, that price is very attractive. But is it just a cheap blade jig, or one that keeps up with modern blade fishing? Here is my take.

Major Craft markets the Highspin as “the long-awaited high-speed blade jig in the Jigpara series”. Shore blade-jigging has evolved fast in recent years: the faster you wind, the more you catch – but wind fast and the jig rises. Solving that contradiction is where modern blade jigs compete. I see the Highspin as that latest thinking brought down to Jigpara prices.

Specification

Even the 60 g is only 1,100 yen including tax. Blade jigs are easy to lose to snags and to Spanish mackerel biting through the leader, so at this price you can fish aggressively.

Five features

1. Rear weight – the body does not wobble at high speed

The headline is high-speed retrieve. Rear-weighted and well balanced, the body resists wobbling even when wound fast. If a blade jig’s body wobbles, the blade spins unevenly, tangles in the line or looks wrong to fish. Running straight and fast is, I think, the single most important quality in a Spanish mackerel blade jig.

2. Resists rising, holds depth longer

Because it runs straight at speed, it suppresses the blade jig’s usual tendency to rise quickly, so it stays in the fish zone longer. Spanish mackerel can be at the surface, mid-water or near the bottom depending on the day – the longer you hold the right depth, the longer the lure is in front of them.

3. Level when stopped, and the blade spins on the fall

It is tuned to sit level when you stop, so the restart looks natural – and the tail blade keeps spinning on the fall. When a following Spanish mackerel will not eat, stop-and-fall often works. It drops in a neat, flashing posture – a real strength.

4. Bladed double hook plus front assist

On the tail, a bladed double hook where only the blade spins and the hook keeps its orientation – more stable hook-ups and fewer missed bites from fish attacking from behind, as Spanish mackerel do. At the front, an assist hook for yellowtail and amberjack that attack the head. Spanish mackerel from behind, pelagics from the head: one jig built to hook both. Autumn beaches and breakwaters often see both mixed together, so this matters.

5. A compact silhouette

A small body that also suits micro-bait patterns – easy to match when Spanish mackerel are chasing small anchovy or whitebait.

Compared with similar blade jigs

1. Jigpara Spin (same series)

The Jigpara Spin is the “catches anything” type, its blade spinning even on a slow retrieve. The Highspin specialises in fast retrieves for Spanish mackerel. I would use the Highspin in Spanish mackerel season and the Jigpara Spin for mixed-bag fishing the rest of the time.

2. Daiwa Samurai Jig R Spin

Both are high-speed blade jigs. The Highspin’s strengths are price and the two-stage hook layout; the R Spin’s are its long track record and wide choice of weights and colours. I would use the Highspin around snags and on unfamiliar ground, and the R Spin when I want a trusted jig to make sure of the bite window. (See also the Samurai Jig R SS.)

3. Aquawave Metal Magic Shore

The Metal Magic has become the standard for Spanish mackerel blade fishing in Ise Bay and elsewhere. Similar price. My take: Spanish mackerel only – Metal Magic; Spanish mackerel mixed with pelagics – Highspin, whose front assist should hook yellowtail better.

How to fish it

1. Touch bottom, then fast straight retrieve

Let it sink to the target depth, then wind fast. Spanish mackerel react to speed – wind “a bit too fast”. The Highspin does not wobble, so commit to speed.

2. Count down to find the depth

Vary the sink time – 5, 10, 15 counts – to find the layer with fish. Remember the count that got bites.

3. Stop-and-fall for followers

Mid-retrieve, stop, let it drop, then wind again. Level when stopped, with the blade spinning on the fall, that pause triggers bites.

4. Get ahead of boils

When there is a boil, cast a little ahead of the school and wind fast immediately – like bait fleeing through the school.

Colours

My first pick: Blue Pink Iwashi, then Gold Lime Chart for stained water. The blade already flashes strongly, so carry one silver-based and one gold-based body to rotate brightness.

Tackle

Fast retrieves need a high-gear reel. Spanish mackerel teeth often cut leaders – go heavier and check for damage often. (See Spanish mackerel from the shore.)

Things to note

• Planned for October 2026, mid-season – may be scarce right after release.
• Front assist plus rear double hook snags more easily on rough ground.
• The compact silhouette may lack appeal when fish are chasing big bait.
• With more hooks, check for tangles in the line or leader after each cast.

Summary

• The first high-speed blade jig in the Jigpara series.
• 30, 40 and 60 g; 990-1,100 yen incl. tax; 8 colours; due October 2026.
• Rear weight – stable at speed, holds depth longer.
• Bladed double hook + front assist for Spanish mackerel and pelagics alike.
• Combine with the R Spin and Metal Magic.

The worst thing with blade jigs is being too afraid of losing them to fish hard. At Highspin prices, you can throw into the snaggy edges and the far side of current lines. Spanish mackerel season is now – add a new Jigpara to the blade-jig slot in your box.

Read next

• Spanish mackerel (sawara) from the shore
• Daiwa Samurai Jig R SS
• Japanese metal jigs guide
• DUO Drag Metal Cast explained
• Daiwa Samurai Jig R review
• Aquawave Metal Magic Slim

MINAGIMAN

JAPAN ANGLER

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Born in 1994. Originally from Hyogo Prefecture, I moved to Iwata City in Shizuoka Prefecture in search of the sea. I am an Enshunada surf angler who enjoys surf fishing. I am also active on YouTube, and my fishing grounds range from Irago to Iwata.