누치 (Noochi) is commonly referred to as a steed barbel.
A river runs through it. Just like so many South Korean cities, and Daegu’s is the Geumhogang. The Geumho is a great fly fishing river, because it is shallow and has an abundance of fish. Daegu has ample public transportation so getting to and from the river from my hotel wasn’t a problem.
I called my friend Bongsoo, the owner of SPIM Fishing (a Daegu fly shop), and he suggested fishing for 누치. 누치 (Noochi) is commonly referred to as a steed barbel. This fish loves shallow water flats and riffles. They travel is groups, so if you spook one- three or four more shapes will be darting.
We started fishing near the airport bridge, and the amount of 누치 was impressive. We spooked a lot of fish. By nature this fish is not a predator and doesn’t strike the way most game fish do. They root around the bottom with their vacuum like mouth and suck up small insect and plant life. When they do take the fly- it must be out of curiosity.
Mr Bongsoo with a nice 누치
Natural colors; black, brown, and olive- size 10 and 12 with a fluffy marabou or rabbit tail and a gold bead will do the trick. Casting to the tailing 누치 and striping to induce a take is near impossible. Instead, it’s all about positioning and swinging the fly right in front of their nose. If you do this successfully, you won’t feel a take- instead the line will shoot off and the fight is on.
By the afternoon the 누치 bite had slowed down. So we decided to try for bass. Though, I did see some bass near the airport bridge, the best bass fishing is down stream past a concrete divider that stretches across the river. On average the water is a little deeper and slower with no riffles. And like always, if you are patient the bass will give themselves away. Chasing bait near the banks. A size 10 white zonker produced.
The Geumho river is an awesome way to spend a couple of hours if you are in Daegu. There are sections of the river that do not allow fishing, and always be ready to answer questions; fly fishing is still surprising to some Koreans. Go see Mr. Bongsoo and SPIM fishing. He will gladly point you in the right direction.
The Yellow is the 누치 zone and the black is the bass zone- feel free to explore for yourself. There are sections of the river restricted to fishing.
Fish on! Near the Airport bridge
Close up of the 누치’s bottom feeding mouth