Fuppu Nijimasu Fishing Ponds

Fish your own lunch at Fuppu Nijimasu Fishing Ponds! Fuppu is the name of the area in Yorii. Nijimasu is the Japanese for Rainbow Trout. Fuppu Nijimasu fishing ponds is a type of fishing restaurant cum fishing center. You can fish for rainbow trout for consumption. You can either eat them there or bring them home.

Fuppu Nijimasu Fishing Ponds

The fishing center is located in the hills of Yorii about 300 meters above sea level. It is located at the end of a picturesque country road, back dropped by forest, with nothing else in the immediate vicinity. But despite its remote location it enjoys a roaring trade. Ironically, it is actually due to its location that it gets so much trade. You see it is close to the Nishi Kanto toll road, also known as the Minano Yorii toll road. It is the main route to get to Okuchichibu mountains and Chichibu Geopark from the Hanazono Interchange of the Kanetsu Expressway.

The System

They charge per person to enter the fishing center. Even if you aren’t fishing yourself. The total bill comes at the end, on your way out. There is no time limit, so in theory you could spend the whole day, but unless you want to catch hundreds of fish, it is not really the type of place you’d spend the whole day. I’d give it an hour if you are taking a fish home and two hours or so for eating in.

If you wait by reception a staff member comes. During this time of Covid, the staff take your name and phone number for contact tracing. You also need to have wear a mask (bring your own) except when eating. After explaining the system the staff give you feed for the fish. You can replenish the feed as often as you need or like. They also give you a mini chopping board with a small toothpick like cutter for slicing the feed. Then they direct you to the fishing rods. And off you go!

Fishing ponds

There are four fishing ponds. Two on an upper level, two below. All of them have rainbow trout. It is the easiest place to fish we’ve ever been to, which is great for kids. Its entirely up to you have many or few you catch. They charge by weight; 500 yen for 100 grams. So it can get quite expensive to be honest. We caught 2.4 kilo worth of fish (20 fish) and it cost 12,000 just for the fish alone!

When you catch a fish you need to unhook it yourself and put it in a bucket. They provide the buckets, but you need to prepare them yourself. I imagine that when its not so busy they help with all this, but when we were there there were so many people that was not practical. And that was with at least six staff on site.

Eating in

If you are eating in, the staff grill the fish for you. It costs 200 yen for the charcoal per fish. There are only a few other things on the menu. You can help yourself to chilled water. There are two different areas for eating. One is a tatami mat room. It has both low tables where you sit on the floor and high tables with chairs. The other area is Western style with table and chairs. This area also has an outdoor area with sun umbrellas.

Take out

We opted to bring them home as the kids wanted to barbecue the fish themselves. Which was just as well because the place was crowded. We would have had to have waited a long time for our fish to grill, which wouldn’t have bothered us except that we’d be waiting indoors in close contact with others. Not something we want to do during the Coronavirus outbreak.

Ideal for camping

Plus as we were staying in a log cabin in the mountains, we had a cooler box in the car. And back in the cabin a fridge and barbecue facilities ideal for grilling up our freshly caught fish. Fuppu Nijimasu is ideally located in that sense as it is an easy side stop on the way to the dozens of camping grounds and cabin sites in the Chichibu mountains. It is also close to the popular Kawasemi BBQ spot on the Arakawa. Even if you are taking them out or bringing them home the staff will prepare them for consumption. They clean and gut them. And they pack up the fish with a bottle of frozen water so they stay cooled for at least an hour, probably two or three.

Fishing for pets

If you are not looking to eat them and want somewhere to catch fish to take home as a pet, Kawajima Tsuri Bori is very good. It is not as picturesque as Fuppu, but it is geared up for children. Its a great spot for children to fish for the first time and you can opt to release all the fish or take some home. It is also a lot cheaper than Fuppu fishing ponds!

For our big family it worked out quite expensive. We paid 16,200 and we were only there about an hour and didn’t have our fish grilled! However, quite frankly, it was worth it. The kids really enjoyed it. Two of mine are into fishing anyway, but even the other two that aren’t that interested really enjoyed it. It was mainly families there, but there were a few couples on dates and a couple of older people in a group. There is a nice atmosphere and the staff are very nice. At this time of year, its also a little cooler up there thanks to the altitude and shade from the trees.

Fuppu Nijimasu Fishing Ponds Information

Access

By car the fishing center is minutes from the Yorii Fuppu Interchange of the Minano Yorii toll road, which is about a 15 minute drive from the Hanazono Interchange of the Kanetsu Expressway. When you turn onto the dead end road to the center, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d made a mistake! Its like an old dirt road and very narrow. But as you near the fishing ponds it is more picturesque. There are three car parks. The first one you see on the right hand side is the furthest away, but it is the only one of the three that is flat land. There are two more car parks closer to the entrance of the ponds.

If you are coming by public transport, you would need to use a taxi. There is no bus that goes nearby. The nearest station, Chichibu Tetsudo’s Nagatoro Station, is a 20 minute taxi ride away.