Inhabiting the mountain streams of Japan, the Yamame trout is the chosen quarry for many of the country's fly anglers. We were lucky enough to receive an article from guide Maki Caenis about his life as a fly angler and how he learnt to catch these very timid fish.
I started fly fishing when I was 16 years old. I had caught a trout on bait before that but after I met my mentor one day and watched him catch a fish using a mayfly pattern I wanted to learn.
He was a very famous person in our land and an expert at fishing. It was very lucky that I met him. I spent many times at his home, I was treated to a meal, I learnt a lot. It was amazing to look at the trout rise to real mayfly and was very exciting.
I was still at junior high school and a student, so I could not drive a car. I went to the river by a train and bus carrying all of my gear! One day I thought about tying flies to save time, I really wanted to tie a fly by myself.
This is how I started fly tying. At the school during lessons, I would draw pictures of mayflies!
During the 1980s at the time there were no nearby fly fishing pro shops in my city, I bought a book to learn how to tie flies and how to fly fish. I got a job working part-time, helping me to save money and when I had enough I bought a fly rod, line and reel.
I would tie the flies that I learned from the book and I was now fishing with the fly. The first trout I caught I cannot forget, even now. It was a Char trout.
I visited my uncle who still lives in Canada in the summer vacation when I was a high school student and I caught a 19lb salmon in Vancouver island.
I decided then to go to Canada after graduating high school!
I have studied English and nature for two years in B.C. Canada. After that I returned to Japan. I also lived in New Zealand, South Island for one year. I fished for big brown trout.
Yamame are caught in the vicinity of my house. The river name is the River Yu. My first Yamame was caught on a wet fly in the river Yu. It was beginner's luck though!
I did not catch any moreYamame until one year later. I had changed from wet fly fishing to match the hatch style.
I learnt to breed aquatic insects, to study them and the times when insects hatch. I stood on the river more than 200 days in one season, watching and learning. Over this time I began to understand the ecology of Yamame and got satisfactory results.
People who saw me fish wanted to buy my flies and would came across the river to see me. I began selling my flies. I also wanted to teach the people who bought my flies how to fish for Yamame. I received many requests from those who wanted me to tell them where and how to fish.
I decided to become a guide.
Yamame are nervous and finicky fish. Choosing the righ fly comes down to size of the fly, colours are matched and of course the most important factor is natural drift.
If you are lucky enough to catch a Yamame trout, care must be taken after hooking as they will often roll and shake their heads trying to dislodge the fly.
I developed and designed a fly rod for Yamame as a stiff rod is not suitable for Yamame fishing. Many people like to use a bamboo rod and fish with #4 fly line. Leaders are 7x and are from 9ft to 12ft in length.
Flies to be used will vary depending on the season.We may also use the midge is early spring while snow remains. Once the mountain snow has melted, it is the turn of the Caddisfly. Yamame trout also eat terrestrial insects in the summer and will also eat small fish. The big fish can be expected in the fall. Rivers are often near the road, so I use a car if I want to move.
The Yamame season starts on February 16th and finishes at the end of September. February and even March can still have snow. The season really starts in April. May and June are very good times, although there can be heavy rains in June.
I also like to fish a river in Gunma that is half an hour away from my house. It is a catch and release water that has seven beats that can be booked a week ahead.
I'm looking forward to the day to meet with you.
Yours sincerely,
Maki Caenis.