Fish caught one after another. Some big ones!
We continued to move around, dropping metal jigs to the sea bottom and swinging our rods up and down. Before we know it, the weather is so clear that we forget about the morning rain. Mr. Takeuchi and Mr. Hirose continue to explore jigging.
Hirose: At first I was scared because the boat was rocking so much, but I got used to it. I think I'm starting to get the feel for jigging. It is fun to search for fish while changing the speed and width of the stroke.
Takeuchi: I am trying to figure out how to get the fish interested. If it gets it, I'm right. So it seems wrong at the moment (laughs). I will try various things.
You can easily learn how to fish by asking AI, but in the end, the key is to learn the feeling of fishing. If you try different patterns and catch fish, you will know how good or bad they are. Trial-and-error while imagining the underwater world is also an appealing aspect of fishing.
Then, Mr. Hirose got a hit. He caught a mackerel.
Hirose: It was the first fish I caught! I knew I had caught it when it became heavy. This is how you catch a fish. I am so happy.
Then, Mr. Takeuchi also got a bite. The one he caught was an ukkari scorpionfish. It is said that its name comes from the fact that it is inadvertently indistinguishable from a scorpionfish. It grows larger than a scorpionfish.
Takeuchi: What? I thought it was hooked. I thought, and then the rod was pulled in hard. It was the strongest pull and heaviest one I had caught recently. Anyway, I was happy to have caught it. That's where it all started.
Komatsu and Ikemoto's rods also responded, both catching hachibiki.
Ikemoto: Hachibiki is a strong pull. A fish that is not easily found on the dinner table. It also has a cool shape.
And then there was another one by Takeuchi.
Takeuchi: Like the first fish, it bit as soon as I dropped it to the bottom. So I don't yet have the feeling that I caught it by inviting it to bite. I am happy that I caught it, but I want to feel that I caught it by myself.
Ishii had a tremendous opportunity.
Ishii: It was clearly a strong bite, different from the others, and it pulled me in quite a bit. A power struggle began, and as I was reeling it in, thinking it had calmed down, I almost saw it, but it dove down again with a gulp and got away. The captain said it was probably a big bluefish, like a yellowtail. If I had caught it, I would have regretted ...... so much.
