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Master Fishcamp

April, Sea-run-AMEMASU, going to Estuary

Updated: Apr 16, 2023

Last week's fishing report.

We took our guests on our customary tour of East Hokkaido Amemasu trout. It was a very bad day around the tide, and the tide was high and gradual for the rest of the day, the flow was almost stagnant, and he probably had a high salt concentration on the bottom of the river. It was a tough situation that the line could not reach there easily.

However, for the guests, there was an "important mission" to eat delicious and fresh seafood this time, so the tough fishing went away. The mission was more than expected, and we will have revenge next year.


(Oyster shells hooking for some reason)


As a guide, it's a little frustrating, so I'll stay behind and burn with revenge first. I have tieing the fly in a small space of Nissan Patrol GR, (sleeping bed as well) while staying in the car, and quickly tied her slender streamer of whitebait type that I heard from freiends a local angler.

In fact, the next day also failed. Two skinny 40cm class Amemasu. I saw sometimes boil. Before going up the river, I asked a local angler about it, and it seems that a good size was caught this morning. Where there are fish, they are mostly solidified, and they behave like Sea Run Char in spring. It's a lot of medium-sized classes that move around and boil occasionally.


At low tide, I enter the river at 6am. Get up early, rare. But this works.

No. 8 two-handed rod, Line is 『Atlantic salmon short S2S3』, slow fishing down with Speycast. There are no people around today, so I can do it, but when there are people, there are many people who stay in place and don't move. If you are in town, follow the town.

At a slightly deeper point of about 200m, I carefully float down the water one step at a time to identify where the fish are. Even if you say to sink, you can hardly catch it with just a swing. The brackish water area is rich in bait, and the daily attacks of lures and flies make it difficult for them to talk about suspicious things like a big streamers. In addition, there should be a considerable amount of garbage flowing, so the movement as a living thing is also produced, Retrieve is almost essential.


After very soft touched, a heavy fight begins. If there is a hit, immediately set up the pole. The No. 8 rod bends from the bat, and I endure it, but it doesn't move easily from the spot. This is a movement unique to big things.

By the way, don't believe the unsubstantiated discourse that "it shouldn't hook set". Always match the fish being fed to ensure hooking. This is a highly probable way to reduce the barre. Barbless is almost irrelevant if you use a flexible rod. Hard rods are easy to break. I wish I could keep pulling the line all the time, but you can understand the reasoning somehow. Please believe me. It is from the experience of hitting more than 1000 good size Amemasu duaring 30years in every where of Hokkaido.


First, the biggest fish of the day, equivalent to 76 cm (measured with a rod and later measured). It ran away while I was taking pictures, and the second and third one came to about 60cm (because it was troublesome to measure), and after that it was about 71~2cm (the fish in the photo).

My left hand was sore when I was retrieving too many times, so I tried mainly swinging, but when the tide came up, his line didn't go into the lower layers, and he suddenly stopped responding. Swinging and retrieving bottoms with high salinity makes it easy for the line to immediately float on the surface. I don't think the fish are moving at this point, but this is the end of the day.


The stage of Amemasu trout in eastern Hokkaido is a little bit Estuary area, and soon it should go out to sea and welcome the summer of growth. When I am completely satisfied with the catch and fishing method, I return to my senses. I have to go home and continue writing the next book I'm late for! On my way home, I was thinking about whether or not to include this episode.

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