# Korean Bass............***



## bodydub (Mar 10, 2008)

I'm on my 3rd tour in Korea, Army. The thought of fishing never crossed my mind since Koreans are big on snakeheads and some sort of carp. Back in OCT two of my soldiers decided to go fishing at the local river just off base. The next day they told me they actually caught a couple of bass. I thought, pfffft, these kids must be crazy. So I went to the local tackle shop which actually surprised me. It was about two acres of nothing but bass fishing takle. I picked up two cheap spinning rod and reel combos for $30 each. Then spent about $250 bucks on tackle (stuffs not cheap here), which was on hooks,soft plastics (zoom, yup they have it here), handful of cranks, a couple of top waters and some spinner-baits. Hit the spot and it only took me about 10mins to catch a bass. Yup, a bass. The thought of bass fishing here never crossed my mind. Apparently bass were stocked here back in the 70's and have spread out everywhere. I missed out on some fishing the last two times I was here. Anyhow, I've been fishing at least one day a weekend since then. It finally got cold at the end of NOV and I quite fishing until the beginning of March. On a good day I'll catch at least 10-15 fish in 2 hours. And yeah, that's not a typo......

Boot size 13........


You can kinda age me cause I'm a Longhorn fan, lol...........


----------



## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

Really 2Cool!
Considering your service, you darn sure deserve a little R & R.


----------



## SeaOx 230C (Aug 12, 2005)

Well done!!! Thank You for your service Sir!!!!!


----------



## firedog4$ (Aug 24, 2004)

While I was stationed in DongTam Vn, I caught huge prawn on #14 hook and C-Rats.


----------



## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Two Cool!!2 Thumbs up!!


----------



## sotexhookset (Jun 4, 2011)

Right on man. Thank you for your service.


----------



## SwineAssassiN (Jul 24, 2011)

Awesome. One of the biggest bass in the world was caught in Japan. They grow big over there


----------



## GaryI (Mar 18, 2015)

That is great. Thank you sir for your service. I had plenty of kimchi in Korea but no bass. Here is an interesting article I found:

**********************************

Black Bass were imported to Korea from Louisiana in June of 1973 into three lakes located around the Korea peninsula. Both the Bass and Bluegill have settled in very well and are well suited to live in Korea. Climate temperatures here reach lows of 20~30 degrees F in the winter up to highs of 100~105 degrees F (similar to some areas of the USA).
I would like to share the story of the Korean Bass with you. Let's start at the very beginning.

Black Bass were imported to Korea from Louisiana in June of 1973
Largemouth in Korea
The South Korean population (Republic of Korea, ROK) is renowned for a fish rich diet. A very high percentage of the fish caught in Korea; either by rod and reel or commercially, are kept for the dinner table. Back in the early 1970's the ROK government decided, without proper studies, to import the Black Bass from the USA and stock into certain lakes and impounded waters to be used as a game fish; little did they know how this was going to turn out in the future. Before the Bass became the new resident in Korean waters, the bluegill made its appearance. Imported from Mississippi, to Japan in 1960, the Bluegill made its way to its new home in Korea in 1969.
Black Bass were imported to Korea from Louisiana in June of 1973 into three lakes located around the Korea peninsula. Both the Bass and Bluegill have settled in very well and are well suited to live in Korea. Climate temperatures here reach lows of 20~30 degrees F in the winter up to highs of 100~105 degrees F (similar to some areas of the USA). Korean waters in the lakes where I fish (South East part of the ROK) are mostly frozen during January and February but quickly warm up in March and April. During late March, females can be seen filling up with eggs and as soon as April comes, the waters reach 50~60 degrees F and the spawn begins. The spawn will usually continue through most of April and into May. After this the air temperatures in Korea rise quickly to over 100 degrees F and the post spawn search is on.

The next thing to happen in the Korean weather system is the rainy season (Changma) and this lasts about two weeks with almost no let up during the month of July. Just before this season, most of the water from the lakes is pumped out of the dams to make room for the amount of water that will fall during the rainy season and into the river systems. This is where the future of Bass fishing in Korea started. During the pumping of the water, the smaller of the Bass and fry were pumped out of the original lakes and into the river systems where they managed to spread throughout many rivers and into new lakes. One example of this is a lake called Oopo Lake (a shallow swamp). After finding their own way into this lake many years ago, the population of Bass and Bluegill combined equal 88% leaving only 12% of the native Korea fish found during a study of this lake.

Imported from Mississippi, to Japan in 1960, the Bluegill made its way to its new home in Korea in 1969
Korean Bluegill
The most popular kind of fishing in Korea is Sea fishing as the Koreans mainly eat food from the sea. The second most popular kind of fishing in Korea is sitting on the side of lakes and rivers with up to 8~10 poles in the water at one time in search of the native favorite freshwater species, the Crusian Carp. This happens to be one of the Korean Bass's favorite meals. So during the Bass's 30+ years in Korea, they have given themselves a very bad name and are disliked by the majority of local Korea folk. As an extra reason for the Korean folk to hate the Bass, Bass have actually wiped out one of the Korean species of fish and others are considered as rare.
The hatred of the Bass has come to a point as to when a Bass is caught (in some cases) it is thrown on the bank to die and rot away or to be eaten by stray cats (not an unusual sight). The majority of the local Korean folk will only eat sea fish and so the Bass are not eaten, but just killed. Some rumors around the Bass fishing circles are that the Korean Government wants to put in place a two year prison sentence or a hefty fine (around $2000) for being caught releasing a Bass or Bluegill back into the water and/or transporting them into other waters (not in place at the time this was written).

On the positive side of the Bass Fishing scene here in Korea, there are two major professional Bass Fishing Organizations (KSA-Korean Sportfishing Association and KB-Korean Bass pro association). There is also an amateur organization (KBA-Korean Bass Amateur Association). These groups do hold Bass tournaments at a few lakes in Korea, but they are not like the ones in the USA. The prize money for first place in these major tournaments is only around 3,000,000 Korean Won (a little over $3000), not something to make a living out of. Also these days there seems to be a growing number of Bass clubs and the number of members in these clubs are growing steadily.

Other facts;
The prey of the Korean Bass are similar to that in the USA, they will devour anything in the way, from small bait fish, frogs, freshwater shrimps, Bluegill, snakes, insects and even other Bass. The list of lures that are successful in Korea is endless, but the most popular types are spinnerbaits and any soft plastics, like Senkos and paddle tail worms to mention only a few.

The record rod caught Largemouth Bass in South Korea is:-
4.1 kg / 9.04 lb 
62.5 cm / 24.6 inch

Steve Bell aka Bassinkorea,
Bass fisherman in Korea


----------



## rglide09 (Mar 21, 2012)

Thank you for your service sir.
Fish on!


----------



## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Thank you for your service and report! Nice looking LMB, who would thunk?


----------



## bodydub (Mar 10, 2008)

Yup, I read that article as well on the intro of bass into korea. I've actually started seeing bluegill for the first time here about a month and a half ago. Who would've thunk. Well heres another pic of one of my buddies who caught this snake head at a pond on base last year.

Hes 6'4!!!!


----------



## sea hunt 202 (Nov 24, 2011)

way to go


----------



## Northern fisherman (Sep 16, 2014)

Wtg bdub I was stationed on the port of Pohang for a short stint in 1996 lots of skinny roads that were not hummv friendly with rice patties on each side and plenty of mountainous terrain as well I would have never even thought of bass fishing at that time! Thanks for your service and a great post, God bless!


----------



## Snookered (Jun 16, 2009)

nice fish! and bless you for your service!!!
snookered


----------



## Wiredhernandez (Mar 6, 2005)

Good post guys. Take care out there...

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk


----------



## Wiredhernandez (Mar 6, 2005)

Oh yeah.. I am big on trying different food and hear that snakehead has clean flaky white meat. Why not try it while you can? So yes released bass in Korea turns out to be invasive species disrupting the local ecosystem.. There are also snakeheads some places here.... Need better control and decisions everywhere I suppose.. Giant pet snakes in the Everglades.... Gotta love it..

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk


----------

