2010-06-20

I Thought I Was Fishing for Perch?!?

I had a very nice day on an island in St Anna Skärgård recently. This particular island is very rocky and the shoreline steep. Since i saw lots of fry I thought it might be a good opportunity to catch some perch for dinner. Watching the sun set with a some fried perch on knäckebröd and a cold beer has got to be one of the best ways to enjoy a warm summer evening. With my mouth already watering i tied a yellow dog nobbler to the leader and got started.


I waited a while for the heavy fly to sink and as soon as i started to retrieve it I felt a violent jerk. For a few second I thought it was a huge perch because I didn't expect to catch a pike on such a small fly (#8 hook and about 6 cm long). At this point I didn't use a steel leader so I tried to bring the pike in without pushing it to much and thereby risking to lose it. The fight lasted for about 5-10 minutes before the leader snapped. At this point I pulled out the steel leader.

Note to self: always use a steel leader when fishing with streamers.

A while later it was time again. This strike wasn't as violent as the first one, but humbled by the previous experience I half expected to see a pike again. I was right.


It was about 40 centimeters and way too small to take home with a clean consciousness so I let it go immediately.

The day progressed and while fishing my way around the island I proved unable to find any perch. I did however enjoy the scenery and caught one more beautiful pike.