05 June 2010

Seeing is believing


I hooked up a good size bream on my Friday night fishing session. The take was bit subtle, so I thought I got a small fish first, but the fish then started taking some line off the reel and it put a good fight. It wasn't a monster but it was still a fine fish in an excellent condition.

When it was laying in a landing net, I noticed that its right eye was missing. It looked like an old scar happened some time ago, but it looked like the fish has been doing OK so far. Anyway, I was just amazed that the fish was still able to strike such a small bait imitation in the dark even with one eye.

I used to believe that bream don't have a good eye sight. When I started chasing breams on flies, I was using small shrimp patterns which looked very real on my hand, but I wasn't getting many fish on these flies. Fish were more interested in big smelly soft plastics that my friend was using in stead. So, I thought that bream were either too blind to spot a fly in the water, or too stupid to appreciate my artistic creation.

Since then, I have spent many days on a river, trying different flies, and I now know that bream can easily spot a difference between what is real and what is fake. On top of that, fish might be interested in one pattern or a particular colour today, but chase something quite different next day. Smart and cunning fish, they are, and that is why fly fishing for black bream is interesting.


EF 24mm f/2.8

この写真のクロダイですが、実は片目でした。見た感じでは大分まえに受けた傷の様でしたが、それにしても、片目だけでよくもまあ3cm程の小さなストリーマーを暗闇の中で見つけられるものだと驚きました。

「クロダイは視力が悪い」と言う話を以前何かで読んだ事がありますし、僕もクロダイをフライフィッシングで狙い始めた当初はそう思っていました。ただフライを見切って去って行くクロダイを何度も見る様になると、「クロダイの目は相当良いのでは?」と思うようになりました。

クロダイは動くフライにゆっくりと近寄って、フライが止まると、自分も目と鼻の先の位置でピタリと止まってじっくり様子を見ます。いざ攻撃をすると決めたらヒットまでの動きはとても俊敏ですが、よっぽどやる気のある場合を除いては、食うか逃げるかの決断には時間が掛かります。よってリトリーブの間のポーズをどれだけ取るかが重要になってきます。間を長く取った方が良い日もあれば、短い方が良い日もあって、とにかく気分屋です。まあそこがこの釣りの面白い所ですが。

ちなみに、クロダイ用のフライには、止まっている時と動いている時の、静と動の両方のデザイン性が求められると思います。例えばゾンカーの様に動く時もユラユラ、止まってもユラユラとファイバーが動くフライの方がクロダイには効果的かと考えます。


Hear are some other pictures from the last week.

先週の釣りの写真を他に数枚程。








EF 24mm f/2.8

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