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In the River KATSURA  --Vol.99--

The Kasei Dam

Even after I knew that the River Katsura had big fish, I went to the River Oshino to fish the evening rise in the early season, because big brown trout and rainbow trout were more likely to be caught there. On the other hand, the River Katsura had attractive big yamame trout but their size was only from 25cm to 35cm in March and April.

That size is said to be very big from ordinary standards but we had high standards in Oshino and the River Katsura. 25cm or 35cm was not big here. In addition, as I knew that fish grew up at a very high speed, I’d rather fish the River Katsura after May, when most of them were going to be over 30cm.
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May Fly known as an almighty pattern. A Japanese traditional style fly, whose user was proud of its unmistakable catch in the River Katsura, had the basic design of May Fly without tail and ribs.

Anglers increased in Oshino from May and suddenly decreased in the River Katsura, which was also convenient for me. Then I made it my rule to change the fishing place from Oshino to the River Katsura in early May.

There was a dam in Kasei farther downstream of Tsuru. It was a little bit smaller than ordinary dams but still the biggest dam or barrier at the upper reaches of Lake Sagami in the River Katsura. In the old days before I went fishing to the mainstream of the River Katsura, it was called the Kasei dam and well-known for big yamame trout in the neighbourhood. I heard they were caught with Japanese traditional-style flies. In those days no angler used flies or lures. I was interested and asked a local angler some questions. His answer surprised me. He used small Japanese traditional-style flies for sweet fish or white minnow. He put more than 5 of them to the line and also the weight nearer to the line end. He used a casting rod or a rod for sweet fish and made 5 flies go down into the water. Then he left the rod alone there.
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21st May, 1986, high water at the upper reaches of the barrier of Kawamo.

When a fish bit one of those flies, he said, he moved the rod skillfully for a while so that the fish could not cut the line. Then other flies were stuck to the fish body here and there. At last the fish could not move and broke the surface. I asked him why he took such a unique method. His answer was that big yamame trout only bit a tiny fly like one for sweet fish but destroyed it quite easily. That was why he put five flies in a bunch. He said there was no better way to fish yamame trout in the Kasei dam.

At first I could not believe his story. Why do big yamame trout bite only such tiny flies? But I had no chance to make sure of his story. Then I went fishing to Oshino and forgot about the Kasei dam. It took me 15 years to fish downstream from Oshino to the River Katsura and finally to the upper reaches of the Kasei dam. Well, it is the time to make sure of the truth of the story!

A Fish like a Log

In early July, 1985 I met several fishing companions at Tsuru. Usually we walked down to the river from the junction with one of the tributaries, the River Ohata but on that day we walked farther downstream, passing the water-discharge exit of the power station. Then we walked down to the river from behind the hospital. Although visibility was so bad because of evening fog all over the valley, the Kasei dam was supposed to be only a little farther downstream. But we worried about high water caused by heavy rain in the morning and lack of information around there. We decided to fish around there first.

I walked downstream a little along the bank. The river flowed as a monotonous current. There was a sandbank just downstream and a good-looking stagnant pool was seen beyond it. Unfortunately the current flowed too fast to walk nearby. It seemed that I would have to cross the river to go farther downstream. I gave up and came back upstream.
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A yamame trout of 42cm like a log, unbelievably bigger than ordinary river fish. It weighed over 2.2lb, which was quite rare.

When I returned to the descending spot, Mr. Shunichi Suzuki waved to me. (Later he played a leading role as a keeper of Lake Higashiyama in Gotenba city and still is.) As he waved so urgently, I dashed to him. In the twilight I saw a fish lying under his feet. It would not have been extraordinarily big for a rainbow trout. But its back pattern taught me that it was a surprisingly big yamame trout.

The fish was 42cm long and deeply bit size 6 Jungle Alexandra. I was not surprised at its length because I had caught several yamame trout of the same size but its thickness and fatness overwhelmed me. Its log-like body looked far from a yamame trout but as if an amberjack had been coming up to the river. Usually a yamame trout of 40cm, even a fat one, weighed about 1.5lb but this one was more than 2.2lb.
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This yamame trout, still growing rapidly, looked like a little cherry salmon.

Its giant body reminded me of my early days of fishing the River Oshino. When I first saw it, it looked like a channel in the rice field. I could not imagine that there were brown trout there and that they were unbelievably big. Then I was really surprised to know what good nourishment Oshino provided the fish. Now I got the same surprise. I felt excited at the power of the River Katsura.

This yamame trout was extraordinarily big but not a clever old one. It was even younger than trophy-size ones in the mountain streams nearby. Its exact age was unknown but clearly it was not a lucky one which survived long enough to be big. That means there might be bigger ones here!

Only proper circumstances can make such a flawless big fish for a short time. This fish was completely different from those caught in the mainstream at the upper reaches of Tsuru. There must be a special reason for rapid growth here! I thought of a big calm surface downstream. It was called the Kasei dam or locally a barrier of Kawamo. Later I investigated it closely and found that it was too small to be called a dam. Since then we have called it “a barrier of Kawamo”.
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A rainbow trout bit Connemara Black. It was funny that such a giant fish had the same-sized head as a fish of 25cm.

After I saw the log-like yamame trout, I looked for another one around there as soon as the river had medium water. Then I found that yamame trout and rainbow trout, whose parr were stocked the river with or which were bred naturally, grew up to be very big in the calm surface of the barrier and came upstream. I wanted to know when and at what timing they came upstream and also to what extent, but in vain because bad weather and frequent dirty water in summer prevented me from proper fishing. Fortunately I could catch several fatter yamame trout and rainbow trout. I hoped that I would be able to catch extraordinarily big ones the next year.

As for that angler’s unique way of leaving the rod alone, I saw no other angler who followed the similar method. I asked a watchman of the fishermen’s union who had long lived there but I got no information. Now I have no means of knowing if his story is true or not.

-- To be continued --
2006/10/10  KEN SAWADA
Tranlated into English by Miyoko Ohtake