The Prometheus Project from DUO has resulted in the birth of the Onimasu swimbait

Impressions: The secret sauce behind DUO’s success is the heart of the company himself, Masahiro Adachi, who is not only the company’s CEO but chief lure designer. Mr. Adachi is well known in Japan for his detailed designs that not only look good but also deliver excellent swimming action. Mr. Adachi’s philosophy of “functional beauty” essentially means that he strives to produce lures that deliver both form and function.

The Onimasu is a single jointed glide-style swimbait

Mr. Adachi’s strategy? While many companies tout their abundant use of scanning and CAD design he has stayed true to his roots, and every one of his lure creations begins not as a digital rendering but as a carving. He envisions the swim action of the baits and the creation process typically begins by carving a design from ABS plastic, in what he considers a much more “organic” process. As you might expect this is not a quick or easy process and sometimes requires many iterations, and even months to perfect. Only when the company reaches the final phases do these creations move on to precision digital prototyping and final production.

The bait features photo realistic patterns

This past ICAST the company showed off prototypes of the new swimbait which they described as a result of the company’s “Prometheus Project,” in which Mr. Adachi sought to create a swimbait that blended his understanding of “S-Curve” swim action with high resolution imaging and painting technology.

Time to see what the Onimasu can do

The first lure to be introduced under this project is the single jointed swimbait which is now called the Onimasu. When we first got our hands on some test baits we were thrilled with the lifelike patterns. The finishes are photo-realistic and make use of a blend of scanned imaging and painting to create a genuine looking meal for big fish. The Onimasu is available in multiples patterns including Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch, Gizzard Shad, and even Salmon. The tail end of the bait is finished with a functional and matching soft plastic tail.

A look at the Gizzard Shad pattern. It screams Striped Bass candy!

The face of the bait is also immediately recognizable as a DUO bait and features the sleek and aggressive eye design. Rather than just paint details like fins on the bait DUO makes elements like the mouth, gill plates, and fins all three dimensional, then finishes the baits with paint to give them a more realistic overall look.

Next Section: Time to see what the hype is all about