Bigfin Reef Squid fishing in Ise Bay & Toba

April, May, October, November and December are the prime months. No permit is required for recreational sea fishing.

When

Season grading is our editorial judgement, not a sourced figure. It says when the fish is catchable, not when the water is legally open — for that, read the closed seasons below.

Do you need a permit?

No permit is required for recreational sea fishing.

Water: Saltwater
Prefecture: Mie
Region: Chubu
Getting there: 1 h 30 from Nagoya, 2 h from Osaka

How far our answer goes here

✓National lawApplies everywhere. Foreign-national gear limits, protected species, bluefin controls.
✓PrefectureMinimum sizes, closed seasons and legal gear. This is a floor — local rules add to it, never subtract.
~Sea-area / inland committeeDirectives that close specific waters or periods. We hold these for a few prefectures only.
—Cooperative permitSea fishing needs no cooperative permit. A Common Fishery Right still covers the shore — see the rule above.

Rules stack. Everything above the line we hold; everything below it you still need to confirm on the ground. That gap is exactly what a local guide is for.

Legal gear in Mie

○Hand line & rod fishing×Trolling○Landing net○Scoop net△Cast net●Fishing spear (excluding harpoons)●Rake / clam tool○Hand gathering

Sea areas only, as of 2026-03-31. Anything not listed — diving apparatus, spearguns — may not be used at all. Full table & footnotes

Size limits and closed seasons

Mie 三重県 VERIFIED

Possessing or selling anything taken in breach of these rules is also prohibited.

Applies to: Sea and inland. The source regulation covers both sea and inland waters. Cooperatives add further rules on rivers and lakes.

Closed seasons

Pen shellたいらぎ	1 Jun – 31 Jul
Abaloneあわび	15 Sep – 31 Dec	Also nationally protected.
Spiny lobsterいせえび	1 May – 30 Sep	North of the Toba island line the window ends 15 Sep.
Amagoあまご（あめご）	1 Oct – end of Feb
Ayu (sweetfish)あゆ	1 Jan – 10 May	To 25 May on the Kizu and Kumano systems; to 31 May on the Kiso.
Japanese daceうぐい	1 Mar – 31 May	Kumano River system only.

May not be taken at or under this size

Manila clamあさり	2 cm shell length or under
Hard clamはまぐり	3 cm shell length or under
Abaloneあわび	10.6 cm shell length or under
Horned turbanさざえ	2.5 cm operculum long axis or under
Spiny lobsterいせえび	4.2 cm carapace length or under, measured from between the eye spines to the rear centre of the carapace
Amberjack (buri)ぶり	15 cm total length or under
Amagoあまご（あめご）	12 cm total length or under; 10 cm on the Kumano system
Japanese eelうなぎ	20 cm total length or under; 30 cm on the Kumano system
Common carpこい	15 cm total length or under — Kumano system only

Prohibited methods

Sea — Anything outside the permitted list (Rules art. 40)
Sea — Spear used with light; gaff used with a dredge or with light
Sea — Cast net from a boat

Permitted at sea: rod and handline; landing and scoop net; cast net from the shore only; spear (not with light) and gaff (not with a dredge or light); hand gathering. Mie also closes named river stretches outright — parts of the Inabe, Kumozu, Kushida, Miyagawa, Isuzu and Ōmata systems, some for a few weeks in autumn and some all year round.

Source: Mie Prefecture Fisheries Division — Fisheries Adjustment Rules, arts. 35, 36, 38 and 40 (closed seasons, size limits, closed areas and permitted gear). https://www.pref.mie.lg.jp/SUISAN/HP/47233033653.htm✓ checked 2026-08-26

About Bigfin Reef Squid

The reason eging exists. Accessible from the shore, which makes it one of the easiest serious targets for a visitor without a boat.

Japanese: アオリイカ · aoriika
Scientific name: Sepioteuthis lessoniana
Typical size: 20–45 cm mantle (8–18 in)

How it is fished here

Eging

Eging — Squid fishing with an egi — a weighted, cloth-wrapped shrimp lure descended from an 18th-century Japanese design.

Elsewhere

Bigfin Reef Squid is also listed at Izu Peninsula, Lake Hamana, Kushimoto & southern Kii, Seto Inland Sea, Goto Islands, Genkai Sea. Everything caught in Ise Bay & Toba.