The big ones bite at night. This is what I was told by veteran angler Paul Baek. Paul is one of the most experienced bass anglers I have had the pleasure of fishing with, and he knows his home waters of Jeolla Province like the back of his hand. The journey started on Saturday evening as I made my way down to Nonsan from Seoul. From there I met up with Paul and he drove the rest of the way down to Jangseong. The plan was to fish Jangseong lake ALL NIGHT.
We were on the water by 9pm and It didn’t take long for Paul to hook into a nice 16 in bass on a jig. At this point I was hoping for a top water bite, so I was pounding the rocky shore with my hybrid bucktail, deer hair, and foam faced streamer. After several hours and no fish, I switched to a mono rig with a weedless streamer. I rigged it Texas style with a bullet weight hoping to work the bottom. It was my first time with such a rig, so my confidence was lacking and I went back to top water. by midnight I only had a few light taps from bluegill. I was enjoying the experience, but it slowly began to dawn on me that I could skunk this time out. Paul was consistently catching on a combination of a black and blue jig, Texas rigged craw, and chatter bait. We stopped for a night snack, and then it was back on the water. By 4am I was a little delirious, and was mechanically casting and working the shoreline; hoping to knock one on the head with my fly.
Things started to turn around. I attached a sinking tip, weighted swivel, and a streamer with a deer hair head. While stripping in on the pause and nice 14 inch bass inhaled my offering and proceeded to dive down deep. The Jangseong bass fight harder than any bass I have caught in Korea. The pull is addicting. I landed him, snapped a few pics and was back at it. The highlight of the night was doubling up with Paul, granted his chatter bait fish was significantly larger than mine. I was glad I didn’t disappoint my friend by producing a few fish on fly. I missed a couple more fish and ended the session with a nice bluegill. The big fish of the night was a nice 20 inch bass caught by Paul. By sunrise I could see the features of the lake. Ultra clear water (that will surely be off color as the summer algae sets in), big rocks, and sharp drop offs. I certainly will try my hand and night fishing again. After a short rest it was back to Seoul and researching how I can incorporate a blade on one of my flies.
If you are interested in a night fishing trip, Paul guides these mysterious waters. You can take the express bus or KTX from Seoul down to Nonsan, where he will pick you up. He will supply you with equipment and a float tube. He will even hitch you up to his trolling motor and zoom you around the lake. You will surely be a better bass fisherman after a night with Paul. Contact him through his Instagram page or on Facebook. He is also the administrator of the Bass Fishing Korea Facebook group.
