Mariager Fjord 21/4 – 2019

A pontoon trip to the middle part of Mariager Fjord with Henrik, Carsten and Finn. The weather was sunny and warm but a light breeze disturbed the surface and that was probably in our favor as the light was very bright.

The first hour not much happened despite the water and the bottom looked very promising this well-known place that I have never fished before.

Carsten got his first ever pontoon boat sea run brown trout though it was not more than 12 cm but it took the fly properly.

 

 

Finn first got the first garfish of the year and after lunch he got this nive and well fed trout close to 50 cm.

 

Later I was lucky and got a 1,8 kg trout that also was very well build, so my wife was happy as I 4 hours later could serve a very fresh fish for dinner.

Mariager Fly Cup 12/9 – 2015

After a month without fishing due to bad excuses I fished from early morning to noon on the South bank of Mariager Fjord. Bombayfly held the annual Fly Cup and with 176 contestants we can say that this is the biggest fly only contest in Denmark. As member of the arrangement committee I was naturally very pleased and to me it looked like the participants agreed. We were lucky that the weather was very good as it was quite warm and a bit windy and mostly clouded so all day was fishable. Despite the number of people I fished more or less alone all the time.

 

I had many contacts and caught 14 trouts but not in a size that gave any hope for a Price among the 10 largest so everything was released.

 

Around noon Michael and Morten from Bombay fished their way to me. After some chatting Michael went into the water and soon after he was into a nice fish.

 

He landed a very nice 1,5 kg very well conditioned trout that earned him a 7th place in the competition.

 

One of the prices that was in the Draw, was this stripping basket decorated by Simon – the house artist of Bombayfly.

 

Here the fished just before the weighting ended. The top five were all above 2 kg and the Winner was Torben “Pip” Kondrup with a 2,9 kg fish. The fishing this year was much better than last year and I think that everyone got fish  but there were many small fish that was released.

 

The parade of the Winners – the top 10 largest fish.

 

 

 

 

Barsø, 3/10-5/10 – 2014

A weekend trip with the Bombay Fly Guys always gives many laughs and sometimes a hangover. This trip did not disappoint and any way. We were 14 fly fishermen and it was my first visit to Barsø, which as a small Island app. one mile² in the Southern part of Denmark. We had rented a nice house with plenty of room and only 100 feet from the water.

all around the Island it looked like a hot spot for sea run Brown trout.

 

The first afternoon I got 6 fish but they were all like this – too small and the rest of the Guys did not do any better.

 

The second day I got 4 and one was actually big enough to kill (42 cm) but it was released. The bigger trouts were all coloured maybe due to the upcoming spawning but maybe it is like in Mariager Fjord were the sea run brown trout most of the year looks like a regular brown trout.

 

Henrik got this nice 52 cm fish on a new fly created by Ove Monrad. It only took 5 minutes from he tied on this fly until he landed the fish.

 

Despite most of the fish were small we lost some nice fish and here Allan presents a nice fish. All in all a good trip and I would like to come back and give it another try and then we hope the wind will be kinder to us next time.

 

Udbyhøj, 23/8-2014

A friendly competition between Bombay fly, Djurs flyfishers and the Sport fishing girls took place at Udbyhøj. The competition was announced as a mullet competition but not many mullets have been seen this summer. I started out early in the morning with Henrik and we both fished from pontoon boats and we started to move into the fjord with the rising water but a against a heavy wind. Before I had my new outboard engine started (I forgot to open the fuel valve) Henrik got a small trout but after that we did not see or feel anything for hours. I went back to the harbour to have breakfast with som of the Bombay Guys and on the way I got a garfish.

After this break I went to the outer part of the fjord and here I found some trouts but as you can see too small. So after a few hours I returned for lunch – eating was apparently an essential part of the trip. Lasse, Jan and Simon had found some mullets in the harbour and Jan had a mullet that took his fly but spit it very soon.

 

At lunch time, the girls showed up but they knew when to arrive as Georgina caught this nice 20 inch trout that to my knowledge was the best fish of the day. So the girls won this round but we hope to get a revenge another time maybe at the Fly cup in Mariager next month.

 

 

Ystad, Eastern 2014

The annual trip til the south coast of Sweden fly fishing for searun brown trout from pontoon boats. This year we were six persons: Henrik L, Henrik V., Thomas, Lars A, Jan and myself.

One morning we did see two mooses, which is a quite rare sight this far south in Sweden. Beside this we also saw foxes, squirrel, deer and birds like kites and osprey.

 

On these trip we normally catch a majority af kelts but this year we got many good conditioned blank trouts but generally in smaller size than normal. But as you can see we also this year got some kelts. Here Jan presents one that needed another 3 lbs. The minimum size here is 50 cm or 20 inches and we had to release many of the blank fish as they were too small.

 

One day Thomas got this ide. We have caught these on other trips but not a common sight. From my own experience I can tell that they are not big fighters.

 

One very windy day I got the fish that was in a surprisingly good condition – it was app. a 8 pounder – but after the landing it still had energy to jump so this is how the presentation photo came out. Everyone like this photo.

 

Here Henrik presents one of the nicest fish on the trip, it is  a 5 pounder in top form taking on his new pet pattern which is a shrimp pattern. Shrimp patterns proved productive on this trip. I fished with flies tied by Ove Monrad and they are very well tied and incredible durable. I have to take a course from Ove in how to improve the durability on my flies.

 

Here a lineup of six pontoon boats during a break. A very unusal sight at these waters though I find fishing fly from pontoon boats by far the best way to flyfish here as the beaches are not easy to wade as there are many big and very slippery rocks and you are not that depending on the wind direction.

 

The last day some of us fished at Kåseberge and here Henrik V. got this beatiful 6 pounder which came out as the top fish of the trip. Henrik had not got many fish until then so he was very pleased.

 

The stomach of the fish showed why it was in top condition. There were  large sand eels, many shrimps and smaller fish.

 

 

The last day I ended with two nice fish and it at allways nice to look Down on your stripping basket filled this way after a morning of fishing.

 

Thomas on the last day got several blank fish like the one presented here and this sums up the trip in many ways.

I was very pleased with the trip as I got some fish and also nice ones but especially as I due to a shoulder enjury was forced to cast with my left hand and therfore had low expectations. After some days I actually casted resonably and I started to feel that I was fishing and not just struggling with the cast. So I was reborn as a fly fisher and my plans about cancelling trips later this year was cancelled. I really hope that my shoulder will come back to full functionability but in the meantime I can flyfish – or at least sort of flyfish 🙂

 

Vejle fjord+å 29/7 2013

A two-step plan with Simon started with an evening trip to the mouth of Vejle Fjord. I had never been there before but it looked really good with many big rocks and a heavy current. The tide was according to Simon extremely high so we fished primarily on a reef so we could have some room for our back cast. With the heavy wind we could make some very long casts and cover a lot of water.

 

In the end of a long cast I got this well conditioned trout. Not the biggest but a nice fish which I will eat tonight with fresh vegetables from the garden.

 

A bit later Simon was hooked up with a garfish. We also got a couple af smaller pollacks so plenty of action.

Then we went to Vejle Å where we after a nice break with cheese, sausage, beer, coffee and hot chocolate in the middle of the night went for the big sea run brown trout. I spend most of the time pulling my fly or my line out of the weed so my fishing was extremely inefficient. Simon har one trout that went after the fly but did not take it and that made his day or night as this was the most action he had in 10 night trips.

Udbyhøj 8/6 2013

An afternoon trip in the pontoon boats with Søren starting from Udbyhøj North. The sun was shining and I really hoped that this would be a good trip as it is much easier to fish in the afternoon than at night, which really spoils the rest of my day due to lack of sleep. As both the wind and the current was outgoing we had no problem getting away from the harbour but we had to work a good bit harder to come back later.

We passed a spot where there were many greater weavers. Then a plier is mandatory.

Søren also hooked several weavers and he also got a couple of garfish which I did not had any contact with.

 

I caught 5 trouts though only one was above the legal minimum size. It was not by much but as it was a very well conditioned fish I brought it back for the frying pan.

I was very content as we had some OK fishing, nice weather and we did not have to spoil our sleep.

 

 

 

Skåna 17/4-20/4 2013

Like last year a trip with Henrik and Lars to the Southern part of Sweden fishing in pontoon boats for sea run brown trout in saltwater. I came a bit earlier than the other two so I could fish the first day. I drove directly to a spot near Svarte and the conditions looked really good. But then a Fellow fisherman – a Dane living in Sweden – stopped his car and we chatted for ½ hour and what he could tell was not promising. He had been fishing for four days without seeing or feeling anything and that was what everyone experienced at the moment. And no one could tell why the fishing was that bad. Despite this I fished some hours in the afternoon and again in the evening and I caught two trouts both nice blank fish app. 45 cm. As the minimum size here is 50 cm they were both released but I felt Lucky.

 

The next day the wind had increased in strength. I too this photo but it looks much calmer than it was. You do not want to fish in a pontoon boat here. Due to the wind all fishermen were fishing the same part of the area and this made things quite crowded.  We went to Vik this day. The wind came in blows up to 16 m/s and then it is tough to hold the boat up against the wind and we had to work very hard. This day I got 4 small blank trouts while Lars got 2 smaller fish and Henrik got a big blank kelt.

The third day we had too much wind again and we found a new part near Kivik where we could hide for the wind. Here Henrik was quite annoying for some spin Fishers as he got 3 fish just outside their spot while they were on a break.

Henrik is hooked up…

 

and ready to land the fish…

and can present the fish before release.

 

This day I got an ide on more than 4 lbs. Not a big fighter but a personal best and something I did not expect.

 

The last day the weather was like we had hoped for back home and the fishermen were spread over the different reefs. This day I lost 3 big kelts but as I also got two nice fish up to 50 cm I was content. Henrik also excelled in losing fish this day but also managed to get one fish in.

 

Here the largest of all Henriks fish – in top condition it would have been a fantastic fish.

 

Lars ended the last day with the best fish of the trip. A beautiful 4 lbs. fish in top condition.

To sum things up we were not lucky with the weather but we all got fish every day. Both Lars and I only got blank fish and that is unusual this time of the year while Henrik only got kelts. We landed almost 20 fish and we will come back next year hoping for even better fishing.

 

Enebær Odde 29-30/9 2012

A weekend trip with the Bombayfly guys to Enebær Odde. This is a beautiful spot at the entrance to Odense Fjord where we should stay at the light house for two nights. Due to road constructions and heavy traffic everybody arrived very late and we could not fish friday evening. Saturday morning some of us started early while others were taking care of their hangovers.

I fished with Michael and we soon found a spot with lots of activity. Many fish showed at the surface some head and tailed while others jumped. It was a mixture of coloured and blank fish and small and big fish but despite the activity within casting reach we did not catch much.

At one time Michael casted to a small fish and hooked a much better fish.

It was a 53 cm very nice trout that turned out to be the best fish on the trip and thanks to this he won a bottle of Bombay Sapphire and a table from Brd. Andersen.

This morning Michae ended up catching four trouts and I got five but expect the fine fish everything was released.

I do not know how but after fishing an hour or so I discovered this little fellow in my stripping basket.

This trip was not as productive as we had hoped for. I got 8 trouts but only smaller fish but we did see some nice fish jump and I will definately join the trip next year if it is possible and we did have a lot of fun and that is an important part of the game as well.

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.

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.

 

 

Mariager Fjord 14/10 2011

Due to a bad casting arm I had not been out for some time, but when Michael asked if I would join him on an afternoon trip and the weather was beautiful I did not hesitate. My casting was still severely hampered but I could fish though my arm tiered quickly and I had to rest it on a regular basis. We went to Mariager and we had a nice afternoon. Often you see many fish in Mariager but this day it took quite some time to see fish but that is OK if you catch them.

Michael started with a small blank trout and that was his destiny of the day as he ended up with five trouts but all were too small.

After 30 minutes I got this 50 cm trout, It was well conditioned but coloured so it was released like all the fish today. Apparently we were not in the killing mode.

 

After a break I spotted some activity a new place,  moved there and after three casts I got this +50 cm trout that gave a very good fight before its release. I could only be pleased with three nice trouts on a sunny, cold afternoon despite my casting problems.

Just before the sun set there was no wind and you can see why Mariager Fjord is called the mots beautiful fjord in Denmark

Æbelø, 8-9/7 2011

I have been on Æbelø with Michael before and sometimes with very good results so I was not hard to talk into another trip to this very beautiful island.

Preparing for the boat trip. The british fleet destroyed the Danish fleet app. 200 years ago but now we are back in business. We are now focusing on inflatable boats: a Creek SUB, an Anderson pontoon boat and the mothership: a rubber boat 😉

The first evening Michael got this 55 cm trout so he was very content.

 

 Later that night he got a 50 cm trout.

 

We also got some small cods and several small trouts. I only caught one trout above the minimum size – a 44 cm fish but as we had cooling opportunities everything was released.

 

When we returned to our camp this little fellow was caught in our gravy from our dinner.

 

The next morning started with a beautiful dawn.

 

We met two fellow fishermen in kayaks and they really had something to brag about. This fantastic trout was just above 10 pounds and was caught on a wobbler the night before.

 

and a closer look.

 

This morning we wanted a fish for lunch and I got this nice 43 cm trout which was perfect for this purpose.

 

Here  the same fish after 10 minutes in the fire – maybe not as beautiful as before but way better to eat than canned food. Michael also got a fish just above the minimum size which was released.

 

In the evening the rain came but we also had some sun so this rainbow which was full but too big for the camera was produced. In the evening I got a nice 60 cm trout but unfortunately I did not get a photo when it was released.

 

Turning our backs to Æbelø when going home. The last morning I got another nice trout for a dinner for two – a 42 cm trout. So to conclude we got fish above the minimum size every morning and evening and we even got some good-sized fish and more fish below the minimum size and we saw a fantastic trout so our expectations were more or less fulfilled. We will come back later and then we hope that we will get the big one.

Mariager fjord, 3/4-2011

An afternoon trip wadefishing in Mariager Fjord with Stig and Michael. We could see that the seagulls at times were very active and looking in the shallow water it was revealed why – there were plenty of worms. Some of them were quite big so they hold a lot of energy. But we did not see any action from the trouts regarding these worms.

A worm in the stripping basket, this was one of the smaller worms.

AT first nothing happened but after a change in the tactic and a shift to a red Christmas tree which was fished at high speed I first hat a strong hit on the fly and five minutes later this very nice sea trout was caught 56 cm and just above 4 lbs.

Here a closer look of the red Christmas tree fly. 

Later I got another hit on the fly and soon after released a trout around the minimum size as it despite being blank needed some extra weight.

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.

Mariager Fjord 18/6 2010

An evening trip with Thomas and Jan to yet another spot in Mariager. We arrived a bit late so less than half an hour after we started Jan got a very nice 50 cm trout. He was very pleased as it was a beautiful trout and it had been some since he last succeeded with the trout in the salt water. We fished most of the time more or less into the wind, but as it produced fish it was just an extra challenge and not an annoyance.

Later Thomas got a 45  cm trout and I jumped one.  In the end I saved a bit of reputation by getting a minimum sized fish which was released. We saw several fish jumping but did not have more contact but once again a succesful trip. We have to do it again soon.

Mariager Fjord 15/6 2010

An evening trip with Michael to Mariager Fjord. This time we tried another spot in the Fjord and as we were wadefishing we took the easy way out having the wind in the back. The weather was fantastic – sunny and almost no wind. The fjord presented itself at its best. When the sun start to set things start to happen. We met a fellow Bombay fly guy “Kagemund” who was lure fishing, and he caught and lost some fish.  Michael also lost one fish at close range.

Soon after Kagemund left Michael got this 50 cm trout.

Around sunset several fish showed and some of them at quite shallow water and it was really intense and exciting. I got a nice 52 cm 1750 grams trout and later Michael finished with a trout just above the minimum size. We brought home the two largest fish and as they were evenly distributed we were both very satisfied with the evening.

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.