The area is known for its seasonal run of Amemasu, a sea run breed of White spotted char, a close kin of Dolly Varden.

We did spot a number of Amemasu on the gravel bottom, but with the spawning time approaching, none on this day was looking for a diversion. The only fish we caught was a Yamame, already in a winter attire.
As we carefully waded we found carcasses of spawned out salmon.

A typical scene we often encounter in late season Hokkaido, they make us think about the meaning of life.
The great thing about Hokkaido is that you are never far away from a first class trout stream. Within an hour we were at work covering nice fishy pools.
As the chill of the evening fell on the wetlands we made a retreat of honour, to the city of Kushiro.

Kushiro is a local population centre that offers a variety of entertainment. We had a fabulous dinner in this makeshift tent, inside which you can charcoal grill fish of your choice for a 'beach price'. Place your pointer to see how it's like inside.
We decided not to linger on and drove further to the township of Atsukeshi, famous for Oyster, its local speciality.
A change of the venue.

We drove west to the Kushiro marshland, one of the world natural heritage sites. The small stream we planned to fish was running high, obviously still under the influence of the heavy rain that came along with the typhoon.
That was it for our autumn Hokkaido trip. No serious work out with XL playmates, but was a fun trip nevertheless.

Wishing good slumber to all those who live in this harsh environment, we flew home - to face my harsh fate as a 'salary man'.





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Fishy Trips
'09 Hokkaido in Autumn - 2



The last day of our vacation was (almost always) a brilliant day. Not a puff of cloud in sight as if to tease the departing tourists.

Not being able to pass up such, we made one quick foray to fish a nearby stream.
Again fully armed, we went to try our luck on our proud native Itou, a member of Hucho Hucho.

We kept flipping big streamers on our two handed rods but, no, Itou fishing is never easy. The only fish we pulled out was, alas, a big fat chub.