Found my first hobby of 2021 - raft fishing (ikadatsuri). I used to think that fishing is an activity that you get to sit around and doze off all day, I was gravely mistaken. From fishing prep to cleaning and cooking fish, my whole day was gone. Didn’t even have a minute to sit down and rest, let alone open the book that I had brought with me to fishing.

We left before dawn, and headed north towards Motobu. The ride to the raft fishing shop is about an hour. My friends W and A are experienced fisherman and fisherwoman, they prepared all our fishing gear for us. My friend K and I could only stand on the side and watch and learn (fall asleep?) Once everything was packed, we embarked on our fishing trip. (Hooray!!!!)

It was a cold and windy day, there weren’t that many people at the rafts. The four of us roamed everywhere we could. It was my first time fishing, and every time we caught something, I cheered with excitement! My friend A patiently taught me how to put bait on the hook and pick a fishing spot. The rafts are exactly what you imagined them to be, made from pieces of wood. But like everywhere in Japan, the restroom there is clean. Only that sea water keeps flooding in, I thought I was gonna drown (dramatic much?) Raft fishing isn’t as scary as I thought it’d be, actually quite spacious when there aren’t many people around. The connecting bridge/catwalk is quite shaky, I held my breath every time I had to cross between rafts.

Of the many highlights of this trip was when my friend W caught an octopus! We thought she caught a big fish at first, but when she reeled in the octopus I could only scream “OMG, OMG!” while my friends hurried to grab whatever they could to catch the octopus. This huge, slimy, and agile escape artist nearly got away from us! We had a bountiful fishing trip, went home with 32 fish and one octopus! Mission accomplished!

Raft Fishing Information
Store Name: 海生活 https://marine-life.jp
Price: ~5500yen (included ferry ticket and fishing gear)
Address: 〒905-0213 Okinawa, Kunigami District, Motobu, 谷茶29-72

Chinese Translation

2021年找到第一個新興趣：筏釣（いかだつり！）以前總覺得釣魚是個能發呆一整天的活動，但完全大錯特錯。釣魚的事前準備和幫魚兒們備餐就忙了我們一整天，幾乎沒時間坐下來好好休息。連準備的書，一個字也沒讀。

天亮前7點不到，我們一群人往北邊本部方向開，約一小時車程抵達提供筏釣的店家。朋友W和A以熟練且不倉促的速度把我們的釣具準備好，我和朋友K則是在旁觀學習（發呆？）就緒後，我們大包小包拿到小船上後立刻出發。

當天可能天冷風大釣魚的人不多，我們四人能亂走亂跑。由於第一次釣魚，每釣到一隻魚，我們一定拍手歡呼。抵達筏釣地點後卸下裝備，A開始教我和K如何把魚鈎、飼料弄好，選好地盤開始釣魚。筏釣的區域偏簡陋，看得出是用幾塊木板訂製組裝。廁所意外乾淨但設計很特別，一直有海水衝進來，一度以為我會被海水淹到（內心戲有點多。）其實在木筏上釣魚一點也不恐怖，人不多時活動空間非常寬廣，但連接木筏的小橋好晃，每次過橋必須先深呼吸做好心理準備才能走。

這次釣魚最精彩的部分就是朋友W釣到章魚！一開始大家以為是一隻大魚，把各種可能性喊出來時，章魚突然浮出水面。第一次釣魚的我，完全沒預料到章魚會出現，當大家到處搜刮能抓章魚的器具時，我一直喊Oh my God, oh my God! 就像在我的IG Reel裡看到的，章魚無敵大隻超滑還超會鑽，差點從網子裡逃脫。這次釣魚四人大豐收，共釣到32隻魚和一隻章魚！

筏釣資訊
店名：海生活 https://marine-life.jp
用費：約5500日幣（包括船票、漁具、飼料）
地址：〒905-0213 沖縄県国頭郡本部町谷茶29-72