Mariager Fjord, 22/10 – 2016

A pontoon boat trip with 2 x Henrik from Bombayfly. We started in the dark and fished until noon where we stopped as the wind and rain drained us for energy. I excelled in catching nothing  while Henrik got three trouts. No photo as he was very discreet. The other Henrik fished with a sinking 3 line in 3 feet of water and that payed off as he got a flounder 🙂

 

The flounder was the basis for a small thai inspired fish soup in the evening – very delicious, thanks for that Henrik

 

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Cape Cod week 33 – 2016

The team for Cape Cod this year was exactly the same as last year and included Thomas, Caspar, Peter and Carsten. This time we came in September which is new to us. The new time of year gave opportunities af fishing for false albacore known as albies but we were a bit concerned for the striper fishing as the summer had been quite hot and long so the water temperature was high.

 

The first day Casper and I went out with a guide Dave. We primarily looked for albies and Caspar got one and that was one of his goals for the trip, so from dy one he had been succesful. We arrived late in the evening and we met with Dave 6 AM next day and I must admit I had not finely tuned my gear from start and therefore I missed some good opportunities with albies at the surface. It was Saturday and there were many boats on the water. Another time I would definitely go for a day outside the weekend.

 

Later in the afternoon we did some fishing towards the rocks of an island and had some interesting fishing here. I got a nice striper though not a keeper. Dave with his characteristic beard in the back – I will recommend him if you want a guide trip, he was knowledgable and keen to give us a good trip.

 

In the evening we met with the other guys that had been fishing the bay side and had very good fishing. Caspar and I also had good fishing and this first day I got two keepers around 29 inches and then I had fulfilled one of my goals.

 

This day and the day after we got a lot of fish. We got between 30 and 50 stripers each. Most were smaller fish but also several like this that were not keepers but almost. This raise the hopes for next years fishing. Peter got app. 50 fish the first day including two keepers and he had two goals: to try to catch many fish and to get a keeper so he was also content from day one.

 

Caspar excelled with a new species on fly on our trip to the Cape, a fluke or a flounder.

 

The second day we fished in the dark at Brewsters flat and found a spot where the fish at least at that time had a very good average size. Here Thomas presents a keeper.

 

Monday the weather forecast was not that good and some went shopping but Peter and I wanted to fish. We fished at Mill Creek and we got a few smaller fish but we saw a lot of surface activity but out of reach. At times the weather prediction was very precise as it rained a LOT. We had the empty our stripping baskets every 3 minutes.

 

On e morning Thomas and I fished Chatham bay. We heard something we have never heard before. It sounded like there was a speed boat race going on constantly. It turned out to be seals howling. All the dark areas on the sand bars are big grey seals. We could see several hundreds of seals and often they come very close and I must admit that I do not have much confidence in the fishing if I have several seals within casting distance.

One day Caspar and I tried some new spots on the ocean side near the canal. I had to stop fishing as a school og small bluefish literally took my fly all the time and Caspar added yet another species to our list. I can not remember the name but here it is.

 

 

As always we see some wildlife despite that Cape Cod is thickly settled. This year I saw many wild turkeys, chipmunks, squirrels, coyotes, a skunk in our garden, osprey and a big variety of birds and then a lot of seals.

 

This year we had one day kayaking to the sand bars. There were too many clouds so we did not get many opportunities for sight fishing. The day before would have been much better but we had some problems renting the kayaks so we had to wadefish. And during this wadefishing we saw many fish at the surface at very shallow water so we got our bit of sight fishing. Now Thomas and I have bought a kayak so next year we hopefully will be able to use that a lot.

To sum things up we had very nice weather, we caught a lot of fish though the pace went down from the first frantic days, we got five keepers and many almost keepers, we had some sight fishing and we found a new favourite breakfast place (Hangar B at Chatham airport). We also visited The Corner store several times for panini and burritos so we all look forward to next time.

 

 

Mariager Fly Cup 2016

Bombayfly had its annually fly fishing competition Mariager Fly Cup for the third time. It is a one day competition only for fly-fisher in Mariager Fjord. I think it is safe to say that it is the biggest fly-only competition in Denmark and it is also backed up by many fly related companies sponsoring prices  . The fee is very modest at 100 DKK  while the prices are very generous.

This year 165 fly-fishers participated and as always everyone was in a good mood and despite the weather that was too good (warm and sunny) many very nice fish were caught.

 

Here the winners with fish and prices.

 

Here the top 10 fish from 1,7 kg to 3,1 kg displayed on ice.

I only participated as an official in the weighting procedure so I had my excuse for not catching anything. ´Friday I leave for Cape Cod for this years striper fishing and I hop to return with a nice report with many fish.

Kolding Fjord 28/8 – 2016

A trip with the Bombay-guys Simon, Søren, Jan and Morten to Kolding Fjord to a destination I haven´t tried before. In Bombay terms it is known as the clamydia-swamp, not a nice name but in a way an OK description of this part of the fjord where the bottom is very soft and sometimes very smelly.

Four of us were wade fishing and Søren fished from his pontoon boat. We saw the first trout even before we entered the water but despite a lot af casting and seeing several fish within casting reach we got nothing. After a 3 hours Søren sailed to another location and that proved to be a good move as he had terrific fishing seeing and catching many fish.  He kept three nice fish and released som and lost the big one. He also called us so we moved to his place and that resulted in one nice fish for Simon and a small one for me. Then it started to rain heavily despite the sunny weather forecast and we stopped. A location to try another time maybe in a pontoon boat.

 

 

Rena, 1/8 – 6/8 2016

almost a week in Norway at Rena dry-fly fishing from pontoon boats with Gunnar, Anders, Henning and Lise.

 

We stayed at Rena Fishing Camp where we had the new apartment above the new café.

 

We managed to arrange transport of all five pontoon boats with only one deflated. Everyone looked a bit concerned when they saw our setup but if we did not drive fast it worked very well.

 

We did not see many fish taking insects from the surface so it was primarily blind fishing with caddis patterns. This was probably the reason that we almost only caught brown trouts. Here a nice 37 cm trout from the first day.

 

The first day Lise only got three fish but it was a Rena grand slam: a grayling, a brown trout and a white fish. All good fish with an average size around 37 cm.

 

five times I was lucky to meet a beaver this is from my first encounter where it climbed out the water and started to eat at the shore.

 

The last day I drifted 12 km with Lises and mine pontoon boats tied together with a rope and here Lise saw her first beaver swimming with its dinner.

 

Caddis flies were the main target for the fish at this time but there were also smaller mayflies.

 

There was not much wind and many times Rena really presented itself very nice.

 

But in the high mountains the weather can change in minutes and this photo was taken shortly after. The showers normally did not last for long so all in all the weather was very suitable for fishing.

 

The brown trout were sometime with red spots and sometimes without. We never caught any stocked fish without fat fin.

 

The night-time is the best time for big trout but as Rena runs south it is not well suited for late evening dry-fly fishing from pontoon boats as you can only see the fly behind you so it is better ti fish from the shore.

 

The last day Lise only got two trout but again both of good size, she must be doing something right.

 

It is always a pleasure to fish and drift down Rena so I would love to come back. This time we did not get any really big trouts but we had a lot of laughs, drinks and good food. We got grayling up to 50 cm and trout up to 42 cm and we caught quite a lot of smaller fish so we will not make any complaints. Next time we may go for the night fishing and the bigger trouts but a nice meal and a drink is sometimes hard to compete with 😉

 

Udbyhøj, 15/7 – 2016

An evening trip in the pontoon boats with Henrik. It was more windy than we wished for so we had to spend a lot of energy to hold the boats up against the wind, but no rain so all in all it was OK.

I started out with a well conditioned trout an inch above the required minimum size and as I have no fish in the fridge I decided to bring it back home and I killed. Unfortunately it slipped out of my hands and went to the bottom where I could see it but not reach it. So this became a mela not for me bur for the crabs.

 

Later I got this just below the required size so it was released.

 

This was exactly the required size but as you can see it released itself but this time it was fine as it was alive

 

This was my last for the day. Again well conditioned but a bit too small-

I ended up with five trouts around the minimum size all released and Henrik got four though two of them were very juvenile fish in the 15 cm  range.

Sidorovka, week 25 – 2016

For the first time I went to the Kola peninsula in Russia, a place I have dreamed about for years. I and 3 of the Bombayfly guys should flyfish in Sidorovka for 6 days. Sidorovka is a rather small river well suited for single-handed rods and that suited me well I thought.

The team was Stefan, myself, Lasse and Jonas

I teamed up with Stefan and as we both used a Linekurv we were named team Linekurv. The first day we went downstream and i the Valley pool Stefan had three salmon taking his fly that were not hooked properly.

 

 

 

I had a go afterwards and at the end of the small pool I hooked my first Sidorovka salmon.

 

It was a nice fresh fish in the mid 70´es lenghtwise and I was a happy fly-fisher.

 

I the went down and tried the next pool and got another fish. I was a bit surprised when it turned out to be a humpback salmon. The camp manager later told us that they were not expected until mid July so it was way too early. On this trip I was the only one catching humpback and I caught three of them. Why they only grabbed my fly I have no idea.

 

We then went all the way to the Sea pool which is close to the sea (smart name 😉 )

 

 

 

Here I got this small searun brown trout and I had gotten a Sidorovka gran slam: an Atlantic salmon, a pacific salmon and a searun brown trout in one day. At least that is what I called it.

 

At the dinner that day I received this needle to show I had my first Sidorovka salmon. This day I was the lucky man the others had their needle the coming days.

 

The next day Stefan and I hiked up to the place called Shithouse. It was a hike that took 1½ hour each way and at least I was tired when returning back to the camp in the evening.

 

At the Shithouse 5 small lakes were connected with some small streams and the neck og the lakes proved quite productive so it was worth the long hike.

 

 

Most of the times we hooked a fish at the neck and the fish went downstream and was landed in the next lake. Here Stefan presents one of his salmon’s.

 

When returning from the Shithouse it was a very welcome sight to see the camp and knowing that you were almost at home.

The next days we alternated between the long walk to Shithouse and fishing closer to the camp and we all got fish. Here Jonas presents probably the biggest fish on the trip app. 90 cm.

 

Stefan got 7 salmon’s and was happy for every one of them

 

 

Lasse started out a bit slow but came back as can be seen.

 

Lasse and Jonas at the Shithouse.

 

Lasse also got a very nice brown trout around the 45 cm mark.

 

Golden killer was probably the most efficient fly but also got fish on Sunray shadow, Iceman and ØT Special.

 

There was also a bit of wildlife. The most numerous animal was the mosquito. Jonas had fished in Alaska so he had som repellent with more than 98% DEET. Not healthy but efficient.

 

The ptarmigans (a grouse like bird)  were not easy to scare. Kenny our guide called the tundra chicken.

This bird was redlisted and quite rare but the exact species I do not know. We also met a lot of reindeer’s and minks.

 

wild chives were everywhere.

 

and came in handy when you wanted to flavour your breakfast.

 

A few of the salmon’s were taken to camp and we had the as sashimi, in soup, as steaks and rimmet all very delicious.  The food was excellent at the camp. We had a four course dinner every night and we send warm greetings to our Ukrainian chef.

 

As always when you have to end a fishing trip it is nice not to need to DEET yourself every day but it is with some sadness that you leave this beautiful place.

I ended up having caught four Atlantic salmon and three pacific salmon and some seatrout and brown trout and I was content especially considering that the weather was way too warm the last three days. Stefan lost by a good margin the largest fish (12-15 kg) when the hook broke and the sight of that fish jumping is still on my retinal. Wed a lot of fun and some fantastic fishing so a very good trip despite the long travel back and forth

 

Bølling Sø – 22/5 2016

Normally when fishing in Bølling Sø there is a lot of action but mainly smaller fish. This time there was not much action and only small fish. I fished for four hours and got two smaller pikes and had a couple of hits on the fly.

Lundø 15-17/5 2016

 

Like last year I went to Lundø to open our summer cottage and have a nice time and fish garfish with the not so experienced friends Enzo and Rieko.

we fished for 1½ hours and caught seven garfish. We kept four of them for the smoker so we had smoked garfish for lunch. Enzo was man of the day as he got four fish

 

The following day Lise and I tried for an hour and we got 5 garfish. Here Lise is fighting her first garfish ever on a fly rod.

Children elevation device

Thomas needed something to lift his daughter up to the table and the Linekurv.dk came in handy.

Udbyhøj 23/4 – 2016

I wanted to try Udbyhøj Again as this is  one of my favourite spots. The nature is beautiful here and the current changes constantly so new situations and opportunities open. This day I went into the fjord as Wind and current both pushed from East at the start.

after 1½ hour without any contact at all I found a small reef where I got this 40 cm trout. It was released and then I got a garfish and another smaller trout and then a really good fish grabbed the fly.

 

It was this 2,5 kg trout in perfect condition…

 

..almost. I think a seal had bitten off most of the tail and that explained why it did not jump and why I did the rainbow grip on the first photo. I later also got a 48 cm trout that was in OK condition so it was released as I the leftovers from the seal 🙂

Udbyhøj 22/4 – 2016

 

A pontoon boat trip to Udbyhøj where I focus on “Gammeldybet” that often is very productive this time of the year. Today Grejbiksens fishing competition started at noon, so 15 minutes before noon fishermen came from all sides.

I got the first garfish of the year and as it was hooked in the rear end I for a second thought that it was a good sized trout.

Today I got 6 trouts. Five were small blank fish and then one bigger kelt so everything was released.

 

I met Finn and he got this nice 45 cm trout to keep while we fished together.

Udbyhøj 8/4 – 2106

An afternoon trip in the pontoon boat. I went alone but I met Henrik so we fished together for a couple of hours.

After a couple of smaller fish I was into a larger fish

 

It was a fish close to 60 cm but as you can see it needed to eat some more so it was released.

 

Henrik also had plenty of action

This will be really nice in a month or two so it was also released.

I got 6-7 trouts and I think Henrik had more. Henrik got one nice fish fit enough and big enough to keep but all in all a very windy day but a lot of action and for the first time this year I saw several fish jumping.

 

Ystad 29/3 – 2/4 – 2016

This year we were 11 fly fishermen that went to the coast around Ystad to fish for searun Brown trout from pontoon boats. This year we rented a summer cottage near Kåsaberga which is nicely centered for the spots we normally visit.

The first day Claus was hooked up very soon and I thought it was a good sign for trip but it turned out to be a small cod and that is quite a rare catch.

 

Henrik also got a rare catch when he landed this rainbow trout.

I had a VERY slow start as did not feel any fish the first couple of days. I was driving with Per and he started quite well as he got 3 trouts the first day but as they were kelts they were all released again.

 

Then I got a break when I fished the very shallow waters close to a rocky coastline. It was a very nice 60 cm trout.

 

The fly was a no-name pattern, a small dark grey palmer hackle fly that could imitate the small gammarus we saw in the shallow water. That day it proved succesful as I later got two more fish on this fly.

 

It is nice to get two fine fish in one day so a big smile.

 

As always in these areas we saw many kites and some cranes heading north for the summer. This year we also saw osprey and a sea eagle and the last day at Kåseberga we saw more than 10.000 eiders towards their summer resident further North.

The fishing was not as good as normally. We mostly got blank fish but too small and only a few kelts. Leif made a 3 minute video that nicely sums up the trip. Be sure to Watch it in HD.

 

Helnæs 25/3 – 2016

A day trip to the Southern part of Fyn where we (Peter and Carsten) met with Thomas and Ib that spend the Eastern holidays in a summer cottage with the family. We tried a couple of spots without any luck and then after a nice lunch in the summer cottage we finally hit some fish. Peter and Thomas were hooked up simultaneously with good-sized fish.

 

First Thomas landed this 70 cm fish that had a nice colour but was too slim so it was released.

 

Then Peter landed this 60 cm beauty. We hoped that we now had found a school of fish but despite a good effort nothing more happened, but with two fish of this size we could not make any complaints.

 

Limfjorden, 10/1 – 2016

After a long time with too much work, too cold weather and too much wind I finally hit the water again.

It was not really a fishing trip as I went with the Bombayfly Guys to Limfjorden to collect oisters. The trip was a succes as we got all the oisters we could eat and it was both the European version and the Pacific version.

 

 

 

We prepared them on the spot, some “au natural” and some on a camp fire, We had a blast so it was a first time for me but definately not a last time despite the cold and snowy weather

Mariager Fjord, 7/11 – 2015

A trip with Michael in the pontoon boats in Mariager. We went to the outer part of the fjord hoping to find some blank searun brown trouts. We fished in the shallow water and we or more precisely Michael found some fish.

 

The first fish seemed to be good sized and it put out a good struggle on the 4 weight rod.

 

After a while Michael could net it …

and present a 52 cm blank trout with loose scales.

All in all we got 6 trouts and Michael got another fine fish almost the same size as the one in the photos.

Bølling Sø. 1/11 – 2015

a solo trip to Bølling sø fishing for pike in the pontoon boat.

There was no Wind when I started out and it looked like a quiet day at the office as not much happened the first 3 hours. I got 3 pikes but I really had tp Work for them and no big ones.

I decided to stop but at the pier I talked to another guy fishing and while we talked he got one and had a hit on his lure so I decided to give it a shot for another 30 minutes. In this ½ hour I got 4 smaller pikes so it was a good decision and 7 pikes in ½ a day is for me good.

 

The Bahamas, week 41 – 2015

A good week fly fishing at Grand Bahama with Søren and Henrik was what we aimed for. For Henrik and Søren it was a first time fishing in the tropics.

We did the trip as DIY and rented half of this house including this fishmobile and Volvo from 1978. It did well until the alternator broke down and then it was switched to a SUV. The house was very spacious and we all had our own rooms so nothing to complaint about there.

 

We drove around and from Google maps satellite Photos we could find beaches that looked promising. Some times it was hard to get to the Beach as many roads were private but all in all we did quite well. Some times the flats were not that big and could only be fished at certain tides but our worst enemy was the clouds. Approximately half of the time it was clouded and that really made the fishing hard.

The second day we got the first bones on a sandy flat.

Henrik presents his first ever bonefish, no Wonder he looks happy.

and the fish is happy when it is released

 

We got a lot af different species here a pompano

and before landing

 

and a blue runner

a porgy

 

Søren got this nice spanish mackerell that really puts up a good fight

 

A very yellow tailed snapper

 

One day I to my big surprise first got a blue parrot fish and later I lost in the second long run a triggerfish but I had forgotten my camera. Søren managed the last day to get a triggerfish though this was not a hard fighting fish but a new specie to mark for Søren.

 

We fished two days with guide and that opened opportunities at VERY large flats. The first day was not very succesful and we did not see many fish, but as you can see we did get some bones.

The guide had never before seen fly Fishers with a stripping basket but he was very impressed with the distances we could cast without much effort.

Once we fished to a school of bonefish surrounded by 4-5 sharks and on one of the flats a 8-9 feet tiger shark swimmed next to the boat. If you click on the link you can see a video of the tiger shark.

Tigershark video

 

We had several incidents with the sharks with an outcome that made it hard to release the fish

 

another fish that ended as shark food.

One day Henrik forgot his cap in the car but he found a construction worker helmet on the beach and he was back in business.

 

the second day with our guide William started very wet but luckily it became a good day with many schools of bonefish tailing and then it does not get any better.

 

From time to time we got smaller bonefish but we also got some very decent fish

 

 

A couple of times we had a double hook-up. Here Henrik and Søren are busy each with a bonefish.

Henrik presenting one of the good fish

 

The bonesfish were the star of the trip though we did see a few big permits and next time we will try to get a shark to take a fly. The people in the Bahamas were very nice and helpful in a way that exceeded our expectations so a very positive impression.

 

 

Randers Fjord, 3/10 – 2015

A day in the pontoon boats with Klaus and 2 x Henrik. The intention was to drift with the incoming tide from Udbyhøj and then drift back with the outgoing current. As the incoming current never really picked up we had to use fins, oars and motor to get to Stenrevet where we had our lunch.

The weather started cloudy and then turned sunny with little or no Wind so the conditions were nice but not the best for the fishing. And today was a day with many soft contacts but not a lot of fish hooked. Most of the fish we got were quite small.

When I approached Henrik near Stenrevet he got a good hook-up and had to fight for a while…

 

untill he could present this nice trout at app. ½ meter.

 

just before we stopped I got a good fish in shallow Water. It was a 55 cm fish that will end its days as sushi material 🙂