Fishing in Japan

admin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:45:31 +0000

Things went well the past winter -so well I haven’t had much of an urge to hit the water until just recently. The long awaited live aboard expedition to New Zealand didn’t dissapoint in anyway. Hitting the water with Yoichi Mogi and his crew I cut my teeth on handling big yellowtail on topwater plugs. To my knowledge we were the first Japan based group to take the technique outside the country, and I’m told our catch made some ripples in the international topwater community.

My biggest fish was in the 30 kilo range. We had no means of weighing the fish on the boat so we had to go on estimates based on length and girth etc. The biggest one I caught certainly felt the 30 kilos our captain figured him to be.

At a point called Volkner Rock, just off White Island Mogi san nailed a Kingie estimated at over 40 kilos. More impressive than it’s size was the fact that the old guy had the fish on deck less than five minutes after hooking him.

On that particular day I go so worn out from fighting fish I lost confidence in my ability to actually boat one that size, so I eventually threw in the towel. Talk about an awesome trip.

My Outdoor Japan column for the March issue has a detailed write up for those who’d like to read a bit more about the trip I took down there. Check out www.outdoorjapan.com and look for a story titled ‘Conquering Kiwi Kings’.

More pics in the pics section coming soon.

Peace and Tight lines

Last Updated ( Thursday, 14 May 2009 )

Sport Fishing Charter and Noriai Boat Links

Written by expatangler

Saturday, 15 November 2008

Over the last four or five years I’ve been spending a pretty disgusting amount of time and cash on sport fishing in Japan. Most of what I’ve done has been in the Kanto area, but I’ve taken my share of Ensei (Expeditions) to other parts of the country, and learned some basics about the culture and politics of fishing here, which I think apply to pretty much any locale.

I’ll write more on that later, but for now here’s a list with some links to a few saltwater lure boats I frequent enough to write an informed opinion on. I’m breaking down these outfits by location and type, plus writing a few comments. If you’ve been thinking about jumping on a boat but didn’t know where to start maybe these links will help.

A word for all my linguistically challenged fisher-brethren, please forgive us lowly English teachers for not being successful in bringing about a bilingual society including fishing boat captains. None of the guys who run these operations speak English, but of course it doesn’t mean they won’t appreciate you business. More details to come!

Japan Angler

Fishing in Japan