There is a year round sea bass fishery in Yokohama and Kawasaki Bay in Tokyo.I first got turned on to this from Martin Whyte of Flicking Feather fame. Finding a captain was tricky. This definitely is more of a local game. There were some outfitters that wanted to include a translator, but as you can imagine that increased the cost. As we speak (Feb. 2024) the Japanese Yen is significantly weaker than the USD. At the time of my trip it was 70 cents to 100 won.
Seakuro (www.seakuro.com) agreed to take me out, and we planned two nights of fishing. I suggest this to all first timers. The conditions were liable to change. Both outings were challenging with wind and light rain. Booking two trips gives the Captain more time to understand your capabilities, so go back to back if you’re serious about deciphering the bass.
My Captain was Captain Yoshi, a world record holder, and lover of all things fishing- not just fly fishing. I can’t say enough good things about Captain Yoshi. He did what you expect all great Captains to do, and went out of his way so I could experience everything that Yokohama and Kawasaki Bay had to offer. At one point we were off shore running down tanker ships to try to get some casts in alongside and at their bow.
Sea bass hold on structure, such as pilings, offshore rigs, and the hulls of big tanker ships; and feed on anchovies that swim fairly close to the surface. February is NOT the best time to do this. March and April have better action and November is the big fish hunting season. Regardless, in February you can still fish a floating line and keep your fly a foot under the surface of the water. That makes all of the takes visible, and the fishing is very exciting.
The famous Japanese designed fly for sea bass is the magic minnow, but it is more of a top water pattern. Another would be a zonker. I fished a sparse bucktail that was about two inches long with a big piece of flash on each side. I would have liked to fish a bigger pattern (6 or 7 inches) but I didn’t see much of anything swimming around that size, just the little anchovies. Match the hatch!.
