Fishing Spot Japan

Sweetfish fishing in Kitakami River system

July, August and September are the prime months. A cooperative day permit is required.

When

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

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?

A cooperative day permit is required. Typically ¥1,000–2,000, and more for ayu.

Water
Freshwater
Prefecture
Iwate
Region
Tohoku
Getting there
Shinkansen to Morioka

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 permitKami-Kitakamigawa Fishery Cooperative
    Licence , covering the upper Kitakami. Species named in its permit rules include ayu (tomozuri only), yamame, iwana, eel, ugui, carp and crucian carp. Iwate is unusual: the prefectural inland federation issues one common permit honoured by most co-ops in the prefecture, so a single ticket covers a great many rivers. Buy it before you fish.

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.

Size limits and closed seasons

Not yet transcribed for this prefecture. The cooperative’s permit rules and national law still apply.

About Sweetfish

Grazes algae off river stones and defends a territory — which is what makes tomozuri possible. Smells of watermelon.

Japanese
· ayu
Scientific name
Plecoglossus altivelis
Typical size
15–30 cm (6–12 in)

How it is fished here

Tomozuri

Tomozuri — Ayu are territorial, so a live ayu is swum through another's territory to provoke an attack onto trailing hooks. It exists nowhere else.

Elsewhere

Sweetfish is also listed at Kinugawa system, Nagara River (Gujo), Kuma & Kawabe Rivers. Everything caught in Kitakami River system.