Looking for something different to do on a weekend?  Give squid fishing a try!  In the Obama area, there are several recreational fishing boats that will take you out squid fishing.  It's a lot of fun and an interesting experience.  And you'll get lots of fish you can give to your friends and neighbors.

What does it costs?

To get on the boat costs about 12,000 yen.  What this gets you is a seat on the boat, some ice, a rod, and bait.  If you want to buy your weights, lures, etc from the boat operator, that will run you about another 2000 yen.  You would do better to plan ahead and buy supplies at a tackle shop, but if you have no idea what to buy, 2000 yen isn't that bad of a price.

What should I bring?

• food - there is no grill on the boat, but they do have hot water to make cup ramen or hot tea. We just brought some onigiri and snacks and were fine.
• water - it's easy to get dehydrated out there, so make sure to bring a lot of water. 
• cooler - you'll need somewhere to stash your fish!  They will give you some ice before you leave port, but it's a good idea to get a bag or two at the conbini while you're at it.
• rubber boots - you will DEFINITELY need these.  Otherwise your feet will be soaked by the end of the night.  These can be bought cheaply at any hardware type store.
• raincoat - just in case the sea is rough.  It's also good for cutting the cold wind when the boat is moving.  It gets chilly out there once the sun goes down!
• scissors - these will come in handy if your line gets snagged or any other sorts of problems that can arise.
• camera - Pick up a disposible waterproof camera and bring it along!  On our boat the captain also took pictures of us we could download from their website.

How long am I out there?

The boat will leave port around 2pm.  You get back to the port around midnight.  Expect to be out there for 10 hours or more.  Also, be prepared to stay the night in Obama if you do not have a car!  The port is close to the center of town so finding a place to stay shouldn't be much of an issue.

What's the schedule?

So you arrive to the boat, pay the fees at the office, and hop on board.  From there the captain takes you out into the Sea of Japan.  For the first couple of hours you do some bait fishing.  Basically you're waiting for the sun to go down for squid fishing to start.  During this time we caught some mackerel, blowfish, sea bream, and triggerfish.  When you catch the fish, rather than putting them on ice, there will be buckets with running sea water that you put the fish in.  They'll swim around in there until you get ready for squid fishing, which is when you'll put them in your cooler to make room for the squid.

Once it starts getting dark the captain will take you out to deeper waters for the squid fishing to begin.  They'll turn on the flood lights and you'll begin to set up your line with the squid gigs.  Watch out for the killer moths!!  We didn't have them too bad but I've heard that the boat can be swarmed with moths that like to slam into you. 

Three things to look out for when bringing up the squid:
1) They like to squirt you with water
2) They sometimes like to squirt you with ink
3) If you have any dead or semi-dead fish in the bucket, the squid will try to eat them.

During the squid fishing time, if you get tired of pulling up squid it's okay to switch back to bait fishing.  We caught a ton of mackerel during this time because they were feeding on the squid.  Soon you'll have more squid and fish than you know what to do with!

Who to Contact:

The boat that we went on was great and I highly recommend him.  The captain doesn't speak English but he's very patient.  I do recommend going with someone that has a bit of knowledge fishing though if you have none!

Their website:
http://www.kouyoumaru.net/

Fugu!