The ultimate jerkbait for sharp darting action that anyone can use
1. The birth of ONETEN
Why was it first released in the United States instead of Japan?
One unique aspect in the development of the ONETEN was that it made its debut in the United States and was then re-imported to Japan, where it became wildly popular. What was the story behind this?
In the latter half of the 1990s, finesse fishing using soft-plastic to pinpoint specific areas in the deep were the mainstream in Japan, and the fishing method of searching large areas with jerkbait wasn't popular as it was looked upon as ambiguous fishing. However, YUKI ITO of MEGABASS maintained the potential of a jerkbait's wide-area search style, and decided to go test it in America, where it was already an established practice. Thus, the VISION ONETEN was released for sale in 2000 by Megabass in the United States. That's how the ONETEN came to be born in America, not Japan. At that time, fishing with jerkbait over 10 cm (3 ½”) was not very popular in Japan.
Japanese jerkbait revolution
In 2000, ONETEN became a winning lure in the Bassmaster Classic, where the world's best anglers gather, and cemented its name in the United States. Since then, MEGABASS lures have become so popular that B.A.S.S. pros and MFL pros all use them, even though MEGABASS is not an official sponsor. Many professionals have caught fish with ONETEN, with some maintaining that there are fish in the world that can ONLY be caught with ONETEN.
Due to its popularity in the United States, ONETEN was subsequently released in Japan. Combined with VISION95, which was modeled after Japanese sweet-fish:AYU, the ONETEN was released with Japanese specifications and different hooks.
As the popularity of ONETEN increased, the method of exploring shallow areas with jerkbait, which had been considered ‘lazy and undisciplined’ until then, became more mainstream in Japan.
2. ITO's obsession: Product out, not market in.
The struggle between a being both a manufacturer and an angler himself
After setting up shop in the United States, ITO spent his days responding to customer requests. As an engineer at MEGABASS, it was important to respond to the contents of the suggestions, but ITO vowed to make products that he himself wanted to use as an angler, and not just respond to the requests of other people. At some point, ITO stopped taking tuning requests and sent Megabass’ Great Hunting 95 (which ITO himself used to love at the time), to anglers in the United States. However, in order to distribute the GH95, the production cost became a problem. ITO then decided to create a new minnow by fusing the GH95 and the ITO Shiner, because the size of the ITO Shiner was too big to be accepted by everyone. And the ONETEN was born.
3. ONETEN, what's the big deal?
Megabass made the lure that I really want to use
The ONETEN was created by Yuki Ito as a lure he would really want to use as an angler. Interestingly, the reason why the size of ONETEN is 110mm is that the name of the developer, Mr. Ito, sounds similar to "110" in Japanese. This is an interesting coincidence.
In addition, Mr. Ito packed ONETEN with three elements that he himself wanted in a jerk bait.
(1) Dart performance with high appeal to Bass
(2) Dart action that isn’t influenced by tackle or anglers
(3) Entice Bass in the lower layer with the flickering effect of rolling.
ONETEN covers all the functions of jerk baits that are now commonplace. Mr. Ito's foresight really shines through when considering dart performance.