fishing for spawning black sea bream on Kishima Island. Sotowa

catch　　
■ Black porgy 25-41 cm 13 sheets

Fishing spot
■Okayama Prefecture Kishima Hinadan


Ground bait used

■ Sokozeme! Zudon
■ Mugi kurodai
■Seiha Chinu White Base
■Nama-sanagi Kurodai


In late April, I went fishing off the coast of Ushimado in Okayama Prefecture to preview the tournament.
On this day, a local fishing friend also accompanied us, and at my request, we decided to have a half-hour practice match early in the morning.

The place we went up to was a rock called Hinadan on Kishima.
As the name suggests, it is terraced like a hill and has good footing, making it a popular spot for tournaments.

In normal years, the fish at Ushimado becomes active around the long holidays in May, and you can enjoy catching a lot of them.
The captain told me that the fishing results have increased considerably over the past few days.
On the one hand, I'm looking forward to it, but on the other hand, since the day's fishing starts with the match, I feel nervous and hurry to get ready.

The topography of the rocky shore we landed to was a series of rocky shores up to about 10m away, and beyond that was a sandy area dotted with reefs.
The water depth is approximately 20m from 5m away, which is a characteristic of Ushimado, and is relatively shallow.

There are 4 types of chum we prepared this time. I mixed 2 blocks of 3kg of krill here.
The krill used for the bait are raw krill, Namaiki-kun for PRO, and Namaiki-kun semi-boiled. Depending on how long the bait lasts in the sea, I decided the main target fish and rotated them.

The game starts at 6:30am. Then, within the first 20 minutes, my fishing friend caught three black sea breams in a row.
I was shaken by the movement and hurried to catch up with them as I fished out two fish. Still, I keep adding fishing friends.

After an hour passed and I changed fishing positions, I was unable to catch a good hit as I had many small picks and hooks coming off, perhaps due to a drop in the activity or appetite of the fish.
The game ended when each player added bits and pieces.
As a result, I kept the length over 25cm and completely lost to my fishing friend, 7 to 3.
The reason for my loss was fishing too deep. My fishing friend heard from the captain that ``the fishing results have improved over the past few days,'' so he decided that the fish were on the rise, so he caught the fish that floated during the morning when the activity was high.

After that, I decided to enjoy fishing freely until I put away my rod.
It was a meaningful practice because we could get a lot of information by fishing with two people, such as the timing of the tide when the activity is high, and the best bait and depth at that time.

Now is the time to catch fish in Ushimado. The black sea bream caught in Ushimado has a reputation for being very delicious. I also took all the fish I photographed home, shared them, and ate them deliciously.
Please come and enjoy Setouchi's spawning black sea bream.