logs

Fishing and traveling has generally been exhausting, and my logging habit wasn’t very well established even before all of this. However, these days have felt special enough where I feel that jotting down a few notes remembering these experiences is worth it in the long run. I just finished my guiding trip with Okumoto, a fishing legend around Hokkaido. He talked a lot about how he writes stories about his journeys fly fishing over his life, from backpacking across the world to solo float tripping in Alaska. Overall, I felt quite inspired and figured writing some stuff down on my own would be good.

Day 77: Wednesday, September 22, 2026

On paper, this day was going to be the most annoying day in terms of travel/luggage of the entire trip, but actually ended up being quite reasonable. I think I was able to compress a ton of stuff into my suitcase/duffel, and getting through the stations/trains weren’t that bad. It did help that my hotel in Obihiro was right on top of the station.

At night, I went to a chain yakiniku spot, specifically the original location. Entering was a bit awkward, I couldn’t really tell what the staff was trying to explain to me, especially since they spoke really fast. Like REALLY fast. This is probably a byproduct of the fact that Obihiro gets way fewer tourists than the other cities I’ve been to (e.g. Sapporo/Niseko). Anyways, I found out that they must’ve been telling me something about the wait, since I got guided to a waiting room, where I just sat there without knowing how long it would be. I started getting a little concerned when after an hour, not a single group had moved. But eventually I got my food and it was actually super good! Meat quality was insanely high, and prices were super reasonable.

I went bar crawling at night, spoke to some locals at the first spot but eventually realized that I wasn’t going to be finding English speakers in Obihiro the same way I was able to in Sapporo. Ultimately ended up at a fancy Scotch bar, it was a pretty good experience overall.

Day 78: Wednesday, September 23, 2026

This was my final rest day before my 25 day fishing stretch. I decided to go to Obihiro a day early, just so I had the chance to settle in and explore a few things in the city before fishing with Oku. Originally, I was planning to go camping with Oku, but he recommended switching to just fishing as apparently the overnight temperatures were going to be insanely cold. I’m not really one to argue in this position, so I just agreed. A bit of a bummer to miss out on camping though, it would’ve been nice.

Obihiro food is honestly quite solid. There’s a local specialty called butadon, it’s basically just braised pork over rice. Tastes very similar to the Chinese dish Hong shao rou, but the meat is a bit leaner (think it’s pork chop, not pork belly).

I’ve discovered the art of nomihoudai (all you can drink), math works out to where you break even after around 2.5 drinks. Pretty good, basically just $10 for 2 hours of unlimited drinks. Needless to say, I probably drank a little too much considering I was going to go fishing the next day.

Day 79: Thursday, September 24, 2026

First day fishing with Okumoto, his English honestly was surprisingly excellent. I was fully prepared to have to try to communicate mostly in Japanese (so I had been cramming a bit before this), but we basically had no trouble conversing in English.

The first spot he showed me was on the Otofuke river, the wading was a lot easier than expected. But wow, that first run really opened my eyes to how good runs could be. I basically was getting bites left and right throughout the entire stretch. For my first fish, he said “oh it’s a small fish,” but after a few seconds, I thought to myself “dang I probably have to put this one on the reel.” Pretty good sized fish tbh–this made me realize that all the “small” fish that he had been pointing out were actually decently sized.

We capped off the day with a second spot up north closer to where I was staying in Ashoro. Really steep cliffs, again some awesome runs. The wind was quite rough, so casting was much harder than I expected but I got some good practice in.

At night, he recommended a Yakitori place to me. He didn’t say much about it except for the fact that the owner fly fished and was fat. Sorta out of pocket, but also kinda funny. The chicken was honestly some of the best I’ve ever had in my life.

Capped off the night with a random bar in the same cluster of restaurants/bars. Spoke to the bartender in Japanese quite a bit, honestly had quite a bit of fun. Not a ton of business going on in either place, it’s a very quiet and small town.

Day 80: Friday, September 25, 2026

Next day, Okumoto took me to a spot where he described the fishing as “the most technical in Hokkaido.” Boy it was really difficult. There were the deep, slow pools, where giant rainbows were posted up right next to the bank where the grass overhung. It was not easy casting in there, as being off by even a few inches meant you were either snagged in the grass, or missed the spot. Also, if the trout saw your fly and something was wrong about the presentation, they got spooked quite easily since the water so clear and still. Mending was another skillset that I had yet to really get proficient at–the casts are so far that it crosses currents of varying speed. You need to “mend” your fly line depending on which parts of the line are going at what speeds, as if one part of your line is going too fast and starts dragging your fly, the trout can tell the fly is not real and the gig is up.

Caught a really nice sized rainbow and a few other smaller ones. They honestly all fight really well, I had a lot of fun and learned a ton this day.

Day 81: Saturday, September 26, 2026

Final day with Oku, he took me to a lake in the morning. Right when we got there, we could see trout rising and feeding on the surface, but the wind picked up right as we started fishing and the trout stopped rising. Switched to a wet fly, and caught a few trout in the lake. The scenery was probably the best part, and photos don’t do it enough justice whatsoever. I just had a blast fishing there.

In the afternoon, on the way back to Obihiro, Oku took me to a small creek deep in the mountain forests where apparently some Dolly Varden were. I didn’t have many expectations, since I had heard that Dolly Varden were quite rare and many people who fish Hokkaido haven’t even caught them. But this didn’t stop Oku, he put me in a spot where I caught nearly a dozen of these guys. Probably the prettiest fish I’ve seen in Hokkaido thus far, I really loved catching these guys.

I got to talk a lot to Oku over the past few days, and just hearing his stories and listening to his instruction was honestly such a great experience. He’s a super nice and funny dude, and he’s lived quite the interesting life. The fact that he’s a legend in the Japanese fly fishing world is just the cherry on top. It’s going to be a tough guiding act to follow up on.

Day 82: Sunday, September 27, 2026

Picked up the car, driving so far has been smooth. I’m feeling it in the knees a little bit–wading is definitely a bit of a workout but I think my body can handle it. Hopefully, I’ll be fine for the rest of the fishing trip, I got a lot of days ahead of me.

I get some questions about what it means to learn and get better at fly fishing. Here’s an explanation to the best of my ability.

In fly fishing, you’re casting artificial flies (mostly imitations of bugs) that are too light to cast on their own. You need weighted line (fly line) to build up the momentum to throw the fly out, which is what gives it its name. Honestly, it’s a pretty primitive technique. Modern spinning reels and lures are obviously more effective at catching and fighting fish. There’s definitely style involved, but I don’t think the skill gap is very subjective.

With that, there are two main components: the casting itself, and the presentation of the fly. At the end of the day, you’re trying to convince a fish that the thing made of random feathers, metal, and artificial materials is a real-life bug.

Casting itself is hard, and distance and accuracy are both things to improve on. Imagine you have a whip and you’re trying to hit a tiny target. As you get better, your whip can get longer and you still keep your accuracy. But it’s hard to get started, and even harder to master.

Presentation is another thing. Fly line drags in the water, which affects the “drift” of the fly, and the fish can tell there’s line attached even if the line itself is invisible to them. There’s a whole host of techniques for dealing with that, and a lot of it depends on reading the current live.

That’s mostly the fly fishing–specific stuff. The rest is understanding where fish actually are, how to approach and fish a section of water, how to fight and land a fish successfully, and knowing what flies and techniques to use at what time and on what stretch of water. Fish can hold in all sorts of spots and waters, and there are all sorts of techniques to go after them, but I think it’s kinda just an EV maximization thing. Inherently RNG dependent too. Some of it is intuitive as well.

As for how you get better, it’s a combination of practice and paying to win through fishing guides (kinda the American way, though I’ve learned that in other countries, paying for guides is pretty rare). There are lots of resources online too, but because it’s so physical, you kinda just need to be there in person.

One thing I suck at is wading. Walking on river bottoms in current is really hard, and I’ve taken quite a few nasty spills already. It’s like hiking on hard mode. Sometimes we’ll wade super far in the river during the day, and the walk back is an hour plus. I absolutely dread it. I literally have to lock in for the journey back.

But yeah, it’s a super sick hobby with lots to learn and get interested in. Trout typically live in really pristine waters in super cool, wild locations, and I think the fish are super pretty to look at. They’re hard to capture on camera.