Bait Types: From Earthworms and Paste to Egi and Live Bait

Drop the same rod in the same spot with a different bait, and different fish come up. That's because each fish has its own favorite food. Here are the baits you'll see most in a Korean tackle shop, split into fresh water and sea.

Freshwater baits

Earthworms are the oldest and most versatile bait. Their wriggling and scent draw almost every freshwater fish, from crucian carp and common carp to catfish, bullheads and eels. Leave a little tail free on the hook so it keeps moving, and cut it shorter if small fish keep nibbling.

Paste bait is a dough of grain or fishmeal powder mixed with water. As it slowly breaks up underwater it spreads scent and particles that gather fish nearby. It's the standard bait for crucian carp, Japanese crucian carp, common carp and mirror carp. Too wet and it falls off the hook; too dry and it won't break up, so getting the water right is a real skill.

Lures are fake baits imitating small fish or insects: soft plastic worms, metal spoons and fish-shaped minnows. They target predators that chase live prey, such as mandarin fish, bass, snakehead and trout, and you have to keep casting and retrieving to give them life.

Sea baits

Krill are small Antarctic shrimp sold frozen. They're used on the hook and also mixed with attractant as groundbait thrown into the water. They work well for breakwater and rocky-shore fish such as black sea bream, opaleye, surfperch, jack mackerel and rockfish.

Ragworms are worms from tidal mudflats, from cheap, common ones to big, strong-smelling lugworm types. They're especially good for fish living near the bottom, such as gobies, greenlings, flounder and Korean rockfish.

Egi are shrimp-shaped lures made for squid, with a cloth-wrapped body and a ring of hooks at the tail like umbrella spokes. They're used for bigfin reef squid, cuttlefish and webfoot octopus; you jerk the rod so the egi darts up and sinks.

Live bait means using live shrimp or small fish as they are. It targets picky hunters of moving prey such as olive flounder, hairtail, Pacific cod and sweetfish. It only works well alive, so anglers carry it in a bucket with an aerator.

Tips for choosing bait