Categorization of places for fishing in Japan (Fresh water)

On the global map, Japan is surrounded by the sea, but we have various styles of freshwater fishing. 

Firstly, geographically, Japan has a lot of mountains, and the rivers tend to be much shorter on a global scale. The longest river in Japan is Shinano-gawa, 367km. In such a short length, there are areas like small streams like you find in the high elevation of Alps or Rockies, and river mouths which flow into the sea like the River Thames. 

Let us take a look at them from the high elevation to low elevation with the typical fishing styles for each area. Fish names are accompanied with scientific names, and Japanese names. You can copy-paste the Japanese names on google, when you would like to search for Japanese information about these fish.

Stream fishing; in mountains 

Target fish; Char (Salvelinus leucomaenis, Iwana, イワナ), Cherry salmon (Oncorhynchus masou, Yamame, ヤマメ) and Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Nijimasu, ニジマス)

Description; many water falls, with big rocks. In Japanese it is called “Keiryu 渓流“ area. 

Fishing styles; Fly fishing, lure fishing, traditional Keiryu fishing (whip rod with bait, such as midge emergers,  mayfly nymph or terrestrial insects), Tenkara fishing.

Comments; If you love to go deep into the mountains and to go away from civilization, to catch fish in Japan, then this is the area you need to try. As you can imagine, long walking and sometimes canyoning skills are needed. I think it is worth trying to know one side of Japanese nature. It is special to make a small fire in the middle of the deciduous broad-leaved trees, by the river side.

Rivers in middle elevation; in feet of mountains

Target fish; Cherry salmon, Rainbow trout, Japanese dace (Tribolodon hakonensis, Ugui, ウグイ), Barbel (Hemibarbus barbus,or barbel steed, Nigoi, ニゴイ), Ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis, アユ)

Description; with rocks (football or basketball sizes), strong current. This type of area has much more dynamic current, compared to the typical European trout rivers. This area is called Honryu本流 area.  

Fishing styles; Fly fishing, lure fishing, traditional style (whip rod with baits, such as midge emergers, mayfly nymph, worms, maggots etc.), Ayu fishing etc. Ayu is feeding on the small algae on the stone surface in the river, and is impossible to catch by the bait. However the taste of this fish drove anglers to develop the way to catch it a long time ago. This special way is called Tomo-zuri友釣り.  There is no specialized way of fishing for barbel in Japan (unlike the UK).   

Comments; You want to go fishing in the river with the wide open banks, to be more relaxed (I mean no crawling around the river or no long trek for the fishing point). If you are such a person, then these areas are suitable for you. No tree branches hanging over the river and the river is brighter, and it has a wide space for casting.

Rivers in flatland

Target fish; Carp (Koi, コイ), Japanese dace (Tribolodon hakonensis, Ugui, ウグイ), pale chub (Zacco platypus, Oikawa, オイカワ), Barbel (Hemibarbus barbus, or barbel steed, Nigoi, ニゴイ), Ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis, アユ), largemouth bass (ラージマウスバス), smallmouth bass (スモールマウスバス), Japanese crucian carp, karausche (Carassius langsdorfii, Ginbuna, ギンブナ), amur catfish (Silurus asotus, Namazu, ナマズ) 

Description; This area includes a wide variety of environments. After the river passes by the steep areas, it collects much water to be wider. And the temperature and the quality of the water changes.   

Fishing styles; Fishing for carp is popular with paste bait (a similar concept like feeder fishing), and European style boilie fishing is expanding but not the majority. Some people target carp with fly fishing. With the traditional styles using whip rods, people catch Japanese dace and pale chub. Catching Ayu in this environment is different from Tomo-zuri, but it is done with special fly rigs with long whip rods. In certain periods of its life cycle, Ayu feeds on small insects. 

As for the targets of lure fishing, largemouth bass and smallmouth bass are there. While largemouth bass can only live in the river of slow current, smallmouth bass can survive in the strong current. Though these species are not the native species, a lot of rivers in Japan have these bass species.

Crucian carp and karausche are living in the slower current. Traditionally, these fish were very much accessible fish. And in the past, these fish species were the first fish to experience fishing for children. (But, unfortunately, they are not so common now.)

Comments; this area is quite close to cities. And it has very easy access. When you visit Tokyo, you can find anglers in rivers like Arakawa, Tamagawa or connected water systems. If you visit Osaka, then Yodogawa holds the fishing area described here.  

River mouth

Target fish; Seabass (Lateolabrax japonicus, Suzuki, スズキ), Goby (Gobiidae, Haze, ハゼ), Black bream (Acantopagrus schlegelii, Kurodai, クロダイ), Flatfish (Large-tooth Flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus, Hirame, ヒラメ), Whiting (Sillaginops macrolepis, Kisu, キス)

Description; Though Japanese rivers are shorter in length than rivers in continents, river mouths of the major rivers have bottom of the sand or mud. And if a river mouth is not industrialized, you can find the beach or tidal flat area nearby. There are worms and shells living in this area, and many species are feeding on them. In some rivers, sea fish can go up the rivers to reach 10 km from the sea. Adversely, some freshwater fish can go close to the sea, even if there is some salt content in the water.  Therefore, you may find a place where you can catch both Seabass and carp. 

Fishing styles; Seabass and Black bream are very popular targets for lure fishing. These are the typical targets of Japanese street fishing. 

In Tokyo bay area, Goby and Whiting have been very popular targets with whip rods, even from the Edo period (17th to 19th century). It is still one of the easy-to-go fishing to catch Goby around the time from the end of summer to the beginning of autumn.

Presently, the light-casting with rod and reel is also popular, for all the fish in this area. It is close to the Italian style Ledgering, in terms of its multi target and cast-and-wait style. The commonly used bait are worms (Isome, Polychaeta).   

Comments; If you look for the game fish near the big cities, river mouths can be a good place to start your research.  

Mountain lakes

Target fish; Trouts and chars, smallmouth bass

Description; The lakes at higher elevation provide the proper environment for trout species. Quality of water (less contents of organic substances from human activities), and lower water temperature fits well with the species’ nature. Some lakes have smallmouth bass, which also like similar environments.

Fishing styles; Popular methods are lure fishing and fly fishing. In some places, trolling for trout is also seen. There are species like Himemasu (Oncorhynchus nerka, landlocked Red Salmon, ヒメマス), which are caught by sabiki rigs or trolling. For smallmouth bass, many largemouth bass enthusiasts are enjoying the difference of lures or approach.

Comments; Most of the mountain lakes in Japan are also considered as a holiday destination, and easy to go. In such places, your family can enjoy these tourist spots while you can enjoy fishing. There are some isolated lakes like dams or reservoirs (Okutadamiko in Honshu mainland) and lakes in Hokkaido. The lakes like Hibarako is popular place for smallmouth bass.

Lakes in low elevation, ponds

Target fish; Carp, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, Japanese crucian carp or karausche (Carassius langsdorfii Ginbuna, ギンブナ), Japanese white crucian carp (Carassius cuvieri, Herabuna, ヘラブナ), amur catfish (Silurus asotus, Namazu, ナマズ) 

Description; The typical fish types in this area are carp related species (or white fish), and largemouth bass. In the Setouchi area (coastal area of Setonaikai sea), there are many artificial ponds. And these ponds hold the above described target fish. These ponds are made to keep water for agriculture, while the region has less rainfall. Such ponds for agricultural use could be seen in other areas also. And these were often the first places to experience fishing, but not common these days.

Fishing styles; Sunfish species are targets for lure fishing. For carp related species, whip rod styles are very popular. Long rod (3.6m or 4.5m) of parabolic action is used. The uniqueness of this style is that it uses a very long and thin float, with paste bait. The float is so sensitive that it can detect the condition of bait and fish near the fishing line. This makes a good game in this style.

Comments; If you want to know the heart of Japanese fishing (of the freshwater side), then this is the area you can visit. This place is often connected to the people’s life (agriculture etc), and it surely deepens your understanding of Japan.

Artificial fishing area

Target fish; Japanese white crucian carp (Carassius cuvieri, Herabuna, ヘラブナ), trouts (the most common one is rainbow trout)

Description; We have two main categories of artificial commercial fishing area. First is for Japanese crucian carp. It is a traditional one. Second one is for trout. For trout, there are commercial fishing areas made in rivers, and made with ponds. 

On crucian carp, it appears not so sensitive in artificial ponds, because it can easily react to the spread of pellets. But catching the crucian carp in the traditional method is very tricky. It is even so if you want to be a better angler for this fish. Using the very sensitive floats, you need to prepare the proper paste bait with proper hardness, present at proper depth, react at the correct signal (strike).

For the trout fishing area, some places are offering the simple joy for everyone with the starving fish released on arrival of visitors. But many places of anglers’ interest have fish which are experienced to be hooked once or twice, having seen all the lures available in the market, and capable of identifying the real hook-free pellets. In such places, anglers can enjoy the competition of mental game and outsmarting the fish.

Fishing styles; For crucian carp, traditional whip rods (1.8m to 3.6m) with very thin floats are the styles. For trout, lure and fly is the one.  

Comments; In Tokyo central, you can see this style of crucian carp fishing in this fishery (Ichigaya Fish Center). In Osaka, you can visit trout area fishing spot (Hattori Ryokuchi Water Land) with a 10 min train ride from central.

Summary

Since our lives have been closely connected to fish, freshwater fishing is very intricate and has a wide variety. 

If you have any questions about the above, please ask me. When you are planning to visit Japan, and thinking about experience fishing, I can assist you providing fishing information relating to your destination in Japan.