Tuesday 15 November 2011

Japanese Fishing Royalty Comes to Town

For those that aren't aware there is somewhat of a revolution in what we call squid fishing or good old squidding.  I know its blasphemy to some purists (or is it that they just have not caught on?) but the Japanese influence on the gear and techniques under the broad banner of 'egi' has been significant.  The interesting thing when considering this fad is.... well..... it works.  For my money the techniques of darting or 'violent jerk' combine with the gear that is so well designed, weighted, finished, matched and the bottom line - effective that you can catch more squid and arguably have more fun doing it.

In Australia over the last two weeks we have been visited by the rock stars of Japanese fishing - the pro staff from Gan Craft.  Its pretty curious and unfamiliar to Australians to combine the concept of clebrity and fishing but these guys commonly get mobbed in their native land so big is the sport and their status within it built primarily through the bass fishing scene and to a lesser extent egi.  Founder and owner of Gan Craft Mr Hiraiwa (Gancha) breezed in with his entourage and the team competed in the Eden leg of the Yamashita Squid Series, the national squid comp http://www.australianegitournaments.com.au/ and absolutely blitzed the field both days.  Interestingly they don't normally fish tournaments so perhaps they should!

I caught up with the crew whist they delivered an in-store demonstration at Fishing Fever in Mordialloc this week and found them to be great guys.  Whilst I have been fishing using egi techniques for a couple of years now, I actually realised how little I know but it was great to meet the guys and chew the fat, I may have even learnt a thing or two. If you get a chance to go along to one of their presentations, or the other variants around town I encourage you to do so.

Lee Raynor and Morne Mulers Fishing Fever
Australian Egi Tournament Paul Carter warms up the crowd

Mr Hiraiwa takes us through the concept of 'violent jerk'

The Fishing Fever crew looks interested!
The Gan Craft crew - Mr Kake, Mr Hiraiwa, Paul Carter and Mr Yuach