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.

Hit and miss!

I went fishing for pike for the first time this year. Just a quick raid near my parents cottage in St Anna skärgård (archipelago).


View Larger Map

This is what it looks like in real life. The weather was nice but really windy, which is usually a pain in the ass when it comes to casting, but a good thing if you actually want to catch anything. 

First pike of the year. The fly was a green and white blonde, with a hint of yellow in-between, which has proven itself many times in these waters. 

The pike wasn't very large (I'd say about a kilo or so) so I thought I'd try to snap some action photos. It turned out pretty good. At least I was able to do it without having to dive for my camera afterwards. Doesn't really convey the action though. It got free just as i was reaching down to grab it. 

That's all the action from this short trip. 

I got to see this beautiful swan couple though. 

DIY Priest

This is a priest i machined a few years ago, while studying to become a CNC-machinist. It's made of 5 separate pieces of brass and aluminium which have been threaded and screwed together and then machined as one piece. If done with adequate precision you will end up with a smooth finish without any gaps between pieces. It was then polished to a high gloss, which besides making it look good has the added advantage of making the material more resistant to oxidizing and corrosion. 

My favorite fly for pike

I've never liked hot melt glue very much, but it has its advantages. It's cheap, durable and not too heavy. The downside, at least for me, is that it takes some practice before you can make good looking heads. My solution is to encase the glue in a short length of drinking straw. This gives a smooth and very durable head, which can then be wrapped in whatever nice and shiny material you can get your hands on!

The variant shown above has been my most productive one so far. It's hard to see on this picture, but there are a few strands of pearl flash along the side. 

One of many healthy autumn pike caught on this fly.

Fishing without(?) prestige

Me and my brother (blog in Swedish) have an ongoing competition about who can catch the highest number of different species with a fly rod. Since he has been a fly fisher for about a decade longer than me I have some catching up to do. But I have one catch that I am particularly proud of, namely the rudd (Scardinius ertythropthalmus) I caught a few years back.

Usually the common rudd doesn't get bigger than 20-25 cm in Sweden but it can grow to about 48 centimeters.

This one was caught with a white marabou booby fly in a certain lake, by my previous parents-in-law weekend cottage, where the cyprinidae are especially well nourished...

I really enjoy this kind of fishing and I highly recommend that you try it. Every new species provides a new challenge and you learn a lot, especially if you're competitive like me. So go challenge someone for the upcoming season!