Important is that we take the little rises seriously and do not underestimate them, because often it is the heavy trout that makes the tiny ring. Jules Rindlisbacher (Der praktische Fliegenfischer).

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From March 6th to July 7th 2000, the Netherlands-Belgian Task Group carried out a deployment to the Far East during which several Japanese ports were visited due to the 400 years of trading connections between our two countries. I was posted with the staff of the Commander of the Task Group in Hnlms De Ruyter and was making this voyage too. Before leaving Holland, I tried to get as much information about flyfishing in Japan. There was a lot of information to be found and some questions were left on a message board. Soon a reply was received, which ended in getting in contact with Mr Morio Sato of the Japan Flyfishers.

April 23rd, at last, we arrived in Tokyo. For weeks I had been looking forward to this moment. As soon as possible I went ashore, where Morio, Yoshi and Rumiko were already waiting for me. It was very nice meeting them.
We had planned to go to the Nikko area, some 100 miles North of Tokyo. It was an interesting trip and for me an unique chance to see a bit of the Japanese countryside. On our way up we stopped for a snack. The restaurant was situated at a river and it was specialized in fish dishes, trout and eels in particular. The wooden building had a beautiful thatched roof. Inside of the place, for a part the floor was heightened and covered with tatami. In the other part were several wooden squares with silversand, on which a fire was burning, a kettle hanging above it. It looked great and the place had a real nice atmosphere.

The snack consisted of a bamboo pin with four yams (a sort of sweet potatoe) on it. They were grilled in front of a charcoal fire and turned from time to time. When done, the yams were brushed with sweet miso paste, it tastes very good. We had green tea to go with it. I also ate a roasted ball of rice, with soy sauce.

Outside the place there were several tanks containing trout (yamame or iwana) and other tanks with eels. We left the place and soon we got into the mountains. Quite high actually, there were still some snow pockets on the peaks. The scenery is beautiful. The area is inhabited but there is a lot of nature too, and ricefields are abundant. After a while we got into a village, the river running through it. The car was parked in a next village and there we met several other flyfishermen.

The person selling permits joined us. The permits are worn on the ouside of the clothing, like on a fishing cap or on the jacket. Well visible anyway. We climbed down some stairs and got to the river. Over the river there were a lot of carp-like kites, Koinobori, in bright colours, hanging from a cable.

It looks quite nice. The river was gin and gin clear. I first sat on the bank to have a look and to tackle up. A shoal of fish passed in front of me, Morio explained that that were no trout, but a kind of saugers.
I fished for a while and enjoyed it all.
When I waded a bit deeper I felt some water getting in, and went to the shallows again. We fished till dark and several trout (Yamame and Iwana) were caught.

Iwana

Yamame

After fishing we went to an inn. Aki, one of the flyfishermen, joined us so we were with a group of five. The inn turned out to be very nice, comfortably old fashioned, and it had a great atmosphere. Outside we first took off our waders. In the one that I was wearing was a loose seam, hence some water was getting in when wading deep. I changed into some dry clothes before getting into the inn.

The waders that were used by the group are made of gore-tex. Nice stuff, it is breathing, but will not let water get in. It sure is better than my own old fashioned wading trousers, which are made of pvc. In Japan some things are different from what people in our area are used to. Like in the hall of the inn, we took off our shoes. That is because the floors of the rooms are covered with tatami (matts of woven grass) on which one does not walk on with shoes. In the hall there are slippers for everyone.

After a bit of a chat it was time to take a bath. The hot water is very relaxing, in particular after a day of climbing rocky river banks. After bathing I dressed in the kimono which was in my room and that wears very comfortably. In the mean time it was dinnertime. The table is low and we were sitting on little pillows. The meal was consisting of a grilled trout and several kinds of vegetables, cooked in different ways, and rice. We had a little bit of sake to go with it, and green tea. And eating with chopsticks is not that difficult. It was a very nice meal. After dinner we went to our rooms, and chatted for a while. At ten thirty I called it a day and went to sleep.

In the room were doors with rice paper and the walls were decorated with a pen drawing of a mountain scenery in the mist. It was beautiful. There was no bed in the room but a futon, a kind of matress, on the tatami. It was covered with a warm and comfortable quilt and a pillow. While I was lying on my futon, I could hear the sound of the river, and soon was deep asleep. It was nice that the quilt was warm, for it was still cold at night. I woke up at six and got up. Behind the rice papered doors, there was a place to sit and to watch the river. From there you could see the yellow wagtails and the dippers moving about at the river bank. After taking a shower I went outside to have a look at the river. Soon Aki, Yoshi and Rumiko were awake and came outside too.

We went to a lake nearby. It was a beautiful scenery and we spotted several kinds of ducks. Some of them you could see here in Holland too, like redheads and tufted ducks. It is amazing that you can see the same species of birds so far away from home, that you can see in your own garden, like sparrows and big tits. Further we saw some green winged teal and a couple of mandarine ducks. It was nice to see them in their natural environment.
On our way back to the inn, Aki drove by a birdsanctuary. It was well kept and there were several birds of prey in the large cages. Wounded birds are treated there and released when they have recovered. A few black kites and ural owls were eyeballing me when I took a closer look. The landscape was beautiful in the sunlight of the early morning.
At seven we had breakfast, which was quite extensive, a bowl of hot rice, a grilled trout, vegetables, bowls with egg, an eggdish with mushrooms and shrimp, another bowl with nattoo. Nattoo are a kind of sticky beans, with which I had a bit of a problem. After taking a bite you end up with a lot of sticky threads, and three bites of something different afterwards, you still are fighting sticky threads. It must be funny to see someone batteling nattoo.

At eight o clock two people of the flyfishing magazine "Streamside" came up and they joined us. Aki had been back home at early morning to get the wading trousers of his son, so I could use them. It was extremely nice of him. When we got to the river, it looked very promising. We spotted two snakes, next to the path, it was quite interesting. They were not of a poisonous species, but a kind of garter snakes. Although we saw a few rises, we could not tempt any trout to take or fly. We went to another river. When we got there it turned out to be a very wide river and because of the high waterlevel and because other anglers were already fishing the spot, we decided to try at the river where we fished yesterday

First we went for something to eat at the same restaurant where we had our snack the day before. After having some noodles, which were delicious, we went fishing again. At the ford there was a hole with a large boulder, next to which a trout was lying.

I tried a few casts and my fly was taken, but unfortunately I missed the trout. I went to another spot where I had a few rises yesterday, and I got a rise or two, but only from very small fish, which were not hooked. After a while I didn't see the other anglers anymore and I went back to the ford. There the group was standing at a trout hole where three trout were showing. Yoshi had caught 2 trout and Morio had got his fish too. I do not remember how many Rumiko and Aki had caught. Yoshi had kept the trout in his net so I could have a look at them, he had a nice rainbow and a yamame. It was great to have a look at them, the yamame was very interesting to me because they are native to the Pacific and not to the Atlantic area. It is a beautiful fish, with the large spots along its side. After having admired the trout, it got its freedom back, like the other trout that were caught. All members fished catch and release.

Morio encouraged me to try once more for the trout at the big rock and I casted my nymph. After a few casts I saw the trout make a move to its side, apparently it was taking nymphs. Next cast my nymph was taken and soon a beautiful coloured rainbow trout was in the little net. When I took the goldhead out, I noticed that the gold bead was gone, perhaps just as well in this situation. The other flyfishers were at least just as happy that I caught this fish. They have tried hard to let me catch a trout. What I have noticed is that the level of skill of the Japan Flyfishers was very high. Not only did they use top material, their knowledge of entomology was very impressive. Maybe that is because the situation is not easy, a lot of anglers and very shy trout. It is very different from the rivers in the Ardennes or the Eifel mountains. They used very long leaders and small flies and often stayed for a longer time at a spot where fish was seen.

After talking for a while and having made a few casts for the three trout in the hole, we ended fishing. After getting out of our wading trousers, we packed our bags and went on the road to Tokyo. This has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience to me, which was deeply appreciated. The hospitality and friendlyness of the people I have met were impressive. The members of the Japan Flyfishers proved to be very skillfull anglers and I have learned a lot from them.

Domo Arigato Gozaimas



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