ABU pliers

My fishing of this month is not so successful. I went fishing yesterday just for a couple of hours early in the morning, but was got skunked. I have a plan to go tuna fishing around Okinawa from the end of this month and I'm strongly hoping to catch some big ones. Wish me good luck!
As for my collection, a good friend of mine in Europe sent me a surprise, NIP vintage ABU fishing pliers. In the 1980s, I found them on ABU catalogs (ones published by EBISU Japan for Japan market), but they're too expensive to buy for a high school student who wanted to buy more reels, rods and lures first. I'm now very happy with them, and put them in my ABU collection shelf. I'll never open the package of them.

Chugger Spook XRS

We now have so called 'Golden Week Holidays' here. On Thursday, I wanted to go fishing, but the weather did not permit (very windy and cold). Yesterday, I tried to get up early to go fishing, but I forgot to set my alarm the previous night. Today, I could finally go out for fishing! I got up at 03:30 AM, drove my car, and was on the water before 05:00 AM.

This fish (3-1/2 lb) was the only one kindly playing with me. I caught it with a Heddon Chugger Spook in XRS color. I had exchanged the hooks to double ones to cast it into very narrow complicated spots, and this did a good job. 

I visited another pond, where I caught a nice bass last year, but could get no bites there. Today I used different outfits for a switch, ABU 5500CA, Fenwick Boron-X (XC-554), and Stren Hi-Vis Gold (12lb). They're all nice to handle with, and good for topwater fishing.

Today's tackle:

ABU Ambassadeur 5500CA, Fenwick Boron-X (XC-554), Stren 12lb (Hi-Vis Gold), Heddon Chugger Spook, Zara Spook, Zara II, 210, Pico Pop, Smithwick Wood Chug, etc.

BF=3/7

Trout fishing (PI)

I have bought a fishing license (for trout) in a river near my are but have not had a chance to go there. I went out for a drive with my wife today and made a preliminary inspection. It snowed much during the past winter, so water level has been higher. I'd like to go again (or more times) in the coming months.
 

Glo-lite Mouse

I managed to wake up early this morning and went fishing. It was very cool because of radiation cooling, so I wore a pair of gloves (Simms Windstopper Half-finger gloves). About dawn, I almost caught a bass with a Pico Pop, but the strike was very short and it swam away. I could not get a bite for a while, but all of a sudden this fish swallowed my Glo-lite Mouse. I had to catch her, and I took time to carefully land her (ca. 3lb). This mouse lure (Shakespeare's plastic mouse) has much buoyancy in the tail part, and moves very attractively. You can steadily give it actions, or you can retrieve it like a buzzbait on the water surface. 

Today's tackle:

ABU Record 5000 (BLK), Phillipson Challenger (9055 rebuilt), Stren 14lb (clear), Pico Pop, Heddon Zara Spook, Gilmore Hoodler, Shakepeare Glo-Lite Swimming Mouse ( I cast only four lures today).

BF=2/6

First bass

Today I had to finish a chore at a bank, so I took a half-day off from work. Luckily, I could find spare time, and of course I went fishing.

This fish pounced on my lure (Heddon Magnum Tiger in GRA) jumping aside from a shade of overhung trees. I could look at whole body of her and was very excited to know her size. She was a good fighter and weighed about 4 lb.  

l wanted to take a picture of myself with this fish, but it was out-of-focus. I felt pressed to release the her as immediately as possible, and I noticed the awful picture when I got home. What a goof, I made!

Today's tackle:

ABU Record 5000 (BLK), Phillipson Challenger (9055 rebuilt), Stren 14lb (clear), Heddon magnum Tiger, Chugger Spook, Original Zara Spook, Gilmore Hoodler, Shakespeare Glo-Lite Swimming Mouse, etc. 

BF=1/4

Got skunked, three times in a row

The cherry blossoms start to fall in our area, which may suggest that my bass fishing season should be started. However, it seems I have had no good luck about weather this season. It was very cold (almost sub-zero) last Saturday, and it was rainy today. Anyway, I got skunked three times in a row. I visited two ponds from early in the morning, but could not get even one bite. I was totally discouraged.

After I got home, I overhauled an ABU reel (Ambassadeur 5500CA) that I recently got. I exchanged a few damaged parts, cleaned inside and outside the body, and oiled the gears. This old reel is a little heavy because the frame is made of brass, not aluminum, but still works smoothly. ABU reels made before the early 1980s are really rugged.

Today's tackle:
ABU Record 5000 (BLK), Phillipson Challenger (9055 rebuilt), Stren 14lb (clear), Gilmore Hoodler, Original Zara Spook, Chugger Spook, etc. 

BF=0/3

Singin' in the rain

I woke up at 03:45 and went fishing for the first time this year. Warm southern wind has been blowing since last evening, and it was still warm even early in the morning. However, it has already started to rain, sometimes heavily.

I started fishing before dawn, and I got a bite on my Gilmore Hoodler but could not hook it. Maybe it was a very small fish. The weather forecast said a cold front would move through our area in the morning, so I finished fishing just after checking a pond round. Anyway, it was good to be able to go out for fishing this year again.

Today's tackle:
ABU Record 5000 (BLK), Phillipson Challenger (9055 rebuilt), Stren 14lb (clear), Gilmore Hoodler, Wood Lucky 13, Shakespeare Swimming Mouse, etc. 

BF=0/1