I've been working in Copenhagen for the last 2 months and whilst I was aware of the excellent Sea Trout fishing in the Baltic Sea, I never seriously considered the possibility of fishing whilst I was out here. That all changed after an impromptu chat with a couple of like minded and enthusiastic guys in a local fishing shop who kindly offered to take me out one weekend! Clearly I wasn't going to turn down that offer so last weekend I woke early and took the train to Malmo carrying a large rucksack full of fishing gear and looking forward to two days of mid winter Baltic Sea Trout fishing!
The first spot we tried was very exposed and extremely cold. The Winter here has been mild compared with recent years but after 10 minutes of casting into a stiff, chilly wind, my hands were barely functioning. Apparently a good trick in Denmark to warm your hands in situations like this is to submerge them into the freezing sea for as long as you can bare. Once you've subjugated yourself to this torture, the theory is that the blood then rushes to your hands and warms them up...Well, it may work for the Danes but I certainly didn't help me! Anyway, back to the fishing. With so much water for the fish to hide in it's important to keep moving. As such with every cast we were moving and retrieving at the same time. Despite covering a lot of water, the only sign of fish were a couple of large dead Sea Trout (natural at this time of year I was told). I must admit, it was quite a relief to get back in the car and warm my frozen hands!
The second spot was idyllic, a long sandy beach with crystal clear water and lots of boulders to stand and cast from. Upon arriving we witnessed a nice fish being landed by another fisherman providing a much needed boost of enthusiasm. We fished both fly and spinner here for most of the afternoon and just as I was starting to think about how remote the odds were of my fly landing in front of a Sea Trout in the vast expanse of water, my line went taught. This was no real cause for surprise as the water here is littered with large submerged boulders and snagging these is common. This time was different...a familiar tug at the end of the line awakened me to the fact that a fish was attached to the end of my line! After a brief but spirited fight I netted my first Baltic Sea Trout. I was over the moon!
A small fish compared to the stamp of fish that are often caught in these parts but I wasn't fussed, it was a fish and that was all that mattered. We spent the remainder of the weekend trying plenty of different spots but sport was very slow. On the Sunday we didn't see or hear of any fish being caught and we both blanked. It had still been a fantastic weekend adventure that all started from a kind invitation from two total strangers who are now good friends. Here are a few other pics from the weekend, sorry about the quality, they were taken from my phone. The dead fish shows the calibre of fish that can be caught in here. It was on the side of a small spawning creek and probably weighed around 10lbs. Maybe next time...
Swedish Sea Trout Trip
you did well to catch one on your first outing after all they are called "the fish of a thousand casts" . We've been extremely lucky this winter - the sea hasn't frozen over yet and I guess it wont get really cold now either. The current water temp is about 4-5 degs so there should be plenty of fish moving. If you get the chance its also worth considering having a go for some cod - they come in close to the shore as it begins to get dark, great fun on a fly rod.
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