Fish
Ditrema temminckii ・ Embiotocidae (Surfperches)
One of the few fish a breakwater offers in the empty months of winter. From March to May they move into the shallows to give birth and come to hand with swollen bellies; handle them gently then, and keep the numbers you take down.
Unusually among marine fish, they give birth to live young rather than laying eggs. The newborns already look like miniature adults. Found in the southern Pacific coast of Japan, the waters off Hokkaido and the Sea of Okhotsk, and the northern Pacific coast of Japan.
Through winter and early spring it gives steady sport from a breakwater on a pole and a small float. Fish a little krill or a short piece of worm in mid-water, along weed edges or a metre off the harbour wall. The bite is slight: the float simply slides sideways.
Start with the bait about a fathom down and lengthen by 30 cm at a time if nothing comes. Keep the bait small: half a krill, with the hook buried in it. A steady trickle of chum holds the shoal against the wall.
Waters: Hokkaido & Sea of Okhotsk, Northern Pacific coast, Southern Pacific coast
It mixes into winter fukase fishing for nibblers, taking above the fish you actually want. If it keeps coming, throw the chum further out to draw the shoal off your hook bait. Its presence at least tells you the groundbait is working.
Waters: Northern Pacific coast, Southern Pacific coast
Float fishing starter kit ・ Kit total ¥13,000–30,000
Shares the rod and reel with the sabiki kit. The whole craft is in moving the stopper to find the depth.
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Salt-grilled or simmered. The flesh is watery and bony, so eat it the day you catch it, or dry it overnight to firm it up. A winter fish carries fat and is another thing entirely.
Best eating: January, February, November, December
Check the local prefectural fishery regulation, and release small fish, particularly in spring when they are carrying young.
Closed seasons and size limits — how to find the numbers, which differ by prefecture
This article organises general information and is not legal advice. Rules differ by municipality and by fishery cooperative, and they change. Always check the current rules for where you are going.
Seasons, sizes and eating quality are general guides. Rules change, so check the latest prefectural, fishery-cooperative and site rules before fishing. This app provides general information, not legal advice.