Japan: Bass Fishing
This month marks two years since I fulfilled a life long dream of visiting Japan. We visited a bunch of super rad iconic places like Jiro sushi (if you haven’t heard of Jiro, watch the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi) and the Shibuya ward in Tokyo and the intricate and historical temples in Kyoto.
Fishing the Famous Lake Biwa
This was a family trip and we didn’t have the cameras with us, but dad and I knew we had to take advantage of our proximity to the famous Lake Biwa in the Shiba prefecture where the world record largemouth bass was caught.
A few weeks before leaving for our trip, I booked a few hours with Naoya Hiramura, a Lake Biwa guide who’s site “Truth Fishing Guide Service” seemed legit enough. You never know who you’re going to end up with when you seek someone simply by googling, without any word of mouth referral, but we got lucky and Naoya was awesome.
On the day we planned to go fishing, we also planned to meet up with the others in Kyoto, which, looking back was pretty ambitious, but you have to make the most out of your travels! Dad and I took the 4am on the bullet train (and it was actually pretty full, proving that Tokyo never sleeps).
Our Experience with Truth Fishing Guide
By the time the sun was coming up, we were being greeted by Naoya who picked us up from the station. The thing that struck both my dad and I the most about Naoya, was his attention to detail - and I think this is emblematic of the Japanese culture. He made sure we had everything we needed from beginning to end, and was a true pro. He even presented us with fully packaged Naoya designed lures and Naoya instructional DVD’s! Like I said, this was a quick fishing stop so although we didn’t have time on our side, we managed to get into a few nice sized largemouth, which we caught with Naoya’s “multi stick slide”.
It was an exciting day for both of us, but I think especially so for Dad as he’s dreamed of fishing there most of his life. There was mist coming off the water and by the end of the day we were satisfied, but cold. So, Naoya being the professional and friendly guide that he is, brought us over to a vending machine and asked us what we would like. We had just docked so there wasn’t much of anything around us, and I thought, “hey, I can always go for a bag of chips”……but no, what this vending machine offered were beautifully packaged, convenient, HOT beverages such as hot chocolate and coffee! At that very moment, there was nothing more that I wanted than something hot, so he popped in a few coins and out came a can of coffee –Not only was it convenient and hot, but it was delicious too.
To cap off the day, Naoya went as far as to escort us directly in front of the exact subway car we needed to get into. It was a full service, truly Japanese experience, with attention to detail and friendly service, right down to the final wave as our train took off.
Dad and I with our largemouth on Lake Biwa.
Hot coffee, in a can, from a vending machine! The perfect pick me up after a cold day of fishing.