Ayu fishing
Encyclopedia
Ayu fishing is one of the several narrowly defined styles of fishing
in Japan.
Ayu fishing was practiced by Samurai
as long as 430 years ago. It uses very long rods (5 – 7 meters) and fly but fly-casting is not required. Ayu fishing originated at least 430 years ago when angler
s discovered they could dress their flies with pieces of fabric and use those to fool the fish. The art became more refined as the samurai
, who were forbidden to practice martial arts and sword fighting in the Edo period
, found this type of fishing to be a good substitute for their training: the rod being a substitute to the sword, and walking on the rocks of a small stream good leg and balance training. "Only the samurai were permitted to fish. So, the samurai who enjoyed ayu fishing would take sewing needles and bend them themselves, and make their own flies by hand.
Ayu fishing may be done with flies or with a decoy fish . As ayu
fish are very territorial, they usually attack the live decoy fish used as bait.
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
in Japan.
Ayu fishing was practiced by Samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
as long as 430 years ago. It uses very long rods (5 – 7 meters) and fly but fly-casting is not required. Ayu fishing originated at least 430 years ago when angler
Angling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...
s discovered they could dress their flies with pieces of fabric and use those to fool the fish. The art became more refined as the samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
, who were forbidden to practice martial arts and sword fighting in the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, found this type of fishing to be a good substitute for their training: the rod being a substitute to the sword, and walking on the rocks of a small stream good leg and balance training. "Only the samurai were permitted to fish. So, the samurai who enjoyed ayu fishing would take sewing needles and bend them themselves, and make their own flies by hand.
Ayu fishing may be done with flies or with a decoy fish . As ayu
Ayu
The or sweetfish, Plecoglossus altivelis, is an amphidromous fish, the only species in the genus Plecoglossus and in family Plecoglossidae. It is a relative of the smelts and is placed in the order Osmeriformes...
fish are very territorial, they usually attack the live decoy fish used as bait.