(No. 1145) No Fish at Taka-hana and Sakitaka-hana in Sanami (佐波の高鼻と先高鼻にて釣果なし)

The waves were unexpectedly high this morning, so that I had to give up going to either Saruwatari or Safuki-bana in Nonami. Instead I went to Taka-hana and Sakitaka-hana beyond Sanami Harbor. Unlike Saruwatari or Safuki-bana, where I rarely see any other fishermen, there were two lure fishermen standing on the rocky beach and two other lure fishermen floating on kayaks. I talked to those two fishermen on the rocks. They had caught young Japanese amberjacks. Realizing that I was for the yellowtail amberjack, not the Japanese amberjack, one of the fishermen told me almost sorrowfully that the coveted fish had not been caught since the beginning of November. However, he also told me that the false albacore had been caught. So now I am wavering between to catch the yellowtail amberjack with my biggest plugs or to catch the false albacore with my smallest jigs.

（今朝は予想外に波が高く、野波の猿渡あるいはサフキ鼻に行くのは断念しました。代わりに佐波港の先にある高鼻と先高鼻に行きました。他の釣り人をほとんど見かけない猿渡やサフキ鼻と違って、磯にルアー釣り師が２人、カヤックに浮かんでいるルアー釣り師が２人いました。私は磯の２人と話をしました。彼らにはワカナ（若いブリ）が釣れていました。私が、ワカナではなく、ヒラマサを狙っていることに気づいた釣り師の一人は、ほとんど悲しそうに、私に言いました。11月の初め以来、誰もが憧れるその魚は釣れていないのだ、と。しかし、彼はスマガツオが釣れているとも言いました。そこで私は今、迷っています。いちばん大きいプラグでヒラマサを釣るべきか、いちばん小さいジグでスマガツオを釣るべきか。）