The Shokuryoshi Experiment
This was it! The final month of the "Shokuryoshi Experiment!" for 12 months over the past 2 years, I have been refining my skills and my gear in hopes to catch more fish.
Heading into October there were a couple goals I had set for myself. I wanted to break at least 4 fish per hour on my average for 2024. More ambitiously, I wanted to double my fish per hour rate from 2023.
This is how the fishing played out for the month...
Week 1
I knew I didn't have much of a chance to get out on the first few days of the month. Instead, I kept my focus on the weather and the flows. The last day I fished (September 30th), my friend and I had great luck. I was closely watching to see if the conditions would stay the same with hopes of having another great day on the river.
With some scheduled time off from work, I took advantage of the first Monday of the month. I hit the river for a full afternoon of fishing. I wanted to play around with a few other styles of fishing while I killed some time in the early afternoon. I limited my time with the other styles so that I could get a good 2 hours of fishing with the tenkara rod, and recording a "Journal Entry" for October - in case I wasn't able to get out again. If you want to read about the time fishing with a tenkara rod that day, you can find the full post here...
Week 2
Keeping the goal of doubling my fish per hour in mind, I decided to hit the local creek for a quick morning session to kick off the second week.
I only fished for half an hour, and put 2 fish in the net in that time. This wasn't quite enough to bump up my average, but it didn't hurt it either!
Week 3
We had our first rainy day of October going into the third week. I wanted to get out for a bit on the local creek and see if I could bump up my catch rate. Unfortunately, the water level had dropped significantly, and so I didn't spend too much time here. On the other side of things, I had a couple bites and landed one of those fish in the short time I fished. Still, it wasn't enough to increase the catch rate.
Week 4
Heading into the final stretch of October and the end of the experiment, I was determined to get a few more sessions in.
I hit the local creek once again. Unfortunately, there was no change in the water level. Fortunately, I was able to put a few fish in the net in the half hour I fished there. This session will probably be the last time I fish the local creek for the rest of the year.
On the weekend, I hit my favorite river for one last session. I went into it feeling pretty confident, but deviated from my original plan of which spot I wanted to fish. I opted for a closer spot that I had recently discovered and wanted to check out. Unfortunately, this hour-long session yielded only a few bites and a big 0 on the recording of fish brought to net.
It's hard to say what the main cause of this was. Maybe the water was too cold, or maybe too low? I think I could have tried more variation in my approach, but I also didn't want to spend too much time changing flies or rigs. Even with one skunk throughout the season, I am still happy with how everything turned out.
Stats Update
That's it! The last month of The Shokuryoshi Experiment!
I finished the year with an average of 3.7 fish per hour. While I didn't quite hit the goal I set for myself of breaking 4 fish an hour, or even doubling my previous average from last year, I still made more improvement than I though I would heading into the 2024 season.