Offshore Game for Mackerel – Ito, Shizuoka

2009/07/142020/11/25

Different game on different time. That's what attracts me to Ito Bay for row boat fishing. After trying for estuary in the morning with no result, I cut the game and headed for Ocean Tsurigu boat house. Hoping I run into school of mackerel or dolfin fish.

I set out with 3 tackles. 7'11'' 8wt with floating line for surface for rogue fish, 9' 10wt with type 4 sinking line for subsurface school of blue runners. Spinning tackle for lure as teeser and balancer rig to research fish until school of fish come afloat to surface level.

Commencing Offshore Game (8:00-14:00)

Water was calm as mirror as I rowed out into the bay, and it looked I was gonna reach the 40m depth line forming drop off right away. However, when I got only a 1/4 of the way, I run into school of anchovies splashing like shower on the surface. Funny thing is that no bird was showing any interest on this school. I stayed along the splashing school, casted both lure larger than baitfish and streamer matching back and fourth. I couldn't spot a fish eater. Boat house master told me of rush of mackerels were calming down, so many be small number of left over mackerels were anchovies which didn't create enough excitement for birds to join in.

Shot Gun and Waiting...

First boils didn't recover any fish eaters, so I continuously cast around to search for blue runners nearby until tide hit the highest point of the day. I set the chum bag in water, swithched to jig to test the water underneath from the bottom to mid range. Still no sign of anything down there. I re-positioned my boat to 40m drop off line next to 2 other boats already waiting for chance time.

we waited about 15 minutes until the boat next to me start catching mackerels. I put down my balancer rig to search from bottom up. 10m from the bottom was the strike zone, and I caught the first catch, blue mackerel of 39cm. I checked with other boats, and they were catching blue mackerels in same size too, so I confirmed this is the dominant runner of the day.

Attract Mackerels to Subsurface

Blue mackerels, unlike chub mackerels or frigate mackerels I tried in last year, seem to stay in bottom range tightly. I loosened the chum bag so that juice runs out on surface, bring up the strike range 5m shallower each time I catch, and even kept one fish after I set hook in 10m range from surface to see if he attracts his school. None worked.

They must had reason to stay there, so I switched to jig again to try the range 10m above the school of mackerels to see if there were larger predatory fish in mid range pressuring them downward. Nothing happening.

Heading Back to Shore

Around noon, I headed the boat little closer to shore to have my lunch and as I was enjoyining my meal, so are mackerels. Chum bag hanging down must attracted the school of anchovies I previously encountered in the morning, and they were all over my boat. Then I saw silver glitter around baitfish. Chance time has finally arrived!

I first hoped for dolphin fish, but as soon as I successfully cast type 4 and retrieved it with high speed I found out that it was...

Another blue mackerel! Pretty much the same size with previous school I caught, so they must have come in large group then split into 2 schools. It's a new specie caught on fly rod alright. At least I didn't come here for nothing. I caught 2 more and headed back to the shore for good hot spring bath and afternoon nap before going back to the estuary of Ito River where I had to try for black porgies.

Conclusion & Result

New learning was that the spot I usually anchor for blue runners are bulging from 40m drop off line where schooling fish tend to stay in bottom range between 30-35m deep almost avoiding the range directly above. I confirmed with the boat house master that mid range of 20-30m is usually the range for catching yellow tails with live bait. So, it must be acting like highway for larger fish to go into the shallower zone.

To make them come float...? I must have stronger chum than frozen shrimp to make thick chum slick with fish meat and fish oil. First sink the chum bag above mid range then pull it afloat? Also, I must come first into the spot to dominate the depth of fish.

- Blue mackerels on fly x 3: 35-37cm
- Blue mackerels on bait x 9: 35-39cm

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