2007 August Tanegashima by Yoshio Maruyama
I was able to set foot in my long awaited Tanegashima again this year.After 3 cancelations.....I accompanied Mr. Tsurusaki of FCLlabo who was going for a magazine article.
Tanegashima = Rockets. The rocket base is located at the south western corner of the island.
We departed the port late in the afternoon on the first day. The long awaited Tanegashima fishing start!!The members for this trip were Mr.Tsurusaki, Mr.Matsuoka, Shindome, Mr. Kozo Okubo, and my self (Yoshio Maruyama).
Mr. Okubo got the first bite and hookup.
Successfully landed.His first GT in Tanegashima was approx. 20kg.Caught on Faube G-Cup (panic dorado color).
At dusk, I got my first bite, but it didnt even touch the lure.During the next pass, a number of GTs were fighting over my lure...As soon as I tried to set the hook, I lost the fish....When I checked the leader, it seemed that the fish had bitten the 170lb leader in a number of spots.Luckily, as I wasn't able to hook up, the lure detached from the fish and floated to the surface.At the last pass, I got a bit on the Shakure but I lost the fish again when I set hook.I checked my line again and this time, the sleeve had come off......This was my mistake. Usually I use 2 sleeves when attaching the 170lb and 300lb line,
but as we had little time left I thought it would be ok with 1 sleeve.....From now on I will be sure to use 2 sleeves.
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Kicking my self on the way back to the port....
Heading to the fishing grounds the following morning.This time we chartered Hoseimaru.Captain Iwamoto understands the anglers well and he is a very friendly guy.Most of the GT points near Tanegashima area were found by the captain.Not only GT fishing, but jigging is also great.
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Mr. Matsuoka got the first bite this day.It looked like a huge fish but unfortunately he was busted off on the rocks.
On the port side, Mr. Shindome hooked up on his first GT fishing trip.He is a student of Human where Mr. Tsurusaki is a tutor.Although he struggled, the fish was successfully landed.
Approx. 25kg GT. Congratulations on your first GT!!Caught on FCLlabo EBI POP.
It was tough after this.
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On the next day, Mr. Okubo hooked up a yellow vibrator with the G-Cup Panic Dorado color.
Due to the unique swell near Tanegashima, the water color was not so good with little fish active.
On the 4th day we went to the northern point.Mr. Tsurusaki hooked up a Dorado which are the bait fish for Tanegashima GT's.
I landed the fish in the net, but the others were at a safe distance as this fish is dangerous.
This Dorado was over 1m.In Tanegashima, I hear that GT's chase around this size and feed on them.Taking this into consideration, the size of the I-Cup is nothing!!
During which, Mr. Matsuoka was playing with the Inchiku and landing tasty fish.
Mr. Matsuoka hooked up on the west side.
Successfully landed.
Approx. 20kg GT. Congrats!!Mr. Matsuoka is one of the anglers who explored new GT points in Tanegashima along side Captain Iwamoto.He is one of the anglers who has been landing huge GT's in Tanegashima.
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We moved to the south side in the afternoon and a GT attacked my lure.Hammer-Head original GT78MH (prototype) rod.
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With depth of 10m~15m I had to stop the fish.Managed to lift it in under a minute and a half. Probably just lucky though....We are currently continuing the field tests for the Hammer-Head GT rods.
Concept of the Original GT rods:
We are aiming for a rod with high response by high elastisity, lightness so one can cast all day in addition to distance. It will also need controllability with big mouth poppers, and bends when the fish is on, but has amazing lifting power to target 60kg over GTs.
For GT casting game, we believe that casting and fighting are both very important factors.For casting fishing, it goes without saying that the results will differ depending on ones casting ability. However, if one would simply want distance, you can achieve that by extending the length of the rod. But for all types of fishing, lure casting fishing is not a casting competition, but it is to land a fish. As for the fight with the fish, the longer the rod, the more power one would use. The shorter the rod, the more advantage to the angler with less strength required.
When one only considers the fight and uses a short rod like a jigging rod, s/he will only be able to cast a short distance. If one only considers the castability, the fight with the fish would be tough. For all types of fishing, especially GT fishing where we cast large lures, the balance is most important. Also we cannot forget the controllability of the lure.For GT fishing where we use all our strength, I currently believe that the good balanced length for casting a fighting is between 7.5~7.8ft (off-shore).Note: This is my personal (Yoshio Maruyama) opinion.
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Captain supported the landing.
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Approx. 35kg GT.Caught on EBI POP-200.Rod: Hammer-Head Original GT78MH (prototype)
On the last day, we started on the west coast and drifted south.I wonder how long it was once we arrived in the south...The conditions changed dramatically.
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Mr. Okubo hooked up a big one with the New "I-Cup SE" on the final test.
copyright(c) south times all rights reserved.The huge fish surfaced in 3 minutes and the captain supported the landing.This guy is a monster....
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"I-Cup SE" was nicely hooked up.
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With the help of the captain, we measured and weighed the fish.
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159cm, 55kg GT.caught on the new "I-Cup SE".Congratulations!!
"I-Cup SE" is scheduled to be released in 2008.210mm, 215g
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Next, I hooked up during my testing with the "Shakure DV" (prototype).Rod: Hammer-Head Original GT78 (prototype)
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Approx. 20kg GT.
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Mr. Okubo again.
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Captain easily nets it.
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Approx. 40kg GT.Caught on the "popping pencil" (13)
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When the sun started to fade, another one attacked Mr. Okubo's "Tobi169".He looks happy!
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Caught on "Tobi169" (09)
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Another one attacked my "Shakure DV" as I was casting from the stern.Rod: Hammer-Head Original GT78 (prototype)
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Although small, I was super happy as I caught it on the "pink-rotor"
We are hoping to release "Shakure DV" by Spring 2008.
This day, Mr. Okubo was on fire.Approx. 20kg caught on FCL's SPP-200.Approx 40kg caught on FCL's EBI POP.
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This day, Mr. Okubo was on fire.Approx. 20kg
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Approx 40kg caught
We were reminded of Tanegashima's potential and power during this trip.
It looks like i will be visiting Tanegashima many times in 2008.
We have openings for our tour in May, June, July, August, September and October in 2008.We will have details on our HP.Please mail us if you are interested.
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