The Opposite of Marlin Fishing

Miki's voice shouting up to my open windows from the street below is one of the sweetest sounds. Not only is she beautiful (and single) (and not interested), but she only shouts up when there's marlin fishing to be done. So yesterday she shouted, I sprinted to the window, and committed to today's marlin fishing before considering if I had any prior commitments (not that it would matter).

But plans changed. Apparently now is the season to catch these tiny, 1" fish that are worth a lot of money (2.2 pounds = $30). They are Okinawa's equivalent of the Aomori bluefin tuna. I'd prefer marlin fishing, but I was up for the adventure.

[the fish travel in large 'bait balls', so we look for moving black balls]

It turned out not to be very adventurous. We cruised the shallows in the morning for two hours, then again for three hours in the afternoon, but we never found any fish.

[it's serious business - there were people up at that observatory serving as spotters who called down to report where the fish were - and these guys made about $10,000 last year off these fish in only a couple weekends!]

[a small piece of Zamami's north shore, only accessible in three places by trails]

[wouldn't make a good marlin fisherman]

[Amuro Island, next door to Zamami]