Goby hunt from the ice

A bit over an week ago I was at the ice fishing competition. Couple of the competitors managed to hook some Sand gobies from there. I took that as a challenge for myself and last Thursday I drove back to the same place for pre work quick session after gobies.

It took about fifteen minutes to hook and land one. I was using #22 hook and couple of small split shots on the line and a tiny bit of worm as a bait. I then use the rest of the time (about half an hour) searching for Zander but that Sand goby was the only fish I could catch that morning.

This is the first Sand goby I've caught from the ice.

Pike from the ice

At the start of the year I’ve totally concentrated on Pike fishing from the ice. I’m using live baits for this. In my opinion that is by far the most exciting way to fish from the ice.

Waiting for the bite.

Basic Pike of about 2½ kilos.

My results have been quite good too. At my very first trip at the beginning of the January I caught nine Pike from which the biggest one weighed 8,6 kilos. I also caught couple of fish around five kilos on that session. I have also caught Pikes of 6,5 and 7,2 kilos so I really can say this have been a good winter for me. I have made almost all my trips alone but about an week ago I was on the ice with Viljami. That was not a super trip but we still caught few Pike each.

Best fish so far. A nice fat Pike of 8,6 kilos.

I’ve been laying sick at home for four days now. Hopefully I can get back to the ice by the end of the week.

Viljami is playing with a Pike.

And the result. Pike of about five kilos (93cm).

Catch & Release. Of course.

Summary 2012 August-December

August

There’s nothing much to tell about August. At the beginning of the month I made a road trip to the eastern Finland with my girlfriend. I had two target species there, a Dace which was supposed to be a sure catch and a Sabre carp if I was really lucky. And of course I failed to catch both of them.

A fisherman hunts Sabre carps.

After that I made one trip after Common gobies and other little critters of the archipelago and one Carp trip with Viljami. I didn’t catch any gobies neither Carp. Instead Viljami caught his first ever Carp so the trip was still a success. The only new species for the year I managed to catch was a Black goby. There’s one quite sure place for them nearby my home.

September

I made only four fishing trips at September. Because Viljami has got bitten by a “carp fly” and I was still missing my Carp of the year we decided to make another attack to stock pond. That was a great trip. Even though it was wet and cold the Carp were on a bite and I caught three of them. Viljami was not so lucky this time but he still caught one nice Carp too.

In the heat (coolness) of the night. Carp over seven kilos.

Another mentionable thing is that I caught my firsts Round gobies from my home waters. So now they will be our nuisance forever. I think nothing’s gonna stop them anymore.

October

October was a better month for me. With  a clue from my friend I made an trip in a search of Turbot to the south coast of Finland. After a several hours of lurking I finally found what I was searching for. It took about ten minutes before the juvenile Turbot accepted my offerings and I caught my fourth new species from the Finnish waters this year. I also scooped couple of Straightnose pipefishes with my bare hands but I’m not counting them to my lists because I have rule that all species should be caught by a hook and line.

Monster Turbot.

At the next trip I managed finally caught also the Common goby so my count of the year raised to 44 species caught from the Finnish waters.

November

There were not any species hunting trips at November at all. I devoted completely for Pike fishing. And I managed to catch few nice fish too. Among them there was also my new PB pike of 118cm and 12,1 kilos.

My new PB Pike.

December

At December I made one trip in the search of Flounder and White fish. No results so I had finally completed my one year task. I also made my firsts ice fishing trips of the winter. There’s not much to tell about them. Only a small Zander, one Pike, Roach, White bream and a Ruffe.

After all 2012 was not a bad year at all. I caught 44 fish species from the waters of my home land. My goal was to catch at least 40 species and 45 would be a great effort. There was still some easy species that I didn’t catch like Dace, Flounder and Grayling. I had a goal of catching three to five completely new species from Finland too. I caught four (Brook stickleback, Garfish, Alpine bullhead and Turbot) so that went great too.

Together I caught 70 different species at 2012. 45 of them from Finland, 16 from Norway and nine from Mexico. That’s not a bad effort either.

Summary 2012 May-July

May

If I could decide it should always be May at Finnish fishing waters. It’s still a good month for cold water species but by the end of the month many of the warm loving species have become active too.

I made eleven fishing trips last May. That’s about a trip on every third day. In the beginning of the month I caught few basic species like Bleak, Pike and Crucian carp but I also found couple of not so common species like Belica and Ninespined stickleback. At 30^th of May I made a species hunting road trip with my friends. That trip gave me my first completely new species when we all managed to catch Brook sticklebacks to our lists. Totally I caught six new species for the year on that very day.

There's not so many places in Finland where you can catch a Belica.

A Brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans).

June

June was almost as good month for me as May was. I even made couple of trips more than at May. There was couple of tricky species on my mind and somehow I caught them all. European eel and Asp were on my list after a great trip to the central Finland. My girlfriend was “out of town” when it was time to celebrate midsummer. So, because I had nothing better to do (what would be) I decided to go fishing. That was one awesome trip and I managed to catch my second new species of the year. It felt that it was almost too easy to find and catch a Garfish from the archipelago. By the end of the month my year points were on 38 Finnish species.

Belone belone, not so common catch in Finland.

July

At the middle of the July I thought that water levels may be lowered down enough to find some Stone loaches from the ditches. And I was right. Again one species to add to my year list. At the end of the month it was time to head towards Norway. On the way there me and Jarno made a short stop. And it was a successful stop when we both caught the Alpine bullhead. The first ones of our lives.

My third new Finnish species of the year. Alpine bullhead.

The week at Norway was a success too. We caught plenty of big cod. And what it comes with species hunting all went more than well. From the basic species of the Arctic Ocean I finally managed to catch the Wolffish, Atlantic halibut and Rose fish. I caught four new mini species as well. They were a Longspined bullhead, Norway pout, Yarrell’s blenny and last but not least a Rock gunnel. Totally I caught 16 different species from Norway. That’s not a bad effort on a one week trip.

Atlantic wolffish.

We caught couple of Norway pout from 150 meters deep.

One of the coolest species I've ever caught. A Rock gunnel (Pholis gunnellus).