Thanks to the elevation the water remains cooler, with insects activities
peaking around noon. We managed to catch a few feisty little bows there.
Nearby lies a small pond called Hyoutan Numa.
Quit fishing there at 2p.m. and drove back to Akan town. We dropped in
a bakery ''Pan de Pan''. Place the pointer on the pic to see their unique
(and very tasty!!) bread & cakes.
- Next
Another (too) sunny day.
We drove up to Sohkodai pass.
We gently saw her off. Hoping many more years for her to grow, and another
exciting moment for other sports fisherman.
It was a rainbow of 65cm. Coming close to Sayuri's personal record of 66cm,
caught in Lake Oostvoorne back in 2003.
Displayed also there are Amemasu. They are kept here only during the summer
months before returned to the lake at the end of the tourist season.
I thank God for making them not tasty.
A fox passed us by as we went out for a evening drink.
After 4hours' frustrating yet fun trial, we both had one hook up each, ended up netting this one fish only.
She was caught on a #14 black spinner but we knew it was more of a fluke.
They were chasing something else . . .
The reason apparently was the reports of Grizzly bears frequenting the
shore. We could hear constant loud speaker announcement warning of bears
sighted nearby several days earlier.
Hokkaido counts in its history not a few incidents of bear encounters, some of them fatal.
Day 4.
Woke up at 5. Not heeding the warning of bears we walked down again to
Bokke.
And shortly after, Sayuri was rewarded with a solid hook up.
We resumed our action in the evening, on the shallow flat near Kojima.
There we saw something remarkable - many fish, not just 5 or 6 but scores
of them breaking the surface. They appeared to be chasing something right
on or just beneath the water film but stayed tantalizingly beyond our casting
reach most of the time.
No chance fishing during the day so we enjoyed a ride in the tourist boat.
Lake Akan is one of the oldest tourist destination of Hokkaido, where many
inland Japanese came to see Marimo, a ball shaped algae unique to the lake.
Place the pointer on the pic how it was in 1950s.
A perfect condition with occasional rises but not a hook up. We fished
on from 4 to 7a.m. without a single bite.
The only events to note is Sayuri's rescue of a drowning female stag beetle.
Sayuri scooped her up and brought her to the safety of the dry land. By
pure coincidence there we found her potential boy friend!
Day 3.
Our spirits running high with the success of the previous evening, we went
out to the lake as early as Godforsaken 4a.m.
Wading in the prime spot, Bokke, were just the two of us. No other soul
in sight.
A monumental battle unfolded. The fish didn't run very far but marched
on with a power of a heavy weight.
When it finally surfaced, I knew my net was of no use. Sayuri carefully
stepped back, to guide the fish gently onto the beach.
'11 Akanko in Summer - 2The boat takes us to a small island Chuurui,
where you can view the Marimos up close.
We went back to the hotel to take a nap.
As we woke up, it was bright sunny outside. We took a walk around, just
to take a picture of this not too friendly looking taxidermy bear.
