We've finally been getting a show of good weather on the weekends at least. Last weekend, we were able to do a spot of snapper fishing with Rob and Leanne in their neatly rigged centre console. We got a nice feed from the trip including this guy I caught which was the biggest of the day.

There are plenty of whales still around and they kept us amused throughout the day.

The canoe also continues to get a work out. You will never have seen such a kitted-up canoe. Yesterday we visited Hinze Dam for no joy but it was a lovely day to be on the water. Can't wait until the summer when the bass will be biting and many less layers of clothes will be required.

Annie D sent me this link about young Emily Lockwood who caught a potential IGFA World Record Junior and Small-fry for a 33.1kg Spanish Mackerel on 10kg on the weekend.

The fish at 33 some kgs was bigger than Emily herself, at a comparatively wee 29kgs.

The reason why AD sent this to me was because it was very reminiscent of my own capture at 8 years of age. A Junior and Ladies World Record at the time (and no asking when that time was please!) for a Spanish Mackerel weighing 24.3kg on 4kg line.

As you can see, it was bigger than me too!

Big congrats to Emily! I hope this is not the last we see of her in the fishing news.

Our Tsukiji Photo Album is now up. Hope you enjoy the pics.

One of the most amazing things about Tsukiji Fish Markets, besides the sheer size and variety of fish (and fish bits) that you can buy is that it doesn't smell...fishy. While it probably has a lot to do with how fresh the fish is, it also has a lot to do with how 'particular' the Japanese are about keeping things clean. This was something that Capt. Luke especially noticed on our recent trip to Japan, his first, and we have some photos of sparkling (truly sparkling) clean cement trucks to prove it.

A friend of mine, from my days in Japan took us on a guided tour of the markets. As one of the city's very few western proprietors who shop at the market each day, he is a wealth of knowledge. He told us some stories which often involved the reaction - I can't believe you eat that. We told him some stories along the lines of - see that really expensive mackerel/tuna, we use those and bigger, whole, for marlin baits! He was incredulous.

We saw many fish that were familiar to us and some that were completely unfamiliar. Either way, if you are a fish in Japanese waters, chances are you are fair game for eating. Stonefish are pretty unlikely candidate for a meal here, but as the picture top right shows, Capt. Luke and I took it on as a special dish prepared by Andy's kitchen team. We won't be rushing out to target them but it's worth noting that absolutely everything Andy threw at us that night in his Izakaya (Japanese bar/restaurant) was DELICIOUS. Especially the Moonfish sashimi. Who would have thought we would have seen one of these at the markets (Andy had never seen one before either and bought it on a whim) let alone that it would taste so good - raw - a cross between tuna and salmon with a lovely orange flesh colour.

Just about every shellfish under the sun gets consumed as well as a plethora of crustaceans including soft-shelled crabs. We got a first hand look at King Crabs that star in the Deadliest Catch which was a favourite of our in our down-time during the marlin season last year.

As a tip if you are going to Japan and are visiting the markets, tourist are no longer as welcome as they once were as the businesses feel they interfere with the day-to-day activities. Especially at the Tuna auctions which are held very early in the morning, because as you can imagine, the very subtle hand signals can be missed or misconstrued with the distraction of a camera flash. These Tuna's fetch huge money and is a big business to those involved. At Andy's advice, we visited later in the morning (I should mention this was my 5th visit) which was towards the end of their day when stall holders were much more relaxed.

I plan to put up a full-size photo gallery of the trip in the coming week so please check back for that and also another post of Lure Shopping in Japan.