Bass fishing with Kiyo from Japan

Kiyo - Bass Angler from Japan

"Kiyo's World" was one of the first international link exchanges shared with Carpe Carpio, as the website was one of the first bass enthusiast's site in Japan, and also one of the only ones with an English section.

Kiyo's specialty is artificial lure fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass, via the versatile float tube. I'm not sure if he likes that graphic I did of him in the upper left :o)

Float-tubing Kiyo in Japan

In June of 2001, I received an e-mail from Kiyo, stating that he is now living in Madison, Wisconsin, working as a research associate at the University of Wisconsin. That's less than a three-hour drive from my home near Chicago - what a small world! Over the next month he secured himself a used car, bought a GPS with turn-by-turn commands, and made his way down to Chicago in July (14-15)..

We decided to do some bass fishing in my local suburban pond, which has a number of decent largemouth bass, as well as crappie, sunfish, channel cats, carp and the rare pike.

The first bass reeled in, about 12 inches..

A short while later another bass, this one a little heftier.

Kiyo with a chunky sunfish that struck his bass bait.

Later he unhooks..

..his first Illinois bass as it shines in the sun.

Kiyo is a catch-and-release angler and always takes great care in releasing his fish unharmed. Looking through his tackle I noticed that all of the hook barbs have been mashed down, including spinnerbaits. Kiyo is conservation-minded and likes to leave no trace of his presence. Like North America, Japan also has its share of slob anglers, and he wishes they would just stay home ;o).

Kiyo with a mini-bass and sporting his FAT BASS cap and NIGHT STALKER walleye shirt..

Another mini-bass, with me sporting a SMALLIE cap and tattered Reebok tank top

A better bass, in the 16 inch range

Back to the mini bass

Sunfish..

..Twofish

Finally, the big fish of the weekend, a healthy 19.5 incher

When bass reach this size in this lake, they're capable of eating a much wider array of prey - what a mouth!

Some post-fishing notes we made: Since this lake is my backyard, I had a decided home-field advantage. The waters along the shoreline are more gradual in depth changes, with some unexpected debris piles and some rock. I used a slower horizontal approach with light spinnerbaits and small PowerRattlers, a Rattletrap hybrid without the density and rapid sink rate, making a slow presentation possible without bumping bottom.

Since Kiyo is used to fishing from a float tube, his approach tended to be more vertical with bottom contact and some light finesse with 4 lb. test line. This resulted in some snags and break-offs. I used 6 lb. test which helped in pulling free from snags and also kept the lure up higher and slower with the greater diameter. Kiyo has adapted quickly to other new waters, including areas around his home in Madison, including the Wisconsin River. You could check out his fishing diaries with pictures here (in Japanese).

Kiyo Returns in September..

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