The dist ribut io n pat terns of Japanese anchovy w ere studied based on the data o f aver age catch per ho ur and reco rding o f echo tra ce o f ancho vy during 7 w inter se asons. The dist ribut ion patterns of co ncent rated anchovy ca n be classif ied as sur face, middle and near bot tom laye rs. 14 typical reco rds of echo t races are useful fo r comme rcial f ishing. The distr ibutio n density o f middle layer is the highest , the density of near bot tom layer is higher than surface layer . The av erage catch per ho ur f rom middle layer, nea r bo t tom layer and sur face layer pat tern by pe lagic tr aw l w ith 520mesh X 600mm net w ere reported to be 5. 0~ 14. 0t , 3. 6~ 4. 5t and 2. 3~ 3. 0t r espect ively.