Niiyama

A pioneer of realism within the lure community, each hand-made lure is made with tremendous detail and quality. Niiyama lures take on a more scientific approach with each head resembling bait fish and common prey of pelagic fish.

1 of 1 Niiyama 9" "Blue Opelu" pictured

Explanation of the hype

Each Niiyama head is hand-made, hand-painted with individualistic properties. Each one is also hand signed and has some real good weight to them. The hype originates from 1) scarce quantities and 2) the collaborations with Joe Yee, Koya, Odagiri, and Marlin Magic.

The quality on these heads is of top tier craftsmanship, and the realistic features closely mimic that of real life fish prey.

Niiyama Limited Run "Ama Ebi Shrimp" pictured

A bit of background

Although Jon Niiyama had been making lures for quite some time now, his current work of realism based lures started in 2010, with some examples from before then floating around that do not look anything like the lures you see today.

It wasn't until 2015 when the first of his realism lures were introduced to the general public and really took off in popularity. It was the first of its kind and when local charter captains such as "Strikeology" discovered Niiyama, the lures started attracting attention.

An old precursor to the modern realistic Niiyama lures pictured

Famous collaborations

Niiyama x Joe Yee

A long standing collaboration between Niiyama and Joe Yee is current, with lures still being produced to this day, with very few heads being produced on a irregular basis. Arguably the most famous lure collaboration of all time, these heads are extremely rare, and fetch a pretty penny.

Niiyama x Joe Yee "Blue Mahi Super Plunger" pictured

Niiyama x Koya

A collaboration between Niiyama and Koya happened a few years back, and garnered attention from all around the world. Completely sold out everywhere, these heads are extremely rare, and the release of more Koya collab lures is unknown, although still possible.

Niiyama x Koya "Mini Poi Dog Opelu" pictured

Niiyama x Marlin Magic

A collaboration between Niiyama and Marlin Magic was the most recent Limited Edition run of lures that has completely sold out, and is of extreme rarity. The release of another run of these is unknown, although still possible.

Niiyama x Marlin Magic "Green Mahi XL Ruckus" pictured

Niiyama x D. Odagiri

Few people know this, but Niiyama had actually worked with and collaborated with D. Odagiri, creating only a few heads. As of writing this, only 1 is known to still exist, and is not available for sale. We we're granted permission to take pictures soon.

Last known remaining Niiyama x odagiri lure pictured

Identification Techniques

"Niiyama" Handwritten Label

Mostly all authentic Niiyama heads are labeled by hand on the inside saddle and encased in resin to prevent smudging. The only cases of no labels being shown were found on the precursor lures to the modern realism era heads.

Niiyama 7" "Opelu" pictured

Beware of fakes!

There are known fakes of Niiyama lures, most notable of the Ballyhoo, which was caught being duplicated and sold by a very famous lure website that had molded and mass produced their own version of the ballyhoo.

*Fun Fact* there are hidden easter eggs in each head that allow Niiyama to distinguish his own heads from fakes.

Niiyama 7" Ballyhoo Real and Fake pictured

Digital Archive

  • Joe Yee x Niiyama Super Plunger
  • Joe Yee x Niiyama Super Plunger - Blue Tint
  • Ultra Custom Shell Flake Aku with Mother of Pearl Eye - Possibly 3 in Existence
  • Niiyama Malolo
  • One of the first Joe Yee x Niiyama Collaborations
  • Niiyama Protoype - Not Released
  • 1 of 10 Niiyama x Odagiri Collaboration
  • 1 of 1 Niiyama Blue Opelu
  • 1 of 3 Joe Yee x Niiyama Popo Aku
  • Niiyama Ballyhoo
  • 1 of 1 Niiyama Malolo
  • Niiyama Ama Ebi Shrimp
  • 1 of 1 Joe Yee x Niiyama Puffer Fish Double Plunger
  • Weighted Joe Yee x Niiyama Aku Super Plunger
  • Niiyama Malolo - Old School Pink
  • Joe Yee x Niiyama Super Plunger Floating Label
  • Niiyama 5" Original Malolo
  • Niiyama Opelu

Pricing

Currently Listed For Sale

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