by westlerorrbeck

Pre season fishing

Pre season fishing

Last saturday Westler and Hermansson took a day trip to the south of Sweden. We have been there a couple of times since their season opening in January but so far we never had any good fishing. Strong winds, rain or fog use to do their best to ruin our fishing. But not this time.

The sea was calm and the sun was slowly warming up the cold and crystal clear water. Westler rigged his newly built 8 foot, 4 weight and Hermansson went with the more appropriate 6 weight. We fished an area with sand bottom and a lot of rocks and kelp but the calm and clear water made it impossible not to spook the fish, if there were any.

The next spot was near the harbour in Mölle. A thick sea mist surprised us but only lasted for an hour. Just before the fog lifts Hermansson shouts -”There it is!” The rod was bending deep as the sun started to shine through. The 45 cm silver sea run put up a really good fight before it was released.

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As the wind increased Westler switched to the more suitable 6 weight. And maybe that was a good thing. Moments later he saw a big shadow following his small pink hackled fly. He stops retrieving for a few seconds and then, BAM! A giant silver trout took the fly, made some powerful rolls and then made a full speed 30 meter run before Westler could slow it down. The screaming Hardy Marquis echoed between the hills in the background. This fish was so strong that we could only steer it a bit and after a good 20 minutes we could land it in the net. Well, at least half the fish as the net was way too small.

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The fish measured 77 cm and just under 4 kilos. A new personal best for Westler that is not easy to break. After that we had a good time in the sun with some smaller fish on the hook and a nice lunch at Hotel Kullaberg. We both smiled in the car all the way back to Gothenburg. Not all fishing trips are like this one.

In first of april the season opens for our home waters in the west coast of Sweden. We are in the middle of preparation for a opening weekend in the archipelago just north of Gothenburg. Hopefully we can write something similar about that trip as well.

Summer 2015 – a quick recap

Well, the season finally came to an end. As all good things have to. But this time it was different. You know the feeling when you have reached a goal, performed well, accomplished a goal. That feeling.
This season we met a lot of new friends, we went to a lot of nice places, learned tons of new tactics and techniques. And we caught hundreds of trouts. Really.
So when we sat there in the car, heading home after this season’s last sea trout fishing day, we were smiling. Satisfied. It probably won’t last long, but that’s the way it felt.
Next up is a weekend trip to Öland, south east of Sweden. The trout around Öland is bigger than on the west coast so we are all in for a new personal best. We will try to post some updates from there. Stay tuned.

A magical morning

A magical morning

Orrbeck just got home from skiing in the northern part of Sweden and was eager to cast the line again.  Really eager. That’s why we practically were alone on the early ferry to the outer archipelago. The sun hadn’t reached the eastern horizon as we assembled our gear and started walking towards one of our favourite spots.

Westler’s second catch of the day.

The calm and clear water made it hard not to spook the fish. With gentle steps we waded out in the narrow channel. It didn’t take long before the rising trouts started to show. And then it begun. One hour of constant wakes. We’ve never seen so much fish in this water before. As Westler started to catch his first two, Orrbeck was still struggling with the choice of fly. When Westler catched his fifth Orrbeck finally hooked a nice trout. A real high jumper. The third jump finally released it from the hook and even though Orrbeck didn’t catch any trouts this morning it sure was worth the early trip. Westler ended up with nine fine trouts with a top result of 55 cm.

Clear sky and clear water

A couple of hours later it was all over. The tide made it’s way out in the ocean again, and so did the trouts.

A couple of fly fisher fellows joined us for a while. You can read about their adventure here: http://www.flajfishing.blogspot.se

 

 

No more waiting

One of the first catches of the year

No more waiting

Finally. The wait is over. A new season of chasing silver has begun. It has been six tough months of fly tying, put-n’-take fishing, planning and anxiety.

The first of April is no day for jokes. At least not for sea trout fishermen along the west coast of Sweden. For us it is a holy day. It creates the same anticipation as Christmas eve. This year was no different.

The spring came a little early so the water was around 5° Celcius and the sea trout were already feasting on worms, shrimp and small fish. We had a feeling this would be a great season opening.

The fly box was packed with marabou shrimp and zonker streamers. Westler met up with some old fishing friends at an old gas station just north of Gothenburg. Somehow Orrbeck managed to book a skiing trip and therefore missed the grand opening.

The sky was clear blue. When we arrived at the fishing spot a strong wind blew in from the sea. The water was high. Good conditions. But not that good fishing. After a whole day of struggling Westler caught three and the rest of the party got a couple as well. But who’s counting?

We grilled the sausages, drank the beer and had our coffee. And we told the same fishing stories as the year before. That is what the first of April is really about. The season is open. The hunt is on. For six long months.

Blown away

Westler fighting the waves

Blown away

When you plan a fishing trip in advance and mark the days in the calendar, you probably don’t have a clue what the weather will be like. Sometimes it’s nice, sometimes it’s not. And sometimes there’s a storm.

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This was our third trip to Lerhamn. Or the fourth. Either way, we had never caught fish in this place. But it looks and feels really good so we ended up here again. Orrbeck & Westler, featuring Zlatan. And again we catch nothing. Zero. Not even Zlatan scored here.

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Usually when you catch nothing you try to come up with a cause. This time it was the wind. Obviously. All the other parameters were fine.

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With some hesitation we waded out in the rough sea. Luckily the waves were breaking by the shallow bank just outside of the stone shore. But it surely wasn’t a walk in the park. And when we once in a while made a decent cast, a wave flushed the line on to land. The few casts we made that could have resulted in a fish got caught in all the drifting seaweeds. Marabougrisen will have to wait for it’s glory.

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Marabougrisen

As the season for seatrout in southern Sweden is getting closer Westler and Orrbeck is preparing the right flies. A trip to Mölle is scheduled for next weekend.

Here is a video of one of the flies that gets its place in our fly boxes. It is a variation of the famous Pattegrisen but this little pig is on a tight budget. We left out the expensive spey hackle and got all in with the marabou feathers. Some people call it Spargrisen but we call it Marabougrisen. Enjoy.

New Personal Best

New Personal Best

It started out as a really lousy trip. We had until lunch to fish so we started early. The sun would rise at 06:30 so Zlatan and Westler got on the ferry to Öckerö at 06:10. Öckerö is in the northern archipelago of Göteborg and they had spotted some nice places there on the map.

At first the place on the west side of the island was completely dead. But when the sun started to warm up the sea we could see some activity. Zlatan had a nice mackerel on his white shrimp imitation but lost it after a short fight. Westler had a couple of strikes on his silver streamer. But then Zlatan drops his bag of flies in the water and tries to reach for it. A bad idea on slippery rocks. After Westler managed to pull him out of the sea Zlatan decided to go home for some dry clothes. And so we changed place.

Westler drove ahead to Lilleby, just out of Göteborg. It is a popular beach on the west side of Hisingen. He put on a grey and white wooly bugger on a fast intermediate line and waded out from the beach. No activity on the surface and no strikes on the fly. Half an hour goes by and Westler moves slowly around a small cape with some current around it. And then… BAM! It feels like someone tries to rip the rod out of his hands. The fish runs deep and the reel is screaming. After about two minutes the fish makes a powerful jump and shows itself. This is by far a new PB for Westler. He manages to keep calm and after a 15 minutes of intense fighting and four or five spectacular jumps he landed a seatrout that measured 61 centimeters and weighed 2200 grams. Westler just broke the 50 and 60 cm barrier in one catch. Just outside a family beach in Göteborg.

 

Harren ville annat

Vi planerade allt. In i minsta detalj. Band alla de rätta flugorna. Markerade ut ställen på kartan. Gjorde reservplaner. Kollade tekniker på Youtube. Allt var perfekt när vi satte oss i bilen. Här skulle fiskas harr. Massor av harr.

Efter en snabb enkel på Bar Italia var stämningen i bilen på topp. Milen avverkades i snabb takt och efter en hamburgare bland sänkta 240:or och Impalas på torget i Torsby fick vi äntligen se den. Klarälven. Mörk och hemlighetsfull, sakta flytandes söderut. Två ögon på vägen och fyra på älven; “kolla där, och där och där!”. Det vakade tamejfan överallt. Det här skulle kunna bli fantastiskt.

Vi svängde in på en grusplan full med lastbilar, hjullastare och bildelar. Vi gick ur bilen och möttes av en gammal bekant, Olle Arnesson, fyrfaldig världsmästare i rallycross. “Skull’ ni ha en riktig fiskebil? Han står hä’ bak.” Med krycka ledde han oss till en genomrostig Mercedes Geländewagen som han köpt från Afrika nån gång för länge sedan. Den startade på första försöket och vi rullade vidare mot stugan.

Senare på eftermiddagen drog vi på oss vadarna och gav oss av till den första markeringen på kartan, Sundhultsbron. Ett lättåtkomligt ställe vi hört skulle vara bra. Beckman hade kontakt med några småfiskar men annars var det helt dött. Vi satte vår nya bil på prov och gasade upp till Näcksjön, en större sjö med öring och röding. Men ingen aktivitet där heller. Vi kollade ett par ställen till innan vi återvände till stugan.

På lördagen gick vi upp tidigt och fiskade på alla ställen vi kände till. Beckman fick tre småharrar strax nedanför Klarabro men annars var det helt dött överallt. Vi provade det mesta; klinkhammer, superpuppa, e12, red tag, haröra, flygmyra, geting, harkrank, streaking caddis… Inget funkade. Det enda större vi fick kroka av var Orrbeck. Han lyckades smacka fast en klinkhammer i örat. Med hulling och allt. Närmsta vårdcentral låg i Torsby så vi bestämde oss för att operera ut den själva. Och det gör man väl med en tång?

Den natten sov vi inte lika bra. Orrbeck för sitt onda öra och Westler för skräcken för att kanske inte få någon har på hela helgen. Beckman hade ju redan fått sin första men Westler och Orrbeck var fortfarande harrlösa.

Söndagen tillbringades i Kärrbackstrand. Orrbeck bröt spötoppen och Westler fick upp fyra öringbäbisar och tappade en pytteliten harr. Klockan två avbröt vi och fiaskot var ett faktum. Visst vi hade jättetrevligt, vädret var ganska okej och boendet på Mattestorp var fantastiskt. Men vi åkte dit för att fiska massor av harr. Och det gick verkligen åt skogen.

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