Fishing Korea & Tennessee

Shocking, I know but it’s true; I got skunked this morning, and in a big way.  I decided to try a different area, a spot where Rob and I did really well last fall – but first, let’s have this morning’s sunrise pic and a bonus wildlife pic:  

Below are some pics of the area I was fishing and you have to admit, it looks perfect.  Deep water and lots of rocks along the shore.

I walked up and down that bank this morning, trying everything except the kitchen sink and all I got for my efforts was one single bite, which I missed.  Look how calm that water was…I was kicking myself over the fact that I didn’t go to the areas I usually fish – I bet the reeds and weeds would have been great this morning.  Oh well, I’ll get them next time

I almost stayed home this morning because when I woke up, I saw that the wind was blowing pretty good and KMA was calling for cloudy skies with rain moving in.  But I was awake and figured it would be better to be awake out on the river than sitting at home in front of my computer so off I went.

So much for cloudy skies…another nice sunrise but you can see that it was pretty windy out this morning and one thing I’ve found out is that the bass don’t like to bite when the wind is blowing hard.

I did manage to catch a few, but I had to work for them this morning.  I saw a few bass boats launch from the area of the boat ramp and as I made my way to the car, I counted 21 vehicles parked near the ramp plus a canopy tent so I think there’s a tournament going on today…I don’t know how they’ll do with this wind and the front that’s moving in, I hope they have better luck than I did.

Ty and I gave Idong lake a try Sunday afternoon, hoping to catch some bluegill and bass.  As you can see below, the lake is still pretty high, but the water was crystal clear, which you can see by checking out the second picture.  One bad sign right away was that there were small bass (3-4 inches long) all along the shore and to me, that means there are no bigger bass in the vicinity.

We tried everything; Senkos, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and small rooster tails for bluegill.  In three hours, we caught several tiny (and I mean tiny) bass, no bluegill (as a matter of fact, I didn’t see a single bluegill anywhere along the shore) and a couple of small bass. 

Ty did catch a decent bass, which jumped on his Senko right after he received a phone call.  He reeled it in while still talking on the phone and as you can see, he was still talking when I took this pic.  It may just be me, but I don’t think Idong is the same lake it was in 2006 and before.  Back then, you could walk along the shore and see schools of bluegill everywhere, and it was common to catch bass in the 1-3 pound range almost every trip out.  Last year, the fishing was terrible in that lake, and  one of the things I noticed right away was that all year long, there were hardly any bluegill to be found.  Yesterday was only my first trip to Idong this year, but the absence of bluegill and the fact that we didn’t catch any decent bass except for that one has me worried.  Maybe things will improve, but it looks like Idong is taking up right where it left off last year.

I’ve been wanting to hit one of the local lakes after all that river fishing lately so this morning at 4:30, I headed out to Yeom Chi which is about 30 minutes away from here.  I arrived just before first light, put on my chest waders, grabbed two rods and started walking the shore.  The bass started biting as soon as it got light and every fish I caught was close to shore, hiding in the reeds/weeds or among the numerous branches and downed trees that are in the water (As always, click on the pics to see the full-sized images).

I did surprisingly well this morning and caught 12 bass – the four above were the biggest of the bunch and the rest ranged from dinks to the 1 to 1 1/2 pound range.  The lake is still high so I put my bag on shore and walked out in the water, parallel to the bank and the only time I came back with a fish to take a picture was when I caught one like the ones above.  Yeom Chi doesn’t have any monster bass (that I know of) but the 2nd and 3rd pics are bigger fish than I usually catch out of there – the average is usually between 1 and 2 pounds so I was quite happy to catch a couple of nice ones.  All I fished with this morning was a 5 inch wacky-rigged Senko (only one small bass on that) and a 4 inch black Senko on which I caught all the rest.  By 7, 7:30, it was over and done with…the sun was hitting the water plus the wind started kicking up pretty good.  I hung around for a while longer just in case but no dice – but no problem…other fishermen started showing up in droves so it was time for me to head home anyway.  If the weather cooperates, I’m going to try Idong next Saturday to see if I can at least catch me some of those huge bluegill and hopefully, some bass as well.  For those of you that went out today, I hope you had good luck as well…it was a beautiful morning to be out fishing.

It’s Friday, and it’s time for yet another installment of “Early Morning Bass.”  I woke up at 3:45 this morning, wide awake (you all know what that means) so I turned on the coffee pot and got ready to head on out to the river.  It was a great morning, yet again, and I’m glad to announce that the bass were cooperating – at least until the wind started blowing. 

I started out at one spot, using nothing but a wacky rig (5 inch Senko, black) and caught three right off the bat, one of which was smaller than the worm.  The wacky rig didn’t last long as I got it snagged in the rocks so I switched to my conventional weightless method, both with 4 and 5 inch Senkos.

I’ve been exploring the last month or so, staying away from the “hot” spots because, well, that’s where everyone fishes.  Instead, I’ve been driving along, looking for areas that could and should have bass, yet that are a little off the beaten path or hard to get to.  For example, this morning I had my chest waders and walked across a breeding channel to an island where I’ve never seen anyone fish (because unless they also have waders, they can’t get to it) and I did real well there, fishing along the rocks and thick weeds close to the shore.  I caught a total of eight bass and I have no doubt I would have caught more but the wind started kicking up pretty hard shortly after the sun rose and once that happened, the bass totally turned off.

Another good morning out on the river for yours truly.  Despite the forecast for rain, which thankfully didn’t materialize, I headed out this morning and arrived at the river right before first light.  All the decent bites I got were at that time.  I had three bites all within 10 minutes of each other, although I managed to lose two of them.

I caught this one on a 5 inch Senko, black with blue flakes – three pounds, one ounce .  Once it got light, the bite slowed down although I did catch three more smaller ones.  There were two carp fishermen camped out in my favorite spot, along with their 10 rods each, fanned out in every direction, so my options were somewhat limited.  2008 just keeps on rocking!

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to go fishing; as some of you know, I was sick for 10 days and even got to spend almost half that time as a guest of Ajou University Hospital up in Suwon.  Believe it or not, I spent most of that time thinking about getting back out on the water

I went out yesterday morning before work and fished for about 30 minutes and caught this one and only this one on, as you can see, a 5″ Senko, black with blue flakes.

I spent more time yesterday watching the sun rise and the birds circle around the river than I did fishing; it just felt good to be outside again with the fresh air and the wind in my face.

This morning was pretty decent as well.  I batted .500; caught two and lost two – the bass are definitely still there but it’s taking a bit more patience and persistence to get the bites.  Surprisingly, none of the fish I hooked into this morning were dinks.

The one on the left weighed 2 1/2 pounds, not sure about the one on the right as I caught it just as I was getting ready to head in to work.  This morning, the bass only wanted 4″ Senkos, black with blue flakes.  Go figure