The Golden Torpedoes of Daegu

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

2019 Bass Prespawn

“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

Fly Fishing Korea's Trout Pay Ponds During the Winter

Today is Christmas! Merry Christmas. Standing shoulder to shoulder casting into a netted off portion of a man made basin to stocked rainbow trout didn’t seem so exciting to me. I have lived in Korea for five years and not once did it cross my mind until the winter of 2018. The late fall bass bite was partly to blame. I was fortunate to have a couple of good days fishing for bass partaking in their fall feast before winter, so come December- I wasn’t ready to put down the long wand. The first two trips to the pay ponds were a complete bust. I got a couple of fish to take my size 16 dry fly, but failed to get them to the net. On the last cast of the first day; I managed to hook a fat rainbow on a red san juan worm. I had to give it another shot after touching that fish, which was is great shape with all its fins and a sagging belly.

The following weekend was brutally cold. So cold in fact, the guides on the fly rod would completely ice up every other cast- forcing the fisherman to dunk and wiggle the rod in the water in an attempt to deice. In turn, the rod would freeze up again- creating a never ending cycle of dunking and freezing. This particular pay pond , Deokbong, was recommended to me by a local fly shop owner. He said the water was clean and the fish were big. He was right. But on that cold day, I didn’t catch a thing.

I had a day off from work that next week, and I decided to venture out in search of yet another pay pond. It was within walking distance of Oido Station. It was big. The weather was warmer. I was determined to catch another stocked bow in Korea. The owner of the pond was very friendly and offered me a small cup of instant coffee. This pond had a lot of fish. I went two hours without a bite. A friendly local helped me out with my fly choice. He suggested an emerger pattern. I took a size 16, K.I.S.S and clipped the bottom half of the hackle off so it would sit a little lower in the water. Sure enough it worked. I landed two within 10 minutes. Satisfied with my catches and struggling to unhook them, because I didn’t have a net; I decided to change up the patterns. Several hours latter and no fish, I went back the clipped hackle dry and landed another sixteen inch trout to end the day. As I was leaving, the owner of the pond came out and started throwing pellets and you could see the plethora of fish that were there- the potential that it had. Fishing these pay ponds was a challenge though as the fish get more and more selective as the winter rolls on. There isn’t a day in the fall and winter where these fish don’t see a lure or fly. I think if it were easy- I would have had enough. But I needed more.

I went back to Deokbong, in Anseong. This time I was ready. I had the patterns figured out and I knew the depth at which I needed to fish them. All the ponds fished differently- by the way, but I was ready for Deokbong. It wasn’t all easy. I had to watch the fisherman next to me catch half a dozen before I keyed in on his pattern, a black and peacock marabou jig. With my indicator set at the right length, 8 and a half feet, and my black and peacock jig- I caught two back to back. Of course as is my way, I fiddled around with the flies after a lull in the action. I should have stayed with the black and peacock. I went back to it at the end of the day and landed three more. All healthy, colorful, hard fighting rainbows. I was surprised when a local fisherman recognized me from my Instagram. We exchanged tagged posts and left.

Fishing the pay ponds in Korea isn’t a walk in the park. They are a tough place for beginner anglers to cut their teeth. Be prepared for some frustration and chilly temperatures. It provides just enough of a challenge that each fish feels like a reward. The cost for all the ponds was the same- 25,000 KRW for catch and release and 40,000 KRW to keep three fish. All the ponds also have restrictions such as, no power bait, treble, or barbed hooks. I’ve definitely got the bug and will be going back soon.