So the four days seatrout trip to the island of Fyn in Denmark is at an end.
It was good to wade in the clear Baltic sea again listening to the common eiders floating far off in the sea.
The conditions this time however where not that desirable.
I sort of had an idea that it would be tough as the winter had been long and cold meaning the seawater temperature was very low.
Ideally you wanted to see some warmth in the water and air to kickstart the activity of shrimp, small fish and marine worms to get the seatrout into feeding mode.
The first two days a steady 6 Beaufort Easter wind made life difficult for us. The wind pushed a lot of cold water up to the shore and as the wind was more a factor in the sea level then tidal movement around the Baltic the water was high.
We did move around to leeward spots and the shallow muddy inner Fjord spots hoping for warmer water and feeding fishing but we found nothing.
The last two days the weather did an U-turn but alas not for the better.
In the night of day 2 the East wind died down and became light and variable.
We were half an hour wading an eelgrass flat when the fog rolled in.
The thick fog stayed during the last two days and with the fog the air temperature plummeted.
Day one (a travel day) resulted in no action at all.
The first stop was a beautiful stretch of coastline at Ronaes leeward but no life signs to be seen.
We waded until we came to a point where the wind blew straight over the Fjord resulting in waves and whitecaps.
Since we saw no fish and felt no tugs at the end of the line we decided to move to the lighthouse
Helnaes fyr, other anglers came but left right away after seeing the sea state.
We tried anyway behind the cliffs sheltered from the direct wind.
The water was however murky due to the wind and waves that washed the clay off the cliffs.
Wading was almost impossible as you could not spot the slippery big boulders in the water.
The session was abandoned quickly and we headed to the holiday home to settle in.
After a short coffee break we tried the inside bay at Agernaes but even there the wind was an issue. On the otherwise flat and shallow inside waves where kicking onto the shore and
after a while we headed to the open coast side of Agernaes fishing behind some cliffs.
Nothing happened so at sunset we packed our stuff and headed to the holiday home.
Day 2 had the same wind and weather conditions like day 1.
First spot was Damsbo strand, the parking lot was already occupied by two cars from the Czech republic and as we walked toward the beach we could see four fisherman wading in line.
We circumvented them by walking on top of the cliff and fished the end of this particular stretch.
I had one hit on the fly but not a solid take, that came to my buddy who hooked a darkly colored seatrout still in spawning livery.
His luck ran out quickly as the hook came out after just one jump.
After Damsbo it was off to Kalvore where the Ferry harbor was.
A beautiful spot with the desired leopard bottom of sand and boulders covered with seaweed.
The wind however terrible and as the surrounding country side was flat no shelter.
This was no fun anymore so we decided for plan C and headed into the direction of Faaborg at Sineberg.
The spot was again beautiful but wind and waves where in the end to much to bear.
We chatted with another angler who told us that the water temperature had dropped from 6 to 4 degrees within a day due to the East wind.
Time for plan D which brought us to Knolden, leeward … not pretty and occupied by four fisherman tossing spinners statically (wondered if that worked at all).
We made a few casts just in case and left for plan E.
Plan E was to try the muddy inside fjord, shallow and surrounded by marsh.
I absolutely hate muddy bottom for wading and do not even talk about marshes …
anyway we went and surprisingly the bottom was not that bad.
But … no fish present, all I spotted where some tiny fish amongst the seaweed so at least some life was present.
Fished until sunset and then called it a day.
Day three, the last full fishing day.
In the night the wind had completely died down and would vary in strength and direction during the day.
We started out at the eelgrass fields of Helneas strand, after a short while wading the fog rolled in and in the distance we could hear the fog horn of a passing ship.
I spotted one ring on the surface and made a cast to it hoping it would be a seatrout on the prowl but nothing happened.
We then moved out to the section with the boulders, the water level was now extremely low.
Apparently all the water pushed up by the East wind had left in a hurry.
After a while four Belgian anglers arrived, one flyfished from a kayak … the other ones where wading and using spinning gear,
The spot was nice but nothing to be seen or feltso we were moving again. Next stop Aa strand, a tad dull and well completely dead.
The open coast obviously was no good for us so we ended up in the muddy bay again and tried Brunshuse first ending up at Skarris odde.
In the mean time the fog had been accompanied by a light drizzle as we ploughed the inner bay for fish.
It appeared my buddy had hit an low due to the conditions so we decided to call it a day and headed for the warmth of the holiday home.
Day four, last day fishing and a travel day.
After breakfast in the morning we made plans for the day and then cleaned the holiday home.
Logistics dictated we would fish first on Helnaes were we stayed.
The eelgrass flats would be the spot but the clear water yielded nothing.
The pressure was on to elude the ominous skunk and so we headed to Gamborg Fjord, a spot that had done well for us in the past.
The Fjord was however not as it used to be in our imagination, somehow a whole lot of that seaweed had gone leaving only a dull sandy bottom.
A pair of harbor porpoises inside the Fjord raised hopes a little that there was something going on.
In fact I spotted about four of the porpoises in hunting mode.
Again the water was cold but we steadily fished a lot of the Fjord.
My buddy had contact with a fish as he hooked a nice seatrout … which came off after two jumps.
I guess his curse was heard all over the Fjord and might even have reached the mainland.
We ended the session in the afternoon, beaten … humbled and skunked … not happened in a very long time.
It was good to be in Denmark again, the skunk … well it happens and the only solution is to go again or pick a day later in the year.
Trips like these are always difficult to organize due to commitments of the parties involved so when a date is set it is a go whatever the conditions may be.
