Behold ladies and gentlemen!!
Here it is - a true gem of Tottabetsu, Tokachi, one of the greatest fisheries
of Hokkaido!!
The sun descended into the woods, and the stream was slowly covered in
the evening fog. Time to leave the bear country.
We of course had to celebrate the success with a can of river chilled beer
each.
Sayuri was somewhat more enthusiastic in the afternoon session but, you
guessed it, ended up catching yet more small fish after another :-)
Bush bashing the shady trail can be a stressful undertaking for the faint
hearted. Even a gathering of butterflies (place the pointer on the pic)
can add to the Blair Witch eerie atmosphere.
A perfect fish.
May she live long.
It was then well past noon we bumped into a nice looking big pool. Sayuri
was already tired of harassing small fish and begging for lunch. Keeping
her waiting I had to wade to the top of the pool and cast a giant ant just
for once.
A big head appeared then and slowly gulped down my offering. No mean fish
I could instantly tell.
The river offered up variety of faces to surprised us the first time visitors.
The freestone section was being washed by roaring currents - with the best
looking pools always on the opposite bank.
Next day saw us on the bank of Tottabetsu river. It is a tributary of highly
acclaimed trout river, Satsunai and there are many confirmed and unconfirmed
reports of trophy fish, and as many Grizzly bears if I may add.
'10 H'kaido in Summer - 2The giant ant pattern (that I often used fishing in Austrian streams) was
tied on an #8 hook. No need to worry if the hook would stay on, but the
4lb thin tippet wasn't to make an easy game. I very carefully tightened
the drag, let the line out when the fish run, and gently coaxed him out
of the swift current spending good 10minutes.
Despite our more than decent effort we could only catch plump but modest
rainbows all thru the morning. Again, not what we came all the way here
for.
