Thank you, and good by

Two weeks have passed since our loveliest dog passed away. We really miss him, and how can we fill this void??

Artistic?

New toy

I've been feeling a strange feeling on my left knee, and I was thinking to buy a new bike in spring to keep my basic cardiorespiratory function. Today I visited a shop near my place to find one. It's for the first time in these 25 years for me to get a new bike, and I was very surprised to try some, as they're all too light and go smoothly. I bought a kind of 'cross bikes' called here, but I guess it is a Japanese English. Anyway, it is a hybrid type bike for both on- and off- roads for fitness. I wasted little time to take a trial ride today, in about 30km (18-19 miles), and I felt it was just as hard as a 10km jogging/running. I'm not a child, but it's nice to get a new toy to work out.
 

Have been busy

I've been too busy working since the beginning of this year, but now I'm feeling I've passed the most critical time. Now, I'm preparing for my fishing season 2017, and would like to go out for fishing as soon as possible.

Here's my album in Jan-March.

First Kayaking

Today, I tried kayaking for the first time in my life. I've been enjoying Canadian canoeing for years, but kayaking is a little different from canoeing. Before I get on it in the sea, I just tried it in a small pond near our place.

I took my wife (I had her take photos) and our dog. I've enjoyed canoeing with him, but I was wondering if he could stand or sit on front small space of a sit-on-top kayak. 

He seemed to be happy on it, but I'm afraid I can't fish with him on a kayak. It is too unstable and I can't pay attention to both my rod and him. Anyway, paddling was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to going out in the sea next time.
 

Happy new year

During the holidays, we visited our parents' houses and stayed there some days. We also visited a nearby shrine at the beginning of the new year.

On 2 Jan, I attended a big alumni association party with my high school classmates. We (about 400 students) graduated the school 30 years ago, and more than 200 of the same grade took part in this time. The party was convivial, and it was a lot of fun to see old good friends and laugh aloud together.

One of them recalled a story of me, which I didn't remember at all. I belonged to the school's basketball club, and we worked out almost everyday including Saturday and Sunday. At the end of the first year, I decided to withdraw from it with 4-5 members. Our demanding coach inquired the reason of our withdrawal from each of us. A member replied that he wanted to find more time to study. Another said he could not endure the hard training any more. And so on, and so on. Then, according to my friend, my excuse was that I wanted to go FISHING much more times. The coach got a little mad and said to me, "Fishing?? Fish will be there anytime!" Now, my friends know what kind of job I'm doing, and I believe my choice was not so bad. I guess the coach had never enjoyed fishing by himself.

Whole house cleaning

We did housecleaning from morning till evening. Too exhausted. I also have to clean up all of our shoes and cars, but could not get going today. We can't get the new year started with such dirty ones, so I have to....TOMORROW. 

Merry Christmas

Turned

I let the rotating machine work through the night with a clock-timer, and finished the last varnishing of this rod (Fenwick Fenglass 2053). While I was checking it this morning, I noticed I turned 48. I can't believe 50 is just around the corner. 

 

This reel is almost as old as I am (or a little older). "ABU Ambassadeur 5000" in black color, though you may think it would be a Black Record Ambassadeur 5000 or a common Ambassadeur 5000C. It has some scratches and paint off, but works very smoothly. You can't believe it was manufactured about 50 years ago. I like to be the same, but to understand aging is very difficult for myself, as it is the first time for me to get old. 

Just before the athletic meet starts

It's very fine today, and my daughters had an athletic meet at their junior high school. Just before it started, I went fishing for only a short time. I visited the same pond as the last time, but got skunked. I had a very small bite on my Harrison Bass Frog, but I guess the fish was too small to eat the frog.

As soon as I got home, I left home again to visit their school with my wife, and watched almost all the programs. Both of my daughters belong to the school track team, and we enjoyed watching them achieve good results. Youth is wonderful!

After getting home in the evening, I put my fishing tackle together as I had no time to do so in the morning. The Lucky 13 (JRH) I used today didn't show livelier actions than I expected, and I think I should make some alternations on it, replacing the hooks and so on to change the weight. While I'm trying on it, I'm now wondering which Lucky 13 to put in my fishing box next.

Today's tackle: ABU Ambassdeur 5000CDL (high speed), Mr Don MW59N (Dog Fighter) w/ Fuji wood grip, Stren 14lb (Clear/Blue Fluorescent), Heddon Wounded Spook, Original Zara Spook, 210, Lucky 13, Harrison Bass Frog, etc. 

BF=15/24

Restoring rods

I've been working on restoration of some of my rods since last week. I spend a few hours almost every night before going to bed, and have just finished two rods.

This rod (Fenwick HMG Graphite) is finished. I replaced the threads using the same colored Gudebrod's ones without using color preservers. Gudebrod's transparent thread is really beautiful.

I also replaced threads and varnished the whole blank of this rod (Phillipson 64 RLS). I used NCP threads on this one as they look much better against metal tapes. 

I have six more rods to finish from now. When in the world can I get enough sleep???

Next pair

I decided to send one of my old jeans for repair. As my fishing tackle, I have several new backups, but some are getting up close to so called 'vintage' or 'old fashioned', so I'm a little hesitating to wear them. Now, I'm wondering if I should start wearing this pair (dead stock Lee 202, presumably made in the 1970-1980s) or I should buy a new one.
 

Change lines

It's getting warmer and warmer, but our dog seems not to feel so. He still likes to curl up to have a nap on the warmest place in our house.

Today, I oiled three of my reels and changed lines of them. I hurried on preparing of my tackle, as I'd like to go out as soon as possible...

Kobe

Teachers of our daughter's school noticed us that they made a short list of distinctions in our city and that one of her works got a prize. They said many nominated works were displayed in central Kobe, so we visited to see them. Exhibits of students were fantastic, but I cannot show them here as pieces of private information of many pupils can be easily identified. Just let me show you a picture of modern ceiling of the exhibition place.

 

Visited an event

As usual, I worked out for about one hour (12km) as a Sunday morning running, and then visited Osaka to attend an event. The venue was something like an old, dark, underpass warehouse, but so many people (much more than I expected) visited there.

Unexpectedly, I could meet this and this fishers and enjoyed talking with each other. We promised to go fishing together this coming season.
 

  
Today, I took my brightest old lens with me (Olympus G.Zuiko F1.2 55mm), but it was very difficult to take pictures with it under such dark condition. Photos above are with it.

Only this picture (above) is with my new lens, M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 Pro. You can see some lures for sale in tackle boxes, but I was wondering which were more, buyers or lures?

Face forward

One month has already passed since 2015 started? I can't believe it. Too busy with personal and official matters, but I'd like to face forward. Just like these lures.

Before bedtime

Recently I'm making it a rule to read this book before bedtime. This is a very interesting book to consider design works in photography. What I bought is a Japanese version, but you can get an original one from here, for example.

Winter

It's winter now, and we have more rain than usual around here. Rainy days in winter always get me down, while I like fishing on rainy days in warmer seasons as fish often get active.
 

After being back from the trip, I decided to get a new small camera, which I'd like to carry with me all the times. I happened to find a good one (Olympus XZ-10) at a bargain. It has a wonderful lens (i.zuiko, F:1.8-2.7), and I hope I can take photos with it under darker conditions than before. Moreover, it has Art Filter devices that you can control various creative effects and transform your photos into works of art. It's very exciting.

 

Mountain Fuji

I should've gone out with a better camera of mine.

(Photo from a bullet train)

Garden shop

It was a sunny day today, and I ran 20km at a racing pace in the morning. It was a good workout. In the afternoon, my wife, who loves gardening, took me to a garden shop, though, to be truthful, I'm not so interested in terrestrial plants. While she's browsing through the shop, I enjoyed taking pictures there. A big surprise I found was that a small cute creature (I often call it a 'bait' when I fish) lived in a birdhouse and looked over here. Do you see it in the pictures below?