Wednesday, October 04, 2017

In search of Perch; Waxholm; 30th September 2017

Late autumn is a classic time to fish for large Perch, one of my favourite species. It was decided to fish at Vaxholm, as the area had produced in the past. We began from the shore at an old favourite spot, legering redworms on the bottom. After a few hours later and we had only small fish and it was apparent that the large Perch were not in the area. As a result, we were more than happy to board when Eddie Bowler arrived to pick us up in the boat to try fishing other areas with the jig rods. We made a few stops before moving to a favoured area for big Perch and all four of us casted towards the margins in the hope of a big specimen..
 The first strike proved not to be a Perch at all, but a small Pike for Ed. This began a rather remarkable five minutes for Ed, who had only just released his Pike when his yellow jig was hit again, this time the jagging motion was his rod tip suggested he was into a good Perch. We all peered over the side of the boat and sure enough, as the fish came to the top, the tell tale green tiger stripes of a really good Perch flashed in the water and we duly netted the fish. As Perch go, this was a stunner, easily a two pounder. We took a little video for posterity and quickly released it and fished on. Not for long. On his next cast, Eddie literally struck again, this time into a slightly longer, lean Pike. This fish fought harder on light gear before it was boated, unhooked and released.
After that, we fished on, having the odd contact, though the bites were tentative in the main. I missed a good bite however, as did Rafa, whilst Andy concentrated on bigger lures in the hope of a good Pike. Repeatedly casting to the edge of the reeds we were enjoying the fishing on a really nice evening, when I had a strike and my rod arched into a good fish. It felt like a good Perch straight away. I broke the surface before long and the sight of it left me in no doubt it was a personal best. It's always the same when you have a big fish on, it's nerve wracking stuff the fish is in the net and this was no exception. It was a brief tussle, thankfully, and soon Ed slid the net under the fish and I got a clear look at it. .It weighed in at 1.36kilo(3lb. on the nose) It was a new personal best and a stunning fish that everyone in the boat enjoyed seeing. It was duly released and we fished on...


 1.36 kilo, finally a 3lb. fish and a new personal best. I've been waiting a long time for this fish...





The light was fading rapidly at this point and we decided to head back towards the dock and fish a little on the way. We had a fun journey back as the sun dropped and we sped through the achipelago. We tried a few late cast without success, before packing daown and getting ourselves home after a wonderful day out. Special thanks to Eddie Bowler once again for a memorable day...

VIDEO FOOTAGE BELOW;






Monday, October 02, 2017

Tench at Malmasjön; July 2017

Malmasjön is a stunning venue to fish for one of our favourite species, Tench. We have visited before on a couple of occasions, this year Andy Shaw and I planned a two day session. We met up on a fine Friday evening, with the sun splitting the rocks and open blue skies. We headed southwest and before long we were at the venue and duly collected the keys for a rowing boat at the visitor centre. The lake is choked with weeed an thick lilly pads at one end, there is thich plant cover around the banksides and a boat is essential for fishing. We then set up camp besdide the boat berth. With everthing ready it was still a little early to get out on the lake, the sune was rather high, but we just couldn't resist getting out on the lake. It was decided to tackle the float rods up and we rowed out onto the lake and picked a swim on the west side of the lake that would see shade from the dropping sun first and began to fish. Even during the afternoon there were signs of Tench and bubbles began to appear in our swim almost as soon as the groundbait went in. We were usin a simple bran mix, with hemp, sweetcorn, marine halibut pellet and some chooped prawn mixed through. It certainly had the desired effect and before long we were glued to out floats as the sun began to drop. We were floatfishing over a prawn hookbait in order to deter numerous small Rudd. We waited....
 It wasn't long before we got into a few fish and we were reminded just how strong these fish are. Our rods hooped over every time we struck into a fish and they fought all the way to the net. The evening session was magical and we both had a few fish, It became apparent that the fish were spawning and we were initially worried that this might effct the fishing. In the end, there were plenty of fish feeding. There was little we could do except relax and enjoy the fishing, so that is what we did.
We fished into the darkness and called it a day at around midnight, deciding to get a little rest before the dawn.

 First fish of the trip for Andy went 4lb. 6oz.


 Superb fishing on the first evening...


A stunning sunset...


 Just a few hours later, we were back out on the lake and we went to a new swim were we had seen plenty of activity the evening before. As soon as the groundbait went in the water began to fizz with Tench bubbles and a wonderful morning session got underway. We were still getting used to the water and making a few adjustments to out float rigs. Rudd seemed less of a problem with the Tench in the swim, so Andy switch to redworm and corn hookbait, whilst I stayed on prawn. Again it wasn't lng before the fish were all around our floats and we experienced the excitemnet of summer Tnch fishing at it's best, watching on as the bubbles fizzed around our baits, willing our floats to slide away. Eventually, they did. We were treated to a wonderful morning session with some stunning Tench and memorable fish.
In the middle of the day, we decided to take a short rest in the tent before sorting out a bit of dinner over the campstove. We discussed where to fish and decided on a fairly large clearing in the lily beds. We rowed out and baited up and waited, The heat had been stifling earlier that afternoon and it was still very hot. Soon though, the sun began to drop and move around to the west and the fish came on the feed. Yet again it was a wonderful session and the fishing was superb. We had sevearl fish in succession before Andy stuck into another bite. Typically, the fish fought like a demon and as it came to the surface it was apparent it was a female and a better fish. Happily, it went into the landing net and was dult weighed. Andy was delighted to register a new personal best Tench of 5lb. 11oz. It was a particularily nice fissh, fin perfect and wonderfully coloured. We slid her back after a few photos and fished on into the evening. Periodically, the floats would dither and bobble, before sliding away. We had some incredible tussles with these fish, which hooped our 1.25lb test curve float rods over to the water surface and below and they made run after run. After each fish, there was generally a period of calm before the fish inevatably returned to the groundbait.

 This one went over 5lb, a good fish in Sweden...


 Strong sunlight and hot conditions didn't put this fish off the feed...


 An old warrior here, a big old male...


 A stunning personal for Andy best weighed in at 5lb. 11oz., this was one of the few female fish caught. The fish were spawning in earnest, next year we plan to visit earlier in the year for that elusive 6lb. plus specimen....


 Another big male Tench on a wonderful evening session...


A typical Tench from this venue, another male fish...


The final morning we were up at dawn, a little tired, but still keen to try our luck We decided we would fish until 9am and then have a rest and some food before driving back to Stockholm. The sun rose and the fish were feeding and we threw out the last of our groundbait and began to fish. Again, we had fish before long and the morning slipped past quickly. We enjoyed the few fish we had on tis final morning before rowing back and getting a little sleep. We woke, cooked homemade beefburgers and ate heartily before breaking camp and packing the car.  On last look at the lake and we were off, though we will be back....


A full video here, edited from the footage taken with the GoPro camera's over the two days....