Capt. G / Pacific Rim Specialist
Japan offshore update
Sep. 22 2011, 2:10 AM
Sep. 22 2011, 2:10 AM
Japan offshore update
Recently, the offshore fishing on the Pacific Ocean side of Japan has extremely good for dorado, and hit and miss for the yellowfin and bigeye tuna. What is unusual is the fact that several very large yellowfin tuna have been landed close to shore, less than 10 miles from the harbors of Mie Prefecture. While there have not been many landed, there was a 209 pound specimen, taken on a topwater lure, on spinning gear only five miles off the beach.
These big fish have been following the 78 to 79 degree temperature break religiously, and moving with the Kuroshio Current up the coast. These fish are now 200 miles up the coast from where the 209 pound fish was caught.
Recently, the offshore fishing on the Pacific Ocean side of Japan has extremely good for dorado, and hit and miss for the yellowfin and bigeye tuna. What is unusual is the fact that several very large yellowfin tuna have been landed close to shore, less than 10 miles from the harbors of Mie Prefecture. While there have not been many landed, there was a 209 pound specimen, taken on a topwater lure, on spinning gear only five miles off the beach.
These big fish have been following the 78 to 79 degree temperature break religiously, and moving with the Kuroshio Current up the coast. These fish are now 200 miles up the coast from where the 209 pound fish was caught.
I was out this week, with Mr. Hayashi, of Nagoya City, for a day of offshore trolling. We rigged a variety of trolling lures on five rods, and set out to target blue marlin. We were dragging smaller trolling lures for dorado, or the stray shibi (school size yellowfin tuna). The captain also ran to "senkoban" (diver-board hand line rigs for a total of seven jigs in the water. The water temp was 80.4 degrees, and a bit off color for marlin. We put the jigs in at about 15 miles, in an area were five commercial boats were liftpoling katsuo (skipjack) and a few small bigeye tuna. I never tire of watching the boats in close proximity using the liftpole (squid pole) to catch tuna; from time to time I join them in the racks, happy to work for free.
Five minutes after putting the jigs in, a Hawaiian handmade shell trolling head made by Gaji Lure Co. got bit...a nice schoolie dorado, which we promptly released. I had skirted up the trolling head the night before with a FBS (Full Body Squid) rigging, and even before dropping in the pattern, the captain asked me to bring?it up to the bridge...I could tell he liked it. So did the fish. The same lure got bit again by a nice skipjack, prized here in Japan for sashimi.
We made a move to a huge current break about 30 miles offshore, where there?were weed mats, bamboo, and even some tree trunks that had been in the water long enough to have marine growth on the bottom....and baitfish below. We got some more katsuo, and lost a schoolie yellowfin tuna at the boat. Again on the same lure...the captain asked if I had more, which I did?not. I did have over 75 trolling lures rigged up, and ran a complete rotation, but it was the one handmade Hawaiian lure that kept getting the knockdowns fished from the port outrigger. I moved it to the other side of the boat, on the flat line...two more nice dorado. We released all the dorado that day, as I and Mr. Hayashi had fish from previous trips at home.
The ocean never ceases to intrigue, and amaze me. We had 14 strikes ...all but one came on the Gaji FBS trolling lure. The other strike was on a Rapala CD 18...a wahoo ate it right next to the boat...and cut the leader like a pair of sharp shears would. What is odd is that the lure we got bit on looks like a squid, yet there are none to be found in the stomach contents of the dorado or tuna at the commercial fish docks. The tuna are stuffed with medium size sardine, and small green mackerel.
We did not get a strike from the billfish, but we did have a few dorado, with their aerial acrobatics to keep us busy, as well as a few katsuo to take home to eat "tataki" style.
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