Wounded Spook, color L

I went fishing yesterday and hoped a good catch, but I got skunked. Only one reaction I got from creatures in the water was a big splash on Pico Pop, but I could not hook it up. I used a lighter rod (Garcia Conolon) than usual, and I should have hooked much harder. I wanted to catch at least one more fish during this month, so I went fishing today in a row. I started fishing 04:10 AM, and it started to get light. During the daybreak, I fished shallow area with reeds, irises (yellow irises?), and overhung trees. Around 04:30, this fish grabbed up my Wounded Spook (L), and I hooked very hard today. I was very excited to be able to catch this fat fish, and was surprised to see she pre-spawning. 

When I got home and checked my lures, I found the hook of the Wounded Spook was bent. Last night I replaced lines from 12lb to 16lb-tested, and the rod I used today was a Fenwick 5-power rod, both of which did a good job.

 

Today's tackle:

ABU Ambassadeur 5500CA, Fenwick HMG Iron Hawk Graphite (HFC-555), Daiwa #5 line (Clear, equivalent to 20lb in IGFA class, 16lb in US standard), Heddon Wounded Spook, Chugger Spook, Zara Spook, Zara II, Lucky 13, etc.

BF=4/10

Solar eclipse

I'm one of the lucky people who could watch the eclipse. My daughters were also very excited to watch it. I believe it looked annular, though not concentric. It was a nice astronomical show.

 

ABU pliers

My fishing of this month is not so successful. I went fishing yesterday just for a couple of hours early in the morning, but was got skunked. I have a plan to go tuna fishing around Okinawa from the end of this month and I'm strongly hoping to catch some big ones. Wish me good luck!
As for my collection, a good friend of mine in Europe sent me a surprise, NIP vintage ABU fishing pliers. In the 1980s, I found them on ABU catalogs (ones published by EBISU Japan for Japan market), but they're too expensive to buy for a high school student who wanted to buy more reels, rods and lures first. I'm now very happy with them, and put them in my ABU collection shelf. I'll never open the package of them.

Chugger Spook XRS

We now have so called 'Golden Week Holidays' here. On Thursday, I wanted to go fishing, but the weather did not permit (very windy and cold). Yesterday, I tried to get up early to go fishing, but I forgot to set my alarm the previous night. Today, I could finally go out for fishing! I got up at 03:30 AM, drove my car, and was on the water before 05:00 AM.

This fish (3-1/2 lb) was the only one kindly playing with me. I caught it with a Heddon Chugger Spook in XRS color. I had exchanged the hooks to double ones to cast it into very narrow complicated spots, and this did a good job. 

I visited another pond, where I caught a nice bass last year, but could get no bites there. Today I used different outfits for a switch, ABU 5500CA, Fenwick Boron-X (XC-554), and Stren Hi-Vis Gold (12lb). They're all nice to handle with, and good for topwater fishing.

Today's tackle:

ABU Ambassadeur 5500CA, Fenwick Boron-X (XC-554), Stren 12lb (Hi-Vis Gold), Heddon Chugger Spook, Zara Spook, Zara II, 210, Pico Pop, Smithwick Wood Chug, etc.

BF=3/7