AREA TROUTSHIGA, JAPAN
A Different Kind of Day
at Samegai Trout Farm
Samegai Trout Farm / Kaminyu, Maibara, Shiga / Japan
The same spoons, the same colors—yet the fish were responding differently. On this visit to Samegai Trout Farm in Kaminyu, Maibara, Shiga, I changed hooks and spoons to find out what was different.
01 / FIRST CAST
Starting the morning with blue and silver.
I arrived at Samegai first thing in the morning and started with T-Fresh Evo 1.5g in AD12 Nihongo, a blue-and-silver color, fitted with an MK Hook Sharp #7 hook.
When I arrive early at Samegai, I often start with a T-Fresh Evo in 1.5g or 1.1g, choosing blue-and-silver colors such as BS10 Blue Silver or AD12 Nihongo. Sometimes I go with a color that retains some gold, such as AD10 Otegine. That part depends on my mood.
As I searched the water column, I found bites around mid-depth, from slightly above to slightly below it. With the 1.5g spoon, letting it sink for about four seconds and then retrieving it on a gentle upward path seemed to draw bites.
02 / HOOK CHANGE
Matching the hook to lively, freshly stocked fish.
When stocking began, I switched to Dexter 2.5g in E78 Scramble Orange. I started with an MK Hook Sharp #6, but kept losing fish.
The fish were full of energy, and many came off after being hooked. I changed to an FA Hook #6. From that point on, I landed every fish I hooked.
In my experience, the MK Hook Sharp makes it easier to get the initial hook-up, while the FA Hook works better when energetic fish turn away as they take the lure. That difference was especially clear on this trip.
Dexter 2.5g
MK Hook Sharp #6 → FA Hook #6
A hook change to suit the lively fish after stocking.
03 / SOMETHING DIFFERENT
The usual 1.1g pattern did not last.
As the post-stocking action settled down, I moved from Dexter 2.5g to T-Fresh Evo, stepping down through 1.8g → 1.5g → 1.1g. For this rotation, I used BS10 Blue Silver.
What felt different was that I couldn't keep catching fish with T-Fresh Evo 1.1g for as long as usual.
Normally, once I get to T-Fresh Evo 1.1g, changing from MK Hook Sharp #8 to AG Hook #9, then to AG Hook #10, keeps the catches coming for quite a while.
This time, though, the bites were noticeably weak, and I could not turn them into hook-ups. Something was different from the usual pattern.
04 / PIRICAMORE
PiricaMore changed the quality of the bite.
Wondering what was going on, I tried PiricaMore 1.0g in BS10 Blue Silver, which does not usually work particularly well for me at Samegai.
The number of bites was much the same as with T-Fresh Evo, but they were clearly stronger, more solid takes, and I began catching fish consistently.
I then tried several other colors of PiricaMore 1.0g. Almost all of them caught fish!
05 / FIELD NOTE
Were the fish avoiding irregular movement?
T-Fresh Evo is designed to introduce slight irregularities into its action during a steady retrieve. Those moments trigger bites, making it a spoon that can produce fish quickly.
PiricaMore, on the other hand, is designed to maintain a consistent action on a steady retrieve. When you want to catch active fish quickly, you need to add action yourself.
On this trip, however, PiricaMore caught well on a simple steady retrieve. Since the bites continued across different colors, I suspect the fish were avoiding irregular movement that day.
It pays to watch not just the number of bites, but their strength too. This slightly unusual day at Samegai was a reminder to try a different spoon action when the usual approach stops producing.