Cormorant Fishing in .. Gifu

Today we went with a Toyota group to see Cormorant Fishing on the Nagara River in Gifu city. This was the first day of the fishing season and was a special trip organised by one of Toyota's suppliers (thanks guys). Cormorant fishing has a long history, and has gone on for over 1000 years

The prelude-Dinner and fireworks

It was the usual strange experience. We spent the first two hours on the boat. We went up river about 200 meters, had had a tasty dinner kneeling on the hard boat floorboards, drank sake, and watched fireworks. We probably could have done all of this in a local eatery, but obviously this was all part of the atmosphere and the night.

An ushō (Cormorant Fishing Master) demonstrating the practice and explaining the history

OK we liked this guy and he was standing right in front of us to give his talk.

The cormorants have string tied around their necks to stop them swallowing the fish. This Cormorant has a big fish already in its gullet. It gulped in down soooo fast the cormorant and the fish were both a blur in the shot.

To get the fist out, the fisherman just put his hand around the nick and squeezed it up and out. A bit icky up close.

After the demonstration, we headed out to have dinner

Keeping warm with our pretty green tops.

Heading down the river to have dinner

The "dancing boat" in action providing a bit of entertainment

The view down the river from where we parked to eat dinner

The first round of fireworks went for about five minutes

Our little group.

All the boats lined up with curtains down while serving dinner

The second set of fireworks popped along for about 10 minutes

The fishing commences

From 8pm the actual fishing started. The fishing was hard to see as it was dark and the cormorants bobbed in and out of the water, usually with just their heads showing. With 6 fishing boats and 50+ viewing boats everyone had to be careful to keep their distance. Our view on the night was probably not the best. Maybe a smaller boat on a less busy day would get you a better view. But the idea was to have a good night and that was what we got.

To give an idea of what was happening. This is a picture scanned in from the Gifu tourist guide pamphlet. You can see the fisherman in the boat with stings attached to each bird. You can also see the fire used to wake up the fish so that the birds can get them.

Also excuse the following photos. At night, on a boat bobbing in the water, trying to take action shots with the zoom all the way out is very hit and miss. Nearly all our photos are blurred.

Reaching in to grab a bird

Fisherman with the birds

Steering

The finale as the six boats headed down the river at the same time

The finale continues

The last shot.

Would I recommend it...probably, we had fun. Do not expect to see a great deal or to be too close. I would go assuming that it would be 5-6 out of 10, but depending on the boat and the company it could be a great experience.

Michaelpam.com

Blog.Pages

Cormorant Fishing in .. Gifu

The prelude-Dinner and fireworks

The fishing commences