Fishing Lake Biwa: the bass, the seasons, the rigs, and the one rule you must not break

What and where it is

Lake Biwa sits in Shiga Prefecture, just east of Kyoto. It is Japan's largest freshwater lake, about 670 km², with around 235 km of shoreline and a maximum depth near 104 m. The Biwako Ohashi bridge splits it into a deep, clear North Basin and a shallow, weedy South Basin. The South Basin is the classic bass water.

It is one of the oldest lakes in the world, an ancient lake of roughly 670 km² at about 85 m altitude, with a mean depth near 41 m and a maximum near 104 m (figures from Wikipedia, Britannica and the Lake Biwa Museum). The split that matters to an angler runs across the waist at the Lake Biwa Bridge. South of it, the South Basin (Nanko) is shallow, averaging only a few metres, soft-bottomed, weedy in summer and heavily fished: this is where most bass are caught, and where the big pre-spawn fish pile in. North of it, the North Basin (Hokko) is deep, rocky, very clear and far less weedy, with cold streams running in; the fish there are bigger and harder to fool (Japan Bass Fishing Agent; Biwa Lake C2C).

It is an easy lake to reach. Otsu, on the south-east shore, is minutes from Kyoto by train, so most visiting anglers base around Kyoto or Otsu and fish the South Basin. The lake feeds Kyoto and Osaka with drinking water and drains south through the Seta River, the only natural outflow.

The thing that put Biwa on the world map is one fish. On 2 July 2009, Manabu Kurita landed a largemouth bass here of 10.12 kg (22 lb 4 oz) and 73.5 cm, which tied George Perry's 1932 all-tackle world record that had stood for 77 years (Bassmaster; Japan Bass Fishing Agent). Biwa is a genuine big-bass water. It is also a battleground for an invasive-species fight that shapes the one rule you must follow here (see what you can keep, and licence and rules, below).

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

Largemouth bass is the target, in both basins. Bluegill come on almost any small bait. Those two are the day's plan, and both are non-native, which is why neither can go back. The native fish (biwamasu trout, nigorobuna crucian carp, common carp, the giant Biwa catfish) are colour, not the trip, and some are locally important; do not target or keep them casually.

The native fish, for context (do not target or keep casually). Biwa holds biwamasu (ビワマス), a trout endemic to the lake; nigorobuna (ニゴロブナ), a native crucian carp used to make funazushi (the lake's famous fermented sushi); common carp; and the giant native Biwa catfish. These are a different matter from the invasive bass and bluegill: some are locally important food fish and several are managed, so leave them alone unless you are with a guide who knows exactly what is allowed. The trip here is bass and bluegill.

I have set out the two target fish, and the natives, as cards. 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.

How the fishing changes by season

Spring is the season. April warms the South Basin and May brings the big pre-spawn and spawning fish into the shallows, the best chance at a giant. Summer pushes fish onto weed edges and into the deeper North Basin, so you fish dawn and dusk. Autumn is a stable second window. Winter is slow and deep.

Here is the year in plain terms, tied to the basins and depths from the cards above.

• Early spring (March into April). The South Basin warms first. Bass wake up and move shallow as the water climbs; March to early April is the start of a long open run. The North Basin is still cold and slow.
• Late spring (May, the standout). Pre-spawn and spawn put the biggest fish into the South Basin shallows, on the weed edges, canal mouths and flats. This is the window people travel for and the best shot at a fish over 60 cm. Finesse soft plastics and weightless worms shine.
• Summer (June to August). Fish hold on the deeper South Basin weed edges and move out into the clearer, cooler North Basin at 8 to 14 m. The middle of a bright, hot day is slow; fish the first and last hours. Bluegill are everywhere and easy.
• Autumn (September to early December). A stable, generous window. October into early December is reckoned the easiest, most enjoyable fishing of the year, as the fish feed up before winter across both basins (Japan Bass Fishing Agent).
• Winter (December to March). Cold and slow. The fish go deep, mainly in the North Basin, and the bite is for the patient. Most visitors come April to November.

What you can keep, and the rule you must not break

This is the rule that catches every visitor out. Shiga Prefecture bans returning a caught alien fish to the water, so a bass or bluegill you catch must not be released alive. Do not treat Biwa as catch-and-release. Put the fish in the collection boxes provided at many access points, or follow your guide's instructions. The native fish are a separate matter and are not for you to keep.

This matters, so it is worth being exact. Shiga Prefecture enacted an ordinance in 2002 (in force from 2003), as part of a long campaign to control the invasive bass and bluegill that had come to dominate the lake, that prohibits releasing a caught alien fish back into the water (Shiga Prefecture; alien-fish countermeasure literature). So the normal bass-angler reflex, unhook it and slip it back, is against the rules here.

What to actually do with a fish you catch:

• Do not release it alive. That applies to every bass and every bluegill.
• Use the collection boxes. Shiga provides recapture / collection boxes (回収ボックス, kaishuu bokkusu) at a number of lakeside access points specifically for caught bass and bluegill. Put the fish in the box.
• Or follow your guide. A guided boat will handle disposal correctly; do as they say.
• The native fish go back, or are left alone. Biwamasu, nigorobuna, common carp and the Biwa catfish are not invasive and several are managed or locally important. Do not target them, and do not keep one casually; release a native fish carefully or leave it for those who fish it under the local rules.

This is not a small-print detail. It is the single most important thing to get right on Biwa, both legally and because it is the whole reason the lake is fished the way it is. If keeping and dispatching every bass you catch is not something you want to do, Biwa is not the catch-and-release trip you might expect; plan accordingly.

Licence and rules

You need no fishing ticket to fish Biwa for bass and bluegill. Its open water has no established recreational fishing-right, so it is one of the few licence-free lakes in Japan. That is the good news. The firm rules are the no-release ordinance above, and a boating licence if you drive a powered boat, which is why most visitors take a guide.

Why there is no ticket. Across most of Japan a lake or river is run by a local fishing cooperative (漁協, gyokyo) and you buy its day-ticket (遊漁券, yuugyoken, a recreational fishing ticket). Lake Biwa is one of the exceptions: its open water is designated such that recreational yuugyoken fishing-rights are not established, so bass and bluegill fishing is licence-free (Japan Bass Fishing Agent, "Do I need a fishing license in Japan?"; Shiga Prefecture). Licence-free does not mean rule-free, as the no-release ordinance makes plain.

The rules at a glance

What this means in practice. You turn up, you fish, you pay nothing for a licence. But you go out with a guide (the simplest way to handle the boating licence and the disposal correctly), and you keep, dispatch and bin every bass and bluegill you land. That is the deal on Biwa.

Respect-the-fishery note. This is an invasive-species control lake, so the usual conservation advice is inverted for bass and bluegill: do not put them back. Still clean and dry your kit between waters so you do not move species or disease to your next lake, and leave the native fish alone.

Where to fish from the bank

The South Basin near Otsu has extensive bank and harbour-wall access: the canals, the harbours and weed flats, and the Seta River outlet at the southern tip are the classic shore marks. Bank fishing here is bass and bluegill on finesse soft plastics. But the productive way to fish Biwa, and the only legal way to use a powered boat, is with a guide.

The South Basin is shallow and weedy, so from the bank you are casting to weed edges, canal mouths, harbour corners and the soft flats. These are the shore-fishing areas around the south end (Japan Bass Fishing Agent):

• The Otsu canals and harbours. The network of canals, harbour walls and marina edges along the South Basin shore near Otsu is the classic, easy-access shore fishing, reachable by train from Kyoto. Weed mouths and wall corners hold bass and bluegill.
• The South Basin weed flats. Shallow, soft-bottomed flats that grow heavy weed through summer. Fish the edges and the holes in the weed with weedless soft plastics.
• The Seta River outlet. The southern tip where the lake drains into the Seta River. Moving water and structure concentrate fish; a known shore mark.

What depth means for method from the bank

• Shallow weed and flats (one to three metres): weedless soft plastics are essential. A Texas rig or a jika rig punches into and through the weed; a weightless or wacky worm glides over the top of it.
• Harbour walls, canal mouths and corners: vertical, tight-to-structure presentations. A neko rig or a Ned rig worked slowly down a wall picks off pressured fish.
• Clearer, harder bottom (where you can reach it): finesse and search. A Ned rig for a tough bite, a Carolina rig to cover open bottom.

From the bank you will catch bass and plenty of bluegill, but the North Basin big fish and the open water are boat country. Remember every fish you land goes in the collection box, not back in the lake.

Bank vs boat, and the time of day

From the bank, fish the South Basin canals, walls and weed flats for bass and bluegill at first and last light, on finesse and weedless soft plastics. From a boat (with a guide) you add the deeper South Basin weed and the big-fish North Basin rock and drop-offs, on a wider lure spread. The bright middle of a hot day is slow either way.

Plain version: with only the bank you get a real South Basin bass-and-bluegill trip on finesse soft plastics, best at dawn and dusk. With a guided boat you keep all of that and add the deeper weed, the open water, and the North Basin rock where the giants live. Morning and evening beat midday; a bright, hot summer afternoon is the slow patch.

This table is the core decision the trip turns on. It lives on the cheat sheet too. Read it as: pick where you are and when, and it gives you the rig.

The boat: book a guide

Going by boat is what opens up the deep South Basin weed and the big-fish North Basin, and a guide is the way to do it. Self-drive hire of a powered boat needs a Japanese boating licence, so most visitors book a guide who supplies the boat, the tackle and the local knowledge. Rates are on request, so book through the operators below; I do not invent a day-rate.

Biwa's guided bass services are set up for international anglers, with English-speaking guides, rental tackle, and transfers from Kyoto. A guide also handles the no-release disposal correctly and removes the boating-licence problem. Book directly:

• Japan Bass Fishing Agent – guided Lake Biwa bass charters close to Kyoto, English-speaking, with rental tackle and transfers. japanbassfishingagent.com.
• Truth Guide Service – Lake Biwa guided bass fishing with an English page for visitors. truth-biwako.com.

Self-drive. Hiring and driving a powered boat yourself generally needs a Japanese small-craft boating licence, which a visitor will rarely have. Some rental places offer small low-horsepower or electric licence-free boats, but these will not cover the lake the way a guide's boat does, so the guided option is the practical route for almost everyone (Japan Bass Fishing Agent, boating-licence guide).

Where to stay (and base yourself for the fishing)

To fish the South Basin, base yourself in Otsu on the south-east shore (minutes from Kyoto by train, right on the bass water) or in Kyoto itself and travel out each morning, which many guided trips assume and run transfers for. There is plenty of lakeside accommodation around Otsu; for the North Basin, stay further up the eastern shore.

Where to base yourself

• Otsu (South Basin). The natural base: lakeside hotels and guesthouses right on the South Basin bass water, a short train ride from Kyoto. Easiest for shore fishing and for meeting a South Basin guide.
• Kyoto. If you are combining the fishing with a city trip, stay in Kyoto and let a guide collect you; several Biwa charters run transfers from Kyoto, so you fish Biwa by day and stay in the city.
• The eastern North Basin shore. For the big-fish North Basin, stay further north up the eastern shore so you are closer to the rocky water in the morning.

Book accommodation and confirm your guide's transfer arrangement together, so the early start works.

The methods, and the rigs to build them

Biwa is a finesse soft-plastic bass lake. Six rigs cover it and share most of their tackle: the Texas and jika rigs for weed and cover, the Ned and neko rigs for pressured clear water, the weightless or wacky worm over shallow weed, and the Carolina rig to search the deeper North Basin bottom. Hard lures add the bigger fish. Each links to its own build page.

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

• South Basin weed and cover → Texas rig. A bullet weight and a weedless soft plastic that slips into and through weed and wood. The all-round cover rig, and the one to learn first here.
• Cover and bottom contact, weight-forward → jika rig. A Japanese-born "direct rig": the weight clips straight to the hook eye on a split ring, so it leads and the hook stands. Built on this kind of pressured Biwa water; superb for fishing cover and the bottom.
• Pressured, clear water → Ned rig. A small mushroom jighead and a stubby soft stick, fished slow. The finesse rig that draws a tough, clear-water bite when bigger lures get refused, which is exactly the North Basin.
• A tail-up shimmy on a straight worm → neko rig. A nail weight in the head of a straight worm, hooked wacky-style, so the tail stands and quivers. Another Japanese finesse rig; deadly down a harbour wall or over a clear flat.
• Shallow weed, the most natural fall → weightless or wacky worm. No weight, just a soft plastic that glides and flutters over the top of the weed. The May big-fish presentation in skinny water.
• Searching deeper, harder bottom → Carolina rig. A sliding weight and a long leader that drags the bottom and trails the bait behind it, free. The search tool for the deep, clear North Basin.

Hard lures (jerkbaits, swimbaits, vibration plugs) take the bigger North Basin fish on a fast, reactive bite; tie a lure on a loop so it works freely.

The knots that tie these rigs are the Palomar, the workhorse that builds every soft-plastic rig above (hook, jighead and swivel), and the non-slip loop for clipping a hard lure on so it swims freely. Each rig page links to the knot it needs.

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

Pick your target (bass or bluegill) and whether you are on the bank or in a boat, and the kit builder trims the rigs and the shopping list to exactly what you need. One medium spinning outfit and a small box of soft plastics, hooks, weights and jigheads build almost everything. The full list is below, grouped, with no brands and no prices.

That is the whole list. One medium spinning outfit, an optional baitcaster for the heavy weed and the hard lures, a couple of spools of line and leader, and a small box of soft plastics, hooks, weights and jigheads build all six rigs. Buy generic sizes and types; you do not need a named brand to catch a Biwa bass.

A trip checklist

Before you go: pick your dates (April to November, May for a giant, autumn for steady fishing), book a guide for the boat (and the boating licence and disposal), pack the one shared soft-plastic kit, and read the no-release rule so it is no surprise. Then print the cheat sheet and take it with you.

Do this in order:

1. Pick your dates. April to November, with May the standout for a big pre-spawn fish and October to early December for steady, generous fishing. Winter is slow. Check the "what's on" strip above.
2. No licence to buy, so book the boat instead. Biwa needs no fishing ticket. The thing to arrange is a guide (links above), who supplies the boat, the tackle, the local marks, the boating licence and correct disposal. Confirm the Kyoto transfer if you are staying in the city.
3. Pack the one kit. A medium spinning outfit (optional baitcaster), braid-to-fluoro and straight fluoro, and the small box of soft plastics, hooks, weights and jigheads. The shopping list above (trimmed by the kit builder) is your packing list.
4. Read the no-release rule before you go. Every bass and bluegill you catch must not go back in the water: use the collection boxes or your guide. Leave the native fish alone. This is the one rule that surprises visitors.
5. Base yourself near the water. Otsu for the South Basin, Kyoto with a transfer, or the eastern shore for the North Basin. Book it with the early start in mind.
6. Print the cheat sheet and fold it into the box. Get the printable cheat sheet

Common mistakes

The big ones here: expecting catch-and-release and being caught out by the no-release rule, trying to self-drive a powered boat without a Japanese licence, fishing the bright middle of a hot summer day, fishing heavy line in the clear North Basin, and bothering the native fish. None is hard to avoid once you know.

• Expecting to put the bass back. This is the one that trips everyone. Shiga law bans releasing a caught bass or bluegill. Plan to keep and dispose of every one (collection box or your guide), and decide before you book whether that is a trip you want.
• Trying to self-drive a powered boat. A powered boat needs a Japanese small-craft boating licence you almost certainly do not have. Book a guide rather than expecting to hire and drive your own.
• Fishing the middle of a bright, hot day. Biwa, especially the clear North Basin, is slow at midday in summer. Fish the first and last hours and rest in between.
• Heavy line and gear in clear water. The North Basin is very clear and the fish are pressured. Finesse and fluorocarbon, light and low-visibility, catch where heavy braid and big lures get refused.
• Treating the South Basin like the North, or vice versa. South is shallow, weedy, numbers and the May giants; North is deep, rocky, clear and finesse for the biggest fish. Match the rig to the basin.
• Bothering the native fish. Biwamasu, nigorobuna, carp and the Biwa catfish are not your target and several are managed or locally important. Leave them alone.
• Not cleaning your kit afterwards. Biwa is an invasive-species lake; dry and clean your gear before your next water so you do not carry anything onward.

Frequently asked questions

The questions travelling anglers ask most about Lake Biwa: the licence, what is here, the no-release rule, the best time, the two basins, bank versus boat, the boat, the rigs, what you can eat, and where to stay.