Nick grew up in the middle of the United States on a small farm in Ohio. As far back as he can remember, he was going out to the water to try and catch a fish. As a kid it was bluegill and bass on the farm pond, and as an adult it’s been primarily trout and char on the fly.

Thousands of flies and hundreds of days on the water later, Nick has developed a unique approach and fishes our local Hokkaido rivers nearly every day. He lives and breathes fly fishing.

Nick was drawn here for the amazing powder snow, and when it melted to reveal the beautiful rivers and unspoiled forests … well, the hook was set. It didn’t take long for him to realize that although Hokkaido is a world famous skiing destination, it could easily be an even bigger fishing destination. Here in Hokkaido, our waters are rich with local fish like the iwana/amemasu (white spotted char), yamame (land-locked cherry salmon), and Ugui (Japanese dace) along with fly fishing favorites, like the rainbow trout, brown trout, and more. Hokkaido has a seemingly endless landscape of cold mountain streams and rivers to explore and fish. As one of Nick’s friends (a Japanese fishing guide) once said, “there are more rivers to explore on this island than time in life.”

During our half-day tours, we’ll fish the rivers around the Niseko area. 4 hours in duration with flexible start times to best suit your schedule. For beginners, we’ll spend some time on the basics, working on casting technique, and putting it all into practice to putting it to practice to hopefully get that first fish on the fly!

These tours are also great for experienced anglers with busy schedules or other holiday plans, let us know what type of fly fishing and target species you prefer, and we’ll plan our time on the water accordingly.

Full-day tours are 8 hours long and can be in a wider surrounding area of Niseko. These tours give us ample time to fish multiple locations based on conditions and any client requests. The bite can be better at different times of day and these tours give us a better chance to be on the water when the time comes. We can hike in with food and stay out on a long river section all day, or break and change locations.

The full-day tour is perfect for someone ready to take a deep dive into fly fishing, or for experienced anglers looking to explore the local river systems.

Eastern Hokkaido is the ultimate Hokkaido fly fishing adventure, with a variety of larger rivers to choose from and stunning landscapes. We’ll fish rivers known for amemasu (white spotted char), chase wild rainbows, and explore catch-and-release rivers that are famous for their trophy-sized fish. Bigger rivers = bigger fish. Book early so we can reserve our nights at an idyllic, country lodge owned by a Japanese fly fishing guide.

If you want to explore Hokkaido’s pristine wilderness, then this multi-day tour is for you!