Haru “Pops” Yoshida was born and raised in Waialua, Oahu, at Mill Camp, right under the Waialua Sugar Mill smoke stack. He was an avid fisherman and diver, and also went hunting, but was most comfortable in the sea.

Lure making started in 1968 when Pops went to Old Man Kondo’s house to learn how to make lures. This was back in the day when eyes were made from the Cat Eye shell (the one that moves when placed in vinegar), and vinyl tablecloths, sold in rolls by the yard, from the fabric section of Castner’s, Cornet and Kress stores. Usually only available in black, red, blue and yellow, these were cut into thin strips and used to skirt the lures. Wings were cut from the dried Lai fish skin.

Pops’ first second-hand boat (that looked like a Batmobile), was 15 feet long and bore the name “Lori”, which was eventually changed to “Cori” (with a piece of black electrical tape stuck to the top of the “L”) when Jared met his future wife Cori(nne). Jared would go fishing with Pops but, frankly, was embarrassed to be seen in that boat, and resorted to using it to go surfboard water skiing instead with his friends.

As Jared became more serious about trolling and bottom fishing with Pops, they bought their second (a little prettier) second-hand boat. By that time, Jared had his daughter Kori-Kai. Just by chance, it turned out to be a great name for a boat! So Cori(nne), now his wife, hand-painted Kori-Kai’s name on their new second-hand boat.

Money was short, with Jared working at a gas station and Corinne at a dentist office, both at minimum wage, which is when Jared’s lure making started to take on a serious note. At first, he copied Pops’ lures. They were blessed to be catching a lot of game fish, but the perfectionist in Jared, started him molding his own lures, and through much trial and error, got the dimensions weights and sizes, sort of right. What helped a lot is that Pops was always diving for lead, as he was also an amazing net maker, and would pour his own lead for his hand-tied throw nets.

Jared made and gave his lures to family and friends and, with their constructive criticism, encouraging words (and with money being tight), started selling them in the early ‘80s. The Maguro and Chirashi (9-inch and 7-inch concave jets, respectively) were his first lures, and the Haleiwa fishermen were his first customers, although his friend who had a charter boat in Kewalo Basin, occasionally also bought them.

By the time Jared’s son Jesse was born, jLures was in full swing. Having his commercial license, catching fish and commercially being able to sell to a Chinatown market owner, the fish auction and on the red dirt roads of Whitmore Village, Poamoho and Kunia Camps, were a blessing that kept Pops and Jared fishing. Along with income from jLures and a bank loan, they finally had the luxury of being able to purchase their first brand new boat! Of course, it was just the shell, but Jared being the mechanic and perfectionist, built the Kori-Kai II, to what was comfortable for him, Pops and now Jesse to fish from every weekend (small craft warning and all…nuts right?!)

Jared had been blessed to be able to fish with Pops since he was in grade school, and now with his son Jesse, while living on Oahu. In 1994, Jared moved to Hilo, on the Big Island, and built a shop to seriously manufacture jLures from.

Lure making, being his passion has continually kept Jared creating, and since the mere beginnings, jLures now has eight different designs of trolling lures that he custom makes for his customers who come from all of the major Hawaiian Islands, the West Coast, East Coast and also Guam and Tahiti.

He custom pours each order to his customers’ requests and hand finishes each lure.

We are grateful for all the customers who have repeatedly ordered jLures from its humble beginnings, to the stores who have helped him get his lures out, Ebisuzaki’s in Hilo, Yama’s Fishing Supplies in Kona, both owners who have since retired and closed shop, which jump started jLures.com, his daughter Kai’s web-based brainstorm. North Shore Sporting Goods, in Waialua, right across the Sugar Mill where jLures all started from almost 40 years ago, is the only retail outlet presently selling jLures.

jLures is family operated, with Jared, hand making all lures. Daughter Kori-Kai (Kai), designed and manages the website, and also handles estimates and invoices. Son, Jesse is the one that suggested posting on Instagram, and also does the marketing on the West Coast, and has been fortunate enough to go fishing and crabbing with some of jLures customers. We’re also fortunate to have cousins and friends in our outside sales force (all word of mouth!)

We are grateful and want to thank all of jLures past and present customers who without them, would be no jLures. We also want to dedicate our story to some of the past customers who were great fishermen, who are no longer with us. Vernon L., Russel Y., Matt M, to name a few, and the man who started it all, Pops “Haru” Yoshida who was such a patient teacher and amazing father & grandfather and humble seaman.

Wishing for you all tight lines!

Aloha & Blessings,

jLures