Climate change????

There it is again, colder than ever before. Winter, I mean. I don't recall any other year that the winter has come this hard and this early. The temperature has been below -15'c for the whole weekend now and there's been people ice fishing already, and it's not even December yet!!

Last winter was very cold as I have stated here before. Ice cover was thick and it took ages to even start melting as the spring came so late. It felt like the nature was a bit upset after the winter and the fishing wasn't so good anymore.

Now we are possibly having something worse. The climate sure has changed for these few years but do we have enough data to do any reliable statistics? Could this be just normal variation in weather?

Another well documented period of time in finnish history with similar weather conditions was between 1939 and 1941. Summer 1939 was known to have been very hot and long. The following winter 1939-1940 was one of the coldest and hardest of the century for the finns, not just for the weather. Summer 1940 was hot and dry, so dry that all the farming suffered and the harvest was bad. Winter 1940-1941 was dry and very cold and the following summer 1941 was very hot and dry. The dryness continued until the summer/autumn of 1942 and caused severe problems with the nation's food supplies as the stocks had been depleted during the winter war in 1939-1940. Short time of peace from April 1940 to June 1941 still couldn't solve the problem and during the first winter of continuation war in 1941-1942,  starvation seemed to be imminent.

The winter 1941-1942 was rather warm and rainy, so was summer 1942. Water and temperature levels normalized. So why all this blabber about old stuff? Just an example that these weather anomalies have been around forever. Some summers are hot and some winters are cold and vice versa. With this geographic location, the weather could change a lot depending on where the wind blows from etc..

There could be a few cold winters but nothing to really worry about at this point. Just keeping my fingers crossed that I can go fishing early in the spring....

Beginning of the end

I've had a few trips to seaside since my previous post. The worst possible conditions are making this soon ending season a nightmare for me.

Last winter was the coldest for 70 years and all the water was covered with a thick layer of ice. Winter was also very long and the spring very short, it turned in to a summer almost instantly. Summer was also one of the hottest summers ever and the water temperatures were way too high for fishing pike. Water vegetation became an issue ruining most of the best pike fishing period in the early autumn.

I'll have to admit that this year made me a much humbler fisherman, last year I thought I knew something about fishing for pike but now, back to the drawing board once again with empty thoughts.

Officially I will end my season on the next weekend as we're having our annual fishing trip to south-west coast. No need to make myself more embarrassed, it's time to start concentrating on the next season. New season, new tricks in my sleeve. Possibly a new, bigger boat, new fishing waters, new pikes. New flies, new tactics, that's my solution. Of course, if the winter gives me a chance, I'd still go fishing, but officially I'd say "that's it" at this point.

A few more fishing trip reports will appear on this blog this year and then I will mostly concentrate on fly patterns, hooks, tying materials, tackle, boats etc.

I have also some ideas for targeting other species than pike and seatrout. This season it seemed that the perch population has grown again as it had mysteriously disappeared a few years ago. We had a change to land a few good sized perches together with some zanders. Zander population has gone weak both in numbers and size. I remember from about ten years ago, we could easily catch a dozen 50+ cm zanders on one night. Now it's difficult to catch even one small bugger. Sad but true.

Got blanked, again

On Friday, right after the work I once again headed to the coast, trying to get some contact to seatrouts. I was a bit worried about the wind so I took both my fly rod and baitcasting rod with me. While driving along the sea, I noticed that the weather was not that bad, I could easily use my fly rod. Great!

Once I got to the outer shore, I noticed that the waves were much higher than they seemed to be and the water looked clear but it was very murky in reality. The water was grey! They are digging the ship routes deeper and all the fine sediments flush to the shores now. It's fucked up because it will ruin all the seatrout fishing in this area for this season.

Grey waters.

Despite the wind, my rod and line played very well together, I could still fling the fly out for about 20 meters straight through that head wind. Also some cool currents were there, flowing through the rocky lagoon, between the shore and a little rocky island. If the water would have been clear, I'd be 100% sure to catch something from that stream.

Cool currents.

Sunset was close and I fished until it was time to go back to my car before it was too dark to climb on those slippery rocks. I took a few more pictures and had a little sightseeing on this nice outer island.

Waves hitting the outermost rocks.

When I walked through the pine forest in almost pitch black, I faced another problem. I was in the middle of a network of old trenches, dating back to second world war. Took a little time to navigate through there as it was too dark to start leaping over them.

Shallow shore.

Finally I found a way to the road and to my car, the trip was finally over. Nice fishing, great surroundings once again.

Hunt for the silver.

Right after the work I put on my waders, loaded my car and headed to sea. I had a nice hour and a half to try for some seatrout on a fly. Weather was nice, wind was tolerable and old waves hit the shore gently, making the water flow just nicely. Still no bites at all, which was not a surprise but the surroundings were phenomenal. Wading in the deeper inner lagoon while the waves break in the outer reef, swans and other birds swimming by, wondering what the hell was I doing there. I enjoyed the golden hour and fished until the dark.

Golden hour.

This was my first trip with my new seatrout outfit. The rod was TFO Ticrx 7wt, the reel was Nautilus FW7+ and the line I used now was Guideline Coastal slow intermediate in 7wt also. It worked like a charm, casting was easy and effortless and I could get good distances with minimal effort even with moderate headwinds.

New outfit under testing.

This is a good start. I'll be doing this sport until the sea gets frozen. Hopefully I get to catch something too although it's not very important. 

Therapy fishing

I had a plan I'd go fishing this morning. I looked outside and the temperature was -5.5'c, way too cold for fly fishing so I had to wait until afternoon. The water has still been messed up in the coastal areas so I decided I'd go to a little quiet river once again.

When I got the shore, first thing to do was to break the ice inside my boat. It took a bit of violence before that two inch thick ice was in pieces. All the stuff on board and off we go!

The water was very clear and the weather was calm. All the shallow coves were frozen from the surface. I tied one of my latest fly patterns to the end of my line. Those flies really had some great moves underwater. They pulsate like jellyfish and they also have jerkbait-like gliding action in both vertical and horizontal directions. When the stripping is paused, they sink very very slowly. Perhaps I'll try to add some thin saddle hackles or similar to give the fly even more movement under water.

It's getting icy.

First cast and while testing how the fly moves, first little jack attacks from beneath and goes straight past the fly, wondering where did the bright colored bugger go.  Rest of the day went just the same way. I landed a total of 8 pikes in about two hours but the size was a disaster, almost all of them were under 1 kg. Nonetheless, It was so damn interesting to see those pike rushing to the fly and I saw many of them, 35-40 pcs in total. Water was 2-3'c and the pikes were so clumsy that only few of them hit the fly. I also lost two bigger fish after a careful take as they only grabbed the tail of the fly and started pulling. First one made a huge wave after hitting the fly and the second on was on for about 5 seconds. During that 5 seconds it pulled like a maniac and opened its mouth and the fly was let loose once again. After the last missed fish, I frustrated and turned back to the shore. On the way there I got a few more little jacks and saw about a dozen of them trying to eat my fly.

 

As a conclusion, It was awesome to see those little jacks ambushing their prey. I've never had a change to see so much underwater action on one trip. Too bad most of the fish were so small.

I must tie more of these.

Still I got to admire those little pikes, one of them had the guts to rush for the fly five or six times before actually hitting it. It seems that cold water really makes things small.....

Winter is coming, part 1

It's this time of the year again, fishing can be excellent at times but choosing the correct clothing could be difficult. A few thoughts about clothing when fishing from boat, mainly about gloves and headwear:

Mornings are cold as temperatures are usually close or below 0'c. Sun is also still hiding for the first moments of the fishing trip, especially when travelling to hot spots by boat so it will get chilly. Most important thing would be to keep your head warm as it will dissipate most of the heat from your body. It is also quite difficult to cover your head well enough when travelling at higher speeds. Ultimate solution would be a well fitting neoprene hood that keeps the wind away as the normal headgear lets the wind between the hat and the head.

Need to get me one of these.

Ursuk is one manufacturer whose products are easily available here and the hood in the picture is priced at about  22 euros, very tolerable price for comfort on the seas.

Another critical piece of clothing is gloves. I still have not found gloves 100% suitable for fly fishing but I have been close. I have carried at least two pairs of gloves with me, thick neoprene ones for travelling by boat and normal fleece gloves for fishing. Depaul Design's cheap orange gloves have been quite nice, they are warm even when wet but they are also a bit too thick so the feel is not too good.

Another nice pair of fishing gloves is Snow Fox's thin neoprene gloves. They offer a very nice feel and the grip is excellent. They don't last too long though but it is not an issue as they only cost ~6 euros a pair. Not the ultimate solution for warmth.

When fishing from boat, your feet usually get cold very easily. I bought myself a pair of safety boots as they have a nice soft sole with a lot of grip even on wet fiberglass. Always buy shoes that have enough room for at least double socks without being tight. I like to use thick wool socks in my boots.

Decisions to be made once again

I think it's time to end pike fishing season in the northern archipelago as all the murky waters of the river delta flow through it and make the fishing too difficult. Also it's a pain in the ass to move there by boat as all the underwater rocks are invisible now. This also renders a great deal of excellent pike fishing grounds further north totally useless. Luckily the western and southern coast will still produce some nice pike fishing as soon as the water gets clear after the last week's gale. But the jerkbaits won't be used this season anymore, as I only used them once this year and the only reason why I used them was the murky waters and one lure maniac in the boat on our last trip.

On the other issue that has been on my mind for more than a year now: I need a new boat. I have little rowboat by a little river in the middle of wilderness where it suits very well. On a trailer, I have a strange looking 4.5m long combination boat that was originally intended for both sailing and motor use. It has a full length, 30cm deep keel and it has some weight as a ballast. It has some nice features, it's very sturdy for its size and one could stand  on the side without excessive roll at all. It's also very good when letting it drift in the wind and the sides are not too high for pike fishing when behind some protecting archipelago.

On the other hand, it's very slow so I need to use a lot of time when travelling longer distances and it is way too small and low sided for the windy days and open seas. Also it is rather heavy for its size and the keel makes it run quite deep.

I've been looking for a center console boat in about 5 meter class with a 40-70 hp outboard motor. It seems that used boat market is way out of balance as the offering of such boats suitable for fly fishing is minimal compared to the demands. The prices are sky high and when a suitable boat comes on sale, it will be sold instantly if the price is somewhat right.

It seems that the boats larger than 5 meters are much less wanted. For normal pike fishing, a boat of 5.5-6 meters might feel like a little overkill and it will be difficult to maneuver when in the middle of rocks. Also the trailing will be difficult, as I need to change my car also. But on the other hand, there is no boat big enough when travelling to outermost seatrout islands through the cross currents and those bigger boats are available at very decent prices. It really makes me think.

Oh no, it's far too complicated once again. And it's getting expensive for todays engineer salaries. A boat, a car, my god.......

And now I'm gonna take a phone call for one 5.6 meter boat with a 70 hp motor. Good bye dear money, see you again in 10 years...