Let's Go Fishing!

Last week, I posted about an amazing bakery called Bakery 125. If you have not visited Bakery 125, please check it out. The bread is fantastic and the pretzels are divine. In my post, I wrote that my wife and I were going to go to a fishing spot after we tried the bakery and that I would post about our fishing trip soon. Well, today is the day I talk about our fishing trip on Mt. Tsukuba at Fishing Park Tsukuba.

Fishing Park Tsukuba

Fishing Park Tsukuba is located on the Ishioka side of Mt. Tsukuba. I thought it was still Tsukuba City but apparently, it is Ishioka. I recommend coming by car. I highly doubt any buses stop by here and if you come by bike, you are going to have a huge workout going up and down Mt. Tsukuba.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo drove up Mt. Tsukuba after our bakery adventure. We then drove down the mountain for a little bit heading towards Ishioka. After finding a small narrow road, we turned into that road and found a huge lake with a big-looking house. After a closer look, it looked more like a small hotel and I wasn't sure we were in the right place. The lake gave it away though. We parked at the fishing park's rocky parking lot and headed to the open order window by the fishing area.

Is that a gorilla?

While walking up to the order window, we took in all the sights and sounds of nature around us. Look at the small beautiful waterfall...why is there a gorilla on a bench? Ok....anyway, while looking around the place I saw that there was BBQ equipment by some picnic tables. Not only can you fish at this place but you can have a BBQ as well. There are plenty of picnic tables around the fishing park and in case you are worried about the sun, they are mostly under shade.
Why does the gorilla have glasses? Ok, I need to stop wondering about the gorilla and get back to this post. My wife and I walked up to the order window ready to start fishing. A little advice, go straight for the window if you want to fish. The other small-looking house by the window is a cafe that serves coffee and snacks.

The Menu

When you walk up to the order window, you can check out the restaurant's menu. Unfortunately, the menu is only in Japanese. The most interesting thing about the menu is that it has a lot of boar meat dishes. Besides fish, this restaurant also serves boar meat. They have boar meat curry and rice, boar meat udon, boar meat nabe, and more! Sadly, it is not boar hunting season during the summer, so many boar meat dishes are not available. They will become available in winter.

As far as fishing goes, it is around 2,000 yen to go fishing. That is a bit pricey but you do get to catch three fish and the restaurant will prepare the fish for you. The 2,000 yen also includes the fishing rod (more like a stick) and bait rental. Once you have caught all your fish, you bring it back to the restaurant and the staff will prepare it for you. For an extra 200 yen, you could ask the staff to prepare the fish karaage style.
My wife and I got our fishing equipment and headed to the fishing pond.

The Fishing Pond

There are two fishing ponds to choose from at Fishing Park Tsukuba. I am sure you were probably thinking the same thing I was thinking when I first got to this place "Isn't the fishing area the big lake you see when you enter this place?" The big lake is a fishing spot but you have to bring your fishing rod to use that lake. The fish are bigger and heavier so the rental rods can't handle the fish in the big lake.
There are plenty of fish in the two small ponds and it is a lot easier to fish at the ponds. My wife and I were given a cup full of bait, a green net for when we caught our fish, and our fishing rods. We hooked our bait, threw in our lines, and started fishing.

Here fishy fishy fishy

I don't meant to brag but I usually do quite well when I go fishing. I have been fishing in Kitaibaraki before and caught my first fish within minutes. This was not the case at this fishing spot. My wife caught all her fish in less than 15 minutes! As for me, I caught my first two fish during that time, my last fish was the problem. I sat on a wooden log for 20 minutes with no bites. I don't know what happened. I changed my bait and switched positions, and nothing happened. My wife said, "Do you mind if I try?" I was frustrated at this point and gave her my fishing rod. She caught my last fish in about 20 seconds. My wife was triumphantly holding that fish while I stood there thinking "How!?"
After our six fish were caught, we headed to the order window to turn them in. A staff member told us to go around the window to the entrance of the kitchen area. Another staff member took our fish, and we were given a pager and told to wait about 15 minutes. We grabbed some drinks and a picnic table. I sat with my wife wondering how she was the fishing expert today and she just gave me a "maybe next time" smile.

Our Catch

15 minutes later, our pager started vibrating. Our fish was ready. We ordered three of the fish to be cooked karaage style and the other three cooked with salt. Our fish came with two lemons for added flavor. The picnic tables do have different condiments and more lemon if needed.
The first fish we tried was the regular cooked with salt fish. You can find these kinds of cooked fish at festivals and small towns with rivers. The fish are often skewered and cooked near a fire with salt sprinkled all over them. After we finished squeezing some lemon on our fish, we took a bite and it was heavenly. The fish was cooked just right and we got that salty soft fish meat that came off the bone with a slight touch. Speaking of bones, be careful with the small bones in this fish.
The next fish was the karaage style fish. This fish was amazing! The hard crunchy breaded outside with that soft fish meat on the inside was delightful. I felt like I was eating the healthiest version of karaage ever made. Instead of giving you the fish whole, the cooks cut the fish up, fillet them so there are no bones, and fry them in delicious karaage batter. I couldn't stop eating these karaaage fish. They were so good. But where there is a yang, a good side, there is a yin, a bad side, to these karaage fish. I ate a lot of pieces of the karaage fish and what I didn't account for was all the oil. My stomach was not happy with all the oil I consumed and let me know it. After a few hours or so, my stomach was back to normal but it was not pleasant. My advice is to maybe have one or two fish karaage style. It is a delicious way to have the fish you caught but your stomach may not be happy if you have more than one.

Our time at Fishing Park Tsukuba was fun and delicious. I had a great time fishing with my wife and trying that karaage fish. This place seems like a great spot to take the family for a nice small fishing trip.

So if you are craving fresh fish and want to catch your lunch, why not give Fishing Park Tsukuba a chance? Who knows, you might see us there, my wife expertly catching fish while I sit on a log waiting for a bite.
Enjoy!
Seriously, why is there a gorilla with glasses there?

For more information on Fishing Park Tsukuba, check out their website:
https://tsukuba-en.jp/