Visiting the neighbors

For the whole winter I was searching decent last minute travel deals to make a fishing trip somewhere south and warm. Only suitable trip I found was to Cape Verde in the beginning of the February but somehow I missed even that one. So, after reading some Swedish blogs for few weeks drooling their nice catches of Thorny skates, Dragonets etc. I decided to book an cruise ship tickets to Sweden. And after an 11 hours of sailing and eight hours of driving I was finally at the shores of fjord Gullmarsfjorden at the west coast of Sweden. 

Day 1

At Friday morning I awakened from my sweet and cosy hotel (read; my Mazda) by the shore. After checking there’s enough ice at the bay I headed on the ice and started fishing with sabikis. My first goal was to find out some baitfish from the middle of the bay. But the Herring and Mackerel were not biting today. After catching some small Whiting and Coalfish (which made good baits too) I headed towards high cliffs little bit further and started to fish there.

Me at the Hotel Mazda.....It was bit chilly there.

The first fish from there was my new PB Black goby of 11 centimeters. After that I caught also couple of nice Shorthorn sculpins and some smallish Cod. For them I was using my basic Perch setting with a small pirk and a small single hook baited with maggots under it. I also had couple of other rods out. Another one quite near the cliffs baited with shrimp and another further out in the deep water baited with a strip of Coalfish fillet waiting for Rays (skates) and whatever may show up.

Black goby (Gobius niger).

I caught only two fish with each of the rods. The one at the deep water gave me to small Dab and the first fish with the other rod was also Dab. But then I had a second bite with it. And up came something bit different. It was my first ever Dragonet. A cool looking and brightly coloured male. That was one of the weirdest looking creature I’ve ever caught. I want to say thanks to Hans once again for the spot on hint for the species.

Common dragonet (Callionymus lyra). A bit weird looking or what?

And weirder it gets. What a mouth.

Rest of the day was quite quiet and all that I caught was couple of small Cod.

Day 2

Saturday brightened sunny and windy as all the three days I was there. I started my day fishing by the cliff edges searching for Shorthorn sculpins and other little critters. I caught five sculpins from which the biggest was my new PB of 302 grams. At some point I went really close to the cliff and was sight fishing trough the hole. I was bouncing my mormuska at the bottom when suddenly the whole hole went black. A big school of small fish was swimming under me. I was sure they were Coalfish but decided still give them a go. I lifted my mormuska from the bottom and the fish started to nibble it right away. Finally, after a very long minute or so I hooked one of them.  I was very surprised when I noticed it was not a Coalfish but a small Pollock. And that meant I had caught my second new species of the trip.

Pollachius pollachius juvenile

Here was about ten centimeters of ice.

When I finally got the fish photographed the rest of the school was long gone. Soon after that moved to the deeper water but all I caught was some Dab, couple of Whiting, bunch of Cod and one Flounder. So two days had gone by and I had caught two new species so far.

Sunset at Gullmarsfjorden.

Day 3

Sunday was my last fishing day of the trip. I planned to start once again from the edges of the cliffs but couple of Swedish guys were faster than I was. So I made some changes to my plans and started from the middle of the bay and the rare Starry ray on my mind. I had two rods out for the rays (aka Thorny skates) and I fished actively for other species with one more rod. I soon caught couple of Whiting, one Dab and my second ever Norway pout with it.

It was about ten thirty when a loud and happy “YES, YES, YES” was echoing over the bay. One of the Swedish species hunters had reached his goal to catch his first ever Starry ray. It was a nice fish of about 1,1 kilos and a length of 46 centimeters. There were few more Swedish fishermen around me and we all went there to admire that magnificent fish.

Starry ray aka Thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata).

When I was returning to my rods I saw that my rod rest had felt over. I grabbed the rod and pulled some line from the reel. The line was pulled tight slowly but steadily and I decided wind to the fish. Now I felt something different at the end of my line. It felt quite heavy though I knew it’s not a big fish. After a nerve wrecking winding from over 50 meters of water I finally saw the fish. And it was Amblyraja radiate, a Starry ray or Thorny skate. A real dream catch of mine. Though it weighed only 410 grams it was still my first ever ray and one of the best fishes I’ve ever caught.

I think this is the reason they are called Starry ray.

Soon after the ray I packed up my stuff and headed towards the cliffs, the Dragonets on my mind. I didn’t catch any of them but some Cod, Whiting and Dab. There was one hole from where I caught four Dab in a row and after them I had one more bite. It felt a bit different and up came a Grey gurnard (Eutrigla gurnardus), another new species of the day. From the next hole I caught another gurnard as soon as I had dropped my bait to the bottom. It was getting late soon but there was one more surprise still waiting for me. After couple of more Dab I had a cautious little bite and after my strike I felt something tiny at the end of my line. When I got it to my hands I first thought it’s another little Whiting but then I figured out it was indeed a Poor cod (Trisopterus minutus). Three new species on one day was even more I expected.

Grey gurnard (Eutrigla gurnardus).

The last new species of the trip. Poor cod (Trisopterus minutus).

The whole trip was a success and fishing on a clear thin ice (7-20cm) and at the clear water was nice change to my homely ice fishing trips. Gullmarsfjorden is great fishing destination with awesome landscapes. This was my first but probably not the last time visiting and fishing there.

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.