British Columbia Fishing Blog

The evenings have been quite pleasant lately. The light southerly breeze is quite tolerable, especially when the temperature is hovering in the mid to high teens. Seeing that garfish are abundant to the point that every cast would result in one bite after another, I thought perhaps evenings may bring out other species when these long needlefish go to bed.

We went to a nearby beach at 8:00pm, giving ourselves a couple of hours to find a few tugs before dark. Armed with the video camera, Nina kept the film rolling while I brought in one garfish after another. The bite went on for about an hour and died down suddenly, which seems to be pretty normal as it gets dark. Seeing that we had captured enough footages (please look for the video later this summer), I handed the fishing rod to Nina so she could make a few casts.

She found the bites pretty quickly. The rod was kicking just after her second cast. It did not behave like a garfish. This fish kept itself in the deep and put up a rather good fight as Nina reeled it in. When it surfaced in front of us, both of us shouted out at the same time, “It’s a cod!”

In the last couple of years, we have been told that cod is a pretty common species in the coastal fishery. This was our, or should I say, Nina’s, first cod in Denmark. Although not very big, it was worth celebrating. We took a couple of photographs before letting it swim away. This little guy will eventually grow up to its potential size, 40lb, at least that is our hope.

There must have been a school of them, because we managed to connect with two more cod and miss many other strong tugs. The light spinning rod definitely kept the action pretty fun even though these fish were no more than 40cm long. Perhaps I should return next time with a stiffer rod and heavier lures to target larger specimen in the deeper sections.

 

In Scandinavia, the month of May marks the beginning of a season that is celebrated by every life form. The spring landscape is much more pleasant. The green fields are covered by wild flowers. The rocky shoreline is thickened with algae and other microscopic inhabitants. After a long, dark Baltic winter, people are eager to be out in the sun as much as possible by jogging, kayaking or simply relaxing in a park. It is a celebration that no one would want to miss.

While this is happening, another annual phenomena is not being unnoticed. The migration of garfish (Belone belone), which is either love or hate by anglers, usually starts in late April and tapers off by the third week of May. Not to be confused with North America’s freshwater gars, these garfish are in fact a species of needlefish that are pelagic in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Baltic Sea. They are loved because they are easy to catch and tasty on the dinner plate. Sea trout anglers tend to find them a nuisance because quite often they take over the sea, making it harder to target sea trout specifically.

What impresses me about this fishery is the large amount of people who take part in it. Last weekend, we spent an afternoon sitting at a popular spot in Øresund, the strait that runs between Denmark and Sweden, we found ourselves surrounded by families that were out for the same reason. Dozens of boats could also be found just outside our casting distance. A gong show, you may think, but it was in fact very orderly and enjoyable. This fishery is family-friendly due to the fact that garfish are very willing biters.

Nearby windmills, being put to work on this breezy day.

Øresund Bridge, connecting Denmark and Sweden since 2000.

Just about every fishing method works for garfish, so it comes down to what the angler’s preference. Floating a piece of herring is relaxing and suitable for kids, but it can pose a challenge on a windy day. Spinning lures can generate many bites, but quite often the hook does not penetrate through the fish’s hard beak enough so landing rate maybe low. Since I was introduced to this fishery few years ago, my preference is still flyfishing for them. Garfish do not discriminate, so even a piece of yarn on the line can entice them. There would not be a shortage of bites when stripping a size 10 orange fly just below the surface with a 4wt.

While one cannot expect reel screaming runs from garfish (after all, their average weight is less than a pound), garfish do fight reasonably well with leaps and dives mixed in between.

Today I decided that we should keep a few for eating. Danes enjoy eating garfish. They can be BBQed, pan fried. I have quickly discovered that killing these fish is a messy job. Their length is easily over half a meter long and the body diameter is no more than ten centimeters. Handling them is perhaps best described as snake handling. You grab onto their gill plates, they slap the rest of the body around. You grab onto the mid section, they slip away freely after a couple of wiggles. The line quite often wraps around their body and the hook can sometimes be hard to remove because it is so embedded into the hard beak. When the job of untangling, unhooking, dispatching was done, I was completely covered in scales, slime and the oily fish smell that I used to find when targeting pelagic species in Australia.

That being said, this is definitely a light tackle fishery that I wouldn’t mind putting up with for a few weeks per year. I think that I will go down to the beach and enjoy it a bit more tomorrow.

You may have noticed that there have been less activities on the website so far this month. The reason being that I am once again back in Denmark. The colours of Danish spring are much more vibrant than its grey winter. Here are some photographs that I wish to share with you.

The flight over, on Lufthansa’s 340-600 again, which are finally installed with PTVs so the flight seemed extremely short for once. Interesting landing, so hard that two of the compartments opened up two rows ahead of me and one smarty decided to unbuckle and stand up just a couple of seconds after the front wheel touched down so he could close them. Well, I guess someone forgot that the airplane was going from 200kph to under 100kph in a few seconds. He tumbled and rolled forward in no time. Luckily no serious injuries, except perhaps a few bruises and embarrassment. The seat belt sign is there for a reason after all.

I’ve become rather paranoid about my luggages so I stood and watched to make sure they were loaded. All ten rods made it without damages.

Sunrise. Our place is just a few hundred meters from the east coast so the view is pretty nice at 5:00am.

Downtown Copenhagen again… This photo would look better with lots of pedestrians in front of me I think. Normally the area in front of me is just packed, but I guess that I must stink or something, they all decided to take the longer route when I crouched down to take a photo like a typical Asian tourist.

Spring time means street performers.

You don’t really have to get too far out of Copenhagen to see big fields. This is the area where Nina grew up in, probably about 20 minutes drive out of Downtown Copenhagen.

Another field shot…

More field shot… plus local resident…

Close-up of local resident…

There are many little harbour/fishing villages along the coast here, which are really relaxing to walk around. The pedestrian streets are narrow and every corner is worth exploring. The houses are a couple of hundred years old. The exterior retains its historic look while the interior is completely modernized, making these some of the most expensive properties in the country. This particular village is just a short drive from our place.

Here are some bird photographs that I took while walking around the harbour.

These blackheaded gulls lose the black head in the winter. A few months ago I took a photo of them too in this blog entry.

The long wait is over! DNE’s strike indicators are now available at your local tacklestores, just in time for this year’s stillwater season.

These indicators come in four different sizes and two different bright colours. These are quick-release indicators, which means you can adjust your fishing depth beyond the length of your flyfishing rod. The soft rubber stopper prevents leader damage.

Lake flyfishing with an indicator is popular in British Columbia. Check out this new product and ask for a demonstration of the setup at your local tacklestores before your first lake trip this season. DNE’s strike indicators are now available at:

• Berry’s Bait and Tackle
• Chilliwack Dart and Tackle
• Fred’s Custom Tackle
• Hatch Match’r Fly and Tackle
• Pacific Angler Fly and Tackle
• Sea-Run Fly and Tackle

I brought my camera down to Middle Arm to take some sunset photos after this lovely spring day. Freshet has been happening on the Fraser River for almost two weeks now. With the water as brown as coffee, it was not really worth to bring the rod down, especially a flyfishing rod.

Upon arrival, I found the water to be glass calm. I love it when it is so calm in the evening. Any surface activity would be visible, even on the other side of the channel. After taking a couple photographs, I caught a splash at the corner of my eyes. It sure looked big! Sturgeon perhaps? I walked toward the area and another fish showed itself. A sturgeon it was not, but it was either a bull trout or cutthroat trout, a rather big one too! I stood and repeatedly scanned the surface from left to right. Another fish rose, which was followed by another dozen. I’ve seen trout feeding on the surface many times, but these sightings always make the heart pumping harder. There was no point to show my excitement, because the fishing rod was at home! All I could do was to stand back, watch and enjoy the feeding frenzy.

Oh yes, those sunset photographs…