Fishing by Season: From Spring Flounder to Winter Smelt

Water temperature changes how much fish eat, how deep they live and where they travel. Knowing when they come inshore to spawn and when they fatten up reveals each fish's season. Some seasons overlap with closed seasons, though, so always check the rules before seasonal fishing.

Spring: heading inshore to spawn

As the water starts to warm, many fish come into the shallows to spawn. In fresh water, crucian carp feed hard before spawning, hence the Korean phrase 'spring crucian carp'. At sea, the marbled flounder, fattened up again after spawning in winter, is famous as 'spring dodari', and red sea bream and cuttlefish coming inshore to spawn are spring visitors too.

Summer: warm water, active fish

Summer powers up fish that love warm water. On rivers it's the season for mandarin fish, sweetfish and night fishing for eels. On south-coast and Jeju rocky shores, warm-water fish such as rabbitfish and wrasses are common. At midday fish hide deep from the heat too, so early morning and dusk are best.

Autumn: the golden age of sea fishing

Autumn is the busiest season for sea fishing, as fish eat heavily and fatten up before winter. There's a long list of targets: black sea bream and opaleye on the rocks, hairtail at night, mackerel and gizzard shad at breakwaters, webfoot octopus after its closed season, and the year's young bigfin reef squid.

Winter: fish that get better in cold water

Some fish taste better as the water gets colder. At sea, the classics are fatty yellowtail and Spanish mackerel, Pacific cod coming to spawn and flathead mullet filling out in winter. In fresh water, ice fishing for pond smelt through holes in frozen lakes is held as winter festivals, and cold-loving cherry salmon and rainbow trout are in season too.

Ice fishing: safety first