The early morning heat wave was not to be!
It is not even 7 o'clock yet and the temperature is almost 30 degrees Celsius. Not even a hint of wind was blowing, and sweat was pouring down my face just by moving a little. But even that feels good because it's not like being surrounded by concrete. I prepared myself for a battle against the heat today and headed out to the field.
This first one we came to is a river that flows into Kasumigaura. Kasumigaura has many incoming rivers and waterways, making it ideal for land-based run-ins.
Miyazawa: It is muddy due to the rain a few days ago and the raking before rice planting.
As he spoke, Mr. Miyazawa first explored the shoreline with big baits and spinnerbaits.
Mr. Kihara chose Daiwa's Steeze Brammo, a shrimp-type high specific gravity worm. This worm was developed by bass pro Takuya Hashimoto and his team, who are based in the Kasumigaura area, and has a good reputation for catching fish.
Kihara: Try a split shot rig and then change to a no sinker. Try attacking around the piles.
They cast silently, hoping for a fish that occasionally breaks the surface of the water and bounces. Ishii and Komatsu rotate worms to see what happens.
Ishii: I'm exploring from the surface to the bottom with a shad tail. The fish are moving, so I'm trying to see how they react to various worms.
Komatsu: At first I was throwing spinnerbaits, but my willpower was weak, so I quickly switched to worms. I use a straight worm and chomp away.
Ikemoto, also using a straight worm, but in combination with a small rubber jig, was appealing.
Ikemoto: The smorgasbord wacky seems to be doing well in Kasumigaura. There are signs of fish, so I'm getting my hopes up.
Despite our attempts, the fish are indifferent. There was no point in persisting. We were determined to get to the next point.
