漁師稼業
先々週から先週にかけ一週間、故郷の隠岐の島に帰っていた。目的は、春先から浮かべている船を陸揚げするためであったが、それは口実で、実際は、釣りに出るのを何よりの楽しみにとしていた。だが、日本海の冬の海は荒い、帰郷時の海は相当あれており、３千トン級のフェリーがドーンドーンと波に打たれながら大揺れに揺れた。従って、翌日は大時化となり、本土と隠岐間の船は全便欠航。隠岐は流人の島と化していた。
結果、一週間の滞在であったが、釣りに出れたのは一日だけ。だが、冬の海は面白い。波は高いが、大物が釣れる。今回はジギングと称する、仕掛け釣りに挑戦。
水深１００メートル位の沖合を漁場とし、１５０グラムの魚にみたてた錘の先に大きな針を２本つけ、それをシャクリ揚げながら（魚が泳いでいる姿に見せかけるため）海底から５０メートル程のところまで上げるのである。よって、５時間漁場におれば、５時間、竿をシャクリ揚げぱなし。これは中々の体力仕事である。
ところが、掛かった時（釣れた時）の弾きは凄い。瞬時にグッグッと強烈な弾き。後は必死の格闘。ただ、船底まで引き揚げ、タモですくい上げた時の醍醐味は何とも言えない。そう、何とも言えないのだ。
開口健なら、この感触を、文学的にそれは上手く表現するのであろうが、小生の能力では、「何とも言えない」としか、なんともいえない・・・。ただグッグッ・・・。
その感触は、今でもこの手に残っている。
３〜４キロのメジロ（ブリの手前）。なんと５時間で、ほぼ同じ大きさのメジロを１０匹釣り上げたのである。
帰阪した翌日は有馬ロイヤルで天風会のゴルフコンペであったが、腕が相当痛かった。しかし、その痛みが良かったのか、なんと、ベスグロ優勝。
From the week before last to the week after last, I spent a week back on my home island of Oki. The purpose was to land the boat that had been floating since early spring, but that was just an excuse; in fact, he was looking forward to going out fishing more than anything else. However, the winter seas on the Sea of Japan are rough, and when I returned home, the seas were quite rough, and the 3,000-ton ferry was rocking heavily as it was being hit by the waves. Therefore, the next day was a major climactic event, and all ships between the mainland and the Oki Islands were out of service. The Oki Islands had been turned into an island of drifters.
As a result, we stayed for a week, but only got to go fishing for one day. But the sea in winter is interesting. The waves are high, but you can catch some big fish. This time, we tried jigging, a type of fishing gear.
The fish is fished at a depth of about 100 meters off the coast. Two large hooks are attached to the end of a weighted 150-gram fish, and the hooks are shanked and lifted (to make the fish appear to be swimming) up to about 50 meters above the sea floor. Therefore, if you stay in the fishery for 5 hours, you can’t stop shoveling the rod for 5 hours. This is a lot of physical work.
However, the bounce when it is caught (when it is caught) is great. It’s an instant gurgling, intense pluck. The rest is a desperate struggle. However, it is hard to say what the real pleasure is when you pull it up to the bottom of the boat and scoop it up with tamo. Yes, it’s hard to say.
Ken Kiguchi would have been able to express this feeling well in literature, but I can’t say anything but “I can’t say anything” with my ability…. Just googly-googly…
That feeling still lingers in my hands.
Three to four kilograms of white shark (before yellowtail). In five hours, he caught ten white-tailed fish of about the same size.
The next day after I returned to Osaka, I had a golf competition at Arima Royal by the Tenpukai, but my arm was quite sore. However, the pain may have been a good thing, because he won the Vesglo.
