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Home Pool in the Evening

In the evening of that day, September 2, 1996, Mary Anne and I saw a sea trout closely for the first time. We had never seen one from such a close distance since our arrival at the River Em in Sweden. An angler landed that fish in the head of Home Pool. It was a bit over 60cm long and so powerful that it jumped and ran. This sized fish, according to Mr. Ulfsparre, are most likely to be caught.

As the evening is drawing near, fish might be active enough to run after the fly. I hoped so. But, alas, another fish did not appear for me. Anyway, that was the only fish caught by my rival angler during our stay.

When the sun went down anglers appeared from here and there, as usual in the Yukawa River or the Oshino River in Japan. Anglers were waiting for nocturnal sea trout to start moving.

We saw anglers' movement from on the bridge to find that somehow no angler remained in Home Pool. Because of frequent rises even in the daytime, they come here all day long one after another. But as the night is drawing near, more and more anglers seem to fish smaller spots near banks.

I walked into the right bank of Home Pool for the first time. The heart of the stream, where fish jump, flowed along the left bank. If we stay at the left bank we can see them jumping very near. When a big fish jumps, we feel that some splashes almost pour on our face. For this reason most of anglers fished from the left bank.

I thought, however, at first glance that fishing from the right bank was more desirable. As I had seen many anglers wading along the right bank, I also fished down, tracing the same route for my safety. Wading route was along the edge of the relatively plain river bed. I could not see the river bed just farther downstream. Although I could not guess how deep it was, the mainstream stretched downstream, shaping a deep crevasse.

When I got to the middle of the pool I found the water colour a bit brighter. Probably the river became shallow downstream from here. As I used type II sinking line, I worried about snagging at the bottom. But my fly was still drifting without catching anything. A further several metres downstream, I noticed the tip of waterweed floating on the surface. Although it was not clear since the sun went down, it seemed that the river became shallower downstream and that waterweed grew thick.

Suddenly the water surface moved widely just downstream. There was no sound or splash but a large ripple spread around. I took several steps backward and cast the fly downstream in the same way as before.

My fly started passing by the place where the ripple had just been seen. I felt that my line moved very slowly. Probably the river flowed more slowly than it looked. It will definitely cause snag at the bottom if I do nothing, so I thought. I waited until the very last minute and retrieved the line. When I retrieved 5 times or so, my line was suddenly pressed down.

The Fish Chase

Here comes a fish! It came when I was retrieving the line. That meant the hook was automatically set to the fish. I wonder whether my hooking was in good condition but it was too late to worry.

The fish was moving downstream slowly. It did not swim fast but as slowly as the fish in the morning (see part II). But it moved so steadily that nobody could stop it. The whole line underfoot I had once retrieved was extended again and furthermore the reel started turning around slowly. How far is the fish going downstream? The feeling of scrubbing at the bottom in the morning came back to me, which made me feel down.

When the fish got to the end of the pool it began to swim along the rocks that stuck out of the water surface. I tried hard to pull it upstream but the fish seemed to take no notice of my line. I wanted to pull it more strongly but could not. For it was only a small hook that caught the fish jaw. It was a small hook of size 6, which I had chosen for the slow current. If I pull the fish too strongly the hook will be easily straightened and come off. It was too early for me to take a chance on it.

As it was moving downstream along the rocks that stuck out side by side, the fish pulled my line more and more roughly. Probably the fish knew what happened at last. It began to rush into rocks and waterweed from its head. I did not want to fall into the same trap as I fell in the morning. I walked up on the bank to fight at the highest place as possible.

However, my decision might have been bad. The fish ran directly towards the shallow tail of the pool. I was standing on the pier and held my line at the very last minute. But my fish left Home Pool, splashing water about and fell into the rocks of Ankar Crona Pool.

Now I found Mr. Ulfsparre had come to me. Surely he had been watching my fighting behind me. He showed me the route downstream. Thanks to him, I could go ahead at the lower reaches of the fish.

In Ankar Crona Pool, a lot of rocks appeared here and there on the surface in low water. It started getting dark after sunset and I could not see through the river bed because of black rocks. I walked with a wading staff near to the fish.

The fish ran around in the channels between rocks, splashing water about. Then it moved to behind a big rock and stayed still. I also walked near to it behind the rock carefully so that my line did not get entangled. To my surprise, its large triangular tail fin stuck out of the surface, just as the proverb says that's burying one's head in the sand like as ostrich.

I approached the fish, retrieving the line more. Its tail fin was nearly within my reach. But I felt that I was in an awkward position that I had never been in. If I pull the fish after long fighting, I will be able to land it by holding its tail fin. But this fish was not so exhausted and it would have offered fierce resistance if I had held its fin tail. Furthermore, its tail fin was so large that I would not have held it even if I had tried by force.

Fighting in Barrett Pool

Just as I had feared, the instant I touched its tail fin, the fish jumped from behind the rock with splashes and ran downstream. Barrett Pool spread downstream. Fighting there would be a little easier. But since there was a pier just at the lower reaches of my standing point, I could not walk downstream any more. I had to fight here by all means.

The trouble was that the fast current in front of me flowed downstream into Barrett Pool. It was impossible to pull the fish upstream against the fast current. I had to pull it to this side by all means.

I waded into the head of the fast current and started pulling the fish upstream by turning my rod towards the opposite bank as far as possible. At the opposite bank side across the heart of the stream, the current flowed shallow and calm. My strategy was that I managed to make the fish move upstream to the head of the fast current and come across the heart of stream to my foot without stopping. I thought there was no other way.

After some fighting the fish seemed to be tired out at last. Gradually it became calm. I pulled it upstream as far as possible along the opposite bank. Its large dorsal fin and tail fin in black silhouette split the water and were heading upstream. Its belly was scrubbing the river bed.

Without a moment's delay I turned the rod and pulled it to the right bank. Since it was pulled from downstream, the fish turned over and started crossing the fast current in front of me. How heavy it is! But it is too late to worry about the strength of hook. I continued to pull the fish with all my might like I knew this was it.

Alas, my hook came off. A little deformed size 6 hook returned to me. I bowed to the gallery---Many people had gathered on the banks--- and Mr. Ulfsparre. Then we left the bank at dusk. Mr. Ulfsparre said that it must have been a rather big salmon. I was surprised to hear the word "salmon" because I had believed that the River Em had got only sea trout. Surely, its tail fin that stuck out of the water surface had got a sharp point.

The whole story appears at the opening scene of "Ken Sawada Fly Fishing Video Show" part 5, "Big Trout with Small Fly in the River Em". By the way, I wanted to continue fishing but, as the proverb says, the autumn sun sinks as quickly as a bucket falling into a well. It got dark very soon and my steps became unsteady. Taking films was impossible, either. We had no choice but leave there.

-- To be continued --

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