Steven from Hong Kong

I've been in touch with Steven since last fall.  He comes to Korea to fish and I hope to meet up with him to fish soon.  He sent me some photos from his trip to New Zealand.  Pretty amazing images.  Looking forward to meeting up Steven, thanks for the link.

Smart Trout -vs- Dumb Trout

Which one do you like better?  I personally like the dumb ones for obvious reason.  I don't have to work hard to catch them.  Today I had a chance to meet both kind.

I've heard of this particular creek through a guide I've hired a few years back.  He told me this creek is seldom fished as it is not well known or popular amongst fishing crowd as you do need some serious off road capability vehicle to have an access .  He also informed me that the creek is inhabited by very picky and smart wild trouts.  The first time was really frustrating as I skunked out big time.  There were plenty of trouts in the creek as I saw them scattering away when I didn't keep low profile or deployed awkward casting. Humility is something this creek taught me well... Probably the reason why I don't fish this creek as much as I should.

 Today was one of those days that I felt confident enough to try this creek.  Halfway through the trip my confidence pretty much dissipated,  replaced by humility.  I had a few rise but couldn't maintain the required drift for this creek.  Toward the end of the run, I've managed to reel in two browns but boy did I have to work for them fish....

 Hendrickson was the name of the game.

 Smart fish #1

 Smart fish #2

 Hiking back to my car seemed like eternity.  I was asking myself, "how can I improve line management", "was fly selection correct?". "should I have used longer tippet?", " AHH YOU SUCK!"

When I arrived to my car, I've notice this small creek near where I parked my car, feeding into the creek I've just fished. It was a tiny little creek but it seemed so fishy for me to pass by so I rigged my rod with shorter leader and stepped into the creek.  Immediately, I see at least 5 brookies darting away to take cover.

 EUREKA!!! This creek contained the  motherload of stupid fish.  As long as you keep low profile, I could approach these fish to the point where I can literally grab them with my hand and they were hungry! Dead drift wasn't necessary as I saw them chasing my stripping fly downstream and I was able to make an eye contact while they were chasing after my fly.

 I only fished about 1/4 miles until I reached a pond feeding into the creek but must have caught well over 20 brookies.

By the time I was done with the fishing, the humility had gone away and came to realization that this is why I love stupid fish.  Someday I will be good enough to chase after only the smart ones but for now, I am very content with my stupid friends.

Popped the cherry

I'm posting this because its not fair for Charles to be putting up all the content himself.
I admit I have hardly fished at all in the past few months, but Dr Shin and Ksanchun got me to take the day off and go out to kangwando. I'm sure glad I did! It was really nice to take a slow day sharing the creek with Ksanchun. I had my personal best day on that creek, even managed to catch a few of the rainbows that the club had released in the fall. Ksanchun rolled a mutant, but it surprised him and he got away. It's okay though because I know exactly where he is hiding. I have to say that going out with these guys is always a treat because I end up eating so well. I don't eat that much when fishing back in the states because the food in the mountains isn't very good. But the food in the countryside in Korea is awesome! I won't lose any weight on fishing trips here.

Winter fishing compilation

Seems like I've been doing a lot more fishing than the most of you. (Don't be jealous, especially Eun Joo)  I've been pretty lazy posting during the winter season.  So here it goes...

 This winter was a snowy one.  Hiking and fishing in snow covered mountain brings out the inner peace that is hard to describe.  Especially when you see all kinds of animal tracks on snow, you realize how many wild creatures are prowling the forest besides you.

 This creek in the Catskills is a tiny creek I've found last year and contains abundance of wild trouts.  I was lucky enough to catch this brown as this was the only trout I've caught that day.  Wasn't so abundant on that day....

 My favorite creek in NJ.  This creek never disappoints me as there were many hungry browns were lurking around.

 Took my beloved bamboo rod out from the winter hibernation...

 I think this day was the coldest day as I had to clean out ice chunks from my fishing line after each cast.

I know the life in Seoul can get pretty hectic, but all you guys need to unwind every once in awhile so go out there and fish and don't be lazy like me when it comes to posting your trip.

Tight lines brothers!!!

Spring outing

As the spring is in full swing, Patty and I decided to give our favorite wild trout stream a try.  The weather was as typical as any spring weather should be, rainy with warm breeze air all round us.

 Patty enjoys hiking aspect of fishing more than anyone I know as I heard more "ooohs" and "ahhhs" throughout the whole trip...

 This decent size wild brown was her first catch of the day.

 Patty's first ever tiger trout!  She was amazed about the origin of their species.  Especially within the wild setting.

 Her casting is getting so much better.

 A true form of pocket water fisherman.

 This brookie had a devoured fish in his mouth.  Went after my fly even before he had a chance to digest his previous kill.