Best Japanese Egi (Squid Jigs): Yamashita vs Daiwa vs Yo-Zuri

Eging in Australia has quietly gone from a niche import trick to the way a lot of us now target southern calamari off the rocks, jetties and shallow weed flats. And at the pointy end of the setup is the egi (餌木 / エギ) itself: a small, weighted, prawn-shaped squid jig that Japanese anglers have been refining for well over a hundred years. The rod and reel set the tone, but the egi is the bit the squid actually grabs, and the difference between a good one and a dead one is the difference between a bag of calamari and a blank session.

The trouble is that the Japan Domestic Market (JDM) egi range is enormous and the naming is a maze. Yamashita alone runs several sub-series with tin sinkers, warm jackets and 490 glow; Daiwa’s Emeraldas line splits into rattle, dart, sight and shallow variants; and Yo-Zuri (which sells its squid gear under the Duel brand in Japan) covers everything from a cheap cloth-wrapped classic to a patented rattling caster. Most English-language pages just list whatever a shop happens to stock, with no read on which model suits which situation.

So here are seven Japanese egi that genuinely earn a place in an Australian squid box, what each one does best, and how their sizes and sink rates line up for our southern calamari, which fire up hardest from autumn into winter. If you are still building the setup, start with our complete guide to eging in Australia, then match these jigs to a proper JDM egi rod and a light eging reel.

A note on links and pricing: where a jig is sold globally the buy links point to Amazon.com (available with international shipping to Australia); JDM-focused models link to Amazon Japan, which ships internationally (check availability and shipping cost at checkout; orders over A$59 may qualify for free international delivery). Egi prices move around a lot between retailers, so figures here are approximate street prices in JPY (tax excluded) with an approximate AUD conversion at the time of writing (~A$1 = ¥100, mid-2026). Always check live pricing, and check your local state regulations on squid size and bag limits before you head out.

What to Look for in an Egi for Australian Squid

Before the brand names, it pays to understand the handful of things that actually separate a squid-catching egi from a pretty one. Five matter most on Australian ground.

• Size (goh). Egi are graded in Japanese “goh” (号) numbers, not grams. For our southern calamari, the #2.5 to #3.5 range does the heavy lifting: #2.5 for shallow, calm or pressured water, #3.0 as the everyday all-rounder, and #3.5 for depth, distance and the bigger spawning squid that show up in the cooler months.
• Sink rate. This is the number most beginners ignore and most gun anglers obsess over. It is quoted in seconds per metre: a #3.5 basic egi sinks at roughly 3 sec/m, while a shallow or “slow” model of the same size might take 5 to 6 sec/m. Slower falls keep the jig in the strike zone longer over shallow weed; faster falls get you down in deeper water or current before the squid loses interest.
• Cloth and finish. Nearly all egi are wrapped in cloth over a foam or plastic body. A tough, well-glued cloth survives being dragged over oyster-covered rocks and squid beaks; a cheap one frays and soaks up water, changing the action. Glow (particularly the 490 nm blue-green that squid see best) and UV finishes earn their keep at dawn, dusk and in dirty water.
• Rattle versus silent. A rattle chamber adds noise and vibration that can pull squid in from further away, which is handy for searching or in coloured water. On heavily fished, spooky flats, a silent egi often out-fishes a noisy one. Carry both.
• Sinker material and action. Older egi use lead sinkers; several newer ones use tin, which is lighter and lets the jig “jump” higher and dart sharper on the same rod stroke. Between that head shape and where the weight sits, an egi will either dart wide and erratic or glide and flutter, and squid have clear preferences on the day.

Yamashita Egi-Oh LIVE: The Tin-Sinker All-Rounder

If there is one egi you will see in nearly every serious Australian squid box, it is the Yamashita Egi-Oh LIVE. Yamashita more or less invented the modern egi, and the LIVE is their flagship search jig: a sharp, tin-sinker egi that darts wide and covers water fast, which is exactly what you want when you are prospecting a flat or a stretch of rocks for active calamari.

Key Features

The LIVE’s headline change was swapping the sinker from lead to tin, which lifts the jig higher and darts it sharper for the same rod input. It also carries Yamashita’s signature squid tech: a patented Warm Jacket cloth that warms slightly in water to feel more like live bait, and the 490 glow finish tuned to the blue-green light squid detect best.

Sizes and Specs

The everyday span for Australia is #2.5 to #3.5. The #3.0 and #3.5 are the workhorses; drop to #2.5 for shallow, calm or heavily fished water where the bigger jig spooks fish. Basic-model sink rates run from roughly 5.5 sec/m at #2.5 down to about 2.8 sec/m at #3.5 (the #3.5 Deep is heavier again at ~22.5 g).

Who Is It For?

If you want one egi family to learn on and to trust, start here. The sharp tin-sinker dart searches water quickly, the finishes are proven on our calamari, and it is stocked in most Australian tackle shops that carry any squid gear. It is the safe, high-performance default.

Yamashita Egi-Oh SEARCH: The High-Appeal Rattle Searcher

The Egi-Oh SEARCH is the LIVE’s loud, high-appeal cousin. Where the LIVE is a quiet dart machine, the SEARCH is built to advertise with both light and sound: a strobing fin that flashes on the fall and a rattle tuned to around 600 Hz, the frequency Yamashita’s research says squid hear best. That makes it the pick when you are covering big, coloured or unfamiliar water and need to pull squid to the jig rather than land it on their nose.

Key Features

The two headline features are the Strobe Fin, which throws a hard sideways flash on the rip, and the 600 Hz Search Rattle, backed by Yamashita’s 490 glow and Neon Bright UV finishes. It is a slightly faster fall than the basic egi, so it searches active squid at a brisk tempo. When you want to slow the drop for shallow weed, Yamashita make a separate SEARCH Shallow model rather than a slow option within this one.

Sizes and Specs

The SEARCH runs 2.5 to 3.5 for our fishing, and because it is a deliberately faster fall it is heavier than the same-size LIVE: the #3.5 is a hefty 24 g that punches into wind and current. If you need the jig to hang over shin-deep grass, reach for the SEARCH Shallow instead.

Who Is It For?

Reach for the SEARCH when the water is dirty, the flat is huge, or the squid are scattered and you need to advertise. On clear, calm, hard-fished ground the silent LIVE often wins, so think of the SEARCH as the loud tool for the wide, murky and unknown, and add a SEARCH Shallow for the skinny stuff.

Daiwa Emeraldas Peak RV: The Premium Rattle Egi

Daiwa’s Emeraldas line is the main rival to Yamashita, and the Emeraldas Peak RV is its top-shelf offering. The “RV” tells you it carries a rattle, and the Peak is Daiwa’s most refined, premium-cloth egi, tuned for a stable glide and best worked with small, subtle twitches rather than a hard rip.

Key Features

The Peak RV pairs a low-resistance premium cloth body with an internal rattle and a redesigned premium hook crown. Because it is tuned for balance and a clean glide, it rewards a light touch: short twitches keep it stable and darting where a heavy rip would blow it out.

Sizes and Specs

The Peak RV runs the standard #2.5 to #3.5 sizes, with the #3.5 at 19.5 g falling at a controllable 3.75 sec/m. If you want it slower over shallow weed, Daiwa also make a Peak Type S RV that drops the same #3.5 at around 6 sec/m.

Who Is It For?

The Peak RV is for the angler who wants rattle appeal without giving up finesse, and does not mind paying a bit more for the best cloth and hooks Daiwa makes. If you fish clear water where a crude action gets ignored but a subtle, noisy glide gets bitten, this is the jig.

Daiwa Emeraldas Dart II: The Technical Darting Egi

The Emeraldas Dart II is Daiwa’s answer for anglers who like to work an egi hard and wide. Its narrow-tipped head is built to dart sharply left and right on the rod stroke, and it comes in a run of fall speeds so you can dial the drop to the mood of the squid.

Key Features

The clever part is the choice of fall types: standard, Type S (slow) and Type SS (super slow), all in the same body, plus Daiwa’s double SaqSaq hook crown for solid squid holds. When calamari are sulking, dropping from the standard fall to Type S or SS to slow the descent is often the change that turns lookers into takers.

Sizes and Specs

Here are approximate figures for the popular Type S (slow) fall. The Type S is a genuine slow fall at around 6 sec/m, and the Type SS is slower again at about 8 sec/m, both far slower than a basic egi, which is exactly the point over shallow weed and for sulking squid.

Who Is It For?

Pick the Dart II if you enjoy the active, twitchy side of eging and want to experiment with fall speed as a variable. The three fall types in one shape make it a genuinely versatile buy, and the SaqSaq hooks hold squid that would pull off softer crowns. It rewards anglers who fish thoughtfully.

Daiwa Emeraldas Nude: The Clear-Water Sight Egi

The Emeraldas Nude takes a different tack. Instead of loud finishes it uses a translucent, lifelike body that fools squid by sight in clear, calm, heavily pressured water, the exact conditions where flashy egi get refused. It is the specialist you tie on when the obvious jigs have stopped working.

Key Features

Beyond the natural finish, the Nude is designed to be tuned with Daiwa’s Ago-rig sinker system: clip a sinker to the keel eye for a slow 30 to 45 degree glide, or to a snap for a rapid 75 degree drop. That lets one egi cover very different fall angles and depths, which is unusual and useful.

Sizes and Specs

The Nude runs the same core #2.5 to #3.5 sizes; the #3.5 is 19.5 g and falls at about 3.5 sec/m in its standard rig. Because it is built around the Ago-rig sinker system, you can bias that fall slower or faster by where you clip the weight, so treat the drop as a tunable base number rather than fixed.

Who Is It For?

The Nude is a problem-solver, not a first egi. Buy it once you fish clear, shallow, hard-hit ground where the calamari have seen every bright jig going. On its day, when nothing else raises a squid, the natural body and adjustable fall get bites the loud jigs cannot.

Yo-Zuri Duel EZ-Q Cast Rattle: The Beginner-Friendly Rattling Caster

Yo-Zuri sells its squid gear under the Duel brand in Japan, and the EZ-Q Cast Rattle is its answer for anglers who want easy fish-catching action out of the packet. The trick is a set of patented rubber “patapata” feet plus a rattle chamber, so it works on a plain twitch-and-retrieve without a fancy cadence.

Key Features

The EZ-Q Cast Rattle stacks several patented tricks: wave-motion body, fluttering feet, coloured rattle balls and a UV glow finish, plus a snagless bumper and flexible “trick” hooks that bend to release from snags. All of it adds up to an egi that keeps appealing even when you are just twitching and winding.

Sizes and Specs

Duel publishes clean numbers for this one. The #2.5 to #3.5 sizes fall at a steady, fishable 3.2 to 3.9 sec/m, right in the useful band for Australian calamari.

Who Is It For?

This is the egi to hand a mate who has never chased squid, or to fish yourself when you want results without thinking too hard. The rattle and feet do the work on a simple retrieve, the snagless bumper and flex hooks save jigs on rocky ground, and it is cheap enough to lose without wincing.

Yo-Zuri Aurie-Q RS: The Durable Cloth-Wrapped Classic

The Aurie-Q RS is an old-school workhorse that has caught squid worldwide for years, and it still earns a spot on value alone. It is a cloth-wrapped egi with a glow insert and a tough ABS body, so it shrugs off rocks and squid beaks better than many flashier jigs and costs less.

Key Features

Nothing exotic here, and that is the appeal: a durable cloth finish over a rugged body, an internal glow insert and lifelike eyes, in the classic prawn shape squid have always eaten. It swims and flashes on a standard eging retrieve and does not mind a bit of abuse.

Sizes and Specs

The Aurie-Q RS spans a wide range from a tiny #1.6 up to #4.0. The #2.5 to #3.5 sizes are the everyday ones for our calamari, and across the range the RS falls at a steady ~3 to 4 sec/m; the small #2.0 that Duel lists on the current RS page is 8.3 g at ~3.0 sec/m.

Who Is It For?

The Aurie-Q RS is the egi to buy in a handful when you want a cheap, tough box that catches fish and survives the rocks. It will not out-fish a top Yamashita or Daiwa on a fussy day, but as a durable everyday jig, and as spares you can afford to snag off, it is hard to beat on price.

How Japanese Anglers Fish These Egi

One habit worth borrowing from the Japanese eging scene is treating the fall, not the retrieve, as the main event. The standard sequence is two or three sharp rod jerks to make the egi dart, then a controlled slack-line pause while it flutters back down: the vast majority of squid grab the jig on that fall, so the win is staying in light contact so you feel the weight go heavy. A common way to search a spot is to start with a #3.0 basic egi, count the sink to gauge depth, and change only one thing at a time after that, dropping to a slower Shallow or Type S fall over shin-deep weed, or up a size for depth and distance, rather than swapping the whole box at once. Sink rate is usually the more productive dial to turn than colour.

Comparison Table

Here is the whole field at a glance for quick reference.

Best Value Picks: Top 3

If you just want a straight answer instead of a spec sheet, these are the three egi that give you the most squid for your dollar.

Which Egi Should You Choose?

The honest answer is that you want a few of these, not one, because squid change their mind with the tide, the light and the water clarity. That said, here is where we would spend by situation:

• Just starting out: a Yo-Zuri Duel EZ-Q Cast Rattle and a couple of Yo-Zuri Aurie-Q RS in #3.0. Cheap, tough, and they catch on a plain retrieve while you learn the fall.
• One do-everything egi family: the Yamashita Egi-Oh LIVE in #2.5, #3.0 and #3.5, spanning shallow flats to deeper rock edges.
• Coloured or wide water: the Yamashita Egi-Oh Q LIVE Search to pull scattered squid in with rattle, plus a Shallow one for skinny weed.
• Fussy, clear, pressured flats: the Daiwa Emeraldas Nude when bright jigs get refused, and the Daiwa Emeraldas Peak RV for a subtle rattle glide.
• Active, technical fishing: the Daiwa Emeraldas Dart II so you can tune the fall from standard to slow to super-slow as the squid dictate.

FAQ: Japanese Egi for Australian Squid

What size egi should I use for southern calamari in Australia?

The #2.5 to #3.5 range covers almost all Australian southern calamari fishing. Use #2.5 for shallow, calm or pressured water, #3.0 as the everyday all-rounder, and #3.5 for depth, distance, current and the bigger squid that move in to spawn through late autumn and winter. Match the size to depth and conditions, not just squid size.

What does the sink rate on an egi mean?

Sink rate is how many seconds the egi takes to fall one metre, so a higher number means a slower fall. A basic #3.5 sinks at about 3 sec/m, while a Shallow or slow-fall model of the same size might take 5 to 6 sec/m. Slower falls keep the jig in front of squid longer over shallow weed; faster falls get you down quickly in deep water or current. Squid take the egi on the fall, so matching sink rate to depth is one of the most important choices you make.

Do I need a rattle egi or a silent one?

Both. A rattle egi like the Egi-Oh Q LIVE Search, Emeraldas Peak RV or EZ-Q Cast Rattle pulls squid in from further away, which helps in coloured or wide water. A silent egi like the standard Egi-Oh LIVE or Emeraldas Nude often out-fishes a noisy one on clear, calm, heavily fished flats where squid are spooky. Carry a couple of each and let the squid tell you.

For the rest of the setup, see our full guide to eging in Australia, our pick of the best JDM egi rods, and the matching best JDM reels for eging.

All specifications were taken from the manufacturers’ official product information (Yamashita, Daiwa and Yo-Zuri/Duel). Egi prices are approximate street prices, tax excluded, with an approximate AUD conversion at the time of writing, because squid jigs are not sold at a fixed RRP. Sink rates vary between Basic, Shallow and Slow (Type S/SS) versions of the same size, and a few figures are given as ranges where the maker publishes them that way. Product images are from Amazon and the makers’ official pages and are representative of each series. Affiliate links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Always check your local state fishing regulations for current squid size and bag limits.

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マイボートで海に出るボートアングラー（釣り歴20年・ボート歴10年）。タイラバ・ひとつテンヤ・ライトジギングが主戦場で、エリアトラウトや堤防のライトゲームものんびり楽しむ雑食派。

実際に使った道具の「正直どうだったか」を、公式スペックと実釣の両面から書いています。

Boat angler based in Japan, sharing first-hand reviews of JDM tackle.