16 
FOREST AND STREAM 
January, 1921 
FISHING THE MIKADO S STREAMS 
MANY OF THE METHODS USED TO CATCH FISH ARE EXPLAINED AND 
SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES NARRATED BY A JAPANESE ANGLER 
By SHEGETARO MORIKUBO 
T ROUT in Japan are different in 
appearance and in habits from 
those found in the United States. 
The methods of catching trout in Ja- 
pan, therefore, are also different from 
those used by Uncle Sam’s fishermen. 
It is necessary, then, that the varieties 
of trout and the methods by which they 
are caught should be explained. 
Several varieties of trout live in the 
streams of Japan. One species of trout 
called “malta” resembles “mountain 
trout” caught in the streams on the 
Pacific coast; but it is generally hand- 
somer, particularly in color and in 
broad, long, and powerful fins. The fin 
and the tail of malta have a tinge of 
red, while the belly is slightly yellow, 
with streaks of silver and pale pink. 
Next to this species in size is “haya.” 
This variety is dark and less handsome 
than the malta. The smallest trout 
found in Japan is “eie.” A giant among 
eies seldom reaches a pound in weight; 
but what it lacks in size, it makes up in 
beauty. In the fall when maple leaves 
turn red, eies develop exquisite color- 
ing of pink, yellow, and black on the 
body, while the fin and the tail are like 
red roses. This species is considered 
the most palatable of all fresh water 
fish in Japan. Eies are abundant; the 
rivers are full of them. So rare, how- 
ever, are rainbow trout and so seldom 
are they caught that an angler who 
catches one is envied. 
Among trout in Japan haya is the 
only fish that can be coaxed to take 
bait. For catching other members of 
the trout family, therefore, some spe- 
cial means are used, either a hand net, 
a trap, or a spear. A spear is seldom 
used, although this instrument is per- 
mitted by law. Swift waters in which 
trout generally live, and the shyness 
and agility of the fish made it almost 
impossible for a man to strike a trout 
with a spear. 
To catch the wily and wonderfully 
alert haya a unique and interesting 
method is used. Neither juicy worms 
nor meally grasshoppers are relished 
by them; it is ground dry caterpillars 
that they like to feed upon. Supplied 
with this kind of bait, an angler selects 
a deep pool protected by a boulder or a 
fallen tree, where he scatters ground 
caterpillar powder. He has to so man- 
age scattering the powder that it will 
not spread over too wide an area. 
Lying on the ground, he waits for fish 
to come. Soon he sees innumerable 
bubbles rising on the surface of the 
1TH the exception of the “rain- 
bow trout,” the fishes discussed 
in this article are not trout, tech- 
nically speaking. “Malta” and 
“haya” are members of the carp 
family.. We take it the latter is 
Zacco platypus and the former be- 
longs to the genus Richardsonius. 
“Eie” is the “Japanese smelt,” 
Plecoglossus altivelis . — [Editors.] 
water. Now is the time for the fisher- 
man to cast a fly. The first trout that 
he will catch may be small, as the little 
ones are first to hasten to the feast. 
By looking down, the angler may see 
numberless trout darkening the water, 
small ones occupying the space nearest 
to the surface, large ones close to the 
bottom. The angler must allow suffi- 
cient time to let the fly sink deep enough 
to reach the large fish at the bottom; 
otherwise he will catch only small ones. 
One out of every half dozen casts will 
land a trout. It is not uncommon for 
an expert fly-caster to catch ten or 
fifteen trout before his pipe needs re- 
plenishing. 
T HE method used for catching haya 
cannot be used for catching eie — 
the smallest member of the trout 
family. Eies are strictly vegetarians, 
and they seldom rise to a fly. Nor is it 
possible to catch them with a hand net, 
as they live at the bottom of the water, 
among large stones and rocks covered 
with scum, which is the food for the 
eies. A special outfit is prepared. A 
wooden box opened at one side so as to 
admit the head of a man and covered at 
the opposite side with glass is a part 
of the necessary equipment. A fisher- 
man has also to use a long bamboo pole, 
to one end of which is fastened a large 
fish-hook. It is so fastened that it can 
be liberated from the end of the pole 
the instant a trout is caught; other- 
wise a fish will tear its side and get 
away. Of course the other end of the 
line is tied to the handle of the pole. 
With this specially prepared outfit an 
angler launches upon a stream in a 
boat, and seeks a deep pool. If he sees 
eies, he drops an anchor. Through the 
glass bottom of the box put on the sur- 
face of the water he may likely see 
trout without number feeding on the 
scum deposited on the stones, and at 
the same time sporting with one an- 
other. Eies have a peculiar habit when 
they feed. They form a ring and swim 
in a circle in the same manner as chil- 
dren do when they dance around a May 
pole. A leader among the trout leads 
the feeders. When the foremost one 
has taken just one bite of the scum, it 
passes on; then the second one takes 
just one bite; then the third; then the 
fourth, and so on until every member 
forming the ring has taken one bite of 
the scum. The leader returns to take 
another bite of the scum, and then 
comes the second, then the third, and 
so on, until each trout has taken just 
one bite more of the scum. This goes 
on and on for a long time, and the for- 
mation will not be broken unless an 
external agent causes a violent dis- 
turbance or the fish have eaten enough 
to satisfy their appetite. 
The movement eies make at times 
while feeding is so rapid that in deep 
water it is sometimes difficult to dis- 
tinguish one fish from another. The 
angler thrusts in that end of the pole 
to which the hook is attached, and 
holds it near the rock or the stone 
whose surface the trout strike to get 
the scum. Through the glass bottom of 
the box placed on the water he can see 
the fish greatly magnified, and their 
movements appear to him slower than 
they actually are. He quickly strikes a 
trout as it approaches the rock or the 
stone to nibble the food. When a fish 
is caught, the commotion created by the 
struggle of the trout temporarily breaks 
up the formation, and the individual 
members shoot helter-skelter; but while 
the angler removes the trout from -the 
hook and perhaps replenishes his pipe, 
the fish hurriedly form another ring 
and resume their feeding precisely in 
the same manner as they had done be- 
fore. After a large number of trout 
have thus been caught, the fish begin 
to disperse. In this manner from fifty 
to one hundred trout are caught in a 
day by a single fisherman. 
Another way of catching eies is by 
the use of a peculiarly made net. It is 
triangularly formed, supported by a 
bamboo frame. It should be light 
enough so that it can be handled easily 
by persons of ordinary strength. This 
kind of net is called “machi-ami,” liter- 
ary meaning “waiting net.” A fisher- 
man who uses machi-ami has to wait 
until a fish gets into it. When the 
water becomes muddy, caused by heavy 
rainfall, a man with a machi-ami 
wades into a stream against the current 
and puts the base of the triangle net 
on the bottom, while he holds the point- 
