Great Fishing in Lake Shikaribetsu

Miyabe Char

Native Japanese trout- Miyabe char
The Miyabe char is an endemic species here at Lake Shikaribetsu, evolving from Dolly Verden (Miyabe char is a subspecies of Dolly Verden). Over 10 thousand years ago, ancestral Dolly Verden were land-locked due to volcanic activities, then evolving in a unique way.

Miyabe Char

Miyabe char in Lake Shikaribetsu have three body colors (green, brown and blue) corresponding to their living habits/environments. Especially the blue one with pink and orange dots is extremely beautiful, called “jewel of lake”.

Cherry Salmon(Masu Salmon)

Native Japanese trout- Cherry Salmon(Masu Salmon)
Cherry Salmon(Masu Salmon) hatch and grow at rivers within their early stage of life, adapting to the habitats of lake. Within the lake, they feed on mainly small fishes predator such as Japanese smelts. When they become big and mature,they return to their native rivers around early-September to mid-October. Just after the opening (First stage), you may see cherry salmons are aggressively chasing lure/fly. They are active at this time. You can catch these fish at drop offs or relatively shallow zones.

Rainbow Trout

Fighter of the lake – Rainbow trout
Anglers are fascinated by their strong power

Rainbow trouts are introduced into the Lake Shikaribetsu several decades ago. Since then they reproduce through generations, and now they are recognized as "wild” rainbow trout. They usually feed on Japanese smelts around mid-June and switch to feeding on mayflies around late-June (First stage). Over-50cm-rainbow trouts are very powerful and they repeatedly jump in many cases.

Rainbow Trout

Second stage: Exciting Rainbow trout sight fishing game!
In the second stage (Fall season), big and powerful rainbow trouts are cruising near the shore. However, it is not easy to catch a big one because the water becomes clear and calm, while exclusively feasting on insects. In addition, precise casting skills will be needed. Fly fisherman may become addicted with such an exciting but difficult rainbow trout game once they catch one!

Flying tackle recommendations:
・Dry fly: around #18
・Leader & tippet: 4X or smaller

Miyabe Char is Endemic species

The population of the Miyabe char has seriously decreased due to overfishing and was protected as endangered species. Thanks to the preservation, the population has come back like better than*before. For preserving the Miyabe char to next generations, Shikaoi Town introduced the catch & release system from 2005. Also they set up various rules such as fish hook, seasons (50 days in a year) and the number of anglers (50 people per day).

Miyabe Char

Cherry Salmon(Masu Salmon)

Rainbow Trout


Great Fishing in Lake Shikaribetsu

The Miyabe char is an endemic species here at Lake Shikaribetsu, evolving from Dolly Verden (Miyabe char is a subspecies of Dolly Verden). Over 10 thousand years ago, ancestral Dolly Verden were land-locked due to volcanic activities, then evolving in a unique way. Miyabe chars have changed to feed mainly on planktons, which led to the greater number of gill rakers; an organ for filtering food (planktons). Mr. Masamitsu Oshima named the fish Miyabe char after Dr. Kingo Miyabe, who found that Miyabe char could be distinguishable from Dolly Verden in terms of the number of gill rakers.

Miyabe char in Lake Shikaribetsu have three body colors (green, brown and blue) corresponding to their living habits/environments. Especially the blue one with pink and orange dots is extremely beautiful, called “jewel of lake”. Average size of the char is around 30cm, but over-40cm one is often caught these days. Our record is 64cm. People have found the chars around 70cm. Although nobody has ever caught anything larger than that.

The population of the Miyabe char has seriously decreased due to overfishing and was protected as endangered species. Thanks to the preservation, the population has come back like better than*before. For preserving the Miyabe char to next generations, Shikaoi Town introduced the catch & release system from 2005. Also they set up various rules such as fish hook, seasons (50 days in a year) and the number of anglers (50 people per day). For sustainable resource management, we would like to ask you to fill some catch data forms.


Seasons

1st stage: May 22, 2024 -June 16, 2024 (7 AM-3 PM)
2nd stage: September 21, 2024- October 6, 2024 (7 AM-3 PM)
Open for 50 people/day


Fishing License Fee

4,190 yen/day・person
Only if the parents to accompany , elementary and junior high school students of the recreational fishing fee will be free .


Fishing Regulations

1. Lure or Fly-fishing ONLY (Bait fishing is NOT allowed).
2. All Miyabe char should be released.
Bag limit: 10 fish/person, except for Miyabe char.
3. Only SINGLE-BARBLESS HOOK is allowed.


Optional Services

(Rowboat Hire) 2,500 yen for 2 persons
(Life Vest) 500 yen/person
(Rowboat Ferrying) 1,000 yen/one-way, 2,000 yen/round-trip
(Guide fishing by boat) 19,800 yen/person 29,800 yen/2 person for 3 hours. Need a reservation.


"Shikaribetsu Lake Guided Fishing Tour - Advanced Course"

(Fishing tour rates) 1 person: 19,800 yen for 2 person: 29,800 yen
For intermediate to advanced anglers who want to enjoy fishing in earnest, the advanced course is recommended. It is a special fishing tour for lure fishing and fly fishing only. Our exclusive guide will take you to the fishing area reserved for the fishing tour on a motorboat. Please note that the fishing tour is reservation only and limited to one group per day.

 * Learn more about our guided fishing tours


Access

・From New Chitose Airport (3h)
Doutou Expressway (Chitose-Higashi IC to Tokachi-Shimizu IC) → Route 274 → Route 85
・From Obihiro Airport (1.5h)
Obihiro-Hiroo Expressway (Koufuku IC to Memuro IC) → Route 54 → Route 274 → Route 85
・From Sapporo (3.5h)
Hokkaido Expressway (Sapporo-Minami IC to Tokachi-Shimizu IC via Chitose-Eniwa JCT) → Route 274 → Route 85
JR line is also available.

CONTACT US