Saturday, December 27, 2014

Waves were high

We had reserved a boat to go offshore yellowtail fishing in the Sea of Japan for today, and fortunately the weather turned better than previous days. Though the waves were very high, we could manage to spend a day on the sea.  

Yellowtail, especially smaller ones, were so active that we could enjoy catching them almost every time we fell down a jig into the sea. The fever time continued for about one hour. I caught a nice mackerel, too. Our family members like to eat pickled mackerel for New Year's food, so I felt very happy to catch it. After almost everyone on the boat caught 15-20 each, we moved to another point to target bigger ones. Soon after we got there, I could catch a bigger yellowtail. Then, unusual for me, I felt seasick, and to make things worse both of my feet got wet as my old boots got swamped. I was not in the mood to continue fishing any more, and I stayed in the cabin until we returned to the port. Anyway, it was very nice to have a chance to go fishing during this season of the year and catch a lot of fish to eat. 

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Final race of 2014

As I did in the past, I ran a marathon today (23 Dec) as the final race of the year. I have not worked out so hard these months, and I ran only 9 times, a total of 150 km in the previous 30 days. The top of my left foot is still swelling up, though I feel little pain there.

This time, I did nothing special for the race. No weight reduction, no long time carbo-loading, and no special diet, either. I had a little more rice than usual yesterday, but that's all. I was relaxing just before the race, because I had no thought to push myself hard.

However, something in my own mind made me change the policy just after I heard the starting pistol. It said, "Run as hard as possible! No pain, no gain!" I felt very exhausted from the beginning, but I kept running. The pace was rather slower than previous races, but I ran hard. When I finally reached a point around 40 km distance, I suddenly felt I was totally refreshed and restored. Then, I decided to try to be a homestretch runner and put out a last spurt. I was surprised to find I could use all my strength that was left. The final pace was 4m20-30s/km, which was not too bad. It was a fantastic race that I made the most. 

My result: 3h32m16s (net)


    

Saturday, December 20, 2014

ABU 5000C, 1981 model


I finally got an ABU Ambassadeur 5000C made in 1981, which may be one of the last 5000C's made in so-called old style, excluding later replicas like 1984 models. The foot number (811204) shows that it was made in December 1981.


I find three major differences from previous models (1976-1978 ones that I have in my collection, and presumably from 1979-1980 models as well).

(1) The drag wheel has 4 arms (4-point star).
(2) The color of gear plate (brake plate) is silver, not black.
(3) The color of screws are not shinny chrome, but dull-looking brass.


These characteristics look almost the same as another example of 1981 model that Mr. Fred Ribb kindly shows here (#811104). Thanks, Fred!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Kit

When I was a kid, I was always interested in 'kit lures' or 'lure kit'. They made me feel to gain something more and special. At that time, I didn't know such kits included one or two lures that you would never use. I did find this truth much later.

Now, I know such lure kits are also nice to be displayed on the walls. I like these new natural-colored Fred Arbogast lures, and they look beautiful in the package.


This old Mepps Basser kit is also nicely made. The box is gorgeous and printed with good pictures of fishers with big fish. They're smiling and look very happy.


This is a scan from 1992 Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World catalog. I should have bought all of these Mepps lure kits for my collection. These are still available now, but I like older ones much better.