Tanago and Micro Fishing

Back in my Marine Corps days I spent a lot of time in Korea and Japan. When I was there I always went into fishing shops I remember being amazed going into my first fishing shops in Pohang Korea and Okinawa Japan, the stores were small but packed with all sorts of rods and tackle I had never seen. I found early on while I was in Korea that the fishing stores would trade MRE’s for and I still have a bunch of Owner and Gamakatsu hooks in my collection from the early ‘90s that I bartered MRE’s for.

I went back to Korea a few years ago for work and spent time in Ulsan working on a project for Exxon. I was there for several months and would always wander through the local fishing shops and watch the fishermen on the piers when I had time. Once again, I was amazed at all the tackle and techniques.

A couple of years ago I stumbled across a store in Tokyo that specializes in Tanago and Ayu fishing tackle. I bought a micro rod and associated tackle thinking I could try micro fishing around home for something fun and meditative to do. I found this type of fishing amazingly peaceful and very enjoyable.

The Japanese established a lot of techniques of fishing during the Edo period and those traditions live on today from custom bamboo rods to high end modern graphite, they have taken this fishing to a science. I have been lucky enough to have a few doors open for me in the past couple of months and I have decided to offer some of this tackle on my website. I’m sure some of you will think I’m totally insane but it’s a wonderful niche and something very underrepresented in the US market. I have lots more up my sleeve in the coming weeks, months, and years so stay tuned for more insanity and awesomeness coming.