Cool Japanese Trout Releasing in A Wild River

Fly fishing for trout in Japan can be traced back at least to the fifteenth century, using a horsehair line attached to a bamboo rod. Not so different from today’s tenkara method, though that name only appears in the late nineteenth century. Today, fly fishing remains a popular sport in Japan and most rivers and lakes are managed by local cooperatives who sell licenses on their ‘beats’ by the day. The waters within a few hours of Tokyo are very busy at the weekends, so we chose a mid-week day and drove with our guide Ebi about two hours west from Tokyo, over Yabitsu Pass to the Tanzawa Ohyama Prefectural Natural Park. A narrow winding road took us over the pass and into a lush valley full of trees. There we found the Sagame, a lively stream still a bit swollen with rainfall from the week before. The Yamame is technically a salmonid and has multiple variations. Some Yamame are anadromous; these are called sakura masu or cherry salmon because they ascend the rivers in May when the cherry trees bloom. They are highly prized, much like steelhead in our part of the world. The landlocked version is a cousin to the rainbow trout. It is much smaller, and can spawn multiple times in its native river. The Iwana is a char and resembles a brook trout in coloration. In Japanese, Iwana is written with three kanji characters – stone, mountain and fish. They fight like a brookie too – scrappy and tenacious. Heavy rain – high water Heavy rainfall a week or so prior had raised water levels and created faster main flows, so we worked the edges and seams most of the time. The water was extremely clear, so we were able to cast to specific fish in most parts of the stream, and to groups in some of the pools. However the clear water also made the fish very aware of our movements and easily spooked. Ebi advised us to ‘fish like a ninja’… casting while crouching low behind rocks or trees. Of course these awkward casting positions plus many low-hanging branches meant we left a few flies dangling in the branches above (where we spotted a few from prior anglers as well). The fish were very choosy, so we changed patterns every few casts seeking something interesting enough to tempt them up from their lies. release fish at the end release fish release fish into the wild release fish in lake release fish in pond release fish animal crossing release fishing reels release fish with hook release fish animal crossing new horizons release new fish into aquarium release betta fish barotrauma fish release catch and release fish animal crossing release fish fish release device how to release fish eggs how to release fish from hook slow release fish food fish release fail funny fish release fish release game pro trigger release fish hook remover how to release fish how to release fish into aquarium fish hook release tool how to release fish in minecraft release aquarium fish into the wild release pet fish into wild kiss and release fish how to release fish safely seaqualizer fish release tool underwater fish release fish release weight dji phantom 4 fishing release