First guest and River Conditions
I welcomed my first guest ever from overseas (South Australia). A fellow named Ben who loves big game fishing in the ocean, surfs, and snowboards in the winter time. An outdoor enthusiast for sure. He was visiting his in-laws in Iwate with his family and wanted to fly fish to take a break from father duties. So we took him on a day trip, and boy was it exquisite.
This year, Japan received very little rain in June, which is typically the rainy season. What that meant was that water levels were extremely low and we had our work cut out in terms of locating a tributary that was fishable. The Japanese Char were most certainly going to be spooked easily.
Mr. Sato, the local and expert fly guide, took us to a tributary of Waga River. One could easily spend hours just trekking this piece of remote and relatively untouched wilderness. The air here almost smelled….sweet, as though it were filtered through the lush forest and moss.
The catch – Japanese Char
After some difficulty casting a slow action rod with 12 ft. leader and some tippet, Ben managed to land his first fish! It was a dink, but both Mr. Sato and I were relieved.
A few minutes later, we reached prime Char habitat (light-colored submerged rocks and turquoise tinted water). Ben, (perhaps unintentionally) bounced his size 16 parachute pattern off a rock, which landed naturally around a submerged slab of stone. A 30cm+ monster came out to eat the fly. We were ecstatic! A trophy fish in these tributaries for sure.
We were high fiving each other and padding our guest on the back like boys (Note: this is no boys club, women are of course welcome!) We could have ended the day there, but of course we had the whole day ahead of us to catch more of these wild Japanese fish.
I’ll let the pictures do the talking from here.
A big thank you to Ben from Adelaide, South Australia! Arigatou! Hope to see you again!
If you’re interested in a fishing trip like this, you need a pair of boots and waders or neoprene socks for wet wading in the summer. Rental tackle (fly rod/reel/flies/polarized glasses) is available. Basic fly casting skills are necessary.
The best months to fish are May through September.
Any questions or concerns? I’d be happy to answer them!
Hope to see you on the water!
