Large mouth Bass...the Korean pest!

[brazmonki]

I'm new to the forum and did my introduction a few days ago. A comment was about how I release bass and this lead me to how large mouth bass are seen as a pest in Korea. (Again, thanks for the reminder Jeremy and I will be more careful! :blue-smile: )

In the 1950's, thousands of American soldiers went to the Southern part of Korea (when is was still one country) to protect the ideals of democracy on this small peninsula. They were stationed there for a long time and got bored. North American large mouth bass were brought to Korea and released into their rivers as the soldiers got bored and fished as a hobby in their free time.

This created a big problem as North American large mouth bass were more aggressive and started feeding on the native Korean fish as well as spreading throughout the entire country. Today, large mouth bass are seen as a pest in Korean waters and the amount of native Korean fish has dropped drastically. Think the Asian carp crisis currently in North American waters. #irony

I was lucky enough to catch one of these native fish called a Solgari. However, stupid as I was, I gave it to an old man who probably ate it. Did not know that it was sought after at the time. Check the video here from 1:45
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAAp0zu02Qk&index=2&list=PLCrB1IrJ7sM7KMDifNX4qrSq1rnjAZSJE&ab_channel=jdknakshi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAAp0zu ... =jdknakshi</a><!-- m -->

Today, Koreans are encouraged to catch and not release bass as they are trying to fight back and save the local fish species. I heard that at certain dams, you get paid 1000 Won (about R15) for every bass you bring to the local "dam manager". But in all honesty, money is not going to sort out this problem. This also explains why I see such amazing PB's here. Bass in Korea don't grow to a big size as they hardly ever get the opportunity to grow above the 4lb mark.

Just thought I'd share this as to how things work elsewhere. :eusa_angel:

[Nexus]

Thanks for the intro and welcome! I read somewhere that bass fishing was getting popular in South Korea and that they even had a bass fishing tournament trail? The article made it seem like bass fishing was developing as a sport over there, but you paint a very different picture.

[brazmonki]

Can you send me a hyperlink to that article?

[Nexus]

I read it a few years back, not sure which web site. I'll have a look and see if I can find it...

[Nexus]

Funny enough, I kept an excerpt from the article (for research), but not the article URL:

"Anglers all over the country target these green bass exclusively and they even have two tournament circuits that draw an average of 120 boats per event. Bass fishing and the bass fishing industry is on the rise in South Korea. There are also at least four bass fishing magazines in the country that the anglers can learn from and these magazines are on par with any Japanese magazine I have seen. Thick paper, great pictures and chock full of information."

After googling just now, I found this, which illustrates the point:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2015-06-27-flw-signs-contract-for-south-korean-tournaments" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2015-06- ... ournaments</a><!-- m -->

Korea Bass Fishing Association: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://kbass.co.kr/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://kbass.co.kr/</a><!-- m -->