Why so many kinds of hooks in Japan?
There are many kinds of hooks in Japan. Since angling became a kind of a leisure activity in the Edo period, there came a lot of shapes of hooks. In a fishing guide book, Kasenroku, written in 1723, the author recorded the various kinds of hooks. This book was written by an author who lived […]
Angling for Kurodai, Blackhead Seabream
Kurodai has been a very popular target fish for anglers. This fish lives close to the shore, dwells in various types of coast, and feeds on many kinds of food sources. It makes the fish a good game fish, for which anglers try to catch in various fishing methods. Species Kurodai (Blackhead seabream, Acanthopagrus schlegelii) […]
Inchiku: How do you use it?
Inchiku is a very useful lure in offshore fishing. To retrieve steadily is the simplest way to explain how to use this Inchiku Jig. In this article, I would like to explain how to use it in more detail, and the way to select the best weight or shape in certain situations. For your interest, […]
Japan’s Favorite Fish; Madai
Tai is the favorite fish for Japanese people. There are many fish called -tai or -dai (“dai” is the variant pronunciation of “tai”, so here tai and dai means the same.) There are Kuro-dai, Me-dai, Fuefuki-dai, etc. You can say that Tai is the typical image of fish for Japanese people. And it is highly […]
History of Inchiku; the Ingenuity of Japanese Fisherman
Inchiku is easy to use and a very effective lure for offshore fishing. This Inchiku is often called an Inchiku Jig (the brief explanation about this lure on this New Zealand website.) This Inchiku is from Japan, but its origin is not so clear for us. In this article, I would like to venture to […]
Fishing for Kue, the King of Iso
The goliath grouper is the big entertainment on YouTube. But Japan has monster groupers, too. One of the most prestigious targets is a fish called Kue (Longtooth grouper, Epinephelus bruneus). There are several ways to catch Kue. Iso (rocky coast) fishing (cast-and-wait style, called Sokomono fishing) and offshore boat fishing. Since the uniqueness of the […]
Fishing with Tai Rubber
Fishing with Tai Rubber, often called Eye Drop Jig, is one of the very popular lures to catch red seabream or Madai (Pagrus Major.) In this article, I would like to introduce the tackle, history and a bit of tips to select Tai Rubber. What is Tai Rubber? Tai Rubber is a special type of […]
Pleasure of Iso Fukase Fishing
Have you heard about Iso fishing before? Iso stands for rocky coast in Japanese. For Japanese anglers, Iso is the place with rich target fish, which are not commercially available but very tasty. You can say that Iso is an angling paradise, because only anglers are interested in Iso and that it is untouched by […]
Vintage Pattern of Tenkara Fly
This is except from a Japanese book about traditional river fishing. Original name of the book is shown at the end of this article. This book explores the tradition of river fishing (commercial fishing as well as angling.) It shows a lot about the intericate interaction between men and rivers. Among these interesting contents, please […]
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 […]