2026.10.04

Japanese Seabass in Autumn: Mullet, Sweetfish and Gizzard Shad, Month by Month

minagiman

Autumn is the easiest time of the year to catch a Japanese seabass. You do not need clever technique. You do need to know what the fish are eating that month – get the bait wrong and a season that should be generous goes completely quiet.

This is the September-to-November seabass season explained month by month, with the lure rotation I use when I arrive at a spot.

Contents

The fish
Why autumn is so good
Three months, three baits
The lure rotation
Seabass on the surf beach
Rain is a chance – within limits
The short version
Read next

The fish


Japanese name	Suzuki (スズキ)
English name	Japanese seabass, Japanese sea perch
Scientific name	Lateolabrax japonicus
Small (Kanto names)	Seigo, then fukko as it grows
Large	Suzuki – and an 80 cm-plus fish is a “lunker” (rankā)
Where	Estuaries, rivers, harbours, surf beaches

Like yellowtail, suzuki is a “career fish” whose name changes with size, and the names vary by region. Japanese anglers usually just say shībasu.

Why autumn is so good

Two reasons: the fish need to eat, and there is a lot to eat.

Pre-spawn feeding. Japanese seabass spawn offshore in winter. Autumn is when they build up condition for it.
Bait everywhere. Young mullet, sweetfish and gizzard shad that grew up in rivers and bays all start moving at the same time.
Cooler water. As temperatures drop, fish feed for longer in daylight. You are not limited to night sessions the way you are in summer.

The result is the one season where you can realistically aim for both numbers and size.

Three months, three baits

The bait changes through the autumn, and it gets bigger. So should your lures.

Month	Main bait	Where to fish	Lure size
September	Inakko (juvenile mullet) and small bait	Estuaries, inside rivers, harbours	7-10 cm
October	Ochi-ayu (spawning sweetfish), sayori (halfbeak)	Mid to lower river and estuaries, wherever there is current	10-14 cm
November	Konoshiro (gizzard shad), sardine	Surf beaches and breakwaters facing open sea	14-18 cm and up

September: the mullet pattern

In late summer, schools of young mullet are still flickering on the surface in river mouths and harbours. When you find a school, work the edge of it, not the middle. Cast into the centre and the school scatters – and so does your chance.

Natural-moving sinking pencils and vibration lures work well. Soft plastics on a paddle-tail rig – the Coreman VJ type – are especially reliable while the bait is small.

October: the sweetfish run

This is the main event. Ayu (sweetfish) drop down the rivers to spawn, and seabass wait for them at the river mouths. The key point is that the bait is weak. A lure that swims hard looks wrong. What works is letting the lure drift with the current:

Cast up-current and let the lure drift down on the flow.
Hold the rod fairly high and only wind enough to take up slack.
Run it past light-and-shadow lines, current seams (yore) and bridge pilings.

Use 12-14 cm floating minnows and wake baits – lures that still grab water and swim when you are barely winding.

November: gizzard shad and big fish

As the water cools, huge schools of gizzard shad push in close, and the biggest seabass follow them. The rule here is simple: big bait, big lure. Big minnows and big baits of 15 cm or more do the work, and you will want a rod built to cast them.

A gizzard shad school shows as a bulge on the surface. With these, run the lure right underneath the school – the opposite of the September approach.

The lure rotation

In autumn the fish are usually there, so the angler who shows them the most options wins. When I arrive at a spot, I work down through the water column:

Surface – minnows and wake baits. The range that most often gets an immediate reaction.
Mid-water – sinking pencils, if the surface is quiet.
Near the bottom – vibration lures and blade baits.
Soft plastics – if nothing so far, switch to something easier to eat.

Give each spot 15 to 20 minutes, then move. In autumn, the more water you cover, the more you catch.

Seabass on the surf beach

Autumn seabass come onto the sand as well. On Enshunada it happens every year: you are fishing for flounder and a seabass takes the lure instead. Flounder lures – minnows such as the Shallow Assassin and swimming jigs such as the Flipper iT38 – catch both. Fish the rip edges and gutters the same way you would for hirame; my guide to reading a surf beach covers where to look.

Rain is a chance – within limits

Autumn rain cools the water, adds colour and washes bait downstream. All three suit seabass, and the inflow of a rising river almost always holds fish.

But flooding rivers are dangerous. Banks collapse, current is stronger than it looks, and water levels can rise fast. If the river is high and brown and still climbing, do not go near it.

The short version

September: juvenile mullet. October: spawning sweetfish. November: gizzard shad.
As the bait gets bigger, so do the lures.
Work from the surface down, then switch to soft plastics.
No bites in 15-20 minutes? Move.

It is the season when seabass are at their most honest. Find the bait, put the lure where it should be, and the fish usually do the rest.