October 1st was the last day I would spend fishing in Denmark.
On the previous outings in the Kolding- and Vejle fjords I respectively managed to catch two small cod and then blanked.
The other guys in the party all had caught at least one or more Sea trout.
I would not be able to look into the mirror again if I did not do the utmost to catch a Sea trout on this trip.
So on this day well before daybreak I slipped out of the cottage and walked though the pitch black night along the hills down to the beach.
It was chilly outside and fog was on the water.
I waded through the dark night and soon discovered that the otherwise flat bottom had some nice deep holes.


Sunrise in the fjord

When the sun came up I could hear the gulls in the fog, they where most likely following one of the fishing vessels that went out to the open sea.
There was some movement in the water which I suspected where fish but it sure wasn’t a trout.
I waded along the beach in the hope of getting at least a take, nothing happened though.


Nice cottage on the beach, I think I could live there…

As I progressed along the beach a more interesting stretch came in sight.
The sandy bottom made way for a mixed bottom of stone and sand.
There was a structure ahead in the form of a jetty, that structure could surely attract a sea trout or maybe a stray cod might still be around.


The jetty

My time was running out though since we had to clean up our cottage for the return trip back to the Netherlands.


Time to leave

When the sun came up it was time to go back to the cottage.
After breakfast and the cleanup we voted where to spend the last freshwater session in Denmark.
There where two options: The swampy Holme A river where we had good success three years ago or the Gels A further south.
The Gels A was the place that got the most votes since it was en route and situated in a less swampy landscape.
Only problem was that we did not know where to get the fishing licenses for that river.
After a fruitless odyssey along hunters, local bakers, supermarkets and gas stations we finally had a break.
At a gas station we saw a Dane in waders, which could only mean that he was a fisherman.
It turned out he was a fisherman and pointed us out into the right direction.

We had to go to a camping to get the licenses.
The camping was closed but luckily we saw one of the caretakers busy behind the main building.
We promptly got our licenses and off we went to the nearby river.
A look at the water proved disappointing though, a brown soup ran through the river.


Brown soup

It was a pretty river but we had bad timing.
My hopes of catching any fish where zero but still I tried fishing with nymph and streamer.
We all dispersed along the river to see if we could avoid a skunk day.
Tom soon called in on the radio that he had actually caught a fish; he had caught a little grayling on the dry fly.
So I changed to the dry fly and walked along the river in search of rising fish.


Hans looking rather lost at the river.

It was windy outside and sometimes light rain fell, not exactly dry fly weather for me.
Still I had a break when I suddenly saw a rising fish, from the ring in the surface it looked like a sizable specimen.
I watched the place for a while and noticed that the fish would rise frequently in the same area.
Soon the sedge I fished was intercepted by the fish, I struck and missed.
When the sun came briefly out some more rings appeared in the water.
Finally I hooked a fish and avoided skunk, it was a very little grayling.


Catch of the day, mini grayling

When I walked downstream I came along a Danish fly fisher who was fishing a streamer downstream.
I had a nice conservation with him and asked him about the technique he used and what kind of fish we could expect.
Apparently the river housed sea trout and Atlantic salmon but catching one of those would require loads of luck besides skill.


Gels A

I stuck with dry fly fishing and managed to hook another little grayling while missing some others.
All fish where guppy size though, maybe the Holme A would have been a better choice.
The others also had a bad day at the river, nothing sizeable was caught.
In the afternoon the weather deteriorated and calls came in to end the fishing session early and head home.


Time to go

So our last day in Denmark was a bit of a bummer.
The company and catering was great as usual but the fishing was at least in my opinion disappointing.
Still I had a great time and I will surely be back to beautiful Denmark, the sooner the better.