Fishing Log-107 [Farewell to the Fish of the Deep]

Summary so far: After returning home, my sleep was cut short by a fierce battle with illegal parking, and now I must face my fate as I head to a new battlefield with only about three hours of sleep.

Hello everyone, this is the 107th entry. I am sleepy.

Since I started deep jigging, the five species I have caught so far are: 1) Blacktip sawtail catshark, 2) Blackthroat seaperch, 3) Splendid alfonsino, 4) Silver alfonsino, and 5) Konishi's flounder. Other species I might catch include Japanese butterfish, Black scabbardfish, Mirror dory, Pacific pomfret, and, of course, Blackthroat seaperch. It has to be the Blackthroat seaperch, doesn't it? The red diamond! I want to catch it and I want to eat it.

However, it seems tough to continue at Manazuru, or rather, while I might catch one by chance eventually, I want to go out and secure one for sure. For that reason, I gathered the 'Garimpeiros'—not exactly in a rush—and we set sail from Hasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture, toward Inubosaki. It's so far!

And I am sleepy. Moreover, since it was my first time on this boat, I didn't really understand how things worked, and I set sail separated from the friend who accompanied me.

Inubosaki is supposed to be a good spot, but it's far, isn't it?

Since the continental shelf extends for about 30km, perhaps this area isn't suited for deep-sea fishing... I believe the key to this type of fishing is 'time.' The number of fish you catch depends on the number of times you pass a lure in front of a fish multiplied by the catch rate. In casting, it's about how many times you can cast a lure where the fish are; in jigging, it's about how many times you can drop a jig where the fish are. This is the foundation of everything. When you look at it that way, travel time feels like quite a waste.

Furthermore, in deep jigging, it takes several minutes for the jig to reach the bottom, so the basic strategy is to set sail from a location that allows for as much fishing time as possible to increase the number of attempts. Or, fish where the schools are dense. That is why I came to Inubosaki. I have high hopes for the fish density.

Fishing Session

Although I knew it, traveling 30km takes about 1.5 hours. I dozed off on the way and arrived. Let's begin.

Caught one on the first drift. Or rather, it was the exact same situation as when I caught the splendid alfonsino last time; it got tangled when I brought it up to about 50m, and the leader snapped. The fish was attached when the jig came back up. I ended up getting tangled with the person behind me to the left several more times after this, which was a bit troublesome.

This drift actually had the most fish, and while no Blackthroat seaperch appeared, people around me were catching them here and there. The person next to me caught blacktip sawtail catsharks one after another.

On this day, the conditions were the best—in a bad way—with strong winds and high waves, making me wonder, 'Are we really going out?' So, on top of not knowing what was happening more than usual, the spray during the transit was extraordinary. If I turned my back to the direction the spray was coming from and counted, I would get hit by a huge wave once every ten seconds. I probably took on 10 liters of water. It was tough.

On the next drift, I tried using a 370g Conifer. But, although I got bites, I couldn't hook them...

Was the assist line too short...?

After that, we moved around, and I switched jigs as well. I had been saving the Taiko jig that caught the splendid alfonsino because I was worried since it had come back cut, but it is so reliable that I put it back in. Then, a heavy hit.

Since I was using a Seaborg reel, I set the drag somewhat arbitrarily—sinking it to 250m and giving it a strong jerk, setting it so the drag wouldn't slip. It felt a bit tight, if anything. However, when it would dash occasionally, the drag would let out a 'ziri-ziri' sound, and the Eta rod I'd been testing since the day before was bending at least down to the tip of the belly. Since I have so little to compare it to—or rather, because the fish I've caught so far haven't even put up a fight—it's hard to judge, but I felt hopeful, thinking, 'Maybe this is something quite huge.' After all, I could clearly feel it pulling. It had the fighting style of a large grouper.

One option was to finish it off quickly with the electric motor, but since I'd gone to the trouble, I decided to play it carefully and fight it out. I pulled it up from 250m to 160m, but it was still full of energy. However, since I was stronger, the distance gradually closed to 150, 140, and 130 meters. And just as it crossed the 100m mark,

Snap!

An unpleasant sensation traveled up the line. The feeling of a fish being there vanished into thin air. Although there was still some winding resistance, retrieving from such a deep spot makes the line itself heavy, so I figured I must have lost the rig... but I pulled it up, pinning a glimmer of hope on it, and...

Ah, man... that Taiko rig costs about 9,000 yen, too...

The fish that get away are usually the big ones, aren't they? They're big enough to break the rig or the line, after all. As I was reeling in, feeling disappointed, I felt something attached. So, I pulled it up while getting tangled with the same person from the golden eye snapper catch, and...

Well, I suppose so. If I had come to catch blackthroat seaperch, this would be a success since its throat is black, but since I came to catch rosy rockfish, it remains unachieved.

Then, the person next to me hooked something. It seemed to be pulling quite hard, and they were excited, telling their companion, 'This is huge!!' Oh, I thought, this is it, and as I watched, what came up was a shark. It was the same pattern as me earlier.

After this, three rosy rockfish were caught on the boat, but I ended up empty-handed again. Too bad. Good work today.

Summary

・I should make longer assist hooks for long jigs.
・There was an unexpected commonality among those who caught fish. They all brought 3 sets of tackle, all rods were Slow Jerkers, and all reels were either Blue Heaven or Ocea Jigger. Do I really have to go that far...

・I went several times in a row but didn't get any notable results. The only thing I can do to break through this is to change locations. Maybe I'll try Yoshimaru in Manazuru once... Or perhaps somewhere further north in Ibaraki, Izu, or Chiba.