How can they disappear so suddenly?

There were millions of shrimps in the river last Saturday.  They were so thick that the water had turned into a creamy shrimpy colour.

This week?  We were only able to spot a couple of them hiding among weed beds.  How can they all disappear like that?

We went to the same place, hit a similar tidal stage, and wind direction was pretty much identical too.  All variables seemed to be as they were last week, yet those shrimps weren't there anymore.

Well, the world on the river is really amazing after all, and we can only grasp a small part of the whole mystery, I guess.

Fish were still hitting on a shrimp pattern even though the shrimp fest was over, but all fish were quite small.  I also caught a flathead on my prototype clam worm / sand worm pattern which was good for a change.

A small grunter caught on a shrimp pattern

Experimental worm pattern tied with goat hair and an emu feather

Photos from the last weekend

There were some breams smashing schools of shrimps last Saturday. As the fish were attacking them, shrimps were jumping out of water like pop corns.

It is stormy outside. Hopefully the weather gets better soon, and fishing will be good as it was the last weekend.

先週の土曜日は、いつものポイントよりもちょっと下流に行ったみましたが、運良く小さなエビの大群を発見。

そうこうしているうちに、クロダイが目の前でエビを追いかけ始めて、その度にエビが弾けたポップコーンの様に次々と飛び跳ねていました。

今週末の前回と同じ様なアクションが見られれば良いのですが・・・外は嵐の様な天気です。

A shrimp feeding bream

A flathead being caught by Mike

Spring day

I have noticed that plum flowers on the school yard are now blooming. It looks like another spring has arrived.

学校の庭の木には、花が咲き始めました。いよいよ春の到来です。

Hit and run

I hooked up a nice fish yesterday. Unfortunately, it broke me off on its second turn.

The tide is on the spring pattern now, and it seems that lots of bait fish have returned. Fishing however has been very average for the past couple weekends, so I guess I got caught by surprise. Anyway, it was good to know that good fish were still there at least.

どうやら冬は終わって、天気も潮の流れも春のパターンになりました。

川にはベイトの数も増えてきたのですが、釣りの方は.ここ二週間位は釣れても小物ばっかりであまり良くありません。ただ、そう言って油断をしていたら、昨日は突然大きなやつがヒットして、あせっている間にラインブレイク。その後は、アタリも何もありませんでした。

人生の逆転劇ではありませんが、どうも大きなクロダイは、何も釣れなくて、もうあきらめようかなあ、と思っている時に、突然ガツンと来る様な気がします。