Fly Fishing

jeremy

Hi,

I have been spending time chasing sea run brown trout here in maine .. chasing and time being the key words .. a whole lot of time and learning and no catching .... i did have a swirl at my fly in the mouth of an ocean going river ... so i have some questions for others like marcel who fish the baltic sea for sea run brown trout .. and/or anyone else who has experience chasing these ocean going silver beautiies...

1. is fall better than spring?
2. is low tide better than high tide or doesn't it matter?
3. do you fish the mouths of the rivers casting into the ocean?
4. how far up stream from the ocean do you fish?
5. do you see the fish? i have heard that they swim in pods and have seen such activity?
6. streamers or nymphs? what kind of streamers? bait or buggy?
7. how big do the sea runs get in the baltic sea and other european sea run brown trout rivers?
8. are the estuaries a good place to fish
9. if in river .. focus on fast pocket water or long stretch of slower water and pools?

10 .. finally ... to be clear .. does your fishery stock these fish and then they go out to sea and return like atlantic salmon? do they spawn and reproduce? .. here in maine .. our ocean going rivers are stocked very close to the ocean .. and an angler can of course go to certain spots and catch tons of stocked fish .. but these are not the fish i am seaking .. i have seen pictures of true sea run brown trout .. BIG and SILVER .. clearly different than those that were just dumped off the stocking truck .. they do catch them in Mass, Rhode Isalnd, Maine etc.. and they are a tough fish to target .. BUT, i am willing to and have been putting in tons of time tromping coastal rivers looking for 1 shiny fish .. i know they are out there .. and i am getting closer to figuring out the puzzle .. but still left with many questions ... so any help from overseas europe, argentina or even here in the states would be appreciated .. I AM NOT looking for people to give me exact locations .. i already have a pulse on that .... i am more so looking for tactical advice and seaking to understand the sea run brown trout better ...

oh yah, sinking lines or floating lines? thanks...

ps .. it is a quest of mine to catch a true sea run brown trout in maine .. has been for many years, but i keep getting pulled to the stocking zones ... this year, i am forgoing those fisheries and spending time on vast rivers and coastline .. it is a humble and often uneventful way to spend time fly fishing in terms of catching .. but, like albies or bluefin tuna, the reward for me will be sweet... so, just looking for a litle help so that when prowling the coast, i at least feel a little confident that i have a shot and that i am approching my quest effectively and effeciently ...

ps.. pete - d .. you told me that in canada there were lots of sea run browns when you were fishing for atlantics.... got any tips? maine is not far from canada .. so, i know i got a solid shot?

pps .. again .. anyone who has experience chasing sea run brown trout .. or any feedback that will help is appreciated ... every year, during striper season .. i hear the saying.. "oh did you hear that so and so got a 6 pound brown trout on a clouser minnow while fishing the mouth of xyz river .." ... SO, i know they are out there ,.. but it is a tough game to dial into ... mysterious .. and very little if any information available .. thansk.

Marcel_Karssies · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:39 am Post subject:

I can only speak about my limited time spend in Denmark this year
which was exactly two times, in spring and fall.
One of my buddies has gone their often so I have some of my knowlegde
from him as well.

1. Spring and Fall seem to be both good times.

2. Tidal difference in the Baltic is minimal so I would not know.

3. Mouths of rivers are always off-limits in Denmark, they are a
protective zone since fish will gather there for their spawning
trip upriver in fall.
I guess they will hang aroud there when they descend also.

4. I have not fished the rivers but these fish appearantly travel
very far upstream in very unlikely read small streams.
Nighttime would be the time to fish for them on rivers.

5. Yes, sometimes you can see the fish.
On occasion they will jump and you will notice swirls in the water
from moving fish.
Fish do move in pods so if you get one you might get more.
It seems that most seatrout hug the first 250 meters from the beach.
They can show up in extremely shallow water when they hunt for
shrimps, lugworms and small fish.

6. Both streamers and buggy shrimp patterns, will send link

7. I have seen pictures of fish that measured 70cm, big

The river, Kolding A

Fish from the river, stuff of dreams

8. Estuaries should be good, but forbidden overhere.

9. Do not know but what I have seen on TV shows it seems the fish hide
during the day and stay in the deeper pools.
At night you probably have the best changes according to literature.

10. Seatrout are stocked to supplement the fishery, at least in Denmark
and it pays off to fish there.
Fish will move upriver in fall and spawn and return to the sea to
fatten up. Some fish skip their annual spawning trip and stay in the
sea for a season.
When the fish start to move close to the river mouths they will usually
change color from silver to brown. The otherwise loose scales will
stick. In Denmark it is forbidden to take these spawners from mid
november onwards.
The fish will turn to silver again when they are in the sea.

I am not an expert since this year was the first time I actually caught one.
I know there is at least one Dane (Nic) on this forum that might shed some more light on this issue.
Furthermore there should surely be some British Anglers around that can tell something about river fishing.

jeremy · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:23 am Post subject: wow

wow - what great information . thanks so much marcel .. OH MAN! that pic of that gorgeous sea run brown trout is as you said "STUFF THAT dreams are made of" .. i have seen fish similar to that here in maine .. i know they exist .. ... hey the one you got this year is beautiful too..... silver as can be ...

DanishDynamite · Newbie Joined: Dec 05, 2006 Posts: 1 Location: DenmaR

Hi guys!..

Just found this fantastic site tonight, and must say, it seems to be very informative Laughing

I would love to share some of me experience, as being a danish seatrout bum! But it have to wait until tommorrow, the time is moving rather fast towards 2:am here in Denmark, and i really gotta get some sleep now!..

However, i do have a link that you should have: http://globalflyfisher.com/
Here you can find some great articels contesting seatrout fishing, and get in contact with a lot of danish, as well as batic flyfishermen..

here is a bit of fish porn for the dreams tonight: (10.3 kg seatrout caught of the danish coast on fly by one of my fishing mates)

Best regards
/Kenneth Opager..

waterwhippa · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:50 pm Post subject: WOW

That is the fish of many lifetimes! I want one bad.

shad · Newbie Joined: Jan 20, 2006 Posts: 18 Location: Scotland

Jeremy Hi
In Scotland Wild Sea Trout are common, many of our rivers have good spawning areas but very little feeding for the brown trout.If they hung around in the streams they would have trouble reaching 4 oz,so many (mainly females) head to sea,where they pack on weight and are able to produce thousands more eggs than fish which remain .
In answer to your questions

1Late summer /fall is good on the river and estuary when fish return to spawn,Winter thru early summer can be good on the coast if you can locate feeding fish.

2 I fish the incoming tide mainly ,depends on the area really some times they will sit and feed on a dropping tide just as in a river.Our tides are much larger than the Baltic up to 6 meters so fish move around a lot and learning where they might be is the tough part.

3 Yes some Sea trout do not move far from the home river so fishing can be good in estuaries ,best time is late summer if the river is low fish hang around ready to make thier spawning run.

4 We catch them all over our river systems,some enter as early as May and unlike Atlantics they feed on nymphs and small fish.They do become very spooky during summer night fishing with traditional wet flies can be the only way to catch.

5 At sea it is common to see them jump or wake in shallow water.

6 Fly selection-In the sea I like to use a 2 fly set up a sand eel with something shrimp like as a dropper,Sea trout like to nip at the tails of flies so dont use long tails.Something like a sparse Rays Fly with a wing rather than tail is perfect,tied on size 10-6.Small gurglers and surface flies are also worth a try in shallow water .

7 without looking up the record 22lb

8 Yes Estuaries can be good.

9 When in the river they will be in fast water while in running mode,when they settle in a pool they will hold is the slower water near the tail of the pool(this is when fishing after dusk can be good)
10 Some browns were stocked for "put and take" in our rivers,but I would say our Sea Trout are 100% wild.

11 Intermediate or floating line with a 6-8 wt rod

Good luck in your hunt,hope this is of some use.

Colin

jeremy · Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:35 pm Post subject: wow

wow .. thanks colin ..what great info ... and beautiful fish ... look at the tale on that brown trout ... a spectacular specimin ... that is what i am looking for ... sounds like your info will work very well here in maine ... funny that you say "sea trout nip at the tails of flies" .. i have noticed this ... the follow and wake the fly and then many short (very short) strikes ... spooky and edgy fish to say the least ....

shad · Newbie Joined: Jan 20, 2006 Posts: 18 Location: Scotland

Jeremy
Hope it helps a little,they are famous for the tail nipping and the answer was always tandem or flies with a little treble hook tied as a "stinger" not so good for catch and release ,so I struggle with single hooks.
Sea Trout are common here so there has been a lot written about them the bible is " Sea Trout Fishing " by Hugh Falkus , a great read for the winter nights.I often visit his home river to fish in the summer months.
I should point out however that nothing is set in stone with Sea Trout,we have one river where fish averaging 4lb return in May wait in fresh water all summer to spawn then others where fish return in October.Habits at Sea vary from river to river also ,fish from the River Tweed will swim 500 miles to feed near Holland ,yet fish from other Rivers will never stray 5 miles from thier home river.
They are a challenge,good luck Colin

Postman · Newbie Joined: Sep 27, 2006 Posts: 14

Hi Jeremy

Best spots for fishing the silver demons in sweden is
small stone formations, leopard bottom beaches, estuaries
bridges, points (the best).
I fish with these standard retrives:
Time for the next tip:

1. Superslow supershort strips
Good for cold water when u use shrimp or gammarus immitations.
When the cast has been delivired, do two sharp retrivies to get contact
with the flies then paus for 10-15 seconds. Then do slow 5cm retrives
with marked pauses of 10sekonds between. Can be deadly if the water is under 5C.

2. Superquick retrive
When cast has been delivered put the rod in your arm pit at and
use both hands to retrive the fly as fast as possible. Do short marked pauses if the fish aint biting can do wonders.
Good for warm water when the trout hunts for tobis, small herring.
This is also a good retrive for pollock and coalfish and can create addicting strikes from those two species.

3. Standard dubble pump retrive
When cast has been delivered tight upp the line and then start to
pull in with two medium velocity pumps of 10-20cm line and then pause.
Repeat this until the fly has reach shore or stop to make a strike when the
seatrout kills your streamer in a fast attack. This is a standard retrive.

Hope this helps some additional to the great tips
u got before.
P-A