On a night like this

It was a beautiful night to be on the water today. No wind to mess up my casts, water running fast and clear, and a lovely bright moon in the sky.

On a night like this, fishing should be amazing, but fish weren't there tonight amazingly. I hooked up one on the second cast, but that was the only action I got tonight.

I felt it would've been a perfect night, if I got more fish on the end of the line, or may be, it won't matter to catch fish or not on a night like this.

EF 24mm f/2.8

Dyna-King Vise, The Supreme

This is my new vise which I bought on our trip to Japan in April.

As you know, it is a US made vise, so it is not something I had to buy in Japan as a souvenir (and technically a souvenir is something you buy for someone, not for own pleasure), but I couldn't resist the temptation when I saw it in a tackle shop.

この四月の日本への旅行のお土産がこのダイナキングのSupremeです。もちろん自分用ですよ。

本当はティムコのTMCバイスIIに興味があったのですが、お店でちょっと見せてもらったら、調節するネジやノブがありすぎたり、ちょっと力を加えるとジョーを支えるアームが下がってしまったりと、思いのほか使い勝手が悪かったので、やっぱり以前から使っていたダイナキング社のバイスを選びました。

アメリカから直で買えばもうちょっと安くなったかもしれませんが、バイスを見せてもらた千葉の駅前のお店のお兄さんが、とても親切に２、３台あるバイスをわざわざバラしてジョーとコレットそしてカムなどの一番相性の良いのを選んでくれたので、「さすが日本のサービス精神」と思い、迷わず財布を出しました。

I really love the jaw of Dyna-King vises. They hold a hook well and are very durable. I have been using another Dyna-King vise, which was given to me by my wife as my birthday present, for the last 10 years. I must say that, although it is a simple entry model, it has been very reliable and the jaw still can hold a hook as it was doing when I used it for the first time.

Up to now, I have been mainly tying small flies like duns, midges, nymphs, and some bait fish patterns for bream, and for that, my old vice has been a very good tool to work with. It is also light enough to take it to fishing trips. However, I have started tying different saltwater flies lately, and these flies are bit more complicated than tying small emergers, and I started feeling a need for upgrading my vise to something with a rotary function and the adjustable jaw angle.

So, I have chosen Dyna-King's "the Supreme" to be my new vise. It has a traditional style which I am more familiar with (I am not a fun of those rotary vises with a long skinny neck), and I know that I can count on the strength and holding power of the its jaw.

I have been using the new vise for almost two months, and I am happy to say that I have made a right choice.

このバイスでダイナキングは２台目となります。最初の一代は１０年経った今でも何の問題も無く使えているのですが、エントリーモデルであってジョーの角度が３０度で固定されているタイプでした。今回選んだバイスはジョーの角度が無段階で調整できるので、これによりタイイング時の自由度が広がりました。

ソルトウォーターで釣りをする仲間の中ではダイナキングのBarracudaやRenzettiのロータリーバイスが人気ですが、僕には古いトンプソンバイスや今回のSupremeの様な直立スタイルのバイスの方がしっくりします。

使い始めてからまだ２ヶ月位ですが、ジョーの角度調整だけで無く、ジョーの高さも変更できて、以前のバイスにも増して使いやすいです。決して安くはない物ですが、良い買いものしたと思います。

The jaw angle goes flat. Handy for tying streamers.

The jaw angle can be lifted almost upright as well.


Old and new side by side


The jaw of my old vise on left, and new on right.

Night fishing after work & Sunday trip

I went to fish after work on Thursday around the Mt Henry Bridge, and again on Friday around the Canning Bridge.

I did well on the Thursday session but fishing was only good for about a half hour around 6:00, then it became quiet as if someone flicked off a switch .

I wasn't thinking to go fishing on Friday, but got called up by a friend, so I went. We got to the river at about 7:30 and fished until 9:30, catching a few fish at the end. I thought fish were being slow (not like Thursday when they were hitting flies very hard), but they were staying in one area longer (or different schools were passing by).

木曜日の夜は仕事の後で友達と釣りへ。六時ちょっと前に釣り始めてからの３０分は立て続けにアタリがあったのですが、その後はパタリ。かなり水が冷たかったので、日が落ちてから魚の活性も急降下したのかもしれません。

金曜日は、釣りに行く予定は無かったのですが、今度は違う友達からの出動要請があり、木曜日に行った橋よりも１０km位下流の橋へ行きました。木曜日とは逆で、７時半から９時半に川からあがるまで、アタリはチラホラとありましたが、これまた活性が低いのか、どうも食いが浅く、ヒットがあってもフッキングしない事が殆どでした。

Fish found at the Bridge on Thursday




EF 24mm f/2.8

I went to Mandurah for our club's field day today.

A friend and I got to the river around 8:00, and we started fishing around the bridge first. The tide was very fast, and it was difficult to get a fly down deep enough with floating lines, however, we managed to hook up a couple of fish after many drifts and mending.

I then switched to my popper but the current was too fast for my popper to stay at the top, and it kept being dragged under water instead, so I gave up the idea after a dozen casts.

We saw other friends starting hooking up fish after fish with their intermediate lines, so we discussed about changing line as well, but we decided to have a coffee break instead.

After having a nice hot chocolate, we moved to the area where we normally catch herring and australian salmon on poppers. Unfortunately we didn't see much today apart from one fish took my popper which unfortunately came off as I pulled it towards my landing net.

今日は、フライフィッシングクラブのフィールドデイでマンジュラに行って来ました。

二週間前に来た時と同じ様に、まずハイウェイの橋の周辺を釣りましたが、何時もの様に潮の流れがとても速く、フローティングラインでは難しい状況でした。それでもメンディングを駆使してなんとか魚をフッキングしましたが、やはりインターミディエイトを使っている人の方が良く釣っていました。

友達とラインを換えようか、何時もの様に湾の反対のフラットでポッパーで魚を狙おうかと悩んだ結果、カフェで温かい物でも飲んで、それからフラットへ移動する事にしました。しかし、フラットへ行ってみると今日は空っぽで、選択は裏目にでる結果となりました。

Fish I got in the morning, taking a streamer on a natural drift


Mike casting in the morning mist


Fish took Steave's green fly


EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro

We left Mandurah about 4:30, and when we got around near my place at sunset, I realized that the river was looking very beautiful today, so I asked my friend to stop the car, and I took some photo. Of course, I also had to make a few casts just in case.

帰りの夕方、川沿いの道を通る事にしたのですが、空と川の流れがとてもきれいだったので途中で友達に車を途中で止めてもらって川の写真を数枚撮りました。見慣れた流れと景色ですが、夕方の川は何時見てもきれいです。

EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro

Changing season & winter out look

It looks to me that the river is on the seasonal change as the winter approaches. The water is getting colder and the light is getting shorter every week. There were many small bait fish jumping around in summer on my favourite flat, but the river is getting quieter now.

It is inevitable that we will soon have miserable winter rain and bone chilling wind, however, there are two good things in winter. One, all boats and jet skies will be gone, so we can keep the river to our self. Second, winter is the time when we normally hook up those big blue lip breams. So there are something I can look for the next few months, I guess.

最近はお日様が傾くのも早くなり仕事帰りに釣りが出来るのは１時間かそこら。川の水も日に日に冷たくなって、あれだけ跳ね回っていた小魚もどこかに行ってしまったようで、川はだんだん静けさをましてきています。もう冬はそこまで来ている様です。

冷たい雨や風の中でも冬の釣りには二つだけ良い事があります。一つは、騒がしいモーターボートやジェットスキーが川から居なくなる事。もう一つは、経験上、４０cmクラスの大きくて賢いクロダイに出会えるチャンスは夏よりも冬が高いと言う事。

日日是好釣日。まあ結局、冬だろうと夏だろうと、雨だろうと風だろうと暇さえあれば釣りに行くんですけどね。

Popper test

Our club's field day to Mandurah is coming up, so a friend and I decided to head to Mandurah on Sunday as a pre-field day excursion to check a few different spots as well as to test my new deer hair popper.

The fly is a cross between Dahlberg Diver and Muddler Minnow, but it is being scaled down and arranged to imitate a small bait fish which are chased by herring, tailor, etc.

次のクラブのフィールドデイの下見とAustralian Herring用に新しく巻いたポッパーのテストをしにパースから車での１時間の町に行って来ました。

ダルバーグ・ダイバーとマドラー・ミノーをベースに、３０cmクラスのターゲットに合わせてサイズを小型にしたフライです。小さいながらも、水面をチャプンチャプンと結構な音を鳴らして泳いで行きます。

I like deer hair poppers because it is easier to cast than poppers made out of closed cell foam (I guess deer hair is being less air resistant than foam).

Also unlike synthetic foam, deer hair will go back to the nature when they get lost. Although bits and pieces like eyes and a couple of strands of Kristal Flash will be there for a long time, I still think it is important to be aware, and to try to reduce our foot print wherever possible at the end of the day.

ポッパーパターンにはフォーム材を使ったものがポピュラーですが、ディアヘアーのポッパーの方が空気抵抗が少なく、＃４あたりの軽いラインでも投げやすいです。また、ディアヘアーの様なナチュラル素材は、フィールドでフライを無くした場合にもフォーム材の様にゴミになって残る心配がありません。（と言ってもスレッドやプラスチックの目玉等はゴミとして残ってしまいますが）。

I must admit that it takes time to tie deer hair poppers. Spinning and trimming deer hair is not as easy as sticking or gluing piece of foam together, however, it doesn't bother me much because fly fishing is something that we are meant to enjoy the process much like Japanese tea ceremony. Tying deer hair is bit of Zen, I believe. Taking a lot of effort to create something so small yet beautiful, which will essentially be chewed up by fish.

フォームを切って貼付けるだけの無機質なフライは、比較的簡単に量産できます。それに比べて、ヘアーをスタックしたりフレアーしたりするなどタイイングの行程がちょと複雑になるディアヘアーを使ったフライは、巻くのにも時間がかかりますし、ある程度のテクニックも必要になってきます。

それだけに、きれいに巻かれてトリムされたマドラーミノーやダルバーグダイバーなどのディアヘアーのパターンには、たかが毛針にそれだけの時間を費やすフライタイヤーの遊び心や釣りに対するこだわりなんかを感じる事ができます。いづれは魚にバラバラにされる運命の毛針に手間と愛情を注ぐ、まさにZENです。

"Deer-hair Popper Herring Special"

Hook: #10 (2X short, 2X wide)
Eye: 3D eye 1/8" (silver)
Under Body: Mohair (white)
Over Body: Cashmere goat (cream), Krystal Flash (olive brown)
Head: Deer hair (white & natural)


An example of my test results




A small salmon took a streamer


Found no fish in canals except blowies