yellowtail jigging and popping in Korea

[ksong]

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I joined the yellowtail jigging and popping trip to a remote island in shouthern part of Korea.
It took about 5 hours to Mokpo Harbor from Seoul and it took three hours ferry to the island. 
It is a small island with populations of only a few hundreds. 
We took a boat to fish for three days.
The sizes were impressive. Though my biggest yellowtail I landed was 1.2 meter, but I lost much bigger monsters.
The biggest one was caught by a lady angler on a jig. It was whopping 63 lb and 147 cm.
I started to use DOC lure as I wanted to test the lure for yellowtail and I stayed with the lure for the whole trip as the lure was effective.
I tested 11' prototype Black Hole surf rod and Penn Salmmer III 6500 high gear reel and 10' prototype economic version of Black Hole rod with IRT 500 reel combo.
I don't know it was because of high gear ratio reel and i got 4 -5 hit on the first day with 11' rod/ Penn Slammer high gear reel.
Unfortunately I lost all big ones except one small yellowtail. The initial run was very powerful.
It was a kind of scouting trip and I am very impressed. I will be back again next year with anlgers in the US.

Left Dong Mawn Shin's Shark Shop in Seoul


I think Korea offer the best rest areas on highways in the world.
[IM
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we arrived at Mokpo Harbor in the evening. The town is not big, but it is clean and pretty.
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had a dinner with anglers and cameramen.


We took a ferry to the Taedo Island next morning.












my tackle




my first yellowtail on a jig. I used Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch jigging rod/IRT 500 filled with 40 lb Jerry Brown Hollow line.




We used two boats. 


yellowtain on DOC. I lost several montser with 11' prototype Black Hole rod/Penn Slammer III 6500 High Gear reel.


food provided by the lodge was fantastic.










It was raining next day and fishing was slow in the moring

We encountered big ones on the afternoon trip.
I had two monster on my DOC, but lost both of them.  I tried to fight by putting the rod on my belly to show the action of the rod, but the rod was too long and one big one was lost when it dove under the boat and the main line was cut when it touched the bottom of the boat.
Here is Dong Man Shin's nice yellowtail on a popper.


Mrs Jang, Dong Man Shin's wife, fighiting  a big one.  It turned out to be our biggest yellowtail with 147 cm and 63 lb. Everyone use light slow pitch jigging rod for big yellowtail.








It is amazing there is a fancy logding in a remote island.




we switched the boat. It is amazing Capt makes difference even we fished the same area. The new Capt doesn't use machine though they have fancy machine  and consequently we had slow fishing while the other boat enjoyed fine jigging and popping. 
The island has small population. The houses shown in the picture is the whole town of the island.


I tested very light 10' prototype economic version of Black Hole rod which are good for suzuki ( Asian sea bass) with 1/2 oz - 2 oz rating.
I was afraid the rod could be snapped while fighing big yellowtail, but I decided to test the strength of the rod. As it turned out, the rod handled beautifully with a decent yellowtail.






I did not catch tons of yellowtail, but big ones I lost convince me to come back next year.

[josa1]

WOW!!!

Thank you so much for such a great report.  The pictures are of the highest quality and show the fishing opportunities and lodging in the best way.

This is a great addition to ATs wonderful site.

I look forward to your subsequent reports.

josa1

[swill88]

Thanks for the pics.

Great looking BBQ!

[alantani]

Amazing!

[Dominick]

Ksong thanks for taking us along.  I never thought of Korea as a fishing destination.  You brought it alive with your report.  Dominick

[Tiddlerbasher]

Thanks for the ride Ksong

[Shark Hunter]

Very Nice Ksong.

[Steve-O]

Great report, Kilsong!   The food looked so good I could almost taste it. 

Thanks for sharing.

[whalebreath]

Always the Best looking meals on Song's trips! 

[ksong]

They just sent a video of my fighing a nice yellowtail from Korea.

[steelfish]

awesome trip and awesome food.

me want !!  (both)

[ksong]

See the light rod action for big yellowtail.

[Smols]

Trying to net that big yellow looked like a bad idea from the start. Amazing action on that light rod - I would not have believed that rod could land that big fish if I didn't see it. Looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing.

Smols

[ksong]

I told the net is too small while taking video.  
After we landed 100 lb yft with the light Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch rod, I got confidence the light rod can handle fish upto 100 lb.  I will test the rod for yellowtail (kingfish) in 60 lb - 80 lb range on the Three Kings Island trip to NZ next April.