Japan Rocked By Earthquake and Tsunami Yesterday

If you haven’t been watching the news recently you may not know that Japan was just rocked by an earthquake, followed by a tsunami. I got an email this morning from Adam Guy, so I’m pretty sure he’s ok. It’s hard to believe that only the day before he was out on the water fishing. I hope that everyone is ok, the destruction looks pretty immense from the videos I’ve seen and I’m sure there’s even more that I haven’t seen.

Japanese Fishing Charm

This fishing charm, crafted in a Japanese fishing temple, was given to us by our favorite contributor Adam Guy.

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Japanese Rainbow Trout From Adam Guy

Our good friend and long-time contributor Adam Guy wrote me to say that he’s recently picked up fly fishing and has been getting his practice in on a locally stocked pond where he can also keep a small portion of his catch to bring home and eat. Of course no post of his would be complete without something to get you salivating..

1. The French dish truites aux amandes; made with just butter, lemon, parsley and almonds, it is simplicity itself.
2. Seared trout fillets with a sauce of Marsala wine, cream and Japanese shimeji mushrooms.
3. Good old fish and chips, made with trout in a beer batter; it tasted better than some sea-fish I have eaten.

Once I have gained a little skill, I fully intend to hit the mountains and coasts of Japan with my fly rod. There is plenty of game here such as several species of native char and trout, a version of the famous taimen, Hucho perryi, called “itoh” in Japanese, and even our very own Asian salmon, the cherry or masu salmon (“sakuramasu”). Of course these creatures would probably not end up on my dinner plate, as perhaps due to my increasing age I feel less inclined to kill and eat my catch, but I will be sure to send you a photographic record of my fishing trips here.
Cheers,
Adam

Adam Catches Gold!

Its not every day one of our readers has the chance to fish for golden mahseer, especially not one of our biggest contributors! If you spend anytime reading this site you have no doubt read one of Adam Guy’s incredible articles about fishing in Japan. His most recent voyage took him on the adventure of a lifetime, chasing legendary golden mahseer in the river Ganges. Check out his blog, the Compleat Tsuribito, to view his incredible story!

Adam and pure gold.

Nice job Adam!

Traditional Japanese Rod Making by Adam Guy

Adam Guy recently sent me a new editorial on making traditional Japanese bamboo fishing rods. In his email he described the process and techniques used to handcraft these beautiful rods, which I found very interesting, and once completed he takes his rod fishing for the first time. Adam is never one to leave us hanging, but always the one to leave us hungry, he takes us home with him and shows us a fully prepared plate of fresh Japanese Whiting caught on his handmade rod. If this doesn’t impress you and make your mouth water I don’t know what will.

The editorial is 3 pages long, but it’s a great read and I recommend you start at the beginning. However if the internet has modified your behavior patterns, or you’re the type of person who enjoys reading the last page of a novel first, you can skip to the end for the fishing report and food.

Here I will describe the process of making my first bamboo fishing rod, with a few photographs. Some of the stages, particularly the lacquering, I was unable to photograph as I had my hands full; also some of the tools and techniques are trade secrets that must remain in the workshop. For beginners it is usual to start with a rod for either madai (red snapper) or shirogisu (Japanese whiting) with a bamboo body and fibreglass tip. Since I go fishing for whiting much more often than for snapper, I went for the latter type. The first step is the selection of bamboo; there are many varieties, of which about six or seven are used for rod making. My teacher showed me a variety from his stores, which is bamboo which has been cut and then dried for a number of years. So long as the bamboo is kept free of burrowing insects, it can keep for decades; some of his best bamboo is from his own late master, whose stock dates back to before the War. Unlike bamboo ‘cane’ that is split and fashioned into rods in the West, bamboo is almost always used whole for Japanese fishing rods.

Continue reading Making A Traditional Japanese Bamboo Fishing Rod by Adam Guy…

Fugu Fail

In the past we’ve discussed catching and eating Fugu with Adam Guy, but these would be the first photos we’ve seen of a fish getting the wrong portion of Fugu.

Looks like this Red Snapper bit off more than it could chew! My question is what do you think happened to the animals that ate the snappers flesh, do they get poisoned too?

The photo was taken in Fiji by Jack Hynes, I found this photo and more on his Flickr page.