My encounter with Masami "Tenkara-no Oni" Sakakibara (Part 3)

The next day we did fish the same torrent but a little bit further upstream.

I have watched videos on the  web and seen a lot of pictures of Japanese anglers fishing at the foot of dams and this time it was my turn to try this exercise in style. There is indeed some iwana at the foot of the waterfalls but it is not easy to reach them with a kebari. After a few tries I managed to sink my kebari in the depths and got a strike. The fish unhooked itself when  emerging from the water but Masami-san congratulated me because it is very difficult to feel the strike of an iwana in a such violent current.

We slowly ascended the banks of the river, exploring one by one all the spots likely to harbor these very discreet fish are that are iwana. 

The Iwana being a fish that does not move a lot it is to you to get your kebari convincingly drift in its field of vision. Masami-san never insists on a post, if the fish does not react when fishing upstream, he goes up the river a few meters and may try the same spot fishing downstream. His approach of the fish spots is stealthy and it pays off because he excels at catching fish at very close range.

A discreet approach, accurate and delicate casting and drift control are the keys to success in tenkara. I was also pleased to take another Yamato Iwana before we arrive at the highest point of our adventure. Having not the necessary gear we could not climb the waterfall that was in front of us when we came down in the valley.

We did find a river whose water was well cleared, the level still seemed a bit high to Masami-san but it probably seemed correct because he invited me to fish.

This time I was the only one to fish and it was my great pleasure and privilege to practice on this stream under the watchful eye of my friend and master.

I did catch some beautiful  amago that were in great shape. I was satisfied with this result and the water level being a little bit high was a good thing for the amago. They were in great shape and were a lot of fun to fish.

The weather that had been sullen and capricious turned to great weather as we were leaving the mountains. All good things come to an end and I had to return to Tokyo to take the plane that would bring me back to Paris. I thanked warmly Masami-san and Coco for their hospitality and for sharing with me their vast knowledge and experience of tenkara. Bye my friends!

My stay in Japan was a great moment in terms of fishing of course but above all a great human experience because I met simple, welcoming and generous people. And I have no doubt that this trip where I had the chance to meet some of the best connoisseurs of this fishing technique will have a great influence on my own experience of tenkara.

Amago fishing with Eiji Yamakawa and Nishi-san

After a restful night I took the road to Totsukawa, Nara prefecture, to discover tenkara fishing for amago accompanied by Eiji Yamakawa and Nishi-san. I had no doubt that it was going to be a marvelous experience because I had the chance to have a couple of Harima tenkara Club members as guides. They are experienced tenkara anglers and know this area better than anyone.

We arrived near the Totsukawa river after an over three hours drive but what we found was a stream swollen by the heavy rains of the previous days so we had to drive a few miles more to gain altitude for the opportunity to fish a stretch of this river with clear water even though we would also have water level higher than the seasonal average.

Finally out of the car we took the time to relax and watch the river which is at this place about 32ft wide and features all the characteristics of the perfect stream for amago tenkara fishing: a powerful current, alternating deep pools and shallow stretches where the water is very well oxygenated. It would have been useless to us to hurry up, amago can only live in streams and by chance we had one a few meters under our feet.

Arrived on the banks of the stream I let Eiji-san and Nishi-san fish first in order to observe their technique, faithful to the tenkara basics "One rod, one line, one fly", and it proved to be effective as the first amago were caught fairly quickly. I was happy for them but Eiji-san told that the water level on this portion was really high and would make fishing pretty difficult so he decided to bring us a little further upstream.

We took back the road and then a forest trail that led us at the top of a steep path traced by unlikely passage of forest animals, serow or sika , that we we were going to walk down for an access to the stream. Nishi-san who has had an accident on this steep path a few months ago decided not to follow us so Eiji-san and I only took this path that the heavy rains had made, as we were going to realize soon, very slippery. After a slow and cautious descent we reached the edge of the river and started fishing. This time Eiji-san invited me to take the lead and fish before him. 

I did catch my first amago after a few casts and I was quite happy with it because this fish is not easy to reach as it stays at the bottom of the most powerful current parts of the stream. The hook setting has to be fast when the strike has been detected otherwise success will remain out of reach.  This amago released I  thanked Eiji-san for bringing me here and offering the opportunity to fish this iconic fish of this part of Japan. 

Amago is an endemic salmonid species that lives in only three islands of the Japanese archipelago. I had literally dreamed of these little red dots for several years!

We will wade up the stream for nearly three hours exploring one by one the most promising spots and we caught enough amago to be satisfied by this outing.

We were progressing in a fairly narrow and shaded stretch of the stream ans as the hours were passing by the temperature was rising, we really were feeling the threatening storm and probably fishes were also feeling it because the catch frequency was declining. Still some amago did were catching our kebari and we did enjoy this final moments with enthusiasm.

We will finally reach the downstream of a deep pool supplied with very cold and very well oxygenated water where we had the opportunity to watch amago waiting for insects, this was the last spot we did fish this day. Struggling like a devil at the end of the line he put all the others in alarm and none of them showed any activity after so we decided to collapse down our rods and to go back to the spot where we arrived on the stream.

If the descent of the trail was perilous the ascent was grueling and once at the top we raised our eyes and found a blackened sky: the storm was about to burst. We did not have the time to arrive at the parking lot where Nishi-san was waiting for us before heavy rain starts. We did use the roof of branches of a chestnut as an umbrella in front of the car!

We had a great fishing outing despite the high water level and we shared our thoughts about the day and tenkara along the road back to Kobe. Arrived at the station from which I was going to go back to Kyoto I warmly greeted my friends who helped to realize a dream that may seems banal  but that was dear to me: tenkara fishing for amago.

Thank you!