Mabuna; Magic of Multiple Floats

「釣りは鮒に始まり鮒に終わる」

 “Your fishing life starts from crucian carp and ends with it”

This is a Japanese fishing proverb. It tells us that anglers start fishing experience with crucian carp, and they enjoy it until the very last tourney of angling. Crucian carp have been very accessible fish in the life of Japanese people, and easy to catch in a good season. But it has the depth or intricate art of angling technique to keep catching. In this article, you can get the significance of this fish for Japanese people, and of course, you will know the special techniques of angling for this fish.

Species

Crucian carp (Carassius) is spread widely in Eurasian continent. Among the species of crucian carps, what is mentioned in the above proverb are Mabuna and Gengoroh-buna. Mabuna stands for Gin-buna, and its scientific name is Carassius auratus langsdorfii and Kin-buna (Carassius buergeri ssp.) And another one , Gengoroh-buna, is a Japanese white crucian carp (Carassius cuvieri) (Note; please refer to this post about angling for Gengoroh-buna.)  

Mabuna is living in a natural environment, and very close to human lives. Small channels near rice fields, backwater of a river, etc. You can reach these places easily, and it was natural that one child would think about getting it. Then he or she could try to use a fishing tackle to catch one. It brings the very first fishing experience. In this article, we will see this Mabuna and the angling for it.

Mabuna is omnivorous, and feeds on planktons, algae, worms, small crustaceans etc. It grow up to 10 cm after 2 years 

Mabuna and Japanese people

As you can tell from the shape of this fish, Mabuna has the same shape as goldfish. It is said that goldfish were bred from Mabuna. Once in a while, Mabuna bears the mutated individual with different colors, such as pearly white and orange gold. This naturally born colored Mabuna is called Hi-buna (literal meaning is red-mabuna.) Hi-buna and Mabuna are considered to be within the same species. Artificially bred species are called Wakin (meaning Japanese gold, common goldfish). 

This Wakin was bred in China, in the era of Jin-dynasty. And it was imported into Japan in the 15th century, during the Muromachi period. There are hundreds of goldfish species, but Wakin is one of the favorites among Japanese people. I assume that the reason for this preference is that Japanese people see its shape as the prototype of fish or typical fish. 

There is a Japanese children’s song, which sings about Mabuna. This song, “Furusato”, describes a home town in the past with saudade, and remembers about a small creek where one has fished for Mabuna.  You can hear this song here (please enjoy the scenery of a typical old village town.) This song was published in a text book for elementary school, in 1914. Lyrics of it were written by two people, who came from Nakano city, Nagano and Tottori city of Tottori. Some researchers said that the river in this song is the Han river. As these cities are far from big cities, we can imagine that Mabuna fishing has been fun for children in such villages. 

With the basis of Mabuna fishing, Herabuna fishing was widely accepted as a leisure activity in the big cities, like Tokyo or Osaka. Herabuna (carassius cuvieri) is a similar species of Mabuna,  (For Herabuna fishing, please refer to this blog of mine.)

Fishing for Mabuna

As described, this fish has been very accessible. It means that it can be caught with a very simple tackle.

Yes. A whip rod, a fishing line, a float and a hook. Additionally, one can find worms near fields or in one’s garden, easily. As a more accessible bait, one can use grain of cooked rice (You know, Japanese live on rice.)   

As is always the case in fishing, when one wants to catch more, bigger one, or to catch one while others are not, things are getting complicated. This is also the case in Mabuna fishing. Anglers are saying that the best rig to fish for Mabuna is like below.

It has a rod of 3 m, and the main line is 1 gou (0.17mm). This hook is called Sode, size no 2 to no. 5. Rod can be shorter. 

The important point of this rig is that there are many round floats. These floats are like un-weighted egg bobbers. Sizes are from 0.5 cm to 1.5 cm, depending on the total tackle balance. Some people use the sphere shape floats and others do use floats of football shape or almond shape. One style uses the floats in different sizes. The one in the lowest is the smallest one, to make it easy to sink. Though, as a variant, one can put several floats of the same size.  You adjust the sinker and let some smaller floats sink under the surface. With this, you can trace the bottom of various depth ranges, as being ready to see the bite from the movement of floats.

 With this rig, anglers can trace the bottom effectively. It is said that moving baits attracts Mabuna. 

You can check the rigging from this video.

This rig is convincing for those who understand the buoyancy effect negatively for fish bites. If the bait on the hook is pulled by a float, then it gives an awkward feeling to the fish. But anglers need a float to get signals of the bite. This Mabuna rig is a solution to this conflict. While keeping floats, it minimizes the negative effect of buoyancy. 

Another good thing about this rig is that you can detect the bite, of which fish grabs the hook to move closer to the surface. Wherever a fish heads for with a hook in his mouth, this rig can tell you its signal properly. If it moves up, then the sank float comes up to the surface. If the fish moves horizontally, then the small float in the water moves sideways. 

It is much easier to know how it works from this video.

If you like to negotiate with fish or to make a small game with fish, and you love to have an interaction with fish, then this Mabuna fishing is the one you should try. When you enjoy it, you remember this Mabuna as one of the most basic fishing for Japanese. And you will be facinated by the intricate and effective multiple float rig.