Japan Angler

Four is the magic number of anglers for summer time dorado fishing in Japan.  Depending on the day of the week and the port you’re launching out of, the price of a charter can be anywhere from 50,000 to 80,000 yen, which split four ways makes for a relatively inexpensive outing.  True, it’s more than the 8500 to 9500 anglers pay to jam on noriai boats, but having the casting space, control over which points to fish, and the pace of your trip make setting up your own charter a much more appealing prospect.

In the Kanto area there’s about a month long stretch between July and August when every appropriately equipped vessel books solid with quartets, quintets, and sextets of eager casters toting their 16 lb class spin gear to catch dolphin fish.  Shira, as they are called in Japanese, swim to with in a stones throw of the shoreline from the black current following migratory baitfish around the beginning of June and hang out in the bays until late October.  The bite is generally consistent but prone to sudden slumps when the weather mucks up the clarity at the surface or drives the water temp down.  For folks just starting out it can be tricky reading the conditions, learning when to go, what kind of plug to snap on and what not, but pretty much anyone can get bit on the first try in this type of game.

Folks new to fishing in Japan may be quite surprised to hear to most Japanese dorado are a catch and release target.  There are numerous theories as to why Japanese don’t eat them –anything from the flesh being thought to contain worms, to stories of dorado feeding on the bodies of dead sailors during the war.  In any case, to most anglers from overseas Japan’s fishery is a non-pressured dream come true.  Hundreds of dorado, large and small, hang near weed lines, FADs, and tide lines feeding on whatever type of baitfish is available.  When the conditions are right anglers can sight cast and slay them until their arms get tired.

Unlike most other dorado fishing locales, folks in Japan generally prefer to target them on lures and the occasional wet fly.  Some folks do live-lining and trolling, but they are looked at as an unsporting breed of angler.  (total BS!)  The reason folks only do lure angling seems to have more to do with the party boats that target dorado always filling up with over a dozen anglers and not having space for heavy tackle.  A commonly witnessed spectacle is that of a dorado boat racing towards a school boiling at the surface, slamming into them, giving the anglers the chance at one or two casts each before the fish submerge from the engine noise.  This is quite a waste of time for those not at the very front of the bow. 

If you are not interested in pilling up on the front end of a party boat with a dozen other frustrated chain smoking guys to cast on a school of mahis you are not alone.   The solution is to book a charter with a few buddies out of a quiet fishing port.  Besides the previously mentioned benefits of doing your own charter, the operators tend to let you stay on the water a bit longer and often throw in a hot shower and some grub after you return to port.  Many of these are off season commercial fishing boats that get in on the action brought by the hoards descending on the bays from all the big cities. 

Another perk of chartering is the ability to have the captain fill his live well with live sardines and anchovies to use as chum or live bait.  These boats also have sprinklers at the bow that when turned attract blue runners from below.  The combination of sprinklers pelting the water and bait thrown over the side sends the fish into an absolute blitz.  It’s an amazing site to see dozens of 10 to 20lb. dolphin fish screaming across the surface, changing from bright blue to green to yellow every couple of seconds.  In some instances yellow fin tuna, and marlin have been known to come up from further below as well.  This kind of fishing is mostly done near thick grass patches, buoys, and other FADs, but captains will turn on the sprinklers out in the open if they come over a school situated further below the surface.

Until recently anglers were spooling 16 to 20lb mono on their reels and using relatively long 7 to 9 foot casting rods.  Folks managed to work around the risks of mistakenly hooking someone behind them when casting, but developments in tackle technology made the use of such long rods obsolete.  In a word: braid.  Nowadays you’d be hard pressed to find anyone using anything over 7 feet.  Since anglers became comfortable using PE pretty much everyone has gone smaller and lighter.  These days the standard issue dorado outfit is a 6 foot 40 gram max cast weight rod and either a Daiwa Certate or Saltiga game 3500, or a 5000 size Shimano Stella or Twinpower.  Line wise we’re talking PE2 to 3 and a 50 to 60 pound shock leader.

Lures are of a wide variety, but anglers can get a feel for what’s good in their area by checking with the local cadre of experienced anglers and captains.  Generally speaking sinking pencils and sliders in the 11-14cm range do the job, but in some instances the bait fish won’t be that big so something below 9cm is more likely to get you bit.  Large dorado tend to be taken on large poppers and top-waters, so in addition to the main 6 foot tackle anglers often bring one heavier 60-70gram cast weight set up exclusively for that purpose.

When you get into dorado fishing in Japan you’ll notice timing is a big deal.  The first bite happens in early June, when the first schools of bait are nearing the coastline.  The water temperature is warming up, but the weather topside isn’t always quite summer like.  For about a three week stretch there’s a lot of action to be had so long as the south east wind stays consistent and it doesn’t rain.  Mixed in with the mahis there’ll sometimes be schools of up current skip jack and yellowfin, but they’re not quite tasty yet, so captains usually ignore them.   

In late June the rainy season starts and puts a damper on the conditions to catch dorado as the water temperature is a little too low for dorado to hang near the surface.  This does not mean there’s no chance to catch them, but the conditions are noticeably less than ideal.  Once the rainy season weather front dissipates and the dead of summer sets in it’s a no holds barred kind of game for the rest of the season.  

Wait a minute!  It’s also typhoon season.  Depending on the year one or more storms are likely to hit your area.  In the days immediately after one passes over where you’re planning to fish there will be little chance of catching any pelagics.  So the thing to do is wait until after there’s been 3 or 4 days of consistently hot weather.  The fish like warm clear water, well formed grass patches, and of course, bait. 

Know that there are often instances when dorado are fixated on a particular type of baitfish and will not strike lures that don’t resemble what they’re hunting.  The presence of many flying fish in particular presents a nasty challenge to guys casting lures because they move quick and the dorado chase them with the same speed, making it difficult to stay on top of schools.  Other times they’re only after little glass minnows called shirasu, in which case tiny casting jigs are the best choice.  Like in all sport fishing, experience and up to date information put fish in the boat.

Most people have fond memories of their first big meter plus fish.  Dorado is a great summer target that anyone can jump into and do well at.  If you’re thinking of doing some fishing this summer, be sure to give this game a whirl.  For information on dorado boats in the Kanto area check out the links page.