Thus a happy end to our annual visit to Eastern Hokkaido in autumn.
Oh, don't you dare catch too many Amemasu while we are away please!
- Back
In short one hour we were at Kushiro airport. So compact is our land, even
in the relatively spread out Hokkaido.
With only 2 hours left before our flight's departure, we hurried packing
up and off we went.
A smaller fish yet with a wild face.
A 53cm fine prize to round up our session.
All in all, a great fun day out.
May have had something to do with the water temperature, cooled down to
13c by the rough weather of the day before.
Waist deep wading increases the coverage. Good 5mm neoprene waders were godsend.
Soon after we took our positions we noticed gentle but confident rises
disturbing the calm surface. I nudged on to the casting distance, and presented
a small, weighted nymph.
From the boat on return, we had a privilege to view Mt. Oakan in its Sunday
attire.
As the day progressed, the weather recovered by the hour. Funnily enough,
fish activity did not taper off. Rather, they became more active despite
few sign of insects hatching nearby.
Not sure why, but Amemasu in this season develops a peculiar liking to green egg fly.
Another key to success was the speed of its descent. A tiny lead shot 15cms
up the tippet worked well on this occasion.
Sure enough, my offering was happily accepted by a handsome Amemasu, or
white spotted char native to the lake,
Day 6, the last day.
The rain that persisted in the previous day had gone past, we took a short
boat ride to check out the mouth of Shirikomabetsu stream.
A very modest-sized stream tiny in fact. But this works like a magnet for
the Amemasu char esp. in this season.
'10 H'kaido in autumn - 4The shallow flat was in fact almost featureless. Casting to the odd few
weedbeds (which you can spot by their buds shooting up the surface) was
an effective tactics.
Sayuri soon followed my success with a size #12 green egg. A fair reward
after one whole day's fishless wet outing.
