When I imagine ice fishing what comes to mind is having to dig a hole in isolation with a whole lot of waiting with hot chocolate. But I knew that going to a festival with the central thrust of it being ice fishing was going to be a bit different. I just wasn’t expecting how different it actually was.
I had been skiing all day on Saturday and I was a bit too tired to hit the slopes again on Sunday. We had done some research and discovered that’s there was a local festival which seemed to be quite busy.
It was a year after the 2018 Winter Olympics and winter festivals and infrastructure in the Pyeongchang region had been largely built up following the influx of investment and profit. So I was optimistic.
And I was correct. The Pyeongchang Trout Festival was in fact very busy. The ice was covered in people.
The government had clearly spent a lot of money on snow and ice crafting. Big packed snow drifts were in the shape of trout and Pyeongchang was written out in human sized lettering.
There was a huge food court where you could order food or have the fish you caught cooked for you with sides. For kids or energetic adults there where ATVs and a snow raft pulled over built up slopes. The adorable Olympic mascots were in their famous pose between two beautiful ice huts.
For the open air ice fishing area the main ticket area sold tickets for entrance. Separately sold were varying quality fishing equipment. You enter the fishing area by showing your ticket to a employee and enter a constructed tent which due to the wood stoves located inside had a greenhouse effect. Ice fishers have the option to come in and out of the tent from the fishing area. Inside the tent aside from the much needed warmth were venders who sold classic korean event food (meat on a stick, fish cakes/어묵국, Tteokbokki/떡볶이, and a variety of coffee in a can options).
On the ice, aside from a cold breeze were a hundred or more people sitting and standing around ice fishing from precut holes. As you can see from the photos, it was quite a number of people in a rather small area.
We had seen a couple people with caught trout in bags. Not a lot of people, but a couple. Enough to have optimism about our odds of catching one.
Apparently there was a secret to being successful at catching a trout at the festival. I wish I could tell you it was some century old fishing technique. It’s super anticlimactic.
Every hour or so an ATV with a tank came on to the ice and dumped more fish into the water.
Everyone who I saw catch a fish had chased the ATV and dropped their lines into the holes closest to the spot that the festival was restocking the river. It was comical watching a crowd of people changing the fish truck.
After we saw this we rolled out eyes and all agreed we had our ice fishing experience and it was time for food and further exploring.
Basic Information about the Festival
The ice fishing is hosted on the Odaecheon Stream in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do.
The festival runs from December to February, making it one of the festivals open the longest in the winter. Dates vary based on the year, as the festival is temperature dependent. In 2018 the festival was hosted from December 21st to February 2nd, 2019.
Fishing and the festival was open between 9am-5pm. We were told AM is that the best time to be on the ice (we suspect that it was because the big fish stocking was done in the early morning so there was highest fish concentration then – but that’s just our speculation).
The 2018-2019 pricing was 15,000원 per person for general admission ice fishing. While tents were 29,000-39,000원 depending on how luxurious you want your tent to be. But tents sell out fast!
For additional and updated information check out the Official Website
Our Verdict on the Festival
If you are skiing Yeongpyeong and have a free morning it’s worth going to. It’s a interesting experience to be able to see the festival and to eat some good food
I wouldn’t spent more than 30 minutes getting there. It’s most definitely not worth making it the many motivation of a trip.
Our Verdict on Ice Fishing
It’s a gimmick that’s for sure. If you just want the trout, it’s cheaper to buy one fish in the food hut then for more than one person to go fishing and catch one.
I’ve seen and heard a lot of reviews of winter festivals that have ice fishing in Korea. From what I gathered there are other winter festivals which stock the rivers better than Pyeongchang. This means your chances of catching a fish are probably higher at other festivals.
If you want the ice fishing experience even if you don’t catch a fish (likely) it’s worth doing once. But if you want a higher probability of catching a fish in a one off experience I would recommend the Hwacheon Ice Festival.
It’s freezing cold. Unless you are getting a hut it’s going to be super windy. Be prepared.
What a wonderful post. I loved your photos very much. Thank you. In Finland we do not use ice fish huts, because we have warm winter coats!
Winter walk
Have a wonderful day!