Tsuribaka

Memorial Day Nebraska Fishing

2009-05-29T02:18:00.002+09:00

Monday, I headed North for my first Nebraska fly fishing experience. I drove about 3 hours to a large reservoir formed by the Calamus dam. There is a small spring creek called Gracie Creek that feeds into the head of the reservoir which contains some nice rainbows.

The fish were very selective and it took me a while to figure out what they would hit on. I started with dries and had one rise, then they quit responding. Then I started fishing various nymphs, gradually getting smaller and smaller. Finally, I hooked and landed a beautiful 16" rainbow on this #24 midge pupa. I think this is a personal record for largest fish to hook size ratio.

I landed five fish for the day. Some were fooled with purple wooly buggers out in the lake area. I caught others using a bead head caddis nymph pattern.

Anyway, it was a great way to spend the day. I'll definitely try this spot again.

Virginia TU Rally (continued)

2009-05-05T19:38:00.004+09:00

Sunday morning we had a short seminar after breakfast. We discussed ways to capitalize on Trout Unlimited's 50th anniversary. After the seminar, there was a raffle for a custom built fly rod made by Jon Hulcher. I was very lucky and won the rod! It is a 8' 5 weight with genuine cobra snake skin above the grip and carbon fiber reel seat. I think it is a very good looking rod with a medium to fast action.

I had heard that Virginia has excellent native brookie fishing and wanted to try it. We asked one of the local Virginians at the rally where the best brookie fishing was. He put us on a really good spot!

I caught a 7" brookie out of this large pool. This pool had 4 waterfalls about 30 feet tall. It was an idyllic setting.

This has to be the most colorful brook trout I have ever caught.

My friend Jimmy caught this healthy brookie in one of the lower pools.
The area surrounding the creek was really lush and green.

Virginia has some excellent brookie fisheries. I definitely want to fish here again.

Virginia TU Ralley

2009-05-05T06:56:00.003+09:00

This past weekend I was invited to attend the Trout Unlimited South Eastern Rally at Hungry Mother State park in Virginia. I traveled with our new incoming chapter president who happens to be a fishing buddy. Friday night we checked-in and enjoyed some hot dogs and hamburgers. I enjoyed meeting people from TU chapters from all over the South East.

Saturday morning we attended seminars of varying subjects relating to TU. I especially enjoyed the TIC (Trout In the Classroom) seminar. It is a program where teachers can obtain all the materials and instructions necessary to raise live trout from eggs in the classroom. After the trout mature they have a field trip to a river and release them into the wild under the supervision of a state fisheries biologists. The program has been very successful and our chapter is trying to get it started in SC.

After the seminars, Jimmy and I went fishing on the White Top River. There were many simultaneous hatches. We saw large green drakes (pictured below), blue wing olives, march browns and light cahills.

We saw lots of fish rising, but the problem was trying to figure out which flies the fish were feeding on. After several attempts to match the hatch with no luck, we started catching fish on a royal coachman stimulator pattern.

I caught this beautiful wild rainbow near dusk. The picture does not do it justice. The colors were really vivid and bright.

We were late getting back to the cabin and missed the barbecue dinner. So we picked up a pizza on the way. We were both exhausted after a long day and looking forward to the next day of fishing on Sunday... see next blog entry

Matthews Creek

2009-04-21T04:20:00.002+09:00

Yesterday, a friend and I did a little scouting for a good camping area on Matthews Creek in South Carolina. While we were there, we decided to do a little fishing.

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We found a great campsite, but the fishing was less than spectacular. We did manage to land a few wild rainbows, but they were very small.

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Jimmy caught two little rainbows out of this deep pool. We decided that we should try to find a camping area near a more productive stream.

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Here is another newt photo. This is the Red-Spotted Newt. It is in the "eft" stage of it's lifecycle. Newts are aquatic when they are young. Then they move to land and live for several years as an "eft". Then they will go back to the water and become aquatic again as a full adult and lay eggs.

Davidson River 4-11-09

2009-04-17T02:53:00.003+09:00

Last Saturday I went back to the Davidson River with my friend James. Here are a few fish pics for your viewing pleasure.

Davidson River Slam

2009-03-31T10:43:00.005+09:00

After almost a week of heavy rain I wasn't sure if the Davidson River would be fish-able. I thought my best chance would be to hike to the headwaters of the Davidson where the water levels would be lower and more fish-able. Unfortunately, this proved to be a big waste of time, although I did get some good exercise and nice photos.

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I had a relaxing shore lunch and rested up for the long hike back down the mountain. By this time it was about 2:00 in the afternoon and the water level was steadily falling as the day went on. I decided to give the lower Davidson a shot.

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I went to a big pool just down stream of a popular riffle and just sat and watched other anglers for a while. After a few minutes I saw some fish rising to the swarms of black gnats that the wind pushed in. I tied on a #16 griffiths gnat dry fly, but did not have any luck. Next, I tried a natural color san juan worm imitation that produced the nice rainbow above.

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As the day got later and the water level dropped, the fishing only improved. At one point, I was getting a strike on almost every other cast. The fish were very energetic and fought hard. Several trout lept out of the water shaking their heads like a large mouth bass. One rainbow in particular jumped four times almost 3 feet above the surface making a huge splash when landing. I have never seen trout do this. Maybe it was the highly oxygenated water from the rain?

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I was very surprised to catch this large brook trout (below) in the Davidson. My first on this river.

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I completed the slam with this handsome brown trout.

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I must say, this was probably the best day I have ever had on the Davidson. If you are ever in the Brevard area, it is definitely worth a try.

First Fish of 2009

2009-01-10T07:57:00.005+09:00

My very first fishing trip of 2009 did not disappoint. I really missed fishing for the native wild brookies, so I headed up to my secret spot near the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was not sure what to expect because I have never caught a native brookie in the middle of winter. It was a very cold day with a layer of ice on the exposed rocks. I had to move very slowly to keep from falling.

I knew the fish would be feeding deep so I was nymph fishing all of the deeper pockets. I did not have much luck, except for one spot where I always catch fish. A large undercut bolder. I made several casts to the other side of the bolder while standing behind it. Finally the line tightened and I quickly raised the rod tip to set the hook. It was a 7" male brookie still in spawning colors. But from his thin body, it was obvious he was just trying to make it through the winter at this point.

I released the brookie and decided I would leave the little native "speckles" alone until spring. They are under enough pressure as it is. I decided to move to the catch and release section of the Davidson River.

click picture to enlarge

On the Davidson, I went to the same place where I caught the 16" brown the week before. It was late in the day so many fishermen had already fished this hole. Fortunately a cold winter rain shower chased most of the other anglers away and I had the spot all to myself.

I fished for about an hour with no luck. I could see fish but they were very skittish. Finally I changed to a very fine 7X tippet and tied on a natural color San Juan worm. I allowed the nymph to drift as naturally as I could in the deepest section of the run. I only felt a slight tug that caused me to set the hook. It was a good sized fish. I had to play him very carefully to keep from breaking the fine tippet. Finally I was able to coax him to shore and get a net under him. It was a very plump rainbow measuring 16". I was hoping for something a little bigger to break my previous week's record, but I was happy.

click picture to enlarge

Monster Davidson River Brown Trout

2009-01-07T02:26:00.007+09:00

Last week a very large brown trout was caught on the Davidson River near Brevard, NC by Graham Sturgis. Here is the original write-up by Kevin Howell (Owner - Davidson River Outfitters - Fly Shop).

There have been a lot of people fishing over the holiday period and with the increased water flows and warmer than usual temperatures, we have seen a lot of good fish being caught. However, Graham Sturgis, gets the big fish award. Graham stopped by the shop on Friday morning and we had a conversation about a large trout he had seen the evening before. We discussed the fish and what we thought it might be, I suggested a Foxee Red Minnow. After he left the shop he caught this brown out of the Catch and Release section of the Davidson River on a size 6 Clouser Foxee Red Minnow, on his first cast. After a couple of rough measurements and a couple of quick photo's the massive trout was released unharmed back into the Davidson. We estimate that the fish weighs somewhere in the 13-14 pound range.

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This is truly a fish of a lifetime.

Congratulations Graham!

Davidson River

2008-12-29T02:10:00.002+09:00

Yesterday, we had good fishing on the Upper Davidson River. We were catching them mostly on pink egg imitations using high-stick nymphing technique.

Tim caught a beautiful brown.

Dave landing a nice sized rainbow.

This brown is 15+ inches long (I wish I had taken the time to actually measure it). It is the largest trout I have caught in the lower 48.

close-up

Fall Fishing in Brevard

2008-11-15T02:03:00.006+09:00

Last week I spent 4 days of fishing with friends from work in Brevard, NC. The weather was great, chilly 45 degree mornings and warm 70 degree afternoons. We caught a lot of fish the first 2 days (Wednesday and Thursday) on the North Mills and Little River. The streams we fished were Delayed Harvest catch and release only. Mostly stocked brook trout.

Then Friday and Saturday we fished the Wild section of the Upper Davidson River and caught some beautiful wild rainbows and browns.

Tim's 31 ft RV had all the comforts of home, including satellite TV!

Relaxing after breakfast.

Tim and Eric getting ready for fishing on the North Mills River. Eric caught a ton of fish this day using a streamer and stripping it in.

8" Brook Trout. This was a typical sized fish for the North Mills. They were taking mostly streamers and nymphs. Although I did catch a few on dry fly during the warm afternoon.

12" Brook Trout. Probably a hold-over brookie from the previous year stocking. I'm guessing because he was larger than most of the other fish.

Small wild Brown Trout from Upper Davidson River.

14" Brook Trout. This is the largest trout I have caught so far in America. I saw him tailing a spawning bed near the back of a large pool. I drifted a size 18 nymph by him and he took it on the first pass. He did not fight very hard, which was a good thing because I was using a 7X tippet. I waded out to the middle of the pool to net him to keep from breaking him off.

14" Brook Trout

Tim on the North Mills.

David S. on The Little River.

David S. stalking trout on the Upper Davidson.

10" wild brown caught on Upper Davidson in the Wild section. I made a long cast to a calm deep pool just downstream of a waterfall. I could not see my fly, but I did see a small dimple in the water when he took the fly. I set the hook hard and felt that I had a fish on. He fought hard and tried to go under an undercut rock on the side of the pool. I steered him back to the center of the pool and was able to net him. He had very nice color. There is just no comparison between the wild trout and the stocked trout.

10" wild brown close-up.

Snowbird Brookies

2008-10-08T00:47:00.005+09:00

Last Sunday I finally went to a special creek that I have been wanting to fish for a long time, the Big Snowbird Creek near the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina. I knew fishing this creek would be a challenge physically because it is very remote.
I woke up at 3:00 am Sunday morning and drove to the trail head (called the Junction) arriving at 6:45 am. It is called the Junction because of a narrow gage railroad used for logging in the area during the 1920's and 30's. The native brook trout were completely extirpated from Snowbird Creek because of heavy silting from the logging operation. Fortunately, the creek has recovered and is a revitalization success story. It now contains the largest known Brook Trout in the Southern Appalachians!
Artifacts from the logging operation can still be seen along the trail.

From the Junction it is about a 5 mile hike upstream to above Big Falls where the Brookies live. It took about 2 1/2 hours to make this hike. By 9:45 am I was fishing.
At first the fishing was very slow. I caught this pretty little 4 inch brookie first, but I was after his big brother.

Next I caught a nicer 7 inch brookie. I was happy but still hoping for something a little bigger.
Finally a landed an 8 1/2 inch brook trout. My biggest for the day. I talked to another fisherman who said he caught a 12 inch brookie! So I know there are bigger ones in Snowbird.
I caught a total of 5 fish for the day. I only fished for 4 hours before it was time to start the long hike back to the car.
I think next time, I should plan to spend the night if I want to get into the bigger fish further upstream.
But, this was a good scouting trip.

Upper Chattooga

2008-10-03T00:46:00.004+09:00

It is finally beginning to feel like fall. The water is cooling down and the fish are becoming more active. So last weekend I decided to try fishing one of the South Carolina trout streams, the Chattooga River in Oconee County. This was my first time to fish the Chattooga, in fact this was the first time I have fished "seriosly" for freshwater trout in my home state of South Carolina. I was pleasantly surprised.

I parked at Burrells Ford Bridge and hiked and fished my way up stream to a point called Ellicott Rock (about 3.5 miles). Ellicott Rock is a stone marker at the point where North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia all intersect.

The Chattooga is a hatchery supported river with the South Carolina State hatchery located on the East Fork of the Chattooga. The Chattooga is known for having very large brown trout, some up to 27 inches!

It is also famous for being the location where the hit movie "Deliverance" was filmed.

I did not catch any large brown trout but I did catch one small brown and a couple of nice 11"-12" rainbows.

I am trying to learn to fish using nymphs. So this day was nymph only day. I caught all the fish using a #20 WD40 nymph.

Here is a nice paw print left in the sand near the waters edge. It is from the black bear which is native to this area.

Upper Davidson

2008-09-08T19:27:00.002+09:00

I went to the upper section of the Davidson River yesterday. It is designated "wild- catch and release only". I had a good day, a total of about 25 fish, but I quit counting around 15. The "fish of the day" was this wild 11 inch brown trout. He made a good account for himself on the light #2 weight rod.

I caught 3 other browns, 2 of which were nice size.

I still have not gone back to the "secret" stream. I want to wait to after a nice rain, so the fish will be more active and not so stressed from the low water levels.

Appalachian Slam!

2008-09-01T23:37:00.007+09:00

What is the Appalachian Slam? This is what fishermen call it when they catch all 3 species of trout of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in a single day. Yesterday, I fished the wild section of the Davidson River in the morning and caught a small brown trout and a 10" rainbow. Another angler was fishing downstream of me and wanted to pass. Normally, fly fishing etiquette would require that he walk around me and go far upstream. But, because I had already caught two pretty fish and he had been fishing after me, I told him to just go ahead of me.

I decided that I wanted to try for some Brook trout so I left the Davidson and went to a new stream that I had been wanting to try. The stream requires a difficult hike and climbing up 2 waterfalls. But it was well worth the effort. The stream had many small brookies at first. The further upstream I went the larger the fish got. At the back of a large pool there was an undercut rock that looked like a perfect holding area for a brookie. I took my time and tried many different patterns including nymphs. Finally, a large 10" brook trout took a #16 Royal Coachman and gave a nice fight. Unfortunately, I was using a barbless hook and I did not have net. So, he escaped right at my feet! But, I was very happy! I hooked atleast two more large brookies a little upstream and lost both of them. The point is, I have found a new stream with large sized brookies and I think it receives very little fishing pressure. I can't wait to go back with my net. Normally I don't like to use barbed hooks but I usually shallow hook the brookies and they are really good at shaking the fly from their mouth.

I'm afraid I am going to have to keep the location of this new stream a secret. Sorry!

So after fishing the "secret" stream for a few hours, I headed back to the Davidson to fish the evening rise. I found a large, deep pool where the Davidson and Looking Glass creek intersect. Just upstream of the pool is a nice riffle on the Davidson side. I knew this would be a likely spot for the evening rise. I waited until about 5:30 pm until I started seeing trout rising to insects floating on the water. My first cast was about 60 feet to the top of the riffle with a large grasshopper imitation. It drifted naturally for about 10 feet and was sucked under by a very large rainbow. I struggled to keep him from getting into the rocks at the head of the riffle, but I lost him. Usually the largest fish in the area gets first dibs on any food floating by. I'm guessing this one was about 20". The fish continued rising and I caught 5 more medium sized rainbows (10"-12") out of the same riffle and pool.

So, for the day, I had my first Appalachian Slam. Can you identify the three species in the following pictures? Sorry the picture quality is not very good, I forgot my camera and had to use my cell phone.Well? If you're not sure the answers are below.

1) Rainbow Trout

2) Brown Trout

3) Brook Trout

><> Tight Lines

Jackson Hole Cutthroat

2008-08-25T00:58:00.007+09:00

On my return trip from British Columbia, I made a pit stop in Jackson, Wyoming to meet up with some other friends from Japan (Take-san, Ongawa-san and Kawasumi-san). We stayed at the ranch home of Hamano-san located at the base of the Grand Tetons near the National Elk Refuge. It was a beautiful log cabin with amazing views! Here is a view from the back yard.We stayed in the guest cabin. Take-san relaxing before heading back to Flat Creek for more fly fishing. Saturday morning Hamano-san took us to meet one of his neighbors, Yvon Chouinard. Yvon is a famous mountain climber, author, fly fisherman and business man. He is most recognized as the founder of the Patagonia clothing and gear company. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvon_Chouinard

Take-san and Koichi-san discuss fly tying techniques. We were all a bit star struck. For outdoor enthusiast, meeting Yvon Chouinard is like meeting the Pope.

I had to sidle-up for a picture. (-:

After our brush with celebrity, it was time to head to Flat Creek. Flat Creek is a slow moving spring creek that winds through the Grand Teton valley. The banks have been undercut making perfect hiding places for the skitish cutthroat. We used terrestrials flies such as grasshoppers and ants during times when there was no mayfly hatch.

But around 12:00 noon there was usually a large hatch of grey drake mayflies. This one was nice enough to pose for a picture.

Clouds of mayflies can be seen rising into the sky as they hatch from the water. This drives the trout into a feeding frenzy, a situation every fly fisherman hopes for.

It was during a may fly hatch that I caught my first cutthroat.

Notice the red marking or "cut" under the head from which they are named.

After a few photos we released the cutthroat to fight another day. I caught 4 cutthroat in total for the two days. Not a lot of fish but I was happy.

I owe a special thank you to my new friend Koichi-san, who guided me on Flat Creek.

Koichi-san is a professional fly tyer and expert fly fisherman. I learned a lot during my two days of fishing together. I hope you will visit his blog... http://kwaters.blog92.fc2.com/

BC Steelhead on the Fly

2008-08-24T00:00:00.006+09:00

Last week I had the great fortune of reuniting with two of my good friends from Japan (Dr. Kawano and Mr. Sakai-san) in British Columbia. We met in Vancouver and flew to the Kalum River Lodge in Terrace, BC for 6 days of guided steelheading on the world famous Skeena River. The Skeena has the largest run of wild steelhead in the world and currently holds the world record for the largest steelhead.

The first day, Dr. Kawano landed the first steelhead of the trip. The guide (Andrew Rushton)estimated it at about 20 lbs. He said this is a "dream fish". The fact that it was taken on a fly rod makes it even more special. Steelhead are protected and it is illegal to keep them in Canada, catch and release only. So after a few quick photos we allowed the trout to continue his journey upstream to spawn. Unlike salmon, steelhead do not die after spawning, they return to the sea and will spawn many times in a lifetime.

Mr. Sakai-san caught this beautiful steelhead. It measured 40 inches long and had a 20 inch girth. According to the steelhead weight formula, it weighed 21 lbs. It had great coloring around the gills. A steelhead is actually a sea-run rainbow trout. So they often have greenish backs and red/purple on the sides, especially during spawning.

I caught this steelie on a single hand 9 wt fly rod. Estimated weight is 13 lbs. These fish are incredibly strong. Most anglers consider the steelhead to be the strongest sportfish in the world pound for pound. I can believe it! I landed 5 steelhead for the week, size ranged between 12 and 15 lbs.

Mr. Sakai-san doing battle.

Nakamoto-san, another guest at the lodge, caught his first ever steelhead.

Arimoto-san shows off his first steelhead.

This is a chum salmon (in spawning colors) caught on the Kittimat River.

Coho salmon.

Tony, the assistant guide caught the largest steelhead of the week, about 25 lbs!

Group photo wearing our Skeena 2008 commemorative shirts. Me, Mr. Sakai-san and Dr. Kawano

Everyone caught a lot of fish and had a great time. We have already started discussing our 2009 fishing trip. Some possibilities include New Zealand, Patagonia and Christmas Island. But who knows?

If you would like to take a trip to BC for steelhead fishing, I can highly recommend Andrew Rushton's Kalum River Lodge. http://www.kalumriverlodge.com/

Yamato Iwana and Appalachian Brookie

2008-07-19T22:36:00.009+09:00

The native Japanese Iwana is referred to as the Yamato Iwana. Yamato is an ancient name for Japan and often used to convey a sense of respect for items that are "truly" Japanese. Such as yamato-damashii meaning a nationalistic "Japanese spirit", (similar to our American patriotism).
The Yamato Iwana is held in high regard in Japan and has taken on almost mythic proportions because of their rarity and illusiveness. They are only found in the most remote and rugged parts of the Japan Alps. Catching a Yamato Iwana requires many miles of trecking through difficult terrain.
Recently, my good friends Mr. Sakai-san, Kurematsu-san and Daichan went on an expedition to the Norogawa River on Mt. Kitadake (the second tallest mountain in Japan). Here are some photos with captions by Daichan of their trip.

Mr. Sakai-san caught a huge 31 cm Yamato Iwana. Omedito! (congratulations!).

The Iwana is in the Char family, the same as the Brook trout or Brookie. You can see the similarities between the Brookie and the Iwana. Notice the white markings on the front edge of the lower fins and the reddish belly. Also, char have very long mouths that extend past their eyes.
Although, the char I catch in the Mountains of North Carolina are MUCH smaller than Mr. Sakai's. I find it amazing that we have members of the same family of fish on opposite sides of the planet.

North Carolina Brookies

2008-06-26T06:26:00.025+09:00

[I have removed the name of this stream to protect it from individuals who may not practice catch and release.]

Last weekend I fished the **** in North Carolina. I got an early start, the Smokey Mountains are very beautiful in the morning. It is easy to see how they got their name. The **** runs through an area known as the *****. This sign explains the origin of it's name.

The **** has 2 sets of falls, the **** falls and the **** falls. The wild brookies inhabit the waters above the **** falls.

I hiked to the top of the **** falls (about 2.5 kilometers). The stream and trail go through a beautiful meadow filled with wild blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. This makes it a very popular tourist stop, so you need to go early if you want to fish.

The wild blueberries were not quite ripe yet, maybe 3 more weeks.

A view of the **** falls.

A typical pool where brookies like to live.
I caught 10 brookies for the day and I probably missed twice that many. They are VERY fast and the hook must be set firmly and quickly.

The brookie is considered by many to be the most beautiful of all North American trout. I have to say I agree. Although the native brookies only grow to about 7 or 8 inches in length, they are a lot of fun to catch. I will definitely be returning to the **** again.

Fly of the Week (#3) -The Royal Coachman

2008-06-21T23:48:00.003+09:00

This week's fly is the Royal Coachman. The Coachman is one of the most famous of traditional flies. It is considered an "attractor" pattern because it does not imitate a specific natural fly. It does however have characteristics of several types of flies. It is often used for "prospecting" on unfamiliar streams or when it is difficult to figure out what the fish are feeding on.

I have heard that brook trout are particularly fond of the Royal Coachman, but that rainbows and browns may turn their nose at it. Since I am planning to fish for brookies this weekend in unfamiliar waters, it seems to be a likely choice. I will let you know how it goes.

This fly was tied on a Tiemco TMC 531 #14 hook. Wings are white turkey quill. Tail is pheasant. The body is two strands of peacock herl with red silk floss. And the hackle is coachman brown.

Fly of the Week

2008-06-15T08:54:00.003+09:00

At our farewell party, Mr. Sakai san presented me with a book of 15 Traditional Flies (+1) from the fly fishing class. I have decided that I will try to learn to tie one fly each week. So far I have learned the first two flies in the book.

The first fly is the Light Cahill. I used this fly on Laurel Fork last week. It just so happened that this is the fly they were hitting on. The wings are made of mallard flank and the hackle is light ginger. Tied on a #14 Tiemco TMC 531 hook.
Here is the second fly in the book, it is the Quill Gordon. The body is made of stripped peacock quill. It uses the same mallard flank as the Cahill and the hackle is medium pale dun. Tied on a #14 Tiemco 531 hook.
Inside the book was a "Soft Hackles" sticker. Mr. Sakai san said that I was now an official member of the Soft Hackles fly fishing club. I count it a great honor.

Laurel Fork

2008-06-10T07:25:00.008+09:00

I returned to Brevard, NC last Friday to try a different stream for the ellusive Native Brookie. Friday evening I fished Avery Creek and caught two small wild rainbows. The stream was very small and the water level was low.
Both rainbows were caught on a #18 Light Cayhill Mayfly.

Susanne and I spent the night in Brevard and I tried my luck again on Saturday morning. I started fishing about 6:30 am on Laurel Fork. Laurel Fork is a main tributary of the Davidson River. The conditions were much better than Avery Creek. There were many small plunge pools and pocket water. Laurel Fork is a "Catch and Release" only stream. It contains both hatchery raised fish and wild trout. Because it is a "Catch and Release" stream there is less pressure from fishermen.
I caught a nice 9" (23cm) brown. This was my first brown trout in the US.

I also caught several nice wild rainbows, the largest being about 10" (25cm).

That night we visited some friends in Highlands, NC and had a very nice meal at the Fire Side restaurant. I had pan-fried rainbow trout and spicy grits. They get the trout locally in Andrews, NC.
I still was not able to catch a Wild Native Brook Trout (brookie). My fly fishing mentor Dr. Kawano is very eager for me to catch a Native Brookie. I have been researching native brookie streams in North Carolina. Here are a few of the things I have learned so far.

1. Brookies require pristine, clear, cold mountain streams. Pressure from acid rain and silt from improper development have led to a decline in brookie habitat.

2. Brookies do not compete well with the non-native trout species (rainbows, browns and northern brook trout) that have been stocked in the mountain streams of the Appalachians over the past century.

3. As a result of habitat destruction and competition from non-native species, the native brookies can only be found in the most remote high elevation streams in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.

4. Native Brookies will likely be found in streams at elevations above 4000 ft that are cut-off from lower streams by a natural barrier (such as a waterfall) that prevents the non-native fish from traveling upstream.

I discovered a research paper from Western Carolina University where DNA testing was performed on wild brookies in Jackson County. It found many streams where the brookies had interbread with non-native northern brookies that were introduced through stocking. It also found several streams that still have pure Native Appalachian Brookies. I will not publish the names of these streams here, but if you promise to catch and release I might email them to you.

I can't wait to try to catch some of these little jewels.

Looking Glass Creek

2008-06-03T02:16:00.016+09:00

I finally managed to go fly fishing for the first time sense returning from Japan. I would have gone sooner but I had to have outpatient surgery that I had been putting off.

Susanne and I went to the Davidson River in the Pisgah National Forest located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. About a 2 hour drive from Greenville.

The main part of the Davidson River is hatchery supported, but heavily fished making the fish very spooky. I decided to fish one of the streams feeding the Davidson called Looking Glass Creek. It is a small spring creek with constant water temperatures between 50-55 F (10-13 C). Because of the cold water conditions, it can be fished all summer long (with no closed season).

Looking Glass Falls is a 60 ft (20 meter) waterfall which provides a natural barrier that prevents the hatchery fish from going upstream. This means that the area I fished above the falls is a "wild"area.

(Susanne at Looking Glass Falls)

The “wild” areas are mostly inhabited by native Brook trout (brookie), wild rainbows and browns.

We arrived at the stream side around 2:30 pm. I tied on a #18 cripple mayfly (a fly given to me by Kurematsu-san while I was in Japan). The stream was only 2 to 3 meters wide and the water level was low because of a recent dry spell. There was also a lot of mountain laurel and rododendron overhanging the stream, making casting difficult. Short side casts were the best way to fish most areas. My first cast produced an 8” (20 cm) wild rainbow, the largest of the day as it would turnout. It was fun catching the fish right in front of Susanne. After a few pictures I walked about 15 ft upstream and caught another one. I new it was going to be a good afternoon!

I managed to catch 7 raindows in an hour and a half. They were small fish but it was big fun!

On the return home we stopped at the Ranger Station and spoke with the park rangers. They gave me some good information on other places to fish in the future.
I really would like to catch some of the wild native brook trout that live in the remote higher elevation streams. I will definitely be returning to this area soon.

Toyamagawa

2008-04-30T20:47:00.008+09:00

April 27 I went to Toyamagawa River in the Southern Japan Alps for my final fly fishing trip in Japan (for a while anyway). My assignment in Japan has come to and end so my wife and I will be returning to the US on May 1st.
It was about a 4 hour drive from Kakegawa to Toyamagawa in Nagano Prefecture. Below is a view from an overlook on the way.
I went with 4 other friends from Slow Life. I spent the day fishing with "Funkey Monkey" Okie-san (below). He caught a nice 19 cm amago using the traditional Japanese fly fishing style, Tenkara.

Satoh-san also tried his hand at Tenkara. He is using a bamboo Tenkara rod given to him by the chief editor of "Fly Fisher" magazine, Oguchi-san.

I only caught one fish for the day, a pretty decent 23 cm amago.

Oshino

2008-04-15T14:44:00.012+09:00

After leaving Ashinoko on Sunday morning we went to Oshino River, about a one hour drive. We stopped by the "River's Edge" fly fishing shop and talked to the local pro, Watanabe-san and his wife. He told us the best place to fish on the Oshino River.

We went to Section 8 (Kindaichi) of Oshino River. If you click on the link below, it will take you to an interactive map of Section 8. Click the camera icon to view photographs along the river. If you select the 2nd camera from the right, that is where I was fishing. http://www.ffmedia.net/oshino/oshino_guide_map.htm

Kawano-sensei was fishing just upstream from me. He caught a nice brown trout, but I did not get a picture, sorry. Standing behind Dr. Kawano is Take-san. He served as my guide for the entire afternoon. He was very patient and helpful. He "loaned" me several flies which I promptly lost in the trees.

Take-san gave me a personalized keychain (pictured below). It has a beautiful engraving of a Japanese Yamame trout on one side and my name on the other.

(below: 20 cm brown trout I caught using a #16 CDC mayfly)

(below: 29 cm brown trout I caught using a CDC mayfly)

(below is a nice 35 cm rainbow. I caught it on a #16 mayfly and 7X tippet)

Daisuke-san and Ru-chan having some quality father-son time as mommy and Take-san look on.

Mr. Sakai-san caught two rainbows at Oshino (22 cm and 30 cm).

After fishing we returned to the River's Edge fly shop for dinner, they have a small cafe there. I had a delicious roastbeef sandwich.

Ashinoko

2008-04-14T18:32:00.010+09:00

Saturday: Mr. Sakai-san and I met some of our fishing friends at Lake Ashinoko for some Rainbow fishing. Lake Ashinoko is located in the crater of the extinct Hakone volcano. It is 725 meters above sea level, very clean and pristine. It reminded me a lot of Lake Jocassee in South Carolina.
(below: stock photo of Lake Ashinoko with Mt. Fuji in the distance)

We rented a motor boat for the day. It was only 9,000 yen (about $90) for the day, including a tank of gas. This was the first time I have ever fly fished from a boat. It was really nice not worrying about my back-cast getting hung in the trees.

(Here is Niida-san taking us to a good spot on the other side of the lake.)

We fished using Olive Marabou Damselfly's on #12 hook. Niida-san caught the first two (or 3?)rainbows. Then Sakai-san caught 2 rainbows. Average fish size was about 30 cm.

(below: Sakai-san landing a 31 cm rainbow)

(close-up)

Sunday morning while we were packing up we ran into Taka Sugisaka-san in the parking lot. Sugisaka-san is a very famous fly fisherman in Japan and around the world. I had just purchased the May issue of Flyfisher magazine which has a 4 page article written by Sugisaka-san. He was gracious enough to sign the article and let me have my picture taken with him.

(the autographed article)

Next stop is Oshino Spring Creek...

Ketagawa Weekend

2008-04-08T18:51:00.010+09:00

My fishing friends and I spent Saturday and Sunday fishing the Ketagawa River, a branch of the Tenryu River North of Hamamatsu. The weather was perfect! Saturday I fished with Dr. Kawano, my good friend and fishing sensei (teacher). I had a few rises but no fish-on.
A very large Amago rose to Dr. Kawano's fly at the area pictured below, but he did not take it. We both tried many casts in this area but he would not rise again.The next day on Sunday, Mr. Sakai-san joined Dr. Kawano and I. Mr. Sakai caught the first fish, a very nice 20cm Amago. He took the fish in a deep clear pool. This is a difficult situation, because the Amago can easily see you approaching and head for cover. This area is heavily fished which makes the fish even more difficult to catch.
As we continued up river we came to the bend where the large Amago rose to Dr. Kawano's fly on the previous day. We watched the water for a few minutes and immediately saw the fish rising to natural flies. Dr. Kawano made several casts but had no luck. We decided to stop here and eat our lunch as we continued to watch the fish rising. Dr. Kawano said the water had undermined a large rock at the back of the bend and that the trout was hiding under the rock.
After lunch, Dr. Kawano told me to give it a try. I was a little reluctant at first because I new I only had a 7X tippet (2.3 lb test) on my leader. I decide to tie on a #12 black parachute mayfly with peacock herl body (a gift from Shimizu-san last weekend). I crawled to within casting distance and made about 6 casts to where the Amago had been rising. I was about to give up but decided to make a couple more tries. Finally, he took the fly and made a mad dash downstream. I was in a panic, because I did not want to break him off. Luckily there were no rocks downstream for him to dive under in which case I surely would have lost him. The first photo below shows me landing the Amago, what a relief!

He measured 25.5 cm. This is by far the largest Amago trout I have caught in Japan.
I appreciate the patience and coaching from all my friends from the Lifestyle Design College.

Sasamagawa Revenge

2008-04-01T12:02:00.001+09:00

Last weekend I spent two whole days fishing the Sasamagawa River.

Saturday (3-29-08):

Clear skies and light wind. I did a little better than the previous weekend. I caught two Amago trout. They were both small, one was 15 cm and the other 16 cm.Of course Mr. Sakai-san caught the largest fish, a nice 22 cm Amago (below)
Sunday (3-30-08):

AM overcast skies turning to rain around noon. Unfortunately Mr. Sakai-san was not able to join us this day. But I did have the pleasure of fishing with Oguchi Shuhei-sama, founder and chief editor for Tsuribito-sha, the parent company for Fly Fisher Magazine. Mr. Oguchi-sama is 85 years young and it was quite an honor to meet him.

We had a large group Sunday. We had a nice lunch on the river bank complete with hot coffee. (left to right) Kiwi Yoko, Doko Ji, Oguchi-san, Shimizu-san, Satoh and Karematsu.
Mr. Shimizu-san caught a 15 cm Amago. He is a tenkara fisherman, the traditional Japanese form of fly fishing. It uses only a long rod with the line attached to the tip (no reel). The flies resemble mayflies emerging from the water (emergers). Mr. Shimizu-san would whip the fly down into the water about 1-2 inches deep, let it drift down stream, then pull it straight back out imitating the action of an emerger. Very interesting to watch. (below- Mr Shimizu tenkara fishing).
After a long cold rainy day of fishing we all went to a small onsen (hot springs) in the mountains nearby named Kurami Ochiaiso. We had a nice soak and a dinner party afterward. (below- I am wearing an antique Tenkara fishing hat (sugegasa) donated by Shimizu-san and Oguchi-san to the Lifestyle Design College.)

By the way, the folks at DK Littleton Outfitters in Greenville South Carolina posted one of our photos from Kanogawa on their website. (follow link below)

http://www.dklittleton.com/bragging.asp

Spring Fishing

2008-03-24T12:37:00.001+09:00

Dear Friends,
After a long winter break from fishing, spring is finally here! This is the best time of year for fly fishing in Japan.
Yesterday, I went to Sasama-gawa with my fishing buddy Mr. Sakai-san. It was a clear day with light winds. Perfect fly fishing conditions.
Mr. Sakai-san caught 4 amago trout for the day. A very good catch for this area. His largest fish was about 23 cm. (see below)

I hooked 2 amago, but only landed one of them. It was small, about 15 cm. But I was happy, because it was my first fish of the season.

There was a hatch of tan mayflies that day. And "match the hatch" fishing produced all of the fish. Here is a close-up of a mayfly from that day. Notice the orange egg sack on the abdomen. I am thinking of adding the orange bit to some of my tied fllies.

Here is a mayfly from Kanogawa (week before last). This mayfly was 2 to 3 times the size of the one above from Sasamagawa. Also notice the difference in wing color.

I told my friends Spider and Dan at DK Littleton Outfitters in Greenville South Carolina that I would take a picture with one of their flags in Japan.
Check out their web-site here. http://www.dklittleton.com/

The Grayling

2007-12-28T09:33:00.002+09:00

Recently a good friend of mine shared some photos he took of some nice grayling. The grayling is a memeber of the salmon family and is not concidered a true trout. However, it is a beautiful fish with a high fan-like dorsal fin, from which it gets it's nickname "the lady of the stream". Grayling will take a fly, making it a good sport fish.

Please enjoy his photos.

Brevard, North Carolina (USA)

2007-11-17T13:24:00.000+09:00

Recently some friends of mine from America went fly fishing in the North Mills River near the city of Brevard, North Carolina. Brevard is located about 1 hour North of Greenville, South Carolina in the Pisgah National Forest.

The North Mills River is a delayed harvest river for late season fishing. It was featured on FlyFishMagazine.com. Click on the link below for more information.

http://www.flyfishmagazine.com/html/north_mills_river.html

My friends (and co-workers) Dave and Tim were kind enough to send me a few pictures of their trip. Here is Tim with a nice Brown trout. It was caught using a 5 weight, 8'-6" rod with a #22 red zebra nymph.

Here is a close-up of a beautiful Rainbow. This rainbow is quite different looking than the ones I am used to seeing in Japan.

Tim has agreed to send some more photographs from their trip and I will add them to this page later. These guys are both skilled anglers and I am looking forward to fishing with them when I move back to the US.

Anyone else who would like to share their fly fishing pictures are welcome to email them to me. Also, please let me know if it is ok to post them on my blog or not.

Shishidome

2007-11-06T12:43:00.001+09:00

This past weekend I went to the Shishidome fishing area near Mt. Fuji with several friends from my fly fishing class. We had perfect weather and good fishing conditions.
The first day (Saturday) we walked to the upper part of the river and fished with dry flies. I did not have any luck with the dry flies in my box, so I tried a soft hackle fly. I caught a 28 cm Iwana trout on the first cast. Unfortunately he jumped out of my hands before Mr. Sakai-san could take a picture.
The Shishidome is a stocked stream with many large hatchery raised rainbow trout which are not a native species of Japan. Many of my friends and family have commented about the small size of the fish shown on my blog. Even my own mother said "we catch much bigger fish when we go fishing". Ha! The native wild trout are typically smaller and much more difficult to catch than the stocked fish. This is precisely the reason I prefer fishing for the wild trout. However, I must say it was a lot of fun catching the large rainbows at Shishidome.
Saturday evening just before dark I saw a group of large rainbows feeding just in front of a small waterfall. I managed to take several good sized fish from this area, including a 40 cm rainbow (my largest trout to date). So I hope this satisfies those of you (mom) who wanted to see larger fish on this blog. ;-)

(close-up)

Ms. Onoue-san is a first year fly fisher also. She landed many good sized trout. Her skill as an angler has increased dramatically over the past year. Here is a picture of Onoue-san doing battle with a large rainbow.
Mr. Sakai-san landing a nice rainbow.
Dr. Kawano-sensei giving some pointers to Ms. Onoue-san.

I made several new friends on this trip and I am looking forward to seeing them again soon. Our next Lifestyle Design College fly fishing trip is in two weeks. We will be going to a fishing park to catch trout to fry at the year end party/festival the following week.

Ohtagawa

2007-10-23T11:19:00.000+09:00

Mr. Sakai-san and I went to Ohtagawa river for fly fishing. Our target was the amago trout. The area we fished was above a closed road, so there is very little fishing pressure here. It was a clear cool fall day and it had just rained the night before. There was a strong breeze blowing upstream. I kept having trouble getting my line tangled because of the breeze. But it was not too bad. We saw many amago as soon as we got to the river's edge. Sakai-san (right) caught the first fish, a gorgeous 18cm amago. Note the dark paw marks and bright red spots (below).

Soon after, I caught a small amago, my only one for the day (below). I missed about five fish in total. Amago are very quick and the hook must be set fast. I am still leaving too much slack in the line.

Sakai-san had a great day, with a total of 5 fish! He is a very good fisherman. I learned a lot just watching him (below).

Seisen-Ryo

2007-10-07T11:07:00.000+09:00

Just one week after the Nikengoya trip I had the opportunity to go to another beautiful fishing area North of Mount Fuji. I went with Kawano-sensei, Tanaka-san and my wife Susanne. It was a cool overcast weekend with off and on rain showers. We stayed at the Seisen_Ryo hotel and had a private 2 bedroom cottage. The price was very reasonable which included breakfast and dinner in a 4 star restuarant.
We arrived Sunday evening and visited a famous fly-fishing hangout called Mossback. It is a small diner with lots of atmosphere. The owner, a friend of Dr. Kawano, is a local with a lot of knowledge of this area's streams. We had coffee and looked at books of nature photographs taken by the owner. After coffee, the owner brought out some topo maps and showed us the best places to go.
That afternoon, we checked into the hotel and donned our fishing gear. The first stream was close to town. We spreadout with about 100 meters between us. I was in the middle close to a bridge. I walked slightly down stream near a small falls and started fishing back up stream. I was using a newly tied pattern (Olive CDC caddis on a #14 extra fine hook). It is a very high floating fly that likes to "skitter" on the surface film. Iwana seem to be attracted to this natural movement.
I saw a very likely spot and I slowly fished my way to it. It was a group of large rocks against the far shore. They formed a series of small falls with shallow pools between them. I fished the lowest pool first with no results. My fly was starting to sink, so I redressed it with some powder floatant. I knew the next pool was probably my best chance. The fly landed softly just above the eddy and floated for about 3 seconds before I had a strike. It was a nice Iwana (about 21 cm). I held it up for Dr. Kawano to see and took some pictures.
Soon after this, Tanaka-san saw five fly fisherman walk downstream and leave. Evidently this area had been recently fished. I was very lucky to have caught a fish here.
The next morning we hiked down a gorge to a very popular stream. When we arrived Dr. Kawano and I sat down to rest. Tanaka-san immediately started fishing. We watched as Tanaka-san made beautiful casts to a large pool right in front of us. An Iwana attacked his fly and he set the hook perfectly. It was very enjoyable to see him catch his first trout of this trip. He has been fishing for 10 years and is a very skilled angler.
We then split up and spreadout along the stream. Dr. Kawano caught two Iwana and Tanaka-san caught a total of three Iwana. I was happy that everyone was catching fish. We came back together and had a bento lunch. Next we went to one of the streams suggested by the Mossback owner. I caught a very dark colored Iwana-char here. Dr. Kawano said he believed this was probably a native "wild" trout. It gets a little confusing sometimes. But many of the streams in Japan contain stocked trout that are raised in hatcheries. They are still Iwana trout which is a native species. The co-ops that release the fish may only stock the stream once every three years to offset high pressure fishing areas. These "farm raised" Iwana interbreed with the natural "wild" Iwana and it leads to changes in there appearance. Most noticeably, they appear lighter in color. However, many of the small streams are cut-off from the large streams by dams and large waterfalls that keep these areas "wild".
By the way, Susanne also enjoyed herself soaking in the onsen, shopping and making new friends. Such is the life of a fishing widow.

Nikengoya, Oi-gawa

2007-10-01T19:25:00.000+09:00

On September 16 the fly fishing class went to the Oi-gawa head waters area for our first overnight fishing trip. We stayed at the Nikengoya lodge located in a remote area of the Japanese Alps.
The first day I fished with Dr. Kawano, an English speaking instructor and veteran fly fisherman. Dr. Kawano caught a nice 27cm Iwana. I had never caught a wild Japanese trout and I was hoping this would be the day. After about an hour of fishing I switched to a CDC Caddis and immediately had a splash rise but was late setting the hook. Encouraged, I continued using the CDC. Dr. Kawano spotted a fish but could not get it to rise to his fly. He said, "David, why don't you see if he will take your fly?" I slowly approached the eddy being careful to stay concealed behind a large boulder. My first cast landed in the middle of the eddy. I could see the Iwana looking at the fly, rising slowly at first. Then, a lightening quick strike. "Fish On!" I had my first wild Japanese trout.He was only 19cm long but I was elated. I was glad Dr. Kawano could be my witness. We took pictures and released him back into the Oi-gawa.

The second day, we walked upstream for about 45 minutes to the less fished area of the river.I managed to catch another Iwana (20cm).
The trip was awesome and I could not think of a better setting for "my first trout".