Summer Native Char Fishing

2024Summer Report

Fishing for Amemasu this summer was also wonderful.

Amemasu is white spotted char.

In mountain streams at a slightly higher altitude, they swim upstream from the dam lake from early June to late August. We fish for them using only large dry flies.

This type of fishing is very rare, and is a special type of fishing that is rare throughout Japan.

In the river surrounded by forests that are close to nature, several types of large cicadas emerge in the summer and reach the end of their lifespan in about 1-2 weeks. You can see the cicadas dripping from the trees, especially on cold mornings or after rain.

When watching the cicadas flowing on the surface of the water, I have seen many times the mouths of Amemasu pop out from a little deep water and the cicadas are eaten. Cicadas are the favorite food of chars in summer.

The season progresses, and in early June, many Amemasu eat large mayflies and small beetles, but gradually they start to only react to large cicadas. Dry fly fishing is a lot of fun, so I recommend it to my guests over the nymph option.

You can also see another native fish called the ITO = huchen. This is a huge fish that is about 50-80 cm long and lives in mountain streams insummer. It goes down to the lake and comes up again. However, it rarely bites dry flies, so if you throw a fly with movement such as a streamer, something interesting happens sometimes. When I'm guiding, I sometimes see a huchen chasing a guest who has caught a white-spotted char, and it often bites it. The huchen is a ferocious and aggressive trout

September is the spawning season, so the fish are very quiet. There is no closed season, but as a guide, it is my responsibility to work to prevent fishing for white-spotted Amemasu during the spawning season.

This year, I guided six groups of foreign fly fishers. Some of them have already booked for next year.

I hope you will try dry fly fishing for white-spotted char, a Hokkaido native. We have some free dates from late June to the end of July, so please contact us.

Tackle:

Single-handed rod 9ft 5-6, WF line, 12-14ftreader, 6-10Cicada, Grasshopper, Chernobyl Ant and other terrestrial dry flies size 4-10, lots of floatants. All you can rental.

Waders is necessary, rentals available. Simms waders and boots size about US-S to US-L.

Size of trout:

Amemasu is mostly 40-55cm, 1-3lbs

Ito

Season:

June 20th to August 20th

2-3 days, weekdays are better

Places to stay:

1. Tokachi-Furano area (near Obihiro City)

2. Hokkaido North (near Asahikawa City)

Fee 2025～:

For one person, 106,000 yen～ for 2 days, 160,000 yen～ for 3 days

For two people, 152,000 yen～ for 2 days, 228,000 yen～ for 3 days

Rental tackels and Simms waders available, and extra fee 5,000yen each for one day.

Conditions:

Pick up or meet up at approximately 8am

Leave the river around 4pm and return.

Lunch is included.

Please contact us regarding travel outside of the tour day.

*There are areas where brown bears live, so please follow your guide's instructions.

*Guide speaking English, that's very rare too.

So, you don't have to worry about any trouble in tour.