MaXtream Fly Studio - Fly fishing professional in Japan

Salmon fishing can be done in Japan. Japan is in the Pacific Ocean so what we have would be naturally Pacific salmon but historically we only have 3 of them. Coho, sockeye and Chinook(king) don't live around Japan, with some odd stray fish.

English name	Japanese name	Size
Chum salmon	Sake, Shiro-zake	50-90cm
Pink salmon	Karafuto-masu	40-70cm
Cherry salmon, Masu salmon	Sakura-masu	40-70cm

We don't know if we can include cherry salmon in salmon here because in Japan they are called masu (trout). Most people don't regard cherry salmon as a kind of salmon for some reason. Pink salmon is called masu (trout) for unknown reason. For a long time and to this day, ordinary people regard chum salmon as salmon. It is called sake. Yes. It is the same spelling as your favorite booze but the accent is a bit different.

In North America, chum salmon might be the least appreciated salmon of all but in Japan it is highly evaluated and eaten for a long time. Chum salmon is a very important food source and industrial product. So the government made a law which you cannot catch them in freshwater in Japan. If you poach them, the police will get you seriously. Some people are arrested every year unfortunately. Most of them are not after flesh but eggs. Salmon roes are highly valued in Japan, which you can use for sushi and other traditional recipe. Once they return to the natal rivers, the flesh gets stale so commercial fishermen net salmon in the ocean like other countries. But by the time they enter the river, females get sexually mature and eggs are well rich. So poachers try to catch them. In Hokkaido I saw some salmon dumped in a river, bellies of which were sliced by a knife. I guess they just got eggs and dumped the rest of the body. This is very illegal, if they catch the salmon in freshwater.

Let's talk about salmon fishing in freshwater. Like stated above, we cannot fish for them in freshwater. Although pink salmon live in Hokkaido, many rivers in northern Honshu mainland have chum salmon runs. You can see some salmon coming up but you are not allowed to fish for them. Was bar none.

But in 1995, a river called Churui in Hokkaido started a special program which you can fish for chum salmon and pink salmon in the name of researches. The bag limit was strictly set and you had to follow regulations but it was epoch-making change in salmon fishing. People were not able to fish for them for a long time so some of them jumped on the chance. After that other fisheries followed it and now more than 10 rivers offer the similar programs. Basically you have to win the lottery to get the license. The license is over ￥5000 a day and you cannot keep fishing after you reach the bag limit. We are not sure well but we doubt that you can release the fish. You should take your catch to the office. A bag limit of one of those rivers is 2 salmon a day. This means you have to call it a day, if you catch 2 fish in 1 hour. Wow.

Those rivers are in north-eastern Japan. There are 2 rivers with the program near Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant but after the accident in 2011, the program is suspended, as the area is in the radiation evaluation zone. It is very sad that the accident influences the life in the local area. Many people evacuated from there and many houses and businesses are abandoned.

Back to the salmon fishing. When they started the program, many people became so enthusiastic but nowadays honestly speaking we heard a few people are keen. Regulation is strict and many people have to travel a long way. Then bag limit is small so most people are happy with 1 trip. Anyway there is a chance for you to fish for Japanese salmon in Japan.

Cherry salmon regulation is a bit different. This is why we are puzzled if we can include cherry salmon in the salmon group in Japan. The regulation for cherry salmon fishing is less strict. There is a famous river called Kuzuryu in Fukui pref. The regulation says that you need a basic license then if you want to fish for cherry salmon you need another special license. Each costs ￥1500 a day or ￥6000 yearly. But you can only fish for them from February to May. So if you try one day, you need ￥3000 to get 2 proper licenses.

Not bad regarding price. But not all rivers have cherry salmon. Many rivers are blocked by stupid weirs and dams. Fish ladders don't do a job. Population of cherry salmon is not large at all so we have to go to some certain rivers which have some cherry salmon. The chance? It is very hard. Probably you cannot catch 1, if your trip is 3 days or so. Many people try from Tokyo or somewhere but catch nothing for years. There are some really knowledgeable local anglers who constantly catch them every year but they are rare.

In Hokkaido there are many rivers which hold a healthy population of wild cherry salmon. But it is illegal to fish for them in Hokkaido. Please be careful. You don't need a license for rainbow, yamame, iwana, brown, etc but you are not allowed to fish for cherry salmon, chum salmon and pink salmon strictly in Hokkaido.

From time to time a customer tells us that he wants to fish for them so needs some flies. But we cannot sell flies, if they say they will go after salmon in Hokkaido except on the rivers with the special program. Some people think it is ok to catch and release cherry salmon intentionally, if nobody is watching but stop doing that. If you are after rainbow trout and happen to hook a cherry salmon, please return the fish as soon as possible. That would be no problem but intentional fishing is illegal.

Saltwater salmon fishing is another story. You can fish for them from the shore or off shore if you charter a boat. We don't think you need a saltwater fishing license. But most estuary areas are closed to fishing so you need to check the law. Those river mouths have signs saying that you cannot fish the area within 500m from the river mouth or so.

Hokkaido is the hot area with no doubt. From summer to late fall, many fishermen get together in popular spots. But most are gear fishermen. Famous spots in western Hokkaido tend to be crowd like a zoo so you need to drive to east, if you want to fly cast.

Hokkaido coast

In saltwater, salmon take flies on a dry line so it can be exciting. If fresh fish come in and they are aggressive, you can catch many salmon. But if they are finicky, they won't bite, even if you see many of them in front of you. Basically fishing is similar to beach salmon fishing in North America. I did so hard in BC so I guess I know enough about it. The nature of salmon is almost the same as that in BC. Chum and pink salmon don't chase flies voraciously like coho or chinook. Main proven flies would be sparsely tied streamers. They don't chase big bucktail streamers. Chum and pink have big jaws so beginners tend to make a mistake. Many anglers try to cast big pike-ish streamers but no...

Floating line is a must choice. An intermediate sinking line would be great, while you almost need no fast sinking line from the shore. Full line is easier to use than shooting head.

Your fingers will be bloody after casting for a while with salt and sand on your fly line so stripping finger guards are necessary, unless you tape your fingers.

In Hokkaido cherry salmon fishing in saltwater is getting hot. You can fish for them from late winter to late spring. They are bright silver and strong fish so quite popular.