Bigfin Reef Squid fishing in Lake Hamana

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

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. Legally treated as a sea area, so no inland permit applies.

Water: Saltwater
Prefecture: Shizuoka
Region: Chubu
Getting there: Shinkansen to Hamamatsu, then 20 min

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 Shizuoka

○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

Shizuoka 静岡県 SOURCED

Set by the Shizuoka Fisheries Adjustment Rules (arts. 35, 36, 39, 43).

Applies to: Sea. This table comes from the prefecture's sea-fishing guidance. Rivers and lakes are governed separately — check the local cooperative.

Closed seasons

Abaloneあわび	All year	Recreational anglers may not take abalone at all.
Spiny lobsterいせえび	15 May – 15 Sep
Tengusa seaweedてんぐさ	1 Nov – 31 Mar
Whitebaitしらす	15 Jan – 20 Mar
Sakura shrimpさくらえび	11 Jun – 30 Sep
Grey mullet (young of the year)ぼら（当才）	1 Jan – 31 Jul
Ayu (sweetfish)あゆ	1 Oct – 31 May	On Lake Hamana, 1 Oct – 31 Mar.

May not be taken at or under this size

Spiny lobsterいせえび	13 cm or under, measured from the eye socket to the tail tip
Tokobushi abaloneとこぶし	5 cm shell length or under
Horned turbanさざえ	3 cm operculum diameter or under
Japanese eelうなぎ	13 cm total length or under
Pearl oyster真珠貝	6 cm shell length or under
Hard clamはまぐり	3 cm shell length or under
Manila clamあさり	2 cm shell length or under
Amberjack (buri)ぶり	15 cm total length or under

Prohibited methods

Sea — Diving apparatus of any kind, including aqualungs and simple rigs (Rules art. 37)
Sea — Spear or gaff used with a diving mask; gaff used with light
Sea — Explosives and toxic substances (Fisheries Resource Protection Act arts. 5, 6)
Protected waters — Taking anything inside designated protected waters (Rules art. 34)

Permitted: landing and scoop nets; spear (not with a diving mask); gaff (not with light or a diving mask); rake up to 15 cm wide; cast net (not from a boat); rod and handline (no snagging); hand gathering; and trolling. A rake wider than 15 cm is out.

Local committee instructions

Trolling requires approval from the Shizuoka Sea-area Fisheries Adjustment Commission. Approval is given for events that support regional development; trolling outside that is prohibited. If you are planning a trolling trip in Shizuoka, confirm the boat holds approval.
Using light with a landing net, scoop net or spear also requires commission approval.
Chumming from a boat with rod or handline is limited to one chum basket per rig, no larger than 5 cm across and 15 cm long.
Common Fishery Rights cover the whole coast except part of the Enshu-nada. Each cooperative's right names its own species — abalone, tokobushi, turban shell, octopus, sea cucumber, urchin and a long list of seaweeds are typical.

Source: Shizuoka Prefecture — rules for recreational fishing at sea (updated 2026-06-22). The tables arrived de-structured, so the pairing of species to dates below is our reading and should be checked against the page. https://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/sangyoshigoto/suisan/suisanshigen/1047550/1028113.html✓ 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.