is there someone that has a booth or set up by the river that you actually pay, before you can proceed to the river kind of like a toll-booth?
There isn't a booth set up by the river, but there is a gas station located a couple of kms before the river where you can purchase the day card. The day card can also be purchased online prior to your fishing trip. The other option would be to join the fishing club/society that is responsible for that river, which would provide you all the access to the river during your year of membership. The money generated from the day passes and membership fee is used to pay the farmers for angling access to the river each year. The cost varies, based on a rate per meter of river bank.
I cannot answer the degree of compliance, but I would think most anglers do comply, pay and follow the club's rules set out for its stream. We've never been checked, we also don't see many anglers at all whenever we go. The river bank is always clean, since there is actually a group responsible to make sure the land owners are happy so future access is not jeopardized. It's different to how it is managed in Canada, and in some way I find it rather effective and enjoyable. $15 per day is a small price to pay if I am given an uncrowded, clean river to fish.
Second outing remains a learning phaseAfter a brief introduction to coast fishing for sea trout last week, Ryan arranged another trip on Sunday. As he had put it, the first trip was sea trout 101, and the second trip would be preparation for Sweden. The water was apparently more swift, the wading involved was expected to be trickier. I was anxious, yet excited, hoping to connect with my first coastal sea trout. Because of the differences in the diet, the fish we intended to target on Sunday are much larger because they feed on fish rather than shrimp and other marine invertebrates. Ryan talked about how much deeper the fish usually are and 5 to 10lb fish, or even bigger, are a norm.
I woke up before the alarm went off at 6:30am so I was ready to be picked up. Although getting around Copenhagen is convenient due to its effecient transit system, it really makes me appreciate my car in Vancouver when it is desperately needed for those serious fishing outings over here. I logged online, checked email and chatted briefly with Chrome Mykiss, only to find out about their successful day of 10 bull trout on the fly. The fishing bug was definitely catching on now.
Ryan arrived punctually at 7:45am, we then drove to another meeting spot. We were a group of six on Sunday. All were experienced local sea trout flyfishermen. The weather appeared to be co-operating, wind was blowing from the west as expected. All ingredients of a good fishing day were present, just needed a few fish to end it.
We travelled in Henrik's VW camper van, or the fish mobil as Ryan put it. It was indeed the ultimate fishing mobil, which has fishing rods hung from the ceiling, and tackle neatly organized at the back. Along the way, Henrik talked about his many travelling and fishing stories with the van around Denmark and other parts of Europe, as well as his recent fishing adventures to BC. The boys enjoyed the trips so much that they are coming back once again next September.
Time completely flew by as conversations took over the long drive. Before I knew it, we were already at our destination. Our starting spot looks like these:
In British Columbia, or most places in North America, our fishing trips usually involve wilderness to some degree. In Europe, historic sites usually surround our fishing space. These houses above were established in the 17th Century. It certainly feels different knowing that people have walked through these paths for hundreds of years before us. Our walk through the park and down a steep path lead us to the beach where we wanted to fish. The steep chalk cliff, the narrow beach and the ocean, which were blanketed by fast-moving low clouds, resulted in a breath-taking view.
Seeing how long the beach is and how much water there is in front of us, I was somewhat skeptical and discouraged. It wasn't until when my guides explained how one needs to work systematically to taste some success in this fishery. They pointed out the rocks and weedbeds in the water, where food may hold. Often, sea trout would feed along the dark patches of the water. One should also not be deceived by waters that do not seem structured. Deep troughs close to shore are known as bath tubs, where they are easily warmed during a sunny day in the winter time. The deep troughs often hold both large masses of food and fish, meaning multiple hookups if one is lucky to come across them. Nevertheless, it is a difficult fishery, which should only be participated if you are an optimist. It is similar to winter steelheading, except there are a million times more water involved. When comparing to what the Danes have experienced in BC, they say, "In BC you just chuck a fly in the water and a fish is guaranteed. In Denmark, you have to work for your fish."
That is indeed very true, as over the years I have found myself back to square one when fishing in Denmark.
The wading was indeed more difficult. The water was slightly murky, mostly from the runoff that the chalk cliff produces. Not being able to see what I was walking on is somewhat unnerving. The depth change is also quite big compared to the gently sloped beach where we fished last week. To make matters worse, every few steps on the sandy bottom, there would be one baby-head sized boulder that is covered with algae. Finally, just to add one more element in to test everyone's balance, the frequency and height of the waves are irregular.
In the end, I chose to only wade a few steps out instead of what my local friends were doing. How the heck did they get out there still baffles me.
The amount of water we covered was rediculously long. Again, steelhead tactics come to play, except there are no runs involved. By casting and taking a few steps everytime, the goal is to hopefully bump into some fish that just happen to be there. The fish do not rise during this time of the year because it is too cold, so the only visual cues that you are working with are the underwater structures in front of you.
This photo gives you an idea how far we fished. If you look at the background closely, you can see the white chalk cliff from the first photo.My method during this trip was spincasting. I was told that the fish maybe a bit further out and spincasting would give me a better chance of connecting with one. Not knowing what lures to use, at first I Simply used some of the salmon spoons that we typically fish with in British Columbia. After awhile, I was then given a slimmer, heavier lure. Apparently I needed to whip it out much further to cover the water more efficiently. Later on, a angler from that area demonstrated exactly how far the cast needs to be. I could not spot where the lure landed everytime.
My attempt of looking as if I know what I am doing.After six hours of walking, casting, retrieving, all of us produced nothing except a pair of frozen hands. It appears the coastal sea trout is as fictional as H.C. Andersen's fairy tales. On our way back, we came across a few spincasters, who actually landed three sea trout and one atlantic cod! They kept one of the sea trout, which was around 6lb. Atlantic cod is apparently a common catch when spincasting as they move closer to shore during the evening hours.
The walk back up was even more tiring on a fishless day.Well, it looks like my search for the first coastal sea trout will continue. At least I was able to burn off those Danish pastries. Our next outings will take us back to hunting for european perch and northern pike. We will be attempting to find some european perch that inhabit in brackish water during the winter months. They are known to be big and very willing to take a fly or spinner. Stay tuned.