Fishing Korea

With the cloud cover, I was hoping for a really good morning out there today and although it wasn’t too bad, it also wasn’t as good as I had hoped. 

The river is still a little muddy from yesterday’s rains and as you can see, the green algae is coming in strong as well.  How the bass can see a Senko in that mess is beyond me, but see it they did.

Things started out nice as I caught 2 within 10 minutes of each other, and also missed a few.  Once it got light, however, the action slowed down.

The fish above (both pics are the same bass) was the only other one I caught once it got light – all bass were caught on 5 and 4-inch Senkos, black, and black with blue flakes.  I also threw spinnerbaits and chatterbaits but once again, no takers.

I had every intention of sleeping in this morning because KMA was calling for a lot of rain all night/day but wouldn’t you know it; I woke up around 3 and couldn’t fall back asleep so after a peek out the window (no rain) I started the coffee and got ready to head on out.

As soon as I got close to the river, it started pouring down buckets but I figured what the heck, as long as there was no lightning or strong winds, I may as well give it a shot since I was already there.

The above were the only two I caught this morning, one on a black, 5-inch Senko, the other on 4-inch Senko, black with blue flakes.  I also tried spinnerbaits and chatterbaits since the water is stained and has that green crud/algae which seems to start up every summer around this time, but no takers on those lures today.

Gee, this summer is turning out like last summer.  The spawn is over, it’s getting hot and the bass have moved out to deep water.  From shore, it’s tough fishing and I’ll have to keep going out early in the hope of finding the occasional bass cruising in the shallower water, looking for food.

The above was the only bite I had this morning and I caught it on a black, 5-inch Senko fished off one of the points.  Actually, the Senko did all the work for me because I had cast out and then let the worm sit while I was tying on a different color spinnerbait.  When I picked up the rod again, the fish was already on there and hooked.  All I had to do was reel it in and take a pic.  By the way, if anyone has any 1/2 ounce spinnerbaits with a white/red skirt and silver double willow blades, please send them my way because I’m all out

Man it was tough out there this morning.  I had one bite on a 5-inch motor oil with red flakes colored Senko while it was still dark, but when I set the hook, my 30-pound braid broke/cut.  30-pound braid, and I just tied a new hook on last night so there were no cuts or nicks in the line.  I have no idea how that happened, but sure enough, the line gave way at hook set.  The only thing I can think is that it was a snakehead…

As soon as it started getting light, I started throwing spinnerbaits and Karu Lures Vibraspins and you can see the result over on the left.  That was the only fish I caught this morning, once the sun rose and I figured that was it for the morning, I headed on base to wash my car, which had about 2 pounds of bugs on the front of it from driving along river road.

I was worried that the water would be really stained after the rains we had this weekend, but it actually wasn’t to bad out there, although the parking area and shore were both a muddy mess.  And 5 minutes after I started fishing, a pretty good wind picked up and didn’t let up until it was almost time to head to work.

I caught the above on a black grape-colored, 5-inch Salty Trick Stick from Alluring Baits.  I thought the water was going to be really muddy so I had put a glass bead on the line to make a little noise as I was reeling in, not sure if it made any difference or not.

After I caught that first one, the wind really picked up so I switched to spinnerbaits but only managed to catch this one – and I must have hit that fish in the head with the lure because it grabbed the spinnerbait after I had only reeled in about a foot or two.  Shortly after that, a carload of carp fishermen showed up, 5 of them to be exact and they proceeded to set up right next to me, like I wasn’t there.  Two to the left and three to the right, which made fishing impossible so I packed up and moved down the way a bit for the remaining time I had out there.

This year hasn’t been good for spectacular sunrises.  At the beginning, there were a lot of clouds and fog, and lately, there have been hardly any clouds at all, which leaves us with pretty much of the same old, same old.  But hey, I do what I can with what I’m given.  I know this will shock you, but I didn’t throw a single 4-inch Senko today.  Ok, scratch that, towards the very end, I did throw one so I could practice with my new setup (Daiwa Sol with 8-pound line on a medium-light G-Loomis rod).  Aside from that, no 4-inch Senkos were used at all.

But, when I first got out there and it was still dark, I did throw a 7-inch Senko and this is the result.  And brother, I’ve had bass hit my lure hard before, but this fish frigging nailed that big Senko and about ripped the rod right out of my hands.  I have no idea what the bass thought that Senko was, but he hit it with a vengeance and on the rod I was using, I have 30-pound braid so there’s no stretch at all, and let me tell you, that’s just what I needed to wake me all the way up.  Sorry for the bad pic, but it was still so dark that I couldn’t even see anything through the eyepiece of the camera.  Another decent fish and the first I’ve ever caught on a 7-inch Senko.

After that, I went to spinnerbaits and I’m learning something….spinnerbaits are all about patience, patience and more patience.  In the past, if I didn’t get a hit in the first few casts, I’d go right back to my trusty Senkos but lately, I’ve been sticking with the spinnerbaits (on the days I decide it’s spinnerbaits or nothing) and I do end up catching fish.  I don’t get the quantity I get with Senkos, but the quality is there, and that’s a good tradeoff considering how much I enjoy catching a bass on a spinnerbait.

The above two pics are of the same fish, and that one was caught on a black, 4-inch Senko, which I put on my new rig to practice casting and yeah, it was nice to catch a fish with it (no, the rod/reel in the pic aren’t the new rig, just in case you’re wondering).

Here’s one more I caught on the spinnerbait, which as you can see, is my favorite color for out there, white skirt with red, and with silver willow blades – this one was 3/8 oz, usually I throw 1/2 oz. but I decided to try a 3/8 to see if I could keep from getting hung up so much.  Today, I was just slow rolling the lure as slow as I could, bumping it into the rocks and fortunately, I didn’t donate any to the river, which may be a first

This morning was weird; I had all my bites before 5 and absolutely nothing after that.  At all.  I threw spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and crankbaits but the only thing they would hit this morning were Senkos.  The bass in the last pic was yet another nice fish, but it was gut hooked and bleeding so no measuring or weighing, just a quick pic and back in the water.  Those bass in the river are definitely growing…nice healthy fish.

Life is funny sometimes.  Just yesterday, I found this quote over at the Ultimate Bass forums and sent it to Rob:

The wonderful thing about fishing is that whether it is your first trip or one of your last, you ALWAYS have the opportunity to catch a fish of a lifetime.  I love this sport.  You don’t have to be the fastest, strongest, meanest, etc.  You just need to love to fish!

That quote really hit home with me because that’s exactly the way I feel about fishing.  I’ve gone out at least 100 times in the last year or so, and still, every morning feels like my first time out and I can’t wait to hit the water because every day is different and you just never know what’s in store.

This morning was no exception, and it started out with a beautiful sunrise.  The water was still just a bit stained from the heavy rain the other night, so I made up my mind that today was going to be a spinnerbait kind of day.  Now I’m going to be honest up front here, and admit that from past experience, I didn’t expect to catch a lot of fish, if any, but I was determined to throw that white/red spinnerbait till my arms hurt.

No one was more surprised, pleasantly so, to catch this bass than me but it was the way I caught it that really made it special.  I had been throwing the spinnerbait for a while, trying different speeds and retrieves and had just started waking the lure, where I was burning it back at a pretty good speed and keeping it just far enough below the surface so I could see the wake it was making.  This bass came up either from below or behind and literally jumped up and out of the water as it was inhaling the lure – and to my delight, it still had the lure in it’s mouth when it landed.  I’ve never caught anything with a topwater lure and I imagine this is about as close as you can get and it was pretty damned exciting to have that fish explode out of the water like that, especially since it was the last thing I expected.

After all that excitement, I had to take a Senko break and caught the above.  Now, remember that quote from earlier on?  After I caught that one on the Senko, I went back to my spinnerbait, just slow rolling it close to shore, passing the time until it was time to go to work…

Yeah baby!   My second 50 centimeter bass of the year (actually 50 1/2cm).  Sorry, I tried to take a picture of the fish laying on the tape measure but this little girl was shy about having her picture taken and kept flopping around like a…well, like a fish out of water so I had to settle for the weight pic.  I believe this is the biggest bass I’ve ever caught, both length and weight-wise.  2009 is shaping up to be another stellar year!

Last night, I saw that KMA was calling for rain today so I didn’t know if I should go out this morning but I decided to set the alarm and check the weather when I got up. When I woke up at 3, I started the coffee and looked outside; no rain. But after I started drinking my coffee, I turned on the computer and checked KMA’s radar, which showed rain heading our way very soon. What to do? Well, I  already had caffeine in me and was awake, so I got ready and drove out to Daenkori – and I’m glad I did.

It was raining very lightly when I got there, but there was almost no wind and best of all, the bass were biting. I caught lots of dinks again, but this one here made my morning: 48 centimeters, 2 pounds, 15 ounces. I love Big Mommas

This was the only other one that was picture-worthy today but you know what?  Today was one of those outings where I felt like I had lost my mojo, or left it at home.  I missed way too many fish this morning, and lost a few too, a couple of which felt like they were decent fish.  A couple just came off while I was bringing them in, the hook came untied on one , and I also had a few where they took the Senko, started running with it but when I set the hook, they were gone.  At one point, I started wondering if I was going to slip and fall in the river next (been there, done that )…but I can’t and won’t complain since I had an otherwise great morning out there and the heavy rain held off.

I think I’m seeing a pattern lately; dinks with more dinks, with the occasional decent bass thrown into the mix.  This morning was no different.

Another pattern I’m seeing is that most of the decent bass I’m catching this year are being caught in very shallow water, close to shore, and early in the morning.  Last year, I caught most of my fish further out, in deeper water – but also very early in the morning.  This guy was in less than a foot of water, right against the shore, just waiting for me to drag my Senko by him.