Mitsuo

HALEIWA, OAHU, HAWAII — ACTIVE YEARS 1970s – 2018

Mitsuo was Burt Saito of Haleiwa, one of the original Hawaiian lure-making legends — a maker who earned deep respect among the people who truly know the craft. He made his lures by hand, one at a time, for decades, and they had a reputation for flat-out producing: collectors tell of Mitsuo heads bitten to pieces, cracked and scratched, that still sold for near-new prices simply because they were that hard to find and fished that well.

His scoop-face heads, built around the distinctive "classic Mitsuo insert," were popular with Hawaiian fishermen and sought after worldwide.

Mitsuo had close ties to our family, including our uncle — his "Six Shooter" lure is named after our uncle's boat, a piece of personal history carried right in the lure. Burt Saito has since passed away, which makes his body of work a finite and treasured one.

Identification tips:

• The "classic Mitsuo insert" is the signature tell; scoop-face profiles
• Genuinely rare — even beat-up examples are prized because they fish so well; lean on provenance

Below, you’ll find our ever-growing digital archive showcasing every lure that has come through our shop. This collection is constantly evolving as new lures arrive, making it a living record of rare, limited-production lures. We will continue updating this database regularly, building what we aim to be the largest digital archive of offshore trolling lures in the world.

If you have any further information or any lures you believe deserve to be showcased, please reach out to us at ren@luremonger.com