Arrived at Eden

Well we are here for the Yamashita Squid Series 2011, Gan Craft Round 5 Eden, was a fairly quick trip all things considered, I did not even start packing until 1130 this morning, very smooth run making it here in just under 6 hours with very little traffic on the roads. After running short on time and some communication issues I arrived on my own to some familiar faces.

Arrived at the accommodation to find a picture perfect view from the room, for a change I actually picked a nice room for us.

For the teams that actually came to the event I hope it is one that is full of success. I have to give credit to Team Yamashita 1, Dom and Glenn have been entered every event and shown up to every event on the calender, they have had a tough run and Dom still made the effort to get here after his home was flooded all through only days before. It is people like this that have really made the event possible hence why I will be so proud to hand over the team of the year prize to them if they complete this weekend's event. Thanks Guys.

Also I found some mini banana's for Mr Iwamoto I hope he enjoys.

To see the Gan Craft staff blogs goto:
Mr Hiraiwa gan-off-style - Takanori Hiraiwa blog - Gan Craft founder and nice bloke
Blood Thirsty - Yoshiyuki Iwamoto blog -Gan Craft Media guru and also nice bloke

More stores and more casting

Mr Hiraiwa at Anglers Bait World

Started off nice an earlyish, Adrew Wilson from Gladiator Tackle and I picked our guests up at about 845 and headed off to visit some stores, started in Coburg at Anglers Bait World where I had recently done a squid talk, the store owners Vince and Mitsul were great hosts as the guys browsed through the store, while we were visiting the store a delivery arrived with a box of Gan Craft jigs to top up the shelf. We also found magazine articles and full page ads for Gan Craft. With a little bit of shopping to be done we finished up an headed for the Caravan Super Centre. This was not only the frst visit here for Gan Craft it was also my first ever visit to the store. Was great experience with lots of stock on the shelves and some of my old faves in the bream lure and rod area. Alan from the store has a good grip on everything in the shop and was a nice bloke too. I will be popping back into the store again in the future when I am in the area, it is a long way from me but I am sure I will be driving past from time to time.

ads in mags

We then ventured over to Hoppers Crossing to catch up with Michael, last year we did a talk at this store so was good to get the guys over to again catch up with Michael, smiles all round and plenty of shopping to be done again, maybe the boys will need to buy some more luggage to get the tackle home from all the store visits. We all know that entering a tackle shop with a wallet can be a dangerous exercise as we will always find something knew we want. I then snuck away for a tick as we had some one who was away from there family and friends and trying to enjoy their birthday, Yuach our friend from Japan turned 30 yesterday so a cake was in order for some small celebrations, with short notice we also arranged some chocky and beer for the evening.

something looks familiar

Big drive now to Hastings in the hope of some successful egingu with Gawaine from Bigtime Fishing Charters. On the way we stopped in at Gone Fishing at Carrum Downs to again catch up with the staff that were so helpful on their last journey. Danny and the boys were great and coffee's were made all round while chatting and browsing through the store. No surprise more shopping also. Gone Fishing started only a few years ago and has tripled in physical size and have multiplied their stock many times over, a very successful store in its short existence.

Mr Hiraiwa, Alan, me and Mr Kake

A quick trip past my place to pick up some fishing gear and a stop off to get some fishing and chips for the guys we were on the way to Hastings, not a lot to report here, after the rain the water temp was 19.5 degrees and the water dirty so egingu was going to be tough. It proved so tough that no squid were landed in the short time we had on the water, sadly the guys have been here now for 3 days and no squid yet, we will have to see what eden turns on for them.

Yuach Birthday Cake

Birthday beer and chocky

mmmmmmmmm Cake

Egi browsing

Michael and the guys looking at pics

nice day to be on the water

Don and Mr Kake at Gone Fishing

Coffee boats and tackle, this is why we smile

Mr Hiraiwa (Gancha)

Store Visits and Casting

Mr Hiraiwa and Mr Kake

Today after letting our friends have a sleep in we met with them in the  city and headed off for a bite to eat. We stopped at the Burvale in Burwood for a feed and watched with interest as the waiter brought a giant Wagyu Beef Burger to the table for Yuki. Yuki is the smallest of the group and the look on his face was priceless when this giant burger hit the table. I also had the big burger it went down a treat. We then headed east and visited a few stores including Compleat Angler Ringwood and Hook up Bait and Tackle. Like all tackle junkies there is always going to be something on the shelf that takes our interest and some items that are designed for Murray Cod fishing here in Australia look like they may find a spot swimming around some of the Large Mouth Bass dams in Japan.

Mr Iwamoto

We then made our way to a dam that had been stocked with Bass, Yellas, Cod and Trout in the hope of getting the boys a few fish, sadly we have experienced some heavy rain in the past few days so upon arrival we noticed the water was a dark mud color, using a fluoro spinner bait we only had about 3 inches below surface visibilty. I knew it was going to be tough and tough it was, lets just say we had plenty of casting practice today which was good because my baitcasting skills are terrible.

We finished the day off with a Chinese Banquet in South Yarra before unloading all of the luggage that had arrived today along with the guys fishing gear a most welcome delivery, we will do it all again tomorrow with store visits and a trip to Hastings where we will venture out with Gawaine Blake from Big Time Fishing Charters for some red hot egi action (touch wood) and then maybe a few snapper.

I even managed to get a cast in

Swimming a few lures in overflow current

Cracking Selection of big baits

We welcome the Gan Craft Crew

Was a great privilege to spend some time today with our friends from Japan, the Crew from Gan Craft, Mr Hiraiwa, Mr. Kake, Mr. Iwamoto and Mr. Kitagawa.

After a long journey on a plane with a couple of stops along the way there is no better way to enjoy the Melbourne sun than sitting outside a Chapel St cafe sharing a cold beer with mates. Although it was a coke for me and a coffee for Mr Hiraiwa. If there is one thing in this world than can work through any language barrier its talking about fishing over a beer. It was good to chat with those who have previously visited and also to meet with those who we have been waiting to hang with. 

A drink in the afternoon also brings a hearty appetite so after a stroll along Chapel St browsing through the shopping precinct we made plans for a feed, off to the Spaghetti Bar known as Chapellis. The waiter was great and thought a bit of aussie food was in order so along with the bread dinner rolls came butter and Vegemite, an aquired taste even for many Australians was interesting to see the reaction of our friends from Japan.

Looking forward to another week or so with the guys from Gan Craft both here in Melbourne and in Perth, talks/seminars are scheduled for 14th and 15th in Melbourne at Fishing Fever in Mordialloc and Nothside Angler in Campbellfield contact the stores for more details. Media inquires can contact me on 0417590547.

The Vegemite

 

 

The Vegemite grin