Fishing Lake Ashi (Ashinoko): the trout, the seasons, and the plan to catch them

What and where it is

Lake Ashi (Ashinoko, 芦ノ湖) sits in the Hakone volcanic caldera in Kanagawa, about 90 minutes from central Tokyo. It is a crater lake of about 6.6 km², up to roughly 40 m deep, at about 723 m altitude, ringed by forest with Mount Fuji behind it. Clear, cold mountain water, and an attractive trout lake.

The lake formed in the crater of the Hakone volcano and fills the floor of the caldera, which is why it is deep, cold and clear (figures from GoodLuckTrip and the Hakone-Japan lake pages). It is one of the set pieces of the Hakone tourist area, with sightseeing pirate ships, the Hakone Shrine torii standing in the water on the east shore, and a ropeway up the hills, so in season it is busy and bright. That shapes the fishing the way it does at most popular lakes: the early and late windows, and the quieter shoulder seasons, are when the trout feed and the water is calm.

It is an easy lake to reach from Tokyo, which is much of its appeal. The usual route is the Shinkansen or the Odakyu line to Odawara, then the Hakone Tozan railway and bus up to the lakeside at Hakone-machi (Hakone-cho) (Japan Tourism Agency Lake Ashi sheet, mlit.go.jp). Most visiting anglers base themselves around Hakone-machi at the south end, or at Moto-Hakone on the east shore, which is where the shore access and the rental boats are.

A useful local detail: the trout are not spread evenly. Rainbow trout show more on the western side of the lake and brown trout more on the eastern side (Tokyo Fly Fishing & Country Club; Hakone-Japan). So which fish you want can decide which shore you fish.

The fish, and where, when and how to catch each

Rainbow and brown trout are the headline, both stocked, with rainbows more to the west and browns more to the east. Cherry salmon are a bonus. Bass turn up in the warm months. Wakasagi (pond smelt) are the winter speciality. Each holds differently and wants a different method, and remember soft plastics are banned here. The cards below give you where, when and how for each.

Others, for context. The lake holds the usual coarse fish alongside the trout, and the bass and bluegill above are non-native. The five cards are the trip for most visitors: the two trout are the headline, the wakasagi is the winter draw, the cherry salmon a bonus, and the bass a summer extra.

I have set each species out as a card. Read the one for the fish you want, then check the seasonal section for how it moves through the year, and follow the rig link to build the method. The one rule that shapes every card: plastic worms and soft lures are not allowed on Lake Ashi, so the lure methods here are spoons, spinners and hard lures, and the fly methods are dry fly, nymph and streamer.

How the fishing changes by season

Spring opens the lake on 1 March and the trout feed near the surface. Summer pushes the trout deep and brings the bass into the shallow bays. Autumn is a strong trout window and the wakasagi season opens on 1 October. Winter is trout near the margins and wakasagi off the shore, until the lake closes in mid-December (14 December in 2026).

Here is the year in plain terms.

• The closed months (mid-December to the end of February). The lake is shut to fishing from after the mid-December close (14 December in 2026) until 1 March. Plan around the opening date rather than turning up and finding it closed. Wakasagi are raised in the local fishery over these months for the autumn stock.
• Spring (March to May). The lake opens on 1 March and the trout fish well in the cold, clear water, feeding near the surface and the margins. A strong fly window for both rainbows and browns. The bass are not yet on.
• Summer (June to August). The trout drop deeper and feed early and late, so fish first and last light and rest in the bright middle of the day. The bass come into the shallow, warm bays, on hard lures only. A rowboat helps you reach the cooler, deeper trout water.
• Autumn (September to November). A strong all-round window. The trout feed up before winter, and the wakasagi season opens on 1 October with its Hakone Shrine ceremony, so from October you can fish trout by day and wakasagi off the shore. Bass still show in the shallows early in the autumn.
• Early winter (December, to the close). Trout near the margins in the cold water and wakasagi off the shore, until the lake closes in mid-December (14 December in 2026). The cold shoulder suits the bigger browns. After the close, the lake rests until 1 March.

What you can eat (and what to release)

The trout and the wakasagi are eaten and good. Wakasagi are the classic tempura, and the lakeside serves a smelt lunch in season. Rainbow and brown trout are fine to keep within the cooperative's limits: a minimum size of 18 cm and a bag of 15 trout a day (all trout species combined). Check the current limits with the cooperative before you keep a fish, and treat cherry salmon as restricted.

The eating fish here are the trout and the smelt. Wakasagi are deep-fried as tempura, and around the lake you can buy a smelt lunch in the wakasagi season, which is part of the day for many visitors (Hakone-Japan; Kanagawa tourism). Rainbow and brown trout are good on the table and may be kept within the cooperative's limits.

Two things to check and respect:

• The cooperative's trout size and bag limits are a minimum of 18 cm and 15 trout a day (rainbow, brown, cherry salmon, char and himemasu counted together), set by the Lake Ashinoko fishery cooperative. These can change, so read the current rules with your ticket before you keep a trout.
• Cherry salmon (sakuramasu / yamame) count within the 18 cm minimum and the 15-trout bag, but are restricted in many Japanese inland waters. Confirm the cooperative's rule before you target or keep one; treat any salmon as a bonus to release unless the rules clearly allow keeping it.

Whatever you keep, check the size and bag limits and the rules first, handle fish in wet hands, unhook them carefully, and clean your kit between waters so you do not carry anything from one lake to the next.

Licence and rules

Yes, you need a day-ticket. The Lake Ashinoko fishery cooperative sells an admission day-ticket for ¥1,800 (¥4,000 if you buy it on the bank), bought in advance at a souvenir shop, convenience store, boat-rental shop or online. Two rules matter most: plastic worms and soft lures are banned, and the lake is open only from 1 March to the 3rd Sunday in December. Wakasagi has its own 1 October opening.

How the licence works in Japan, for this lake. Inland lakes in Japan are managed by a local fishing cooperative (漁協 gyokyo, a fisheries cooperative association), and you buy that cooperative's area day-ticket (遊漁券 yuugyoken, a recreational fishing ticket). For Lake Ashi the issuer is the Lake Ashinoko fishery cooperative (ashinoko-gyokyou.com). You buy the ticket, then fish under its rules. There is no separate national or prefecture-wide angling licence to add on top.

The ticket (source: Lake Ashinoko fishery cooperative, ashinoko-gyokyou.com; FISHPASS online permit shop, as of 5 June 2026):

The rules that matter most here:

How to get the ticket

• Decide your dates and check them against the season (open 1 March to the 3rd Sunday in December; wakasagi from 1 October).
• Buy the day-ticket in advance at a souvenir shop, convenience store or boat-rental shop around the lake. Carry it while you fish.
• If you want a rowboat, hire one at the lakeside (no boat licence needed). For an engine boat you need a Japanese boating licence (class 2 or higher), so most visitors take a rowboat or a guide.
• Leave the soft plastics at home. Pack spoons, spinners and hard lures for the lure work, and the fly kit for the trout.

Other rules that matter

• The soft-lure ban, above: no plastic worms or soft lures of any kind.
• Clean your kit between waters so you do not move invasive species or disease between lakes.
• Confirm the figures with the Lake Ashinoko fishery cooperative before you travel, as ticket price, season dates and rules change each year.

Where to fish

Good shore access runs round much of the lake, and rowboats reach the deeper water and the open shoals. Rainbow trout show more on the western side, brown trout more on the eastern side, so pick your shore for your fish. Hakone-machi at the south and Moto-Hakone on the east are the usual bases, with shops, rental boats and the bus stop.

The lake is ringed by the Hakone caldera, so the shore fishing works the margins, the points, the inflows and the drop-offs near the bank, and a rowboat opens up the deeper, cooler trout water and the wakasagi shoals. These are the practical areas (Japan Tourism Agency Lake Ashi sheet; Hakone-Japan; Tokyo Fly Fishing & Country Club):

• The western side. Holds more rainbow trout. Fish the points, the inflows and the shore drop-offs, on the fly or with spoons and spinners. The quieter side away from the main tourist front.
• The eastern side (Moto-Hakone, the Hakone Shrine torii area). Holds more brown trout. The shaded margins and the structure near the shore, best in low light. A natural base, with shops and the bus.
• Hakone-machi (Hakone-cho), the south end. The main lakeside town, the end of the Hakone Tozan bus, with souvenir shops and convenience stores for the ticket, and boat hire. The simplest base for a first visit.
• The shallow, warm bays (summer). Where the bass come on in summer and autumn, on hard lures only.
• Off the shore and a rowboat (autumn and winter). Where the wakasagi hold; drop the smelt rig straight down over a shoal.

What depth and method means here

• The shore margins, points and inflows: trout on the fly (dry, nymph or streamer) or on spoons and spinners. A dry-fly rig or nymph rig for feeding fish, a streamer rig for the hunting browns, or spoons and spinners on the light spin outfit.
• Deeper, cooler water from a rowboat (summer): the trout when the surface warms; a streamer fished deep, or a spoon worked slow and deep.
• Over a wakasagi shoal (autumn and winter): the wakasagi rig straight down off the shore or a rowboat.
• The shallow bays (summer): bass on hard lures only (no soft plastics).

Shore vs boat, and the time of day

From the shore you can fish the trout (fly, spoon or spinner) and, in summer, the bass on hard lures, best at first and last light. A rowboat reaches the deeper trout water and the wakasagi shoals and needs no licence. An engine boat needs a Japanese boating licence. The bright middle of a summer day is slow either way.

Plain version: if you only have the shore, fish the trout at dawn and dusk (rainbows to the west, browns to the east), take the bass on hard lures in the summer bays, and drop the wakasagi rig from October. A rowboat needs no licence and opens up the deeper trout water and the open smelt shoals. An engine boat needs a Japanese boating licence, so most visitors take a rowboat or a guide.

This table is the core decision the trip turns on. It lives on the cheat sheet too. Read it as: pick your fish, pick where you are and when, and it gives you the rig. Remember soft plastics are banned, so the lure rows are spoons, spinners and hard lures.

The boat: rowboat, engine boat, or a guide

A rowboat needs no licence and is the practical option for most visitors, hired at the lakeside to reach the deeper trout water and the wakasagi shoals. An engine boat needs a Japanese boating licence (class 2 or higher). Trout fishing here is also run as guided and club fly fishing in the Hakone area, which is the simplest way for a first visit.

You do not need a boat to fish Lake Ashi well from the shore, but a boat reaches the cooler, deeper trout water in summer and the open wakasagi shoals in winter. Three ways onto the water:

• A rowboat (the practical option). Rental rowboats are available around the lake and need no boat licence, so this is what most visitors take (Japan Tourism Agency Lake Ashi sheet, mlit.go.jp, as of 5 June 2026). You still need the fishing day-ticket. Hire one at the lakeside; confirm the rate when you book.
• An engine boat. A powered boat needs a Japanese boating licence, class 2 or higher depending on the engine, which most visitors will not hold, so the rowboat or a guide is the usual choice.
• Guided and club fly fishing. Trout fishing in the Hakone area is run as guided and club fly fishing, for example through the Tokyo Fly Fishing & Country Club, and trout-fishing experiences at the lake are bookable through operators such as Activity Japan (which lists family trout-fishing trips at Lake Ashi). A guide is the simplest way to fish it on a first visit; they know the water and the rules. Rates are on the operators' own pages, so book through the links rather than rely on a quoted figure.

Where to stay (and buy a ticket locally)

To base yourself by the fishing, stay around Hakone-machi at the south end or Moto-Hakone on the east shore, both on the lake with shops, rental boats and the bus. The Prince Hakone on the west shore and the Hakone ryokan and hotels put you minutes from the water. Buy the day-ticket at a lakeside souvenir shop, convenience store or boat-rental shop.

Stay near the water

• Hakone-machi (Hakone-cho), the south end. The main lakeside town, the end of the Hakone Tozan bus, with hotels, shops and boat hire. The simplest base for a first visit and for the western (rainbow) side.
• Moto-Hakone, the east shore. By the Hakone Shrine torii, with ryokan and hotels, handy for the eastern (brown) side.
• The Prince Hakone Lake Ashinoko and other lakeside hotels. On the west and north shores, on the water, with activities and boats. Hakone has a wide range of ryokan and hotels in all directions; book on the side that suits your fish.

Buy a ticket in person at a lakeside souvenir shop, a convenience store, or a boat-rental shop around the lake (the cooperative's ticket). Buying ahead is cheaper and simpler than buying from a warden on the bank.

The methods, and the rigs to build them

The fly rigs cover the trout: a dry fly for rising fish, a nymph for fish feeding below, a streamer for the hunting browns. Spoons and spinners on a light spin outfit are the lure alternative. Hard lures take the summer bass. The wakasagi rig is the winter smelt method. Soft plastics are banned, so there is no soft-plastic rig here. Each links to its own build page.

Map of fish, where and when, to a rig. The build instructions and the knots live on the rig pages, so I link rather than repeat them.

• Trout that are rising, on the fly → dry-fly rig. A tapered leader to tippet to a dry fly, drifted drag-free over feeding fish. The spring and autumn method when trout are up on the surface.
• Trout feeding below the surface, on the fly → nymph rig. A nymph fished below the surface for fish that are not rising. The day-in, day-out fly method when nothing is showing on top.
• The bigger, hunting browns and rainbows, on the fly → streamer rig. A larger fly that imitates a baitfish, on a short stout leader (or a sink tip to fish deep), tied on with a non-slip loop so it swings and darts. For the predatory fish and the deeper, cooler water.
• Trout on a lure, from shore or a rowboat → spoons and spinners on the light spin outfit. Because soft plastics are banned, spoons and small spinners do the lure work, on the same light spinning outfit that page describes. Fish them slow and deep in low light, faster and shallower over feeding fish.
• Bass in the summer bays → hard lures on the light spin outfit. Crankbaits, jerkbaits and vibration plugs only; no soft plastics. The summer-and-autumn extra, not the headline.
• Wakasagi off the shore or a rowboat → wakasagi rig. A fine vertical string of five to seven tiny hooks above a small weight, baited with red maggots, dropped straight down over a shoal. The winter speciality from 1 October.

The fly rigs are tied with the perfection loop (the leader loop, to join leader to fly line loop to loop), the surgeon's knot and the blood knot (the leader and tippet joins), the improved clinch knot (tippet to a dry fly or nymph) and the non-slip loop (the streamer, for movement). The spoon, spinner and hard-lure work and the wakasagi rig tie on with the Palomar. Each rig page links the knots it needs.

Build your kit (the kit builder and the shopping list)

Pick your fish and your method (fly, light spin, or the wakasagi rig), and the kit builder trims the shopping list and the rigs to exactly what you need. One light fly outfit covers the trout on the fly; one light spin outfit covers the spoons, spinners and hard lures; the wakasagi rig is the one specialist set. No soft plastics (banned), no brands, no prices.

That is the whole list. One light fly outfit (5 to 6 weight, a floating line, leaders and tippet, and a box split into dries, nymphs and streamers) covers the trout on the fly. One light spin outfit with a few spoons, spinners and a couple of hard lures covers the lure work. Add the short wakasagi rod and a shikake only for the winter smelt. Leave the soft plastics at home, they are banned here. Buy generic sizes and types; you do not need a named brand to catch a Lake Ashi trout.

A trip checklist

Before you go: check your dates against the season (open 1 March to the 3rd Sunday in December; wakasagi from 1 October), buy the cooperative day-ticket, decide shore or rowboat (and book a guide if you want one), pack the fly or spin kit (no soft plastics), and note the rules. Then print the cheat sheet and take it with you.

Do this in order:

1. Check your dates against the season. The lake is open 1 March to the 3rd Sunday in December, and closed the rest of the year. Wakasagi runs from 1 October. Trout fish best in spring, autumn and winter; bass come on in summer.
2. Buy the day-ticket. ¥1,800 bought ahead (¥4,000 on the bank), from a lakeside souvenir shop, convenience store, boat-rental shop or online. Carry it while you fish.
3. Decide shore or boat, and book it. Shore only: trout on the western (rainbow) and eastern (brown) sides at dawn and dusk, bass in the summer bays, wakasagi off the shore from October. Want the deeper water or the open shoals: hire a rowboat (no licence) or book a guided day (links above). An engine boat needs a Japanese boating licence.
4. Pack the kit, and leave the soft plastics at home. A light fly outfit with dries, nymphs and streamers, or a light spin outfit with spoons, spinners and a couple of hard lures, plus the wakasagi rod and a shikake for the winter smelt. The shopping list above (trimmed by the kit builder) is your packing list.
5. Note the rules. Soft plastics banned, season 1 March to mid-December (14 December in 2026), wakasagi from 1 October, rowboat fine without a licence. Trout 18 cm minimum and 15 a day; bass 25 cm, 5 a day, no live release. Wet hands, release carefully.
6. Print the cheat sheet and fold it into the box. Get the printable cheat sheet

Common mistakes

The big ones: bringing soft plastics to a lake that bans them, turning up in the closed months, fishing the wrong shore for your fish, fishing the bright middle of a summer day, and assuming you need an engine boat. None is hard to avoid once you know.

• Bringing soft plastics. Plastic worms and soft lures are banned at Lake Ashi. Pack spoons, spinners and hard lures for the lure work, and flies for the trout. The finesse soft-plastic methods from Lake Biwa and Lake Kawaguchi do not apply here.
• Turning up in the closed season. The lake is shut from after the 3rd Sunday in December until 1 March. Check the dates before you book, not after. Wakasagi only opens on 1 October.
• Fishing the wrong shore for your fish. Rainbows show more on the western side, browns more on the eastern side. If you want a brown, fish the east; if you want numbers of rainbows, fish the west.
• Fishing the bright middle of a summer day. This is a clear, cold, busy tourist lake. A sunny summer midday is slow for the trout, which drop deep. Fish the first and last hours and rest in between.
• Assuming you need an engine boat. A rowboat needs no licence and reaches the deeper trout water and the wakasagi shoals. An engine boat needs a Japanese boating licence most visitors do not hold, so a rowboat or a guide is the practical choice.
• Skipping the ticket. You need the cooperative day-ticket to fish, bought ahead at a lakeside shop. Buying from a warden on the bank is dearer.

Frequently asked questions

The questions travelling anglers ask most about Lake Ashi: what is here, the cooperative day-ticket, the soft-lure ban, the season and the wakasagi opening, shore versus boat, the boat licence, getting there from Tokyo, what you can eat, the rigs and kit, and the summer bass.