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In the River TAKAHARA  --Vol.73--

Leaving my Heart behind

I whistled happily in my mind. My guess was right. I had made only several casting, got a trophy-size yamame trout and now another one at the leader tip. What will happen next? Calming down the struggling fish carefully, I stared at the right bank. It got dark but I could still see the line of the stream clearly. A splash! It really is!

Well, my next target is there. It never occurred to me that the slight change on the surface might be my mere fancy. I wanted to land this fish so quickly to aim at the next one and also carefully to avoid missing this one. Those conflicting desires made me feel that time passed very slowly. Finally I scooped the fish into the net. It was a yamame trout as big as the first one. It was thick and felt nice to touch in my hands.
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In the evening I fished upstream at Karukaya, looking for big fish.

Walking on the brink of the barrier of the artificial dam, I moved to the right bank. There was the same curved space to the mountain side as the left bank. But here it was deep and the water swirled probably because no sand flowed into here. Some broken pieces of driftwood were drifting in the swirl. I had to cast the fly carefully not so as to hook up one of them.

Staring at the surface, I cast the fly several times to the space between the driftwood. No response, no splash of the rise, either. I was disappointed. Was that splash my mere fancy? After casting 5 or 6 times I admitted that it must have been my fancy. Then I grabbed the leader and returned to the left bank.

In the evening the scenery changed at every minute. The calm space near the bank where I had stood several minutes before was changed into a tiny pond. I could still see the water curtain but not inside the water. I stood at the same place and cast the fly in the same way as before. My second yamame trout had caught the dropper put to tippet 0X, too. As the river was shallow here, it was desirable that the fly should not sink. Just after casting the fly, I raised the rod and slightly tightened the line so that the fly might not sink too deeply.
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In this season yamame trout fought so fiercely that many anglers missed big fish.

I cast the fly several times, moving a little at every casting. Then I felt a big pull with a thud. As soon as I set the hook to the fish, it broke the surface in front of me. It became light for a moment. A big fish, much bigger than before! I was excited, feeling stiff.

It was more than a trophy-size yamame trout, possibly a guardian spirit of the barrier of the artificial dam of Kansaka. I felt choked. Each part of my body responded to the fish in its own way. The fish never tried to sink to the bottom but swam around the surface. Every time it turned around, its white belly could be dimly seen on the dark surface.

Fish size and its struggling power are not directly proportional. Some small fish are very powerful, whereas some heavy big ones are very calm. Probably this fish belonged to the latter type. I pulled the fish to the bank cautiously so that the hook might not come off. Then I carefully scooped it into the net.
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In July it was not unusual to catch big yamame trout over 30cm but the catches became less and less.

“I got it!” I said aloud. With the fish in the net I hurried to the light and stable place. How big is it? I looked into the net, putting the rod aside. Definitely it was big. But it was so dark and the fish got so entangled in the net that I could not clearly see it. I put my hand into the net to turn the fish sideways. At the next moment I felt strange to the touch.

“No kidding!”

It was a bad joke or even a nightmare. In the net was a Japanese dace over 40cm, as fat as a carp. I could not believe that such a fat big Japanese dace stayed in the upper reaches where even char stayed. Well, today is the sedge festival day of the year! No wonder extraordinarily big Japanese dace came to join. It was my selfish idea that Great Sedge was only bit by yamame trout in such nice evening. How stupid I am!
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As the water temperature rose, big fish prefer the water flowing fast and smoothly.

I remembered that the fish had pulled the line in a strange way during fight. Usually yamame trout of 40cm do not come to my feet so easily. Now I slowly stood up and walked downstream along the bank. It got darker. When I passed the unstable rock I touched the rock near my face. I felt slight smelling of fish from my hand. I had grabbed the fish firmly to remove size 6 Great Sedge, which had been completely swallowed into its mouth. I had washed my hands again and again but they still smelled. I was completely discouraged
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The fish colour and shape were slightly different according to the fishing spot.

Explosion

When I got to the pool of the bedrock the sky was still light but the bank was in darkness. Probably a lot of sedges were staying on the rocks under my feet and many of them were swimming near the bank. Will rises be made from now on? I tried to find any sign on the surface while I waited until my eyes could see the dark gorge.

Soon I heard the sound like pizzicato. I turned my face towards it. Dark grey surface at the opposite bank was swaying. I waited still, bending forward. Another pizzicato. There was a thin shiny ring on the dark surface in front of me. It was a rise. It was caused at the brink of the opposite bank where the heart of the stream was flowing.

The rise was only 7 or 8m away from me. I took the lead fly from the rod grip and the dropper from the hook keeper. The fly still ominously smelled of the Japanese dace. But surely that rise had not been made by a Japanese dace, judging from time and place. It was not clear who had made that rise but I felt something mysterious. Metallic sound of the rattling reel echoed on the quiet bank, which wiped off my bad dream of the Japanese dace.

I cast the fly very carefully so that the line might not hit the surface. The fly drifted across the stream calmly. Nothing happened. Why not? The line had been rather short so that it might not hit the opposite bank. Was it too short? I drew another 30cm of the line from the reel and cast the fly quietly. When the fly drifted to the end I heard another pizzicato and a little rise rippled out.
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Big yamame trout had something more fascinating than their sizes.

No bite. Was the line still too short? I drew out another 30cm and cast the fly at the upper reaches of the rise spot. When the line was extended a tiny light flicked on the rock at the opposite bank. Oh, no! My hook hit the rock. Waiting for the line to drift to the end, I reeled in the line. Waiting for a while, I cast the fly again.

I extended the line straight. Surely the lead fly settled on the brink of the opposite bank. If I do not loosen the line, the lead fly will drift properly at the rise spot although the dropper will be out of fish’s sight or other senses. Then I cast the fly several times very carefully, slightly changing the fly-casting spot or the rod direction after every casting. Nothing happened.
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Somehow big fish staying at the lower reaches of the River Takahara turned into silver later than those in other areas.

Why not? Japanese dace would have jumped at the fly so easily. I felt something mysterious again. After I cast more than 10 times, I got a little bite. The pull I felt was so small that I stood still, half doubting my feeling. A few seconds later the line tightened like the fly caused snag.

It happened as soon as I raised the rod. A silver lump broke the surface violently, jumped high in the air twice and disappeared. A momentary happening. I was just struck dumb with surprise.

Yamame trout have amazing power. They are completely different from Japanese dace. I learned what would happen if I got a bite of yamame trout over 30cm when their power became strongest in a year in the River Takahara. I got ashamed of my wrong guess before and felt relieved that no one had watched.

I caught 2 yamame trout over 30cm in the evening during a storm of sedges. That could be good results but what came to my mind was that silver lump which had jumped high in the air and disappeared.

-- To be continued --
2003/11/30  KEN SAWADA
Tranlated into English by Miyoko Ohtake