Evergreen International, Japanese fishing brand

1988: Evergreen International founded in Japan
Osaka: Brand headquarters, in Japan
Jack Hammer: Chatterbait built with Z-Man, launched in 2017

The story of the brand

From an Osaka wholesaler to the Bassmaster circuit

Evergreen International was born in December 1988. The brand grew out of the lure development team of Chuo Gyogu, a fishing tackle wholesaler founded in Osaka in 1949. From the start, it focused on bass fishing.

In 1990, Evergreen launched its Combat Stick rods. At the time, most bass rods were soft, with a parabolic action. In 1997, Toshifumi Kikumoto became the first JB world champion. In 2002, he left tournaments to focus on developing Evergreen tackle. He later designed the Combat Stick Orion series.

In 2015, Evergreen reached the USA and Canada, with Daiwa as its distributor. Two years later, the Jack Hammer chatterbait was unveiled at the Bassmaster Classic. It came from joint work with Z-Man and the pros Brett Hite and Morizo Shimizu. Today, the brand still designs its lures and rods with tournament anglers.

Key dates

1988 Evergreen International is founded in Japan
1990 Launch of the first Combat Stick rods
2017 Jack Hammer chatterbait unveiled at the Bassmaster Classic

Evergreen Lures

Products under development...

Continue shopping

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything about the brand

Who founded the Evergreen brand?

Evergreen International was founded in December 1988 in Japan. It came from the lure development team of Chuo Gyogu, a fishing tackle wholesaler set up in Osaka in 1949. The two companies are still linked. Evergreen's headquarters are still in Osaka.

Who designs Evergreen lures and rods?

Evergreen relies on tournament anglers to develop its tackle. Toshifumi Kikumoto, the first JB world champion in 1997, designs its Combat Stick rods. Katsutaka Imae and Morizo Shimizu also take part in development. In the USA, the brand works with Brett Hite, an angler on the Bassmaster Elite circuit.

How did Evergreen design the Jack Hammer chatterbait?

The Jack Hammer is a chatterbait developed by Evergreen with the American brand Z-Man. Brett Hite and Morizo Shimizu took part in its design. It was unveiled at the 2017 Bassmaster Classic. Its flat head, with a low center of gravity, carries a thin stainless blade. A groove under the head sets the blade low enough to strike the head and make its clicking sound.

Evergreen, a Japanese bass specialist

Evergreen International is a Japanese fishing tackle brand. It is based in Osaka. The brand designs lures and rods, mainly for bass fishing. It also works on light saltwater fishing, with the Poseidon rod series. In freshwater, its bass rods are split between the Combat Stick and Kaleido lines.

Its range of lures covers every layer of the water. It includes crankbaits such as the Combat Crank series, lipless baits and jerkbaits. Evergreen also designs topwater lures such as the Showerblows, swimbaits and soft plastics such as the C-4 Shrimp. The Jack Hammer chatterbait, built with Z-Man, is part of the range too.

Design driven by tournament fishing

Evergreen sums up its approach in one idea: the water comes first. Each model is tuned by tournament anglers. Toshifumi Kikumoto has designed the brand's rods for decades. Katsutaka Imae, Morizo Shimizu and Brett Hite are also part of its teams.

This approach shows in several design choices:

Combat Stick rods, stiffer than the soft bass rods of the 1980s.
The Combat Stick Orion series, a full rework of that line.
A flat head with a low center of gravity on the Jack Hammer.
A thin stainless blade, set low enough to strike the head of the lure.

The Jack Hammer shows this method well. Brett Hite and Morizo Shimizu, two anglers from the Bassmaster Elite circuit, followed its development. The groove under its head guides the blade. As a result, the lure starts to vibrate from the first turns of the reel handle.

Since 2015, Daiwa has distributed Evergreen lures in the USA and Canada.

Related collections

Evergreen Lures