It's funny how a chance comment can suddenly grow into a fully fledged fishing trip. It happened recently and I found myself heading off to Denmark in search of sea trout.
Ray is my closest fishing friend. We have fished many places across the world together. River fishing for trout is his thing but after moving to the northern part of Denmark it meant our fishing adventures have become more limited and the lack of rivers in his area have meant casting a fly to rising trout means travelling to the other end of the country. What they do have though is fishing for sea trout both from the coast and fjords.
Armed with a little information, a few flies and a rough idea of where to go his forays had met with little success. I had put Ray in touch with Alexander, who readers of issue 16 of ESF will have noticed, knows his stuff when it comes to tackling Danish sea trout.
Alexander has spent many years honing his skills, first fishing for sea trout in the early '80s when this method of fishing was in its relative infancy. He recalled to me recently that those fishing traditionally (at the time) with spinning rods playfully mocked the method he was using and said he would never catch a fish that way. As is often the case things change and now fly is considered both a productive and preferred method of those looking to fish for sea trout.
I asked Alexander if he felt he was a pioneer in this area of Danish fishing and he was firm in saying that there were those who had been fishing with a fly well before him. It may have been a small band at the time but Alexander worked a lot of things out for himself over a long period of time and without the help of any others so although pioneer might not be a label he feels comfortable with I think expert is a fair one and taking a look back at the article he wrote makes me comfortable to write these words.
Whilst talking to Alexander on the phone about his article we suddenly started talking about the possibility of a trip to Denmark. This gathered momentum quickly and some three weeks after our phone conversation my plane was landing at Copenhagen airport.
When it comes to efficiency that Danes take some beating. I was off the plane, had cleared customs, picked up my luggage and was on the train in 20 minutes. The trip had been pretty straightforward to organise as I was staying at Ray's and flights run out of Bristol.
The trip had been planned to coincide with Alexander heading back from his base in the UK to spend time with his parents and to meet up with his son Sirage, also a keen fly angler.
Ray picked me up from the train station and we headed straight to the coast to have a go. The warm flight I'd endured was due to the thermals I had travelled in but it saved me having to strip off in the car park and I was ready to fish in no time.
We both knew that it was going to be a tough ask early on. The wind was lively and the waves matched. The research I'd done (mainly from Alexander ) had said that we should be looking to cast just beyond the breakers where the sea trout patrol for food. In some places this just wasn't possible as the breakers were too big and I didn't fancy risking an early dunking so soon in the trip.
I concentrated my efforts on any forms of structure, small bays or pure gut instinct. This was certainly different to the warm summer evenings that I experience on the streams of Devon when fishing for sea trout. I loved it.
We fished for maybe 3 hours or so and with dark coming we left.
Next day we were meeting Alexander and Sirage at a fjord where they also like to fish for sea trout. We'd heard the wind was going to pick up some more overnight and so finding somewhere to fish with shelter rather than the exposed coast would be a better option.
We started the day as any Danish sea trouter should, with pastries and good, strong coffee.
The guys had a mark that had been a constant producer for them and wanted us to try. We went through this gentlemanly thing of trying to offer the hotspot around but Ray and I got the shot. Alexander and Sirage told us how they like to fish the spot and we did exactly what they told us. It didn't produce this time. It didn't matter in the slightest. The knowledge and depth they went into told me we were in good hands.
The four of us worked the water hard varying fly selection, speed of retrieves and depth. It was the first weekend the ice had fully broken on the fjord and so these were the first truly fishable conditions. Due to this we saw a constant procession of anglers, both fly and spin, who reported similar results to us. There was little doing so far.
We drank more coffee and ate some lunch. You could tell our hosts really felt something was going to happen where we were fishing and so we stuck to our plan. The wind was coming in to my right side so I cast so that my forward cast was aiming towards the shore and I delivered the cast on my back cast. It is a great way of ensuring that I am not going to give myself an unnecessary piercing when the already strong wind decides it is going to up the ante a little. I also found by casting just a tiny bit across the wind it saved me having to cast into the teeth of it.
As there was little going on I decided to fish a larger shrimp pattern to try and attract the fish to bite. I had watched a Danish sea trout DVD before coming out that had some great footage of sea trout following a fly, sometimes taking it, although not always. I imagined a similar scene playing out in front of me. This one involved following fish but not the savage takes I had watched on my TV. Not yet anyway.
It didn't happen but not through trying. I remembered where I'd first read Alexander's article and where he reckoned you needed 70 odd hours of fishing before you got lucky. I chalked 10 hours into the credit column and felt like I was understanding things more than when I started.
The Danes as a whole eat healthily but when Ray and I fish we eat junk. He told me about a Chinese he'd passed a few times and did I fancy it? He of course knew what I'd say and we sat down to an "all you can eat" buffet. We ate all we could eat and in Ray's case a bit more in the form of an ice cream. As he'd kindly put me up I was going to shout for dinner. The only downside was the card machine didn't take non-Danish credit cards and I hadn't organised any cash thinking it was a short trip and I could get by with a card. We both laughed, me more I think! I thanked Ray for dinner and promised I'd buy dinner the next night.
Getting back to Ray's we awaited a call from Alexander about the plans for the next day. It seems the sea trout network works quickly and when he called he had already found out that a couple of fish had been caught at the farthest end of the fjord in the shallowest, slightly warmer water. He'd also heard the wind was going to be stronger still but was shifting from a north easterly to a westerly. He planned to take us to a bay that he felt would be a little more sheltered.
I settled into a warm bed and quickly fell into a MSG induced sleep.
We met by a church in a small village just a short distance from the fjord. The car park was empty when we got there but the wind sand blasted us when we got out of the car. It was bright and sunny but showing 2 deg c in the car and the wind took it down plenty more. We had poked our made up rods through the car yesterday and so we just needed to put our waders on and we were good to go.
We walked just a few hundred yards and we were at the bay. Alexander was right, we were a lot more sheltered and the wind was blowing into our bay. At this moment a couple of things struck me. Firstly that the bay reminded me of some of the wild brown trout lakes I like to fish in Devon. Secondly, we were fishing for brown trout. Ok they are sea run versions but they are in the fjord feeding. A quick look at the bottom of the bay made me think that anything living in there would have to match its surroundings so I opted for a brown shrimp pattern and as I would do in Devon, I added a dropper with a green shrimp. The water being crystal clear made me decide to choose the smallest flies I had.
I waded out, made some casts and tried short, sharp strips of the line. It worked. I struck and was playing my first Danish sea trout. The guys gathered, watched me land the fish and took a photo. I showed Ray the flies I was using and he tied the same on. I carried on and noticed Ray was now playing a fish. As ever he hadn't made a fuss. I'd have loved to have seen everything happen but it hadn't taken long. The fish must have followed the fly all the way in and taken just a rod length out according to Ray. He was now no longer a stranger to Danish sea trout!
We fished on but with no more success. After lunch Alexander suggested we go back to the spot we tried the day before but it still didn't happen for us there. Alexander and Sirage had to leave but Ray and I still had our waders on. I looked at him and knew he was thinking the same. We got in the car and drove back to where we'd fished in the morning. As we headed back a dark sky greeted us. Ray said we were dressed for it and so it didn't matter. It didn't rain, it snowed. Not light sleety stuff, proper full on snow. It did mean the car park was still empty when we got there and we really didn't care about the snow.
Our set ups were the same as before. The tide was out and the water a little lower but after a few casts I felt a solid take. It felt a little strange and I saw a small flash of silver and then a larger one. It was a double hook up. The fish on the dropper was a small one but the one on the point was a good one. It made sure we knew this as it leapt in front of us four times. I got the fish where I could land them in shallow water. Not having a net meant I would have to beach them but I just didn't like the way the small fish was hanging out of the water from the dropper and kept the rod low so it stayed in the water. The move cost me the big fish that I suspect was more lightly hooked and had moved in when it saw the small one either took the fly or the commotion caused by me setting the hook. We both watched the big one swim off, we were going to release it anyway but a photo would have been nice.
The next thing was a little strange. I cast out and struck again. I couldn't believe it was another double hook up. This time the two fish were of the same size and easier to land. I took care of the fish on the dropper and Ray unhooked the fish on the point.
It was starting to get really cold. Ray and I couldn't feel our hands but we fished on, Ray landing a nice fish . We decided on one more cast (this means five!) and on my last one I struck into another good fish. This one was a nice one and I would have had a nice photo had Ray's frozen fingers been able to press the picture button rather than keep hitting the on/off button!
It had been so cold that I hadn't noticed that my fingers were bleeding from the constant stripping back of the line that had no doubt picked up grit and rubbed a groove in my hand. It was worth it.
We headed back for a Danish hamburger joint which also didn't take UK credit cards.
I'd certainly recommend Danish sea trouting. It is something different, the fish are stunning, the landscape beautiful and the Danes are good people.
I learnt a few things. Firstly my 9ft 8wt is great when you are wading shin deep on a bonefish flat but when you are bum deep and 5 ft 7” (and a bit!), a 9 1/2 or 10 ft rod would be a better bet. Intermediate line is a better choice rather than a floater. It will cut through any chop on the water’s surface and will get your unweighted flies down and keep them down. Unweighted flies are considered the norm as sea weed can be an issue and a fast sinking fly will have you in contact with it far too quickly. Make sure you have a line tray, moulded ones are better and keep moving but stay 500m from any river mouths as it is illeagl to fish in them.
Probably the most important thing was we had local knowledge. This made the difference. There are websites that are free with information but there is nothing like having someone with you. Thanks Sirage and Alexander and a huge thanks to The Dude!