Kuma Eging & Fishing: DAY 5 Japan

Today was off to a good start, sleep in time, we were going to a local reservoir in the promise of landing my first Bass and see some sights along the way.

Some time ago I was made the promise of a better tasting hamburger from a chain store than what we had in Australia, the guys were going to live up to that promise as we headed for the local Bass spot. We came upon a sighn saying MOS Burger as the car made a slight turn into the carpark, we were here. MOS Burger is very much like Burger King in Australia as in the layout and style of food, I was not much good as I could not understand anything so Mr Kake translated most of the menu for me and I asked him how big the servings were, I had a look at a few

The view from MOS burger

other people meals and decided on 3 Burgers, 1 was a Teryaki Burger, second was a cheese burger and finaly what looked like a burger BLT. The meal came with onion rings and fries and a coke, Content with my order we went outside and sat down to wait for our food. The view from the back of the MOS store was great, on the water in a small fishing fleet village and the perfect setting for a feed. Food was brought out to the tables and placed in front of the diner as if it was a proper restaurant, and I have to say the food was really good, that said when I am overseas in the future a safe option for me will always be the golden arches.

The big rock

Food scoffed down and off to look for some Bass, via some local tourist attractions and some company related landmarks, First stop was a massive rock with a hole in it, I do not remember its name but it was pretty impressive sitting in the middle of a bay protruding out of the water, apparently for the domestic tourist market it is a must see attraction and holds some significance to the Shinto beliefs. The next stop was a place that holds company significance for Gan Craft and after some icecream we took a small walk across some water shaped rock to a place called Jomon rock, for any one who has looked at the Violent Jerk series of rods they would know the name Jomon from the rods, this point is where the Jomon gets its name, when testing the product the Jomon rods were tested here for some brilliant results and then rods were so called Jomon. Thats enough of the touristy stuff back to the fishing.

Bazinga, my first Bass

The first place we tried was a local water storage that had been stocked by local bass anglers a long time ago, when we arrived the signs of a healthy water sytem were evident, turtles, frogs, baitfish and baby bass lined the waters edge, being a water storage it was fairly square shaped so the options for casting at structure were fairly slim so I found an overhanging tree that look fishy, I put 2 casts in and nothing but stuck with the same place and again cast in under the tree canopy, I was using a Gan Craft Straight Betty for a soft bait, a 5 inch worm that I had rigged whacky style, after a slight sinking pause a shake action was imparted and bang, my very first Bass, now this small thing was not going to re write any record books but alas it was my first Bass, a very happy moment. We persevered at the same place for a few more casts for nothing and a move was decided. We spent the next 4 hours in various local water holes that had been stocked for zero results. Time to call it a day.

Birthday Party

The guys figured we should stop and get something to eat and to my suprise a birthday party had been arranged, lots of Gan Craft Pro staff and the staff from Gan Craft had arranged to meet at a quiet little western style restaurant for a birthday party. I was chuffed to say the least, I had kept a fair lid on the event as I did not want any fuss but a little birdie from Australia had told some one here that it was my birthday. The food the drinks and the company was sensational and a lot of thought had been put into the ordeal. Just when I thought we were done I was given a Gift wrapped box from Mr Hiraiwa. As I unwapped the paper it became clear. I had been given a Daiwa Certate Hyper Custom 2508. OH MY GOD what a gift and what a very humbling experience. Then a cake with the number 36 arrived at the table and also a larger one with Happy birthday in English and my name in Kanji, I do not have a pic of this as I was totaly taken by suprise, I am sure one of the others has a pic I can pinch later as there were flashes going off all over the place. The smaller cake was orginised by my wife Kim who had gone to the trouble of orginising the cake through Mr Kake and as I could not be with her on the day it was a perfect gesture and perfect ending to a perfect day, the though and planning that had gone into the evening was sureal and very humbling I am starting to know how it feels to be king. Huge thanks to the staff at the restaurant as the lengths they went to as to ensure my evening was perfect were incredible and huge thanks to all my friends from Gan Craft for the thought and planning to make the night the most memorable night I will have for a long time, my trip is not over yet but this will be hard to beat.