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Daiwa Presso Step Dart 40S

The Daiwa Presso Step Dart 40S is a 1.5" 1/8oz "dart" lure with two single barbless hooks.

Almost from the very start of Finesse-Fishing.com, people have asked me if I was going to carry Japanese lures. The Daiwa, Shimano and Forest spoons have been extremely popular - and extremely effective. I am pretty sure the Daiwa Presso Step Dart 40S will prove to be just as effective - especially for larger fish.

As with the spoons, the Daiwa Presso Step Dart 40S does not have treble hooks. After a trip to Montana in which I hooked two trout that managed to get four of the six hooks on a pair of trebles firmly stuck in their mouths, which took much too long to remove, I decided I would not carry lures that had treble hooks. (I eventually bowed to customer demand and started importing lures with trebles, but I tape a single hook to each package to encourage fishing with single hooks.)

Although lures that come with single hooks or a pair of single hooks are hard to find in the US, they do exist in Japan, where they are often required for fishing in "Areas" (managed, stocked pay-to-fish lakes). Some streams in the US are restricted to flies or single-hook lures. The Daiwa Presso Step Dart will not require replacing hooks to fish in those streams.

The first time I used a Daiwa Presso Step Dart 40S I was fishing one such stream. Because of the single barbless hook regulation, I removed the front hook. As you can see from the photos below, the rear hook was sufficient to hook and hold nice fish.

The spoons are less expensive, but the Step Dart has a completely different action. It has a fast wobble on a steady retrieve - which is effective at drawing trout from quite a distance. With a stop-start, jerky retrieve, the Step Dart does indeed dart to the left and right, almost like taking steps (probably why it is called a Step Dart). That action can mimic a fleeing crawfish or sculpin, and seems to convert followers into takers.

It is also completely unlike the steady speed and straight line retrieve that most spin fishermen use when fishing spinners. If you want to show the fish something they've never been caught with before, show them something that other fishermen don't use!

I have been very impressed with the Daiwa Presso Step Dart 40S - not only with its effectiveness but also with the size of fish it has caught.

If you fish in places were there isn't a single hook restriction, you will find that some fish will get hooked on the front hook. You will also find that the barbless hooks are very easy to remove from your net. That is another reason not to use plugs with two sets of barbed trebles!

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