Archives: seatrout

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.

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.

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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.