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[Big Steel]

So you're saying you're whipped then??   Good job Nina!!

[Fish Assassin]

Guess we all know who the real boss is 

[Rodney]

So anyways, right after my last entry, I dragged Nina out of bed so we could head down to the bakery for some fresh bread. One good thing about living in an apartment such as this is that all the necessary shops are around us. We got a grocery store (well, the locals call it a super market, but it's the size of a Seven-Eleven) on the first floor, a bakery in the building next to ours, a butchery a bit further down the street, and a whole bunch of other food stores within ten minutes of walking.

The Danes take their baking very seriously. All bakeries are rated based on the quality of their bread and sweets. Bakers are required to attend a baking school before they become certified. The end products are well worth it. I rarely eat bread back in Vancouver, but over here I like trying out all kinds of bread whenever I get a chance.

After breakfast, it was time to head back on the raceway, I meant.... highway, to a new fishing spot. The destination was a beach that a friend of mine has recommended. Beach fishing is popular in the spring time over here. Beside the famous sea trout, there are many other target species that people connect with on the beach, such as cod and flounder. The species that we were after is called garfish. There are dozens of garfish species around the world. I used to catch a planktonic feeding species in Australia. They are fun on a light rod but also tasty on a frying pan. Unlike the freshwater gars that people angle for in North America, these garfish in Denmark only visit the coastline in May and June. They come by the millions, to spawn in the shallows. Seeing hundreds of them surfacing from a beach is supposed to be a norm. The average size is only 1 or 2lb, but apparently fantastic on a light fly or spinning rod.

Lost in Time

In the emailed that I received, the direction to the beach seemed so simple. The place where we were supposed to go is called "Bøgeskoven", which is actually not far from the stream where we were yesterday. Getting to that part of the country is not a problem, the highways are well marked. Getting to that specific location is a different story. The process involved navigating through a series of narrow roads that are so typical in the countryside of Denmark. We drove through tiny villages that look to be stuck in the 1700s. Farm houses from several centuries ago still stand quietly, it was truly a pleasant sightseeing treat. How we eventually arrived at the spot is still a mystery. I made a few detours and found some familiar road signs that lead us to the ocean. For quite a long time it felt like we were heading away from the ocean. There will be a video clip of me pulling an Austin Power when I had to make a U turn on a very narrow road (I'm not sure how it and other surrounding roads are defined as two lanes... The entire width is not that much wider than a 4X4, and oncoming cars were always zipping past you at an unbelievable speed).

The Unforgiving Wind

There are plenty of fishing opportunities over here, but the wind can really limit your fishing time! The recommended spot is very lovely. A pretty cafe/restaurant sat just above the beach. In the tiny harbour just south of us, yachts were getting ready for their Sunday cruise. The beach has a gradual slope, so wading out was not a problem. The waves however, were not as friendly. The northeasterly wind gained its strength as the sun rose. It was impossible to flyfish (at least for me anyways ) so the good old spinning rod was brought out. Back in Australia, surf fishing was always done on a heavy stick that allowed me to whip a large chunk of weight out. This light spincasting with a 1/8oz spoon was slightly more difficult. Having large waves pounding against your body and lifting up your feet briefly was certainly an interesting experience. This other large fisherman jokingly asked if we had lead tied to our shoes as he was having trouble holding ground even though he weighs 150kg.



Another Species to the List

Once I felt my way around the beach, I was more familiar with what to look for. Eventually I focused on a slight drop-off where I thought some fish may hold. After several casts into the spot, I felt a light tug and a few heavy kicks followed after I pulled the rod up. Hey, there was a fish on the line! Something actually wanted to grab the 1/8oz spoon that I made. I turned around and called Nina on the beach, she had this puzzled look on her face as if she didn't think I was going to catch anything. I slowly made my way back to shore while making sure the fish wasn't diving into any weed beds. The fish eventually emerged from the cloudy water. Both of us took a look at it then asked each other, "what is that?"



A few quick photos and the fish was let go. I took a brief break as the wind was just too bloody cold. The rest of the morning produced nothing. No garfish were sighted, even though one local family who was heading out on the boat said that they found it unbelievable as lots of fish have been caught lately.

Oh yes, the question of the day is, what species is that? The fish is commonly known as an "ide", its Danish name is Rimte. It belongs to the carp family, normally feeds on insects but sometimes on small fish such as roach or bleak. Interesting looking fish indeed. It was very solid when I held it, and it has these pretty red fins. Another new species added to the catch list.

When we returned, I corresponded by email with another friend who used to live in the area where we fished. He said the fishing has actually been good down there, as his friend managed to connect with dozens of garfish as well as some cod and one large sea trout that was 9lb!

By the way, we've been seeing large populations of swans gathering on some of the beaches as well as lakes. Swans are the national bird of Denmark, so they are quite protected. I took this photo late in the afternoon at a lake nearby.



Hope you enjoy the read. It's 9:15am, Nina's at school, I am considering trekking into Downtown Copenhagen...

[Big Steel]

Nice piece of work on the Journal Rodney!!  Interesting fish as well!!   But it does seem a bit like the Danish waters are on to you!!  I think all of us here would like to see you put up a big number day, or at least catch something bigger than a couple of pounds!!   Come on man, we're losing some faith in you!!
  BTW, great pics of the coast line as well!!  Keep em comin'!!

[Rodney]

Size doesn't matter.

Here is an update. We have not done any fishing since last Sunday, so not much to report. Yesterday we strolled into Downtown Copenhagen, which is really just a short bus ride away. We eventually came across this outdoor exhibition of wildlife photographs and spent quite a bit of time looking at them as they were just so well done.



The photographer's name is Steve Bloom, you can see most of his work on his website.

We also visited Nyhavn as usual, which is this canal port just outside the main shopping street. On a hot summer day, the edge of the canal is usually lined with people.



So I made a note on how the fishing can be difficult here when it is windy last time. The locals say that you simply have to adapt to it as it is windy most of the time here. I thought last Sunday was too windy for beach fishing, until a friend showed me some video clips of their recent trip.

Clip one

Clip two

[Rodney]

Urban Angling

This morning we woke up at 6:30am and decided to make a trip to a nearby beach. Without the luxury of a car like we normally do in Canada, getting to places is not impossible, but it does require a bit more effort. The network of train, bus, metro around Copenhagen is well planned. From our doorstep, we can hop on a bus that comes by once every ten minutes and we will arrive in Downtown in no time. Today's journey involved a short bus ride, followed by a 15 minute trip on the Metro. The Metro is a network of computer-controlled trains that operate at a five to ten minute interval. If you miss one train, the next one usually arrives soon after. This efficient system is fairly similar to our skytrain, except it is mostly underground. It is being expanded further within the next decade or so. When complete, one can simply get on a Metro train when arrived at the Copenhagen Airport and be in Downtown within 20 minutes. The last leg of the journey was a 1km walk to the beach.

Today's destination is Amager Strandpark, which is actually an artificially made land. The park includes a long lovely beach where sunbathers and swimmers gather at in the summer. Swimmers were no where to be found today, as it was cloudy and somewhat cool with a light breeze.

To our north, we could see a line of wind mills that were motoring away to generate the needed electricity in Denmark. Wind mills are a main source of electric power in this country, about 20% of the electricity comes from these giant machines. In a country that is constantly battered by strong wind, taking advantage of this clean and renewable resource is certainly a well worth it.



To our south, the long bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden could be seen at times when it emerged from the fast moving clouds.

Another Species on the List

Our first fishing attempt took place on the beach. Wading out, we found patches of sandy bottom around weed beds where we could cast our lure and flies to. After an hour of fishing, we came up empty and the wind picked up, it was beginning to look rather discouraging.

We decided to move to the back of a breakwater at the end of the beach, where we could be sheltered from the wind.

The fish species that we targeted today was garfish. Each May and June, millions of garfish travel down to the Baltic Sea and spawn. It apparently is not unusual to witness the sea to be blackened by these long fish. Garfish are pelagic and predatory, so they are always willing to chase down a swimming food source. This seaonal fishery is participated by thousands of Danes each year. Because they are easy to catch and tasty on a frying pan, the garfish harvest suits anyone who wishes to give fishing a go.

My goal today was to get one on the fly. I have been told my Martin on Global Flyfisher that any bright orange patterns would work well. Right before I left Canada, I had tied up some orange wooly buggers, hoping they would do the trick.

The new spot behind the breakwater was pretty quiet too after awhile. It was starting to look grim. The orange fly sat just below the surface as I stripped it in slowly each time. The water was crystal clear, and no fish were in sight.

Eventually, while daydreaming away, I spotted a few needle-like fish cruising by in front of me. Few seconds later, I felt a slow pull while stripping in my line. I lifted up the rod, thinking the kelp may have been playing a trick on me again, but a garfish began to dance on the end of my line! Finally, a garfish on the fly after many attempts! Although it did not take any long runs, this fish wiggled from side to side, splashing on the surface on numerous occasions. I made my way down to the edge of the water as Nina snapped a couple of photos. My first attempt to grab the fish was a failure. This thin slippery critter wiggled its way out of my hand. The second attempt resulted in the fly popping off the line. Nina and I could only watch as it slowly made its way back to the deep.



Seeing that my fly finally worked, Nina wanted to use one under a Drennan float as well. It did not take long for another garfish to bury that Drennan float. This time the fish was well hooked. Nina was able to lift it up for a quick photo before we released it.



The jaw of a garfish is a long bony beak. Because it is rather hard, penetrating a hook into it is rather difficult. Most of the time a fish is not hook when it takes the fly.

Towards the end of our trip, I decided to take the spinning rod out and cast a tiny 1/8oz spoon a few times. On the first cast, I felt a distinct tug but managed to do an empty hook-set. The same thing happened several casts later, but one fish surfaced as I missed the hit. There was clearly a school of fish right in front of me. Excited, I made another cast but this time I chose to delay my hook-set. The result was a proper hook-up but that fish also came right off after a short fight. This feeding frenzy only took place within about five minutes before the school moved on.

Despite of the fact that we ended the morning with only a few fish hooked, it was good to pin down another fishing location on the map for future references.

Stay tuned, more to come hopefully.

[TrophyHunter]

Sounds like you are having a great time Rod!!!  those are some cool looking fish, it is nice that you are getting a chance to fish for some different species, alot of us are living vicariously through you so make sure you keep those reports coming!!!!! 

[Rodney]

Thanks Rick, wait until you see the video later on this year.

So far the fishing has been satisfactory. Four species within one week is pretty good. The filming on the other hand has been difficult due to the weather. The wind, as mentioned before, is simply brutal. This evening the clouds were being blown around so fast that it was sunny for a minute and rain was coming down sideways before you blink.

[Rodney]

The garfish fever continued as we decided to spend a few hours down at the harbour this morning. The wind did not die down overnight, instead it was even gustier today when we arrived at the beach. The good news was the wind was blowing from the beach to the ocean so it made casting slightly easier.

I decided to give flyfishing a rest today, as the blisters on my hand from casting needed some TLC. I tied on a 1/8oz spoon that performed wonderfully yesterday. The first cast resulted in a couple of bumps as soon as I began reeling in the spoon. The second cast came up empty. On my third cast, one bump turned into a slow pull. I set the hook and found a feisty garfish on the end of my line. Unfortunately, while Nina was rushing to the video camera, it popped off as soon as it surfaced.

Not to worry, as one hook-up after three casts is always a good sign. I continued to spincast at several different locations. Two more fish were hooked but again they fell off immediately. The single hook was sharp, but the slow action rod could not penetrate it through the garfish's hard mouth. Although having constant bite was entertaining, not being able to land any fish was surely frustrating.

Nina continued with her float fishing from yesterday as it required least amount of reeling. She was unable to connect with any during the time of my fish losses. A new idea popped up on my head and I decided to give it a try on Nina's rod. I decided to cast the float out and slowly retrieve it and let the tiny fly swim just below the surface. On my first cast, the float dipped once but the hook-up came up empty. It may have been weed, but the hook was clear of any algae. The float dipped again on my second troll, but it had resurfaced when I wanted to pull. The third cast pathetically fell short, but I decided to troll instead of reeling it in quickly. As soon as I started trolling, the float was buried! This classic burial was no weed, it was a fish for sure. I give the hook a brief set and indeed a fish surfaced on the end of the line. The top water action was spectacular as the long garfish wiggled from side to side. It appeared we had a school of fish directly in front of us. This time I was able to land the fish, as it had swallowed the tiny #10 orange fly completely. After a quickk photo with the fish, I bit the line off and let it swim away freely.

During the remainder of our outing, both Nina and I worked on the same trolling technique and were able to produce about two dozen hook-ups. Finally we were able to fine-tune the technique and produce consistently. Everytime a school of garfish approached shore, we would experience multiple hook-ups. At one point, a fish attacked the fly on the surface right after a cast.

The wind was probably the main factor that kept the number of hook-ups conservative. As we approached noon, the wind became twice as strong as rain storms approached us. The whole weather business seemed so normal for the locals, as people were out yachting, windsurfing and even trolling a fishing rod on a sea kayak.

The peak season for garfish has apparently passed. We never had a chance to witness thousands of fish boiling on the surface, but we certainly can't complain about the fishing that we experienced in the last couple of days.

[Trout Slayer]

Hey Rodney whack one of those things on the head ziploc it and throw in your suitcase for me. I have a funny feeling it could work excellent for sturgeon.

[huntwriter]

Hey Rodney thanks for these great report from good old Europe. Being from Europe, Switzerland, myself I get a bit homesick. Especially in the part where you describe the local shops and their high quality and tasty food.

Keep it up as I truly enjoy reading the reports. Glad you have fun, keep that up too. The only part I felt for you was the landing in Frankfurt. I have traveled all over the world, professionally, and the more I sat in airplains the more I hated it.

[Lew Chater]

Great journal Rodney. Enjoy reading of your exploits into new fishing territory. The garfish is certainly an interesting looking fish. Are they fished commercially and have you tried eating them? Your description of the Danish area and the way of life, food, travel, accommodation is really good to have to compare. The only thing missing as compared to Chris's journal is that I haven't heard of you finding any coffee cups, bottles or cans or Drennan floats.

[Rodney]

Lew, bottles and cans are rare finds on the street in Denmark. Although the Danes burn up some of the items that we would recycle in Canada, their existing recycling system is very effective. A 2 litre bottle has a $1 recycling deposit, so I doubt it is in anyone's interest to simply throw them away instead of returning them. The plastic bottles are thicker and heavier here, as they are reused after washed instead of being shredded up for new products.

Explosive Surface Action

This morning I brought the fly rod out even though the wind was actually stronger than yesterday. The good news was that the wind was blowing directly from land to the sea, so casting was slightly easier but I still met challenges at times. Due to the wind direction, there were no large pounding waves like we saw the last couple of days. The sea was rather flat, and this allowed us to spot any movement on or just below the surface.

The first hour produced nothing. While Nina was taking a short break, I finally had a hit and it was on the line immediately. As I was slowly making my way back to shore with the fish, Nina had taken out the video camera and captured the landing. Today we decided to keep a couple just to try it out on the dinner plate. This one went on dry land and was dispatched immediately.

For a week now, I've been looking for signs of surface movement that has been described by other garfish anglers. Today I finally witnessed the show directly in front of me while fishing. After the first fish, schools of garfish began to emerge. At times, small patches on the surface would boil as if rain droplets were hitting them. These patches of splashes moved around at a very fast rate. Anytime I placed my fly not too far from a school of fish, I was able to hook up within seconds. The excitement was all captured on video as I hooked and lost fish on numerous occasions. Sticking that size 10 hook into the bony mouth was indeed frustrating at times, but being able to hook up on literally every cast while beach fishing was a rare treat.

The surface action lasted about one hour before they moved on. It appeared to be tide dependent as the bite came on and off almost around the same time in the last three days.



The Busy Channel and Hamlet's Castle

In the afternoon we decided to take a trip up north by car to visit Helsingør. Helsingør is a port that is around 40km north of Copenhagen. It sits by the narrowest channel between Denmark and Sweden, making it an important entrance for people arriving from Sweden. This was my second time visiting the area, and the ferry operation between Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden still amazes me. Between the two ports, several ferry companies operate sailings on a very regular basis. Each sailing takes about 20 minutes. This is one of the two options to get into Sweden. The other would be the new bridge from Copenhagen that was launched in July 2000.



As we sat, watched and filmed, several ferries made their way to and from Helsingborg. Denmark is an island nation, the sea is a way of life and that is certainly the case in Helsingør.

Helsingør is also famous for the Kronborg Slot (castle) that sits quietly next to the busy port. Kronborg Slot, better known as the Elsinore Castle featured in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, was originally built to collect shipping tolls in the 1400s. To date, the castle has survived fires and wars. Today, it is a museum that houses Denmark's rich history. We were there a bit late today, so the museum was not opened. We were able to walk around the castle and see some of the most interesting architectural designs.



What was more interesting to see this evening was the fishermen who lined up along the shores of the port and Kronborg Slot. Because the channel is narrow and deep, your chance of catching a nice bottom fish such as cod, sole or flounder is quite good. While we were there, we talked to a guy who caught a couple of nice soles. We also saw one atlantic cod released and one around 2lb kept. An interesting place to fish for sure, exotic in is own way.

[Rodney]

After several days of waving that fly stick against all weather elements, I took a break from fishing. We are currently getting ready for a trip to Bornholm, a Danish Island located just south of Sweden. Hopefully the trip will bring some more beach actions with the local advices that I have been given.

Today I Cooked up the two garfish that I brought home yesterday. It is nice to try out some fresh saltwater fish for once instead of the usual trout and salmon. The garfish were seasoned with salt and pepper, grilled in the oven for ten minutes. I was too excited and didn't realize that I needed a photo of the cooked fish until all were in my stomach. They are delicious slightly bony but with some patience it is not too hard to take them out. One unique feature of these garfish is their bones, which are actually green.



In the afternoon, the sun finally emerged for a long period of time after the long stormy week. We took a walk to Frederiksberg Garden, which is basically behind our apartment. Founded in the late 1700s, Frederiksberg Garden is a peaceful refuge where Copenhagen residents spend their free time in the summer to escape the fast-paced city life. In the centre of the garden stands Frederiksberg Castle, which overlooks the park from a hill. Birds populate the complex network of canal around the garden. Geese, ducks, swans and herons are often spoiled by garden visitors with feeds.

I took a bunch of photos, hope you will enjoy some of these.

Frederiksberg Garden and Castle



Geese, swans, herons, ducks and jackdaws

[joshuag232]

  green bones