Fly Fishing - Flyfishing Denmark Sept. 20-23rd.

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

Last week I was on the road with Tom, Hans and Joop from our local flyfishingclub for our annual fall Denmark trip.
We where heading to Denmark in search of the elusive seatrout aka searun brown trout.
Final destination would be the beautiful island of Fyn in the Baltic Sea.

The trip started on Thursday, after the obligatory traffic jam in front of the Elbe river tunnel in Hamburg we arrived without any further delays in Denmark.

In Denmark

On this trip we would not stop along the way to go fishing, instead we would go to our rented cottage first.
In the afternoon we would then hit the sound between mainland Jutland and the island of Fyn.
We would make one stop along the way though.
The town of Haderslev boated a branch of the Danish fishing store Go-fishing, since it was on our route we decided to visit the shop.

Go fishing in Haderslev

Visiting the shop was like visiting a candy store, I bought a few more Danish seatrout flies such as small shrimps and bristleworms.
The size of the store and the selections of items displayed where a pleasant surprise, we had expected that this branch from the main store in Odense on Fyn would be a lot smaller.
After visiting the shop we headed to our cottage and unloaded tons of gear.

In the afternoon we fished the sound and where battered by wind and prolonged rainfall.
Still despite the bad weather we where at the right spot and time.
For some reason I could not manage to get into a single fish, not even a bite.
Fortunately Tom and Hans where more successful and the first seatrout came to the net.

On day 2 we would go river fishing at special request from one of the guys.
To get to a decent river we had to drive to the mainland.
We had arranged tickets for two sections of the Vejle A river.
Tom and I would fish sections three while Hans and Joop would fish section 2.
The heavy rains from the previous day where a bad omen for river fishing though.
The decision was made that if the river would be in a flooding stage we would hit the salt instead.

Fishing in the Vejle A

The river was high and brown but there was still some clarity so we decided to stay and fish.
Unfortunately the section I had a permit for was difficult to fish, the river bank was all thick brush and swamp.
To make matters worse people in kayaks came floating down the stream.
Luckily the kayak people dragged their yaks out at the beginning of our stretch so disturbance was minimal.
Since I could not fish from the bank I decided to take the risk and wade the river.
Rivers in the area we fished where usually very deep with soft bottoms, this one was just deep.

In the river

I fished the river for a couple of hours and caught a few small browns.
Tom fished from the shore and also had a few browns.
In the afternoon we would get a bite to eat and then would exchange licenses.
Things worked out differently though, the other guys got lost and had to be picked up by Tom.
The weather deteriorated and the rain started falling non stop.
We headed back to the island again and visited a small pizza place to get something to eat.

Brown trout from the Vejle A

In the evening we would fish the salt near our cottage.
It was not long before I was into my first seatrout of the trip, it was however the smallest fish I had ever encountered.
It had not even coloured silver yet so I almost suspected it was washed out from one of the many small streams on the island.

The coast at Vejlby Fed.

I had hoped for a bigger fish later in the evening but it did not happen.
The last thing I pulled out of the water was a crab that would not let go of the streamer I was fishing.

Crab

The next day would be a saltwater only venue again.
Tom and I decided to get out early and fish the coast near our cottage at first daylight.
In the dark we shared the beach with two Danes.
When the sun came up the seatrout started to feed like crazy and soon Tom was hauling in fish after fish.
After I switched my streamer with a small pink shrimp I caught fish also.
Most likely a school of small seatrout had entered our spot, the fish where feeding in the surface so we figured that they where hitting shrimp.

Early morning at the Baltic.

After breakfast we pondered over the location where we would spend the afternoon and evening.
With the south-easterly winds we decided the north shore of the island would be our best bet.

Northern shore of Fyn.

While we headed to a point Hans just walked over the Dunes and started to fish.
On his first cast he hooked a nice seatrout, that sort luck was typical for him.
I stood on the point and saw a couple of big seatrout jumping at the edge of the reef I was fishing.
Unfortunately the fish where way out of casting range.

Hans and Tom on the northern shore.

After a couple of hours without any hits I noticed that a large trout jumped quite near from me.
I immediately probed the spot where I had sighted the fish and was rewarded with a violent strike.
After a hefty battle I could land and release a fine strong piece of Danish silver.

During the middle of the day fish where active but to far offshore to be in casting range.
We fished until last light but fishing got worse, only Hans managed to catch a few fish close to shore.
I ended the day with photographing the sunset and an odd encounter with a hare that did not try to run like they are supposed to do.

Sunset

Hare

On the last day I headed out early with Joop in hope for yet another early morning session.
Usually I blanked on last day outings since fishing would be done in the unproductive middle of the day.
We walked along the beach in a fog and where the first fisherman on the spot.
A little later I heard somebody walking on the pebble beach, it was the first local.
The first hour in the dark remained fruitless although the sound of a jumping seatrout kept us in good spirits.
When the sun came up the waters remained calm, no fish to be seen.
Fish where present though since I felt a tug on the end of the line.

Seatrout caught during the morning session.

It took an half hour before I received another hit and landed fish nr. 2
Joop had no luck and soon moved off in to look for signs of fish moving along the shore.
After a calm period two big specimens where feeding right in front of me, but as on the other days well out of casting range.
The incoming tide did not help much either, time ran out and we had to get back to the cottage for breakfast.

We cleaned the house, packed our gear and headed for the final fishing spot of our trip.
On this last trip we would fish the sound between the island and the mainland for a second time.
In the morning rain seemed eminent but the gray skies gradually became lighter and dissipated.
Action was slow and the first couple of hours nobody received any hits or saw fish moving.

View from the cliff towards the sound.

When the tide turned and went out fish made their presence known.
I was fishing a point together with Tom, Hans and Joop and received the first bite.
Tom was the one furthers out and suddenly hooked fish after fish.
His location and ability to cast far out put him in reach of the fish.

Tom with trout.

On this session Tom remained the only one with fish.
I was glad I took the morning session that saved me from being skunked on this day.
We had nothing to complain about though.
It was yet another great trip with friends and this was surely the first time I had seen so many fish at that coast.
New lessons where learned and plans for future tactics where made to be even better prepared for the next Denmark trip.

Postman · Posted: Mon 10/08/07 2:06 pm Post subject:

Nice story and pics as usual.
Regards
P-A