Saltwater Fishing
Field report by Saya Aoi
Challenger Saya: the heart pounding challenge of Albacore!
Hello everyone! I’m VARIVAS / Morris Co. Field Tester, Saya Aoi.
We’re here in Shukuura, Mie Prefecture, with the VARIVAS staff, to take on the challenge of the much-talked-about Ton-jigi. What is Ton-jigi in the first place? I am sure many people wonder! Ton in Japanese means dragonfly; it’s also known as Longfin tuna, or Albacore tuna.
On this first day we meet up with Mr. Taniguchi of Taniguchi Charter Boat who’ll be helping us with some super light jigging. This year the albacore tuna fishing is in great shape! ! Actually, I’ve been looking forward to this, because I’ve wanted to try it for a long time.
An Exciting Day 1:
After a few pointers from the captain, I start fishing!
The water depth is 500m, but the best responses come at around 50-100m.
I dropped the jig to about 120-130m without dropping it to the bottom and slowly reel it up; or at a high pitch, change here and there…
For the next 5 to 6 hours, it’s trial and error, changing the shape and color of the jig. Nothing . . . . Our time is coming to an end without even a hit . . . .
There’s a loud voice from the stern.
Another fisherman on the boat has caught the second albacore of this season.
From that moment on, all anglers had a renewed spirit 🙂
But after that, the albacore never showed up… 🙁
Day 2: All of us started without much confidence.
We departed from Koshiga, which is about one hour away from Shukuura.
On this day, we were taken by Captain Kawaguchi on a boat named Toromaru.
While the ship carefully explores the area Captain Kawaguchi points out that at a sea floor depth of 1000m, the fish should be between 70m to 130m in depth.
After a while, another ship radios that they hit fish at the same depth as Capt. Kawaguchi!
I’m sure there are fish here somewhere.
Despite all of us trying at the same depth, no one got a bite. Why?
Suddenly I noticed the line falling a lot more than before. Perhaps it’s . . . . I decided to release more lines by about 50m and drop the jig. I jigged three times; and suddenly . . . a heavy feeling came to my hands! A hit!!!!
Albacore is not a fish that draws much; however I feel a sense of weight and life at the tip of the rod.
I won’t let this one go! I succeeded in putting in a whole body to set the hook, reeling it in carefully, and caught it.
The wind was so strong on this day. The boat was drifting fast, causing my line to become slant. Of course, at this angle my line can’t reach the 130m depth where fish are.
As a result, I can say that understanding the angle of the line and the relation to the depth led to a successful result!
Saya’s one point of advice
It looks like this ↓ ↓ line angle is therefore (The angle of the PE line to the water, as seen from me)
★ At 90 °: 0m ★ At 60 °: 17m ★ At 45 °: 40m
By keeping in mind the error caused by the water entry angle of the line, it will make the difference for future fishing results. 🙂
I felt that 10m (what?), 10 different color markings are more effective for fishing albacore.
It’s very easy to match the depth, depending on the situation!
The hook was firmly hooked on the upper jaw of the fish and came up without breaking!
Albacore’s hard hit frequently misleads to a false feeling of a firm hook; the hook often doesn’t sit well in their mouth. I was able to jig hard, this time, causing the hook to firmly pierce the tuna’s upper jaw and held! I highly recommend zero-friction coated hooks!
SAYA’s Tackle: ◇ Albacore ◇
- Rod: beat PROPAGTE BLX5 +
- Reel: SHIMANO Ocean Jigger 2000NRHG
- Line: VARIVAS AVANI JIGGING 10 × 10 MAX Power PE X8 No. 3, 300m
- Leader: VARIVAS Ocean Record Shock Leader 60 lb.
- Hook: VARIVAS AVANI Ocean Works Twin Assist Power Round 3/0 (3cm)
- Jig: beat Diffuse R 180g (Zebra glow)
The original article was published in Japanese by Morris Company, Ltd., April 7th, 2020. Field Report by Saya Aoi
