Fishing Japan
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 5:31 pm
Lucky enough to have returned from an exchange to Japan. Last year, the Japanese crew were here & I took them out a couple of times. We did well on the crabs & got a couple of good goldies. This year, they decided to reciprocate & take me out on one of their mate's boats.
Things are a little different to what I was used to. The private boats are about 8-9 metres long & generally powered by Yanmars, though some have 90-100 horse outboards.The day we went out was quite choppy, though we copped no spray at all. Couldn't help comparing that with the GS at home.
We were in the Wakayama area for those that know the country. A very picturesque part of the country, coastline included.
The next thing that struck me as different was the tackle. The rods are very long, I'd put them at over three metres. The rods were all tied to the hull sides which made any manouvering difficult. The line was very light, hooks very small and each rod had a digital line counter built in.
The fishing technique was pretty simple, burley some bait out (very small shrimp), attach a couple of these to your hook and run your unweighted bait 20 metres out the back. I must admit that I thought the waters would be overfished, though it didn't appear to be on the day.
Here's my mate Ikuya with the first catch of the day. I think they were calling them sturgeon, though I wouldn't have a clue. We caught two varieties of fish in this place. Ikuya helped out with the burley, which saw us come in with a total of ten for an hour & a half.
You can see the size of the shrimp bait in the bucket......tiny. This area is also very popular for tuna though I think it's a very expensive hobby in Japan.
The catch was split three ways. We had it that night. Not keen on sushimi, though it was equally as good as barbequed... with plenty of beer & saki to wash it down.
If ever you're over there, be sure to visit a fish market. Absolutely amazing in terms of variety & you can usually cook & eat on the premises.
Cheers (or "Campi" in Japan).
Things are a little different to what I was used to. The private boats are about 8-9 metres long & generally powered by Yanmars, though some have 90-100 horse outboards.The day we went out was quite choppy, though we copped no spray at all. Couldn't help comparing that with the GS at home.
We were in the Wakayama area for those that know the country. A very picturesque part of the country, coastline included.
The next thing that struck me as different was the tackle. The rods are very long, I'd put them at over three metres. The rods were all tied to the hull sides which made any manouvering difficult. The line was very light, hooks very small and each rod had a digital line counter built in.
The fishing technique was pretty simple, burley some bait out (very small shrimp), attach a couple of these to your hook and run your unweighted bait 20 metres out the back. I must admit that I thought the waters would be overfished, though it didn't appear to be on the day.
Here's my mate Ikuya with the first catch of the day. I think they were calling them sturgeon, though I wouldn't have a clue. We caught two varieties of fish in this place. Ikuya helped out with the burley, which saw us come in with a total of ten for an hour & a half.
You can see the size of the shrimp bait in the bucket......tiny. This area is also very popular for tuna though I think it's a very expensive hobby in Japan.
The catch was split three ways. We had it that night. Not keen on sushimi, though it was equally as good as barbequed... with plenty of beer & saki to wash it down.
If ever you're over there, be sure to visit a fish market. Absolutely amazing in terms of variety & you can usually cook & eat on the premises.
Cheers (or "Campi" in Japan).
