A Day in South Korea – Fishing from Shore on Jeju Island
Eugene L. 08.21.23
Samda-do is a common nickname for the island of Jeju since olden times. An island abundant in three things; Wind, Stone, and Women. Being an island in the Korean Straight, there is plenty of wind no matter the time of year. Stones are everywhere with the island’s volcanic origin and the “doldam” basalt stone walls that are all over the island. The last of the three, Women, were abundant due to the men often being lost to the ocean when they went out to fish the waters around the island. Jeju Island is the largest island in South Korea. It is an oval-shaped volcanic island to the south of the mainland in the Korea Strait. It was formed roughly 2 million years ago by the eruption of an underwater volcano and has been populated with modern people since the early Neolithic Period.
During my trip to South Korea, I had the chance to explore Jeju Island for a few days. Taking in all the natural beauty of the land and sea, along with the culture of the island. I knew about this trip to Jeju Island ahead of time so of course I took some time to pack a travel rod along with some tackle that usually produces for me in Florida. How could I not bring some fishing tackle if I’m going to an island and miss a chance to fish the salt in Korea? I had seen shows growing up where these celebrities would go to Jeju for variety shows and catch the tiniest little rockfish and be super stoked about it. So I thought, “I can do better than those guys, I know how to fish”. Yeahhhhh I learned quick.
I do need to note I couldn’t just go fishing for the few days I was there though. My wife was gracious enough to let me fish but I couldn’t trod on her kindness and fish the whole trip. Also with so much to do and see on Jeju Island, it would be a waste to fish the whole time.
Even in Jeju City, the backdrop is amazing with Mt. Hallasan and some parasitic cones being visible on clear days. Mt. Hallasan is a shield volcano that makes up most of the island and is the highest peak in South Korea. The first stop of the first day was the O’sulloc Green Tea Fields and Museum on the southwest side of the island, a very cool and pretty spot to visit.
After a bunch of driving through the interior of the island though I finally got some water time. We stopped by Hyeopjae Beach on our way back to Jeju City. Fishing from the rocks near the seawall I tried throwing a few lures that I thought would work. The only thing that got some attention was a gold spoon that had something come up and chase it from the rocks but was too small to really hit it. Even tried throwing a squid jig around the sandy patches around the seawall and rocks to try and find a squid. But time was short this evening so all I caught on my first attempt was a small shore crab I grabbed out of a tide pool, probably could have used him as bait but we had to go to the night market, which I’ll cover in another article.
The next day we explored the south coast of Jeju Island, driving along the coast and taking in the sights. While just exploring the coast we ran into this small marina. Seeing it was deeper water access than most spots I had been seeing while driving around that morning I gave it a shot. The water was clearer here than at Hyeopjae Beach the evening before. Which let me see unlike a lot of Florida there was not any baitfish I could see. Which did not bode well for me. Especially cause I thought I was smart using techniques that the fish wouldn’t have seen before, instead of local techniques that do work.
I spent the next hour trying everything I had in my dinky little travel tacklebox, even using a small tipped jighead with shrimp fishbites to try to catch anything. I didn’t even see a fish follow any of my lures up this time unlike the evening before. So day two was another strike out, it was not looking good. At least the views were amazing along the way with several cool spots to see on our way back to the hotel.
Now it was the last day on Jeju Island, I was almost out of time. Our flight back to the mainland was leaving around 5 and the rental car had to be back by 3:30. So we started the day early to try and see as much as we could on the final day. We again went along the coast this time directly north of the city and worked our way back towards the airport area. Like this Yongyeon Pond below, an estuary that has fresh water flowing into the sea even during droughts.
So time was running short, and were right near the airport so it was almost the end of the trip. Then I noticed there were some people fishing on the rocks around the area. And I could see I was the only one throwing lures from the rocks. Everyone else fishing was using fish meal and barley chum along with bait. They were using long rods with bobber rigs. I had none of this stuff with me. The closest I had was a pack of shrimp fish bites, so I just kept throwing lures.
To be fair I didn’t see anyone else catching anything so I thought might as well try lures again. And the lures went 0/3 with everything in that box not getting so much as a nibble. I even lost a couple of bucktails. So I said screw it and grabbed a sabiki rig and start cutting up the fish bites. I rigged every little hook on the rig with a niblet of fishbites and cast it out. And of course, immediately got a bite.
And of course, I missed the bite. But it was proof there’s fish here. So immediately I cast back into the same hole and let the rod sit again, and after a few more minutes I had what I thought was another bite, but was in fact just seaweed. So cast again and wait again, and finally another real bite. Fish on, and I could tell it wasn’t a big fish, but it was a fish. A real fish, after three days of trying I got a fish. And I had no idea what I caught, I pride myself on my knowledge of fish and this thing stumped me.
Just by the look of it, I could tell it was a wrasse species but that was it. I also knew to keep my fingers away from its mouth. It was small but it had some teeth on it and definitely snapped at me a couple of times when I was dehooking it. After the fact, I identified it as a Cocktail Wrasse (Pteragogus flagellifer) a small species of wrasse that lives amongst the seaweed in shallow waters. was it a knifejaw or bream that I had hoped for no, but it was a fish.
After getting skunked the whole trip I’ll take anything, especially a new species for me. I got my buzzer beater fish and immediately packed up and we went back to the car. Of course, because she had been so patient with me this whole trip, we went to a local spot famous for its Jeju Island beltfish that she had wanted to try before we left.
Then immediately went to turn the car in and take the shuttle to the airport. I definitely want to come back and hopefully will in the future. But more than likely I’ll take up a family friend’s offer to go on his charter boat in the future instead of shore fishing. I’ve learned my lesson, look at what the locals do, and don’t be a know it all. If you have the chance do definitely visit, even if you don’t have the chance to fish. The natural beauty of the land is something that shouldn’t be missed.
