fishing water wheel 8/11/19

When ever you read "fishing water wheel" at tenkara-fisher, it is the East Verde just North of Payson, the closest stream to my house. Today took 65 minutes to get there by car. Not bad.

What is bad is this is the confluence of Ellison Creek and the East Verde River, in a canyon that is popular with swimmers. This is the place where in 2017, ten people in one family were killed in a torrential flash flood. Out of respect, I did not take pictures of the memorials along the stream where they found the bodies. It is very morose...

Moving on, it's close to home and there are plenty of fish to be caught, even in high and chocolate water. We moved up the canyon to third crossing and walked the road back down the canyon to the car.

I've been using the Wrong Fly with a small tungsten bead tyed in and today it was the ticket. I caught a couple of types of rainbow, about a dozen fish in all. Super happy with this pattern, I've caught fish with it everywhere, it is my go to fly for sure.

Bendo in my Furaibo

As you can see, the water is chocolate brown and high from the run off from recent storms. The flash flooding that occurs is when there are active storms in the area. The last storms in the area where greater than 12 hours before and I am always careful about fishing here. I know about flash flooding from early on when I was a kid.

We caught a lot of fish today, just what Jimmy and I needed. It's a nice place to run up to, and escape. It is noon and I've been back for a while collecting the images and writing down my notes.

Genryu Fishing of Japan #42

Rainbow trout in Cobalt Blue stream

by Keiichi Okushi

Driving a car from the town where I live to the west for about two hours, there is a river named Ohsabi-gawa (Ohsabi-river) that flows from the mountains that continue to the south from Nasu mountain ranges. Its genryu area is still close to towns and villages where people live relatively. It is a genryu that can be easily approached, but the beauty of that genryu area is said to be the best in Kanto region. From the nearest village it only takes about 10 minutes to enter the dirt forest way entrance, and if we drive a car around a mountain for about 15 minutes, the scenery around there shows the aspect of deep mountain valley at once. The river is flowing far far below the steep cliffs in deep rich forests. So, we can only hear the sound of the river faintly on the forest road.

And above all, the beauty of the Ohsabi-gawa's water color is noteworthy. Normally, in the mountain streams of Japan, it shows the color of emerald green in the pools and deep flow parts. But, the color of the water in the genryu area of Ohsabi-gawa shines in a wonderfully beautiful cobalt blue. It is said that it is the influence of minerals contained in hot spring water springing in the head of the source. We genryu fishers called it “Ohsabi Blue” to honor its beauty. Even with those points, this Ohsabi-gawa is a river with enough charm to introduce to you, but there is another reason to make this Ohsabi-gawa famous more.

I wrote in this essay that "In Japan the fish living most upstream of the river is Iwana, no fish live upstream from Iwana." I think that it was certainly the episode of "Iwana". However, there are some exceptions, one of which is this Ohsabi-gawa. It is the fact that many rainbow trout were inhabited over the upstream of the habitat of Iwana, in the most upper part of Ohsabi-gawa. Those rainbow trout were also introduced in the articles of fishing magazines long time ago, and I heard from Mr. Sebata, saying that there were many rainbow trout in the stream and the large rainbow trout of 50cm to 60cm bent the fishing rods bigger.

Well, why did such a thing happen? It was because the Japanese fisheries experimental station had been released those rainbow trout to Ohsabi-gawa experimentally to test if American trout could live in genryu area of rivers in Japan. It was said that they discharged rainbow trout several times upstream of Otaki (Big Watefall) which was a run-up stop for Iwana at that time. The result was a huge success, and rainbow trout was said to have expanded their habitat considerably deep into the genryu area after that. It is about the beginning of the Showa era, that is more than 90 years ago from now. At that time the food situation in Japan was still bad, and rainbow trout was imported as the new food from the United States under such circumstances.

Unfortunately, now we are unable to see a group of rainbow trout swimming in the source of Okawa. This is because someone released Iwana from down-stream of the waterfall to the habitat of this rainbow trout 20 or 30 years ago. Afterthat, Iwana won the inhabitation competition with rainbow trout and now it is hard to see the appearance of rainbow trout in the genryu area. In recent years, not only fish but also various organisms raise problems of alien species, but it seemed that Iwana of native species of Japan was stronger than rainbow trout in this case.

Even now, rainbow trout is often released to the rivers and lakes here in Japan, but mostly it is done in the sections such as the catch & release areas, and many fish are poorly conditioned and many do not have natural mating power. Nevertheless, there are some places where rainbow trout, which were released in some rivers in Hokkaido and Honshu, are breeding naturally. Actually, even in this Ohsabi-gawa, we can meet descendants of rainbow trout that continues from the long time ago. It is only a little, but if you go to the most upper part of genryu section beyond a series of waterfalls walking several hours from the entrance point of the genryu. Yes, we are still able to encounter rainbow trout who are alive in that isolated area.



In the summer of 2018, I went to Ohsabi-gawa to see those rainbow trout with my genryu fishing friends Takano-san and Fuku-chan for 2 nights. Actually, I had gon fishing in Ohsabi-gawa 5 or 6 times so far, but I had never caught rainbow trout at all. Once, I walked to a considerable genryu section and stayed for a night and fished, but it seemed that I had not reached to the habitat of the rainbow trout. This time, we gathered at parking palce at the end of the forest road and stayed for a night. We got down to the river as soon as the next morning walking for about an hour and a half. We set up a temba (camp) where we walked the river about 30 minutes from the entrance point. We walked to the most genryu area soon taking only fishing equipment and lunch. On the way, we did not do any fishing. We left the temba at 9 o'clock and arrived at the place which seemed to be the habitat of rainbow trout at around 11:30.



We prepared for fishing quickly and started fishing. Soon Fuku-chan and Takano-san caught fish first, but both were good sized Iwana. "Well, I guess we can not catch rainbow trout easily." After such conversations, Fuku-chan finally fished a small rainbow trout at the place where we climbed over two small waterfalls. And Takano-san fished a little bigger rainbow trout as well. Both rainbow trout were not big but beautiful, a wild rainbow trout without any doubt. At first glance, the rainbow trout of Ohsabi-gawa had very dilute green (or blue) color on the back, and the red band on the side of the body was remarkably shading in color. It was rainbow trout with a distinctly different personality from rainbow trout living in other rivers and lakes in Japan.



Following them, I also took out my fishing rod. They gave me a first-class point with a deep flow under a small waterfall of about 1 meter. I cast the fly just under the waterfall and letting it drift natural about 2m, then fish came out immediately. When hooked him up, the next moment the big fish jumped. A typical rainbow trout fight pattern. I enjoyed his powerful pull. After a wonderful fight, I landed a rainbow trout that was a little smaller than 30cm.



While I was taking pictures of the fish which I normally do not take, I suddenly got a feeling "this rainbow trout was living his life in that isolated genryu area connecting the life from ancestors released to Ohsabi-gawa almost 100 years ago." Then he looked like a very precious thing like a jewel to me. Yes, I thought he was the jewel of genryu, and although rainbow trout is not a native fish of Japan, I really wanted them and their descendants to stay alive in this genryu area of Ohsabi-gawa forever.

Kauai Trout

The Hawaiian islands are a great destination for adventure! You can do anything from a lazy day at a pristine beach to a crazy night in a busy international city. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to have visited the islands many times over my lifetime. I lived there for three years and created many adventures on land, sea and in the air but I’ll keep this on the ground, toned down and target just one single fishing opportunity.

Mountain stream trout fishing in the headwaters of Waimea Canyon

For those of you that have not been to Hawaii, I will review the islands and give a little history of the trout there and what to expect.

The research for this adventure and my story was created using the tools of a modern traveling trout fisherman, the Internet, local knowledge, guide books and satellite mapping. I wrote the research and preparation on my iPad before the trip and kept a written diary during my experience and edited the story in the evenings after it happened.

The Hawaiian islands were originally inhabited by Polynesian sailors and voyagers in 300 to 800 A.D. the islands were later visited by the British explorer Capt. James Cook in 1778. In 1893, a group of American sugar cane planters overthrew the ruling Hawaiian monarchy. Soon after, the US marines came to protect the plantations from retaliation. The Hawaiian Islands became the 50th state in the United States of America in 1959.

The state of Hawaii is comprised of 8 islands that make up the group collectively known as Hawaii. There is the big island of Hawaii which is aptly named because of its size, Maui, O’ahu, which is where the famous North Shore of surfing is and Honolulu on the South shore which is the capital of Hawaii , Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Kauai and Nihau together make up the state.

The islands of Hawaii are the most remote islands in the world. Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 2,390 miles from California and 3,850 miles from Japan, the Hawaiian islands are the furthest from any landmass. Consequently, the Hawaiian chain of islands are 1,523 miles long making them the longest chain of islands. Kauai, the subject island of this story is among the rainiest places on the earth with more than 450 inches annually each year for the last 100 years. The highest point is on the big island of Hawaii, Mauna Kea at 13,796’ with the lowest point being at sea level along the coast lines. 

The trout of Hawaii

Trout are not native to Hawaii. They have been introduced. There are trout on at least four of the islands, O’ahu, Maui, Kauai and the big island. The original stocking of the streams in Kauai are well documented and were studied over a hundred years ago. At this time, there are at least three streams on Kauai that contain trout. The trout in these streams are “wild” trout naturally reproducing from the original stocking in 1920. At that time, 50,000 rainbow trout eggs that originated from Montana and Utah arrived in Honolulu harbor on a ship that carried them from California. The eggs were then transported to Kauai were they were taken to a hatchery to hatch the trout fry for introduction into the headwater streams of Waimea Canyon.

There is a commercial rainbow trout farm on Maui and a fisheries hatchery on Oahu that serves for stocking Hawaii’s public fishing lakes. I have heard from local fly fishers that there is a wild trout stream on the big island that takes a couple of hours hike to get to. Perhaps a target for later trips but for now, we will stay on track with the wild trout on Kauai.

This trip was a year in the making and I have had help from fishermen that wrote about their experiences in Kauai online. Three had been there and have caught wild trout. One of those people have been instrumental in the logistics of my trip and the other two have simply helped with their experience. Another angler passed on maps and notes about hiking in the area. If you are serious about catching the wild trout in Kauai, you will run upon at least a couple of people who have previously written about their own adventures. Out of the few angler/authors that I contacted, most have been enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge. I will join them and add to the knowledge base however, you will have to put the pieces together to build your own picture of adventure.

Tenkara fishing

As with all of my travel, I put together a minimal pack list for fishing the mountain streams. I am a tenkara fisher that enjoys the effective minimalism in tenkara. The equipment of this simple method of Japanese fly fishing can be succinctly described as “rod, line and fly.” Japanese tenkara is a form of fixed line mountain stream fishing for trout and what I’ll be doing in Kauai fits the description perfectly. I have quite a bit of travel experience using a tenkara fishing kit that is easy to pack inside of a small backpack. The rod is telescoping and the line is fixed to the end of the rod and it is lightweight yet easy to pin point cast. Tenkara is perfect for travel and I have pared down my kit from experience and use a tiny fishing bag that holds a little fly box, three card spools of different lines and a nipper as well as a Derf needle driver (forcep) for removing deeply swallowed flys.

The logistics of my equipment and travel to Kauai

My flight is direct into Lihue from Phoenix and I will be renting a economy car to get to the area where there is trout. I found a beach hostel in Lihue for about $30 per night. I only need a shower and facilities in the morning before I drive to fishing and back in the evening to clean up so this cheap and efficient alternative was a welcome find.

My fishing trip is before our family vacation so I have two full days to drive the hour and a half to the trail head and hike a couple of miles to get to my target. Having spent lots of time in the jungles of the islands, I know what to expect. I create a pack list and follow it closely. I will be catching up with my family on the big island after the Kauai leg of my vacation so there is more to my pack list than pure mountain stream fishing.

The freshwater fishing regulations for Kauai require a license. This can be purchased online and if you are camping in the area at one of the few remote campsites, you will need a permit. I could have just camped but the logistics of my vacation did not support taking my camping kit. The cheap economy rental car will get me close enough to the streams and I can park and hike the rest of the way. If I am successful in catching the trout on day one, I can use day two for exploring the island. I’m equipped for hiking and snorkeling too and there is a lot to do in Kauai.

I enjoy the “plan your work and work your plan” method for my adventures. This helps me stay focused on my goal with room to make dynamic decisions based on the conditions of travel. The target area is rainy so I chose a lightweight rain jacket and a rain skirt for my kit. I also use a compact daypack and keep my things in a dry bag. The area of trout is epic for hiking and photography so it is my intent to catch a few trout in a couple of the streams and move on. I want to sample fishing in the streams, enjoy Kauai, and move on to the family portion of our vacation.

The trip

I flew straight into Lihue. Its a six hour direct flight from Phoenix. I arrived at the airport, shuttled to the rental car, found the hostel and then a place to get a refreshment. There is a Kauai location of my favorite restaurant close by, I’m having a drink in paradise before I turn in. I’ve gone from extremely hot and dry climate to nice and misty rain, it’s time to relax and unwind, I’m on vacation and it’s just getting started.

I set the alarm early, 5a. Sunrise is 6 and it took about an hour and a half to get to the area up the canyon. I stopped at a lookout for a photo and finished out the drive. It was clear, sun out and clouds in the canyons on the lee sides. My notes were impeccable but I still made a major mistake. The TOPO did not distinguish a power line trail from a road and ten minutes into my 2+ mile hike and I’m in dense jungle and soaked from mist and dew. Mother Hawaii is making me work for it. I persevered and drop into the dirt and mud road that I was supposed to be driving on.

Nothing was going to stop me (except me)

I had my GPS on the phone and it took me an hour plus to get to my destination. The pack comes off, I rig and rest. The stream is choked with a thorn berry plant, sticky sharp wiry vine type tanglefoot and slick mud slopes, volcanic rocks here and there but I can see the trout in the coffee colored stained water. I thread a cast and drift a half second and STRIKE! On my first cast! But I miss him, and several others. I know I’m going to catch fish but when? I try to move along the stream but I’m tired and tense. I finally catch one, then two, falling into the rhythm of a tenkara angler.. I catch about a half dozen trout in this section.

It is pretty straight forward catching trout in Kauai. The guidance is there, clues here and there but you won’t get the cake from me.

You have to cook it up yourself from your own recipe. The people that helped me will help you just like I am helping you here.

I’m back on the beach now, finally on vacation. Research, make a plan and execute it. See what you have but be careful, you could make a huge problem for yourself just bushwhacking in the jungle. Make sure you know what you are doing and more importantly, draw limits for yourself and stay within them.

List of useful links

https://freshwater.ehawaii.gov/freshwater/

https://camping.ehawaii.gov/camping/welcome.html

http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/fishing/freshwater-fishing/

http://www.thegardenisland.com/2018/02/25/lifestyles/the-introduction-of-rainbow-trout-into-kauai/

http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pdf/kokee.pdf

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1013331525088

https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/1905/v53n3-242-251.pdf?sequence=1

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Waialeale

https://www.to-hawaii.com/geography.php

Good luck and mahalo.

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My Kauai Trout pack list

Travel Documents

Flight reservation info (to Lihue)

Rental car reservation info (Lihue)

Beach hostel reservation info

Fishing license (printed)

Camping permit (printed)

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Pack List

Travel Duffle/Pack

Tote

Sling Bag

Stuffable backpack

20L stuff sack

Travel pillow

Travel blanket

Umbrella

Hat

Buff

Sunglasses

Aloha Shirt x 1

Rainjacket

Rain Skirt

Hoody Rashguard

Travel pants x 1

LS t-shirts x 3 (camouflage - raglan)

Track pants x 1

Lounge shorts

Shorts x 2

Surf trunks x 2

Travel underwear x 4

Hiking boots & socks

Flip flops

Sleeping Mask

Bathroom kit

Medicine

Sunscreen

iPhone + case, charger/cord

MacBook + charger/cord

iPad + case, pencil, charger/cord

AirPods

Nikon waterproof camera kit

—————

Tenkara list

Tenkara USA Hane rod

Micro Pack

lines x 3 ea

forceps

5x tippet

Kebari

Fishing license

Stuffable backpack

13L Dry Bag