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

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.