“I can’t wait until spring.” Now I find myself saying, “I can’t wait until summer.”
The winter trout season was great. I got to experience the comrade of standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the friendliest anglers I have ever met. Even though I didn’t speak their language, they offered me coffee and traded flies. The end of February and the beginning of March marked the end of the stocked trout pond fishing season. If there is such a thing. Only in Korea.
My attention immediately shifted to bass. Black bass. Ditch pickles. Largies. Whatever you want to call them. My first time out for bass was the second week of March. I went down to my favorite stream, Jinwi. It is a short walk from the metro; a little over an hour outside of Seoul. Jinwi is heavily pressured and the water is certainly not the cleanest, but the way it is segmented by concrete spillways, there are always fish to be found. However, for this trip there were no bass. I did manage to get some Zaccos, pale chub, on some nymphs and dries. These were a good consolation.
I dipped my hand in the water and instantly I knew that the bass would still be moving slowly. The water was too cold. This was disappointing because all week I had been seeing pictures of bass on social media. After more research the pictures were from the southern end of Korea where the winter is milder. I would have to wait.
My second and third time out was in late March and early April. I went to Yeomchi reservoir, which is further south from Seoul- an hour and a half on the “real” train not the metro. By metro and bus- it takes around three hours. Yeomchi has a nice pier that is utilized by the many bass anglers that frequent the spot. Yeomchi is managed by the city of Asan. There is a warden that goes around collecting a 10,000 KRW usage fee.
There is a great population of forage fish that congregate near the inflow if the reservoir, where the pier is located. So there tends to be bass lurking around. These trips where no exception. I immediately saw bass busting bait and scattering small silver fish.
I tied on a white streamer and casted to the feeding bass. This proved futile. The bass would break the surface; I would pick up my fly line off the water and try to shoot a cast near the rise. The trouble was there were just some many small silver bait fish, that I am certain my fly didn’t stand out. Fail. I fished the banks and structure close to shore and caught two micro bass- but I still felt defeated.
Something had to give. The gear guys were catching prespawn feeders, but I was not. Fly or die is my motto. Picking up the bait caster and hucking a suspending jerk bait and an arsenal of treble hooks never crossed my mind. I would solve this conundrum on the tying bench. I had to get deeper and slow down my presentation. Fly rod finesse if you will.
So many bass fly rodders talk about the hoovering fly on the full sink line. A deer hair or foam fly that suspends, low or mid level in the water column, depending on leader length. Personally, I have never seen anyone have success with this tactic. The boobie fly anglers in England rant and rave about an identical tactic for stillwater trout; would it work for bass?
The second idea that crossed my mind was a super long indicator rig. Two flies- one lead tied with a polomar knot followed by a jig style with a non slip loop on the point. This seemed more realistic. Copying the bobber and fly look that has taken so many fish in the past. A fly with a lot of action would do well. I spun up some patterns, and convinced my wife one more fishing trip was a good idea.
Fourth week of April- the water is certainly warm enough. Everyone who is anyone has already gotten into bass. It was back to the train station and back to Yeomchi. I knew exactly what I was looking for- it was now or never. Fish or cut bait. Pun intended.
I am glad to announce that this story has a happy ending. The indicator rig proved effective. I fished two streamers and worked them slowly. It’s still a toss up whether or not the Indicator is needed. I was fishing a pretty beefy lightning strike type indicator. I kept it on all day, but kept questioning my decision. It does allow for a super long pause between strips and suspends the flies above the grass on the bottom, but didn’t do much for detecting takes. The fish took the flies moving as well as still. I didn’t give the full sink line a decent go, but I was just happy to get into some fish. I continue to be humbled by fly fishing, and look forward to a productive summer.
Zacco Platypus- Pale Chub
Forage fish that Yeomchi bass like to feed on
Point fly that took all the fish
Yeomchi Bass
Yeomchi Bass- note the tears on the right and left side of the jaw indicating this fish was caught more than once
Yeomchi Bass