British Columbia Fishing Blog

Beside dinner on Christmas Eve, Danes celebrate the festive season by hosting Julefrokosts, or more conveniently known as Christmas lunches to visitors. Julefrokosts typically happen on Christmas Day and they can take up the entire afternoon and evening. The starting dishes include herring, smoked salmon, smoked eel, shrimp salad and other seafood related items. These are followed by meat dishes such as meatballs, pork sirloin and roast pork. Cheese, fruit salad and dessert make up a sweet finish, before tea, coffee and snacks are served. 

After three days of some serious eating, it was time to get back on the beach to chase those impossible winter silvers. The wind has been very light for almost a week, which is an unusual treat in the winter. This makes beach fishing much more enjoyable.

On the weekend I received a phone call from my friend Bill, an American who has resided in Denmark for many years. Bill and I first corresponded by email several years ago when he found out that I was interested in exploring fishing opportunities in Denmark. We agreed on exploring a new beach along the north coast of Sjælland on Sunday.

We arrived at the location, which another friend Thomas recommended, at 10:00am. Being able to have a late start is one benefit on short winter days. Several anglers were already working on the beach, but that was not a concern because there are miles of beach to be covered. Not knowing which way to go, we decided to head west where no one was fishing.

After working across the beach for an hour, I hooked a good sized fish at a reef in front of me. I called for Bill, who saw the rod kicking just before that unwelcoming slack on the line ten seconds after the hook-up. Was the hook-set not proper? Was the hook not sharp enough? Was the drag not tightened enough? Those same questions kept circulating in the head when a sea trout was lost. There was not much to do except making more casts and hoping that other fish were nearby. Not long after the first hook-up, I spotted a smaller fish following the lure to shore without contact.

The waves became larger in the afternoon even though the wind was light. Perhaps the offshore wind was generating them. This made fishing slightly more difficult. After covering the entire section where we wanted to fish, we worked our way back to the starting point.

While working through the reefs where I first hooked a fish, I spotted another sea trout following my fly after the crest of a wave. Perhaps it saw me at the same time, it took a quick peck at the fly before dashing away without being hooked. Bill reported missing a couple of light taps before we called it a day when heavy fog creeped in. As frustrating as it was, this was considered an above average sea trout day.

The thought of losing a fish and the sighting of more followers taunted me when I returned home. I decided that I need to go back for more punishment. Bill phoned soon after and he also had the same idea, so we returned to the beach today.

The sea was even calmer than our last trip, which made reef and fish spotting much easier. The temperature was several degrees lower than last weekend, so we were expecting numb hands and feet once we get in the water.

Being a weekday, the beach was void of anglers. I started my search by heading down to where I lost my fish two days ago. The clear and flat water revealed the exact location of all the reefs. They turn out to be much further out than I thought. We worked through the area quickly and came up empty, so it was time to explore some new waters.

Bill and I believed that we would have more success by moving few steps after each cast. Because it is almost impossible to see the fish in the water, it is difficult to know whether we are working through areas where the fish do not bite easily or no fish are holding at all. There is no point casting at one place over a long period of time and wondering these questions. Instead, we chose to tempt aggressive fish that would readily take a lure or fly on the first cast.

The newly explored waters were fantastic. The water is deep and the bottom is partially or fully covered with reefs, which could potentially hold fish. Just after I felt a light tug and wondered if it was a fish, Bill spotted a rise in front of us. Within a few seconds, a smal sea trout grabbed his fly without hesitation.

We worked the same spot for a few more minutes, hoping that his fish was just one of an active pod. We were unable to generate another bite after many casts, so it was time to get back on track.

Another angler was working his way toward us, so we decided to skip the reefs between us and jumped onto the section where he had just fished. A few minutes after Bill wetted his fly at the new section, he quietly informed me that he had just felt some taps. He proceeded to hook up. It was a fat sea trout, easily in the 2 to 4lb range. This silver fish tail danced on the surface toward Bill, who frantically stripped his line in. Unfortunately he could not keep up and the fish earned its freedom. A few casts later, there was another hook-up! This time the fish was more tamed and brought to his hands in no time. It was a small overwintering fish, which was released for more growth.

Bill felt a few more taps after landing his second fish, then it was all over. A school of fish was obviously encountered. Somehow our neighbouring angler was unlucky enough to miss it when working his way through the same beach. The element of luck can really make you either love or hate this game.

As daylight was coming to an end, we decided to work through some of the earlier fished sections before calling it a day. I headed back to my lucky spot and a fish was hooked in no time. This sea trout followed the lure in like others, except it felt confident enough to bite it just before I lifted the lure out of the water. The hook was not even set, it simply hooked itself. It tail danced all around me as I brought it closer to shore, then it once again fell of the hook! Not only it got off, it decided to taunt me some more before swimming away by doing a few more jumps around me, bouncing itself off a rock after jumping onto it.

I rushed back to shore and grabbed the fly rod, hoping that a school of them was sticking around. Unfortunately many casts later yielded no taps. I looked toward Bill, who was fishing a couple hundred meters away from me. He was making his way to land and my phone rang at the same time. I thought that he was calling it a day.

“Rodney, get up here quickly! A load of fish is in front of me right now, I just landed two.”

The two hundred metre dash could possibly be within the Olympic qualifying time. I arrived to see Bill tailing a rather heavy fish in the shallow water. It appeared to be a post spawner, but a rather silver one if it was. Unfortunately the fish was hooked quite deeply and bleeding, so we decided that it was best to keep this one.

The school of fish that Bill became so excited about was long gone after we headed back out in the water. These sea trout leave as fast as they show themselves, so one really needs to make the best out of it when the fishing is hot. We ended our trip just before dark. With half a dozen fish hooked, this is the best winter outing to date. Is it luck, hard labour or an improvement on our tactics?

For some reason I have been able to connect with a sea trout on either Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day in the past several years. Wanting to maintain that streak of luck, I sneaked down to the Copenhagen Harbour for a couple of hours before the big dinner. After several stormy days, the wind has finally died down and the glassy surface made fish spotting much easier. A few minutes after I set up the rod, I spotted a big splash just outside of my casting distance. I and two other fishing companions all casted toward the direction at the same time. I was at least 50 feet short from the splash while others landed their lures on top of the rise. I guess that the fish was quick on the move and my lure landed right in its face. After a few cranks on the spinning reel, I had a solid pull on the tip and the hook-set was as precise as it could get. The fight lasted a couple of minutes and a fair size sea trout was tailed. It was not the pure silver fish that I had hoped for, but a early Christmas gift from the Danish water nevertheless.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Here are some photographs that I took around Copenhagen tonight.

After developing some success last week, I have explored several other beaches in Denmark but none yielded more bites. All the locations that I have visited are on the northwestern region of Sjælland. I have been told that fish along the western shoreline of Sjælland are known to be smaller and slimmer, because they mostly feed on shrimp and other smaller food items. On the contrary, fish along the eastern shoreline of Sjælland tend to be much larger and deeper, because they feed on larger items such as herring and sand eel. Today we decided to explore one of the more popular spots on the east coast, to see if we could connect with one of those bulkier sea trout.

Our destination was Stevns Peninsula, which is just 40km or so outside of Copenhagen. The coastline of Stevns is mostly made of high chalk cliffs, which are popular sites for tourists in the summer. At the southern end of this peninsula, sits a quiet village called Højerup, where a 800 year old church dangles at the edge of the cliff. In the early 1900s, a portion of the church collapsed as erosion finally took its toll.

 

Stratification across the cliff can clearly be seen from the beach. One can discover and marvel many unusual landscapes that have been created by nature overtime.

 

A thin dark clay layer found halfway up the cliff marks an asteroid impact and mass extinction around 65 million years ago. This boundary separates the Cretaceous and Danian Periods.

 

Beside being historically and geologically significant, Højerup is commonly visited by sea trout anglers year-round due to the productive beaches.

Today’s wind was not so favourable. Even though it was not a head wind, we had expected that its strength (over 50km/hour) would resulted in turbulent and chalky water. Luckily, the water condition was not tampered too much. Several anglers were already working hard on the beach upon our arrival.

Without much hesitation, we quickly bundled up in our waders and jackets and rushed down to the beach. We managed to get several hours of fishing in under the warm sun. The air temperature was 7 degrees Celcius, which is rather unusual for this time of the year in Denmark and quite a contrast to what Vancouverites are currently experiencing back home. We were able to tuck ourselves away in a calm bay during the entire outing.

The fishing result was nothing to brag about. We watched one angler hooking a rather acrobatic sea trout on his first cast after lunch. The fish was around 18 inches long. While watching the fight, I detected a bite on my rod but managed to miss it. I continued retrieving and a second hit came shortly. The fish was hooked but came off after a few brief shakes, which is rather disappointing. It is hard enough to find a bite, even harder to be sharp enough at all time to make sure a fish is well hooked and kept on the line. Persistence is not always rewarded in sea trout fishing. Perhaps a school of fish was moving by. This again indicates that sea trout would not hesitate when a lure or fly is presented to them, the catch factor comes down to finding the fish and intercepting them.

Here are some more photographs taken during the trip. I would also like to use this opportunity to wish all a safe and happy holiday! Enjoy the snow!

Since my arrival in Denmark just under three weeks ago, I have put in around 30 hours of fishing and all I can say is that the result has been disappointing beside the few sea trout that I connected at a slough over a week ago.

Miles of coastline have been covered and they have not yielded a single bite. The sub-zero wind chill hasn’t made the experience that enjoyable either. Fingers were constantly numb and the breathable waders have been too breathable. The scenery has been pretty nice. Crowding is definitely not a concern. I can fish for miles without seeing a single person. Perhaps everyone else is just smarter and staying indoor and getting drunk during these dark days.

While walking in anckle-deep water along the beach yesterday, I startled a sea trout that was easily in the 5 or 6lb class with my foot. It was resting in the shallow thick algae bed just several feet from shore. That pretty much ruled out the “no fish” theory.

Wind is the biggest nemesis for beach fishermen. Luckily, being on an island, we have the option of choosing the side of the island where it is not facing the wind. Occasionally the wind turns and strengthens in the last minute, which spoils the entire day’s of fishing, like today. The above photo was taken from the south end of Køge Bay, with Copenhagen in the far background. Køge Bay can be clearly seen when you fly into Copenhagen. The fishing is supposed to be pretty productive, at least from the photos of sea trout that I have seen. These sea trout have much larger girth than fish produced in other parts of the country, probably because their diet is mostly herring than shrimps.

I became so bored from the beach fishing, I started taking underwater photographs of snails.

The weather has constantly been overcast, which is not that unusual in Northern Europe. The poor lighting makes the short winter days even shorter. From first light to last light, I have about six hours of opportunities to find a fish. A few days ago, the sun finally showed itself for the first time since I arrived. I took a shot of the sunset from a beach near our apartment.

Although the days have been fishless, the food has been very good as usual.