Gudenaaen, 6/1 2013

A pontoon boat drift trip for pikes. I thought we were going to be 3 persons but it turned out that we were 7. It was not that big a problem as we nicely spread out and when we arrive on the lake there is plenty of room. Normally the fishing is best in the lake or in the estuary but today I had more luck in the river.

The pontoon boats well-distributed on the lake.

Here Jan is landing one of the better pikes of the day.

and presenting it. It is typical for this time of the year that the pikes have many leeches.

We did not catch any big pikes today I think it was up to 8 pounds. I got a handful but mine were all just in the 3-5 pound range.

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Bredningen 10/11 2012

A pontoon boat trip fly fishing for pike. I was on my own and that usually means that I do not fish many hours and so it was today as well. I had some action but today I was not lucky or good enough to hook the pikes that grabbed the fly. I lost the majority af the fish  but when you release them anyway it is not that important though you always think that the ones that got away were the largest.

Today I got a handful of pike in my hand and lost more than that. All the pikes were small and the highlight of the day was when I came within 15 feet to an otter – I felt that I could touch it with my fly rod.

This was the average size so not much to brag about.

Brabrand Sø, 9/11 2012

A pontoon trip on Brabrand Sø for pike. It was after work and as it darkens quite early it was a short trip alone. I soon hooked a small pike that did not get hold to the fly untill the third attempt, so it may not be a big pike but an entertaining one.

After fishing close to the banks for a hour with the floating line  I decided to go deeper and I put on a 200 grains line. I also went  more to the center of the lake and then I got a hookup that differed from the normal pike hookup. When it came to the surface I realized that it was a walleye. I was not well prepared for this as I had no landing net or priest in the pontoon boat, but I managed to get it.

It was a 67 cm 6½ pund walleye, my first on the fly and a nice one.

Later I got another pike and then I had misplaced my plier which resulted in this. I can assure this is not pike blood 🙂

Nice to come back with this in the transport net I am already thing on how to serve it. I am quite sure that it will some sort of sous vide style as I have bought such a machine and I love it.

Bredningen 3/11 2012

With a nice weather forecast it was time to try the pikes in Bredningen with the Bombay guys Henrik and Jeppe and two of Jeppes friends.

we started out 9 Am and fished until 2 PM. The sun was shining and without rain it was quite nice despite the low temperature both in the water and in the air. I caught 6  pikes and that was more or less the average catch today. everyone got fish but no one got into the big ones. I think the largest today was around 6 pound but that is also a nice fish. everything was released and I was lucky that all my fish  could be released just by holding the hook and twist it – so fish were harmed and I could keep my hands dry.

Jepper with a pike, they did not come much bigger today.

Bredningen 7/10 2012

A morning trip in pontoon boats with Jan and Caspar fly fishing for pike. It was a bit cold and quite windy but we had heard about good fishing the day before so we were eager to give it a shot. The first couple of hours not much happened, We all got one small pike and some rain. Then we took a break and after the break the wind really picked up. Jan decided to head back while Caspar and I fished on. I was lucky to hit the spot and within 10 minutes I got 4 pikes. 3 pikes in 3 casts means a sort of hat trick.

Due to the wind I only got this bad photo. The pikes were not big except for the first one they were all around 4 -5 pounds.

It then got so windy that we decided to go back and that was a struggle, so today we do not need to go to the gym.

Moesgaard 19/9 2012

Michael called for an afternoon trip to Moesgaard which is very suitable for a short trip and as my work for the day more or less was done I accepted at once.

 

 

It was quite windy with a mixture of sun and rain producing several rainbows

 

I spend an hour chasing schools of mackerells but without succes. Here you may see the nervous water at the right hand side of the photo.  Michael got one mackerell but it was not hooked properly so his choice of fly did not help me. After giving up the mackerels I joined Michael that in another spot had caught two sea trouts above the minimum size with the largest on 54 cm and he told that he had seen a bigger fish in the area.

 

Two casts later I hooked a very good fish and after the highest jump I have ever seen a trout make we could beach this sea trout. 73 cm and more than 9 pounds.

 

Naturally we had to make several photos as this is not an every day experience for us 🙂

 

The harvest of this 3 hour trip:  3 trouts and one mackerell. we were very content when we left for home.

Cape Cod week 23 2012

The trip to Cape Cod in late October really wet our appetite so Thomas and I had booked for a week of striper fishing at a time where the fishing according to our man on the Cape – Scott – can be really good and productive. Our goal was to catch a fish above the minimum size (28 inches) and hopefully to have some sight fishing. The first couple of days we fished by ourself on some of the spots Scott had shown us last year. As there is a considerable tide many times you can only fish a specific spot in a time window of 1-3 hours. This forces you to move around and gives the fishing a lot of variation. We also fish both inlets, beaches, rocks, canals and drop offs. From the start it was clear that the number of fish were much larger than in the fall but also that there were quite a lot of small fish. This is very promising for the future and thrilled the local fishermen.

Thomas fishing in quite rough wind.

One of the small fish that are the hope for the future.

The first two days we caught many fish but only up to 24 inches, which are fine fish but we hoped for more.

The third day in a VERY heavy storm I hooked a really big fish that took off like a freight train. In an area known for nothing but sand it got the line around something unknown and after a while my shooting line were ripped apart. That was an eye opener for the power these fish can produce. The next day we got a report from Dick and Richard that had some fantastic fishing in a new spot. We naturally had to try it out in the evening when the tide was right. Soon after we arrived Thomas started with a 25 inch fish so expectations were high. For me not much happened untill the fly were stopped on a quite shallow area and when I tightened the line it start to move.

I immediate knew it was a big fish and after a 10 minutes battle I could land it on a small streak of sand.

It was a 36 inch fish and I was very happy that we had got what we hoped for. It was released and after that we only got a few smaller fish.

Next morning we tried the same spot and in the same area as the night before I hooked another good fish a 34 inch striper.

Release of this nice lady.

One day Thomas hooked this sea robin. We saw it hunt small bait fish at the surface despite it should be a bottom feeder.

One day I felt something bump into my boots several times. It was a rape attempt by a horseshoe crab that apparently took my boot for a good-looking female crab.

The team preparing for an evening trip. Me, Dick, Richard, SCott, Thomas and Bruce.

On the outgoing tide Scott got this beautiful lady in the mid thirties. As his shooting line had a tangle he was forced to pull it up on the beach at a long distance but he managed.

The sunset this evening was impressive.

The last day the weather forecast predicted sunny and not too windy condition so we headed for a kayak trip to one of Scotts special spots. When we started out it was a bit foggy and no wind at all.

When we arrived Tom was in the action and he soon hooked a very fine fish but the top of his rod fell off so he had to land it by pulling the line directly with his hands.

But despite the problems he landed this beautiful fish in the mid thirties.

Thomas hooked up with a good fish. At this time he had broken two 8-weight rods so he used his 6-weight.

And soon Thomas finally got his keeper – well it was released but he was allowed to keep it.

Another fine fish caught by sight fishing.

There was a lot of action – here Thomas and I are both hooked up simultaneously.

We got many nice fish and we casted to a lot that only followed the fly or rejected it totally. Thomas and I got two keepers each plus several good-sized fish in the 24 – 27 inch range and I can say that this was the best day of all and I also think that even the local guys will call a very good day.

Bruce handling his business – nice office

On the way back the wind had increased and after a while The kayak Thomas and I used started to take in water as it was not a sit on top kayak and we did not have a spray hood. This made the kayak heavier and more unstable and we realised that we needed help. On the way to Scotts kayak a wave hit us and the kayak flipped. The other kayaks were soon to help us and we inflated our life preservers. There was no panic but it was not possible to get back in so finally we had to call for help. Many thanks to the Barnstable fire fighters that helped us out as we started to get cold after 30 minutes in the water. This was a reminder to us and all involved  to allways  remember life vests and take your precautions.

Two wet fishermen in the ambulance after the physical examination.

After the incident there was many things to dry. My camera was tested and it is water proof.

To sum up our trip. We caught more than 100 fish each, we both got keepers, we got big fish up 36 inches, we had terrific sight fishing, we had a blast of a time with our american friends – what more can you wish for. OK next time we can do without Air France cancelling our flight back home.

Tange Sø 26/5 2012

We ( Caspar, Henrik and Jan ) started early in the morning on a drift trip to Tange Sø.

Henrik hooked the first pike almost before we had started so the expectations were high.

We did catch fish. Here is Caspar with a typical pike of the day. We did not get any big ones but as the weather was like hot summer it was a nice day. I better correct myself, when I write “we” I mean they did catch fish – as I had five pikes that grabbed the fly but I did not land a single one. So not my day but still a good day.

Mariager Fjord, 22/5 – 2012

An evening trip with Michael wadefishing in Mariager. Fantastic weather and beautiful surroundings so everything you hope for when leaving home. We saw and felt some garfish but did not manage to catch any. Michael caught two trouts  below the minimum size and I also go two with one nice fish.

The trout made a small splash behind me close to the bank and grabbed the fly only with the leader outside to tip guide.

Here presented with a nice background. It is a typical Mariager trout with many spots and in good condition. 20 inches and more than 3 lbs.

Ystad 11/4 – 14/4 2012

A delayed Eastern trip to the southern part of Sweden where we would fish for searun brown trout from pontoon boats. We were this time only three: me and Henrik and Lars

We fished at Svarte, Skillinge, Vik and Ystad and we caught fish at all spots. The weather was better than predicted so almost no rain.

Normally at this time of the year most fish are kelps – fish that has spawned – and they may be blank but still not in good condition. The average size is normally around 60 cm and statistically you need to catch between 10 and 20 fish to get a Blänkere as the locals call the fish that skip a spawning season and they what we always hope for.

The first day we got a handful of small blank fish in the 40 – 45 cm range and that is not normal.

This was the largest fish on the trip. A trout around 85 cm but as it needs several pounds to be fit it was released.

 

This is also a big fish and close to good condition but it had been up spawning this winter.

 

I was lucky to get two blänkere. The biggest was 60 cm and they were both on top condition. This is superb sushi material.

 

The largest of the fish I brought back home had meat with an extremely dark  red colour. The stomach content showed that it had a preference for shrimps so there was an explanation.

Four days of fishing and we ended catching 17 fish evenly divided between Henrik and I. Lars was out luck on this trip but I am sure he will come back for a better round next year.

 

 

Los Roques february 2012

As the temperatures in Denmark was well below the freezing point (actually down to -20 degrees below) it was nice to go back to Los Roques once again with warm weather, sun and plenty of fast swimming fish.

The Danish Los Roques team was Rene, Ib, Eigil, Niels, Niels and myself. Christian and Berit that lived in a posada a few blocks away from the Plaza was also present but not at the moment of this photo. Eigil and Niels travelled by themselves but were at LR in the same period as the rest.

We stayed at posada Doña Magalys which is in the budget end but we were very satisfied with the hospitality and the food. Magalys is apparently a big fan of Hugo Chavez – why I don´t know.

Lorenzo is the name of the posadas pet parrot which was very fond of Rene.

Our primary target fish was the bonefish which can be caught blindfishing with minnow patterns in deeper waters or sight fished on the flats. I definitely prefer the sight fishing despite that it often not is a productive, but it is better fun.

When unhooking a bonefish it often makes the fish much calmer if you put it upside down.

Rene with a nice bonefish. The average size on Los Roques is quite good app. 4 lbs. This year I did not catch any big ones but even fish in the 4 -6 lbs. range can produce spectacular runs when hooked. Actually all kinds of fish down here are much stronger and faster than what we are used to back home.

We fished some days on our own and other days with guides. With our first guide Jesus we had several double hookups on the flats but every time one of us lost a fish during the fight. This was the first time we succeeded landing two fish at a time but from the boat. We did it later again with our other guide Alet.

One day fishing with Alet we fished for fish hunting at the surface. This is always very intense and I really like the action of this fishing. We kept the fish so we could have it for lunch as Alet promised to cook it. As you can see we got to lobsters not by fishing but by exchanging some of our fish.

Here Alet prepares our lobster and fish lunch on some Venezuelan design furniture including both chair and table in one.

A bonefish in its right element just before landing. It was hooked at this depth as well so one of my favourite hookups on the trip.

We caught also other species than bonefish – here a snapper

And a carite – a spanish mackerel. You need luck or a wire leader to land this fish and a plier to unhook it. They have incredible sharp teeth.

a small tuna

a blue runner

a pompano looks like a permit but never grows big. An austrian flyfisher got a 14 kg permit one of the days, a very impressive fish.

Eigil with a false albacore

Rene with a yellow tail snapper

A lady fish. Also called poor mans tarpon. They jump like tarpon but don´t grow big. I caught 3 ladyfish in 3 casts and then Rene tried for 20 20 minutes without any luck – I could not get my arms down 😉

Rene he caught a tarpon on the main island. That is really an achievement as we almost did not see any and even when you see many it can be very hard to catch one. Rene fished most af the time with a head cam and he got all of his tarpon fight on video. I hope and expect that I later can put some of his video on the blog.

Cape Cod week 43 2011

Last year a kind Linekurv.dk user from USA wrote that if I ever wanted to fish striped bass on Cape Cod he would be glad to help. As I have wanted to fly fish for stripers for many years I wrote back that I would very much like to try that and so this year Thomas and I went to Cape Cod for a week. Scott (the kind man) told us that we were a bit late but as the flight tickets were bought we would come anyway.

We rented this 4WD Kia which in our world is a quite big car but many times it actually looked small parked next to the standard 4WD here in the States.

The first place we visited together with Scott I got this hook-up….

soon after I cold land this striper on the beach

and present it before the release. I think that Scott was more relieved  than we were after this catch because due to the late season he was afraid that we wouldn´t catch anything at all on our trip.

Later there was a small blitz outside Scott and he got this mackerel which was his first ever on a fly rod.

In the evening we also got a couple of very small pollacks which was nice as the stripers feed on those.

Scott and his friends Dick and Bruce really helped us a lot as they both fished with us and gave us tips on where to fish and when to do it. As the tidal difference was up to 12 feet the fishing is very tide depending and therefore local help is crucial. Besides the help they were all very nice people as almost all fellow fly fishers are and they also supplied us with some very nice flies (flat wings) which we now try to duplicate here in Denmark. We fished in very different environments as we fished in estuaries, rivers, sand beaches, sand bars, canals, jetties etc.

One day we came to some sea gulls that dived and we could see that there fish chasing in the shallow water as well. Here Thomas started to hook this fish.

Which he also landed. As you can see the fish are nice but not that big, they are what the locals call schoolies but still good fun especially when you’re on your first trip for stripers.

The action was pretty intense and several times we were both hooked up simultaneously.

Here I got the biggest fish on our trip a fish around the 26 inches mark but it has to be 28 inches to be a keeper.

We fished early in the mornings and during the day and late in the evening. Due to the tide many times each trip was only a few hours but this gives a lot of variations.

This morning Scott got a schoolie as well.

I can´t remember the name of these ancient creatures but you found them on all beaches.

On one of the trips I got two bluefish. They were not big ones but I was surprised that they did not bite the line as I have heard that they normally do that when you do not fish with a wire leader. Thomas lost one due to this.

If you wade out at low tide you shall remember to come back in time. This time we were a bit late and Scott had to swim while Thomas and I just made it with only a bit of water in our waders.

When you are on a fishing holiday you fish in weather that no normal person would leave the house in. we did that one evening with heavy rain and more or less a storm.  This is one of the fish we got that evening and we thought that we really deserved those fish.

At the hotel we every night had a beer with the fly tying and the talk of the day to come and we tried different american micro brewed stuff. Some were quite disappointing but these two which Thomas grabbed because of their fish motives were actually very much to be recommended. Later we checked on ratebeer.com and found that we were not the only ones that found them very good.

Despite the fog in Frankfurt that delayed us 24 hours and the storm that prevented us from going in kayaks and that we never got a keeper we had a terrific trip. We got fish on every trip we made except one morning trip when two duck hunters had taken our hot spot and some times we got more than just one or two (up to 8 fish). We met some new fishing friends and tried some interesting fishing and had a wonderful dinner at Scott and Grace´s place so as the Terminator says: ” I will be back”.

Tange sø, 21/5-2011

A drift trip for pikes from Kongensbro to Tange sø with Thomas. The weather was very nice and this was Thomas´s first pike trip this year.

Thomas started with this very nicely coloured pike after just 10 minutes.

The pike had a nasty wound in the belly. How this happened I have no idea.

Later but still in the river I got this one. It seemed like the pikes in the river had a more green colour. During the fight with this pike the tip of my rod broke, so most of the time I fished without a top guide – this is not recommendable.

I mentioned to Thomas that I really like this trip as you feel you are in the middle of nowhere. two minutes later seven motor boats came cruising upstream – something I have never seen before

In the lake I got this 11 pounder the biggest fish of the day

Soon after this perch took the fly. I can still be surprised when a fish this size attacks an 8 inch pike fly.

Here Thomas has hooked one more pike,

and it is almost ready for landing,

and for presentation (his biggest fish of the day),

and finally for the release.

I ended up landing 7 pikes and one perch and Thomas got almost the same number so we were very satisfied with this day on the lake.

Gudenå, 20/3-2011

A drift trip for pikes with Henrik, Claus and Steen.

We started at Kgs. Bro and it looked like a a sale displayfor Dave Scadden boats – 3 different models in 3 different colours.

I got 10 pikes this day and lost at least a handful. I did not get any big ones but there were plenty of action. This one was the first after lunch break and almost all the pikes were caught after the break. In the morning it was quite cold but after lunch the sun broke through and it was nice weather

Henrik also got 10 pikes but he got as you can see this is a nice fat female ready to spawn soon. This is in the 15 lbs range

Æbelø, 20-21/8 2010

The last chance for a weekend trip in a long time as I have business and social events in all weekends the next month.

A weekend trip to Æbelø that due to bad weather forecast ended up a day shorter than expected. The trip was with Michael and as last time we used his small rubber boat with outboard engine to bring us and my pontoon boat to the island.

As always the scenarios here are beautiful even if we had no success at all the first evening. The following morning I and Søren, who joined us late friday evening, both got a too small sea-trout but that was all.

 Our canned lunch was improved with this mushroom found in the forest despite this effort it was not haut cuisine.

In the   got this baby garfish. we saw a lot of them and they attacked the fly many times.

Almost out of nowhere I hooked a really nice trout and after a long tug of war I netted this beautiful trout. 4,2 kg a bit more than 9 lbs. That saved our trip big time.

As we had no cooling options and it was too big for two people to eat, I released the fish. Two hours later we experienced that the weather forecast had changed dramatically so we had to leave the island. It is a nice sight to see a big fish swim away but I would also have loved to serve this for my wife and my friends giving me the opportunity to tell about it one more time.

As we were forced to pack we was several trouts showing at the surface – a sight we had missed badly while we were fishing.

Udbyhøj, 6/8-2010

An early morning trip with Henrik and Claus in our pontoon boats. The recent sea-trout trips have not been productive, but this turned out much better. After five minutes I had a sea-trout on the fly,  it was an OK sized fish but I lost it at close range. Unfortunately this was my story of the day. Every time I had a decent fish I jumped it and often  close range. Henrik did better as he later got a very nice fish around 50 cm and well conditioned.

At first he juggled a bit with the trout

But later he could present it properly

We also got some garfish and some smaller trouts and despite some rain in the morning the weather was very good and we saw a seal and several porpoises jumping more or less out of the water – apparently they thought they were dolphins 😉

After a lunch break the mullets start to show and there were many and big ones as well, but we had no success with the flies. It was very nice to see these big fish moving around but in the end we went for some more sea-trouts. As I jumped another fish in the 45 cm range when I was about to net it I realized this was not my day and I returned home. I have to say that even if I did not bring anything back home it had been a very nice morning despite only 3½ hours of sleep.

Scott Gabriel, big striper

Mariager Fjord, 12-13/6 2010

Due to strong winds the Æbelø trip was changed into Mariager Fjord Cup. Michael and I joined the rest of the Bombay guys saturday afternoon because the weather friday was very wet and windy. The fishing friday end saturday morning had very good and everyone had caught sea trouts. This is not a rule end furthermore all the fish had been extremely well conditioned – not to say fat.

The fishing early Sunday morning was a bit disappointing but our morning was saved when an otter crossed the beach at very close range.

My first trout in the afternoon close to the minimum size in length but well above in girth.

Mongs first ever sea-trout on the fly – congratulations. Another fat trout.

Like all the other trouts, very well conditioned.

Here you can clearly see that the sea-trout from the fjord is more colourful  than the blanks from the open sea. This one even has some red spots like a brown trout.

A beautiful and very bulky trout. As it was released I did not measure it, but probably app. 5 pounds.

Æbelø 28-30/5-2010

A trip to Æbelø with Michael and Simon searching for good sized sea trout. We went in Michaels inflatable boat pulling my pontoon boat with Michaels belly boat on top – it was quite a fleet.

Æbelø seen from our starting point. We had to pull the boat at first as the water was quite low.

The first evening we fished without much luck as we only got some garfish that were all over the place. 

The next morning I got this 43 cm trout that was released as it was too small as a 3 person meal.

Later same morning Simon got this 1.7 kg trout despite his ugly stripping basket 😉

Typical Æbelø coast with small layered cliffs  and deep water close to the coast and many BIG rocks in the water. It should be the optimum water for sea trout.

Simons trout prepared on our camp fire – it was very good

As you can see on this sunset the weather was fantastic and it was like that all weekend. There was almost no wind in the mornings and in the evenings so we could see if fished showed at the surface but except for garfish it was a bit disappointing the lack of trouts showing. The second evening Simon lost a five pounder at very close range and the last morning Michael worked his way to two fish just above the minimum size. They were both released.

Simon pulling our fleet the last meters back to our starting point.  Despite the not too impressive fishing except for Simons two encounters with good sized trouts we had a fantastic weekend with beautiful weather  and next week we will give it another shot with the Bombay fly guys.

Gudenaaen, 8/5-2010

Drifting with Caspar, Jonas and Jan down Gudenaaen for pikes. This was their first trip here, so they were quite excited and despite a bad weather forecast we had a very good trip. The wind was strong og came upstream so for the first time ever we had to use the fins actively just to move downstream. Things started  really slow but after 1½ hour Caspar got the first pike and then we had some good action before our lunch break. After the break both Caspar and Jonas found a good spot and hit some nice fish.

Caspar fighting one of his 10 pikes.

The tail shows sign of the hassles of the spawning

On the way back

Jonas with one of the bigger fish of the day.

After the trip we could count a total number of 23 pikes caught with the biggest around the 11 pound mark. The heaviest fish had not spawned yet but they were a minority.