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There’s a surprising number of fishing podcasts out there, but this one is slightly different than most

In this part of the series on different coastal conditions, we look at a common situation: water clear as gin and maybe even calm as a mirror. Not the easiest of fishing conditions, but adapting gear and flies to the situation helps.

Dave Stewart from the podcast "Wet Fly Swing" contacted me for participation in one of his podcasts, and it’s now online to enjoy.

Make sure your waders are suited for winter fishing and remember warm socks – as well as a local guide. Then you are ready for the north Atlantic fishing paradise.

This is a report from a productive early morning coastal trip in Denmark. I was forced to get up early to be able to be home in time to watch Formula 1 on TV

This article in the series on fly patterns for particular coastal water conditions in the Baltic deals with the season upon us: winter.

Yeah, I know it's winter in the northern hemisphere, but a friend's recent passing and an old picture got me to write this.

It's almost become a tradition that I do a springtime gallery every year, and once again I have been digging in the image archives.

The best articles about sea trout, the sea run brown trout, a very popular fish in the Baltic ocean around Denmark and Sweden

As the summer progresses and the days get brighter and the water gets warmer, Baltic sea trout fishing becomes a nighttime activity.

During the last 15 years or so I have joined a group of friends on two annual coastal trips here in Denmark. I wouldn't want to miss these trips for anything. Here are a few pictures from the latest two.

An introduction to an underappreciated and almost unknown fishing in New Zealand: fishing for sea run trout.

I usually don't take much pride in catching kelts, but ... they are fun to catch!

This was one of those days where things just worked out, and I took advantage of it and behaved slightly out of order.

This is about a steelhead - a sea run rainbow trout

Due to health reasons my fishing has been severely on the backburner for some years. Inability to walk far, wade, fatigue and general lack of energy has reduced my annual fishing days from 70, 80 and even 90 to maybe 5-10, which includes longer trips together with friends.

Before I was ill, I'd go on any hunch several times a week, and if the family situation and weather permitted it, I'd generally be on my way out.

The idea for this series of articles was sparked by being sentimental. I was thinking back trying to remember some defining moments in my fly fishing career. I couldn't really think of any.

Scientific reports about fish and environment might not seem to be the most exciting to us anglers, but the work done by scientists is extremely important in keeping and eye on and improving our fishing waters.

If you are a sea trout angler who like me has just fished a week on the Baltic coast in pursue of coastal sea trout and haven't felt a tug, these videos will reinvigorate you and restore your belief in the fact that there are actually fish in the ocean in spite of you not seeing or feeling any for a week.

Lodges are found on many fishing destinations around the world, but in Denmark they aren't common. We have talked to the owner of the first dedicated fishing lodge in the prime coastal seatrout destination in the world.

Argentinean fly-fisher Pedro Alfredo Miles has visited that most famous of all South American rivers again - Rio Grande.

Yesterday I went and saw a preview of the new videos on coastal sea trout fishing by Danish Niels Vestergaard, and they are pretty exiting to put it mildly

I have traditionally published a collection of images before the season to heighten the Cabin Fever, and this year's Casting Arm Blues also gets a stimulus package

First there was The Collie Dog, then the less famous Charlie Fly and now the Oscar Fly.
A traditional palmered wet fly in greyish colors - with a secret and rare smoke colored body. See how to tie it and why Flemming prefers them in small sizes.

Fish speak out for the first time ever! Learn why trout don't think a Royal Wulff is edible, why they jump when hooked and much more in this exclusive interview with the world trout spokesfish.

I have no idea whether oarless is a word, but being on a week long fishing trip, depending on a pontoon boat and having no oars sucks!

These books are in German, but since we have quite a few German visitors, I thought a review was in place anyway

Thomas Vinge's Danish books on seatrout flies have been translated into German, and have just been published. I cannot recommend them enough!

The Baltic seatrout community has been going berserk over a huge pink fly called the Pink Pig. I find that the Mini Pig is a more sensible alternative. This article covers two versions.

Bright, colorful and visible. A perfect fly for slow fish in cold or murky water. It earned its name because the creator hooked his own nose with it on its maiden voyage! Seatrout like it, but other trout will too.

I met the Rolled Muddler in BC while fishing for Pacific salmon, but like it so much that I'll tie up a bunch for my local seatrout, and I'm sure they will work.

The Djihad is a bright fly with a shiny body, silver combined with black and red. Just my kind of fly. I like the Irish Shrimp tradition flies, and this is such a fly on steroids. It even uses one of my favorite materials: Golden Pheasant.

The seatrout season will soon be upon us here in northern Europe, and Martin thought he'd expand his horizon a bit and add some new seatrout patterns to his flybox before the 2012 season.

The Brenda is a beautiful, harmonic and productive seatrout pattern from Danish fly tyer Ove Monrad. It features a brass bead to add some weight and a sexy, jigging motion.

An extremely lightly dressed and delicate fly that imitates a mysid originated by Danish fly tyer Per Karlsen. Per has made the Variant himself, and it's really simple!

We only had a few takes and caught nothing - but we had a wonderful sunrise, saw a seal and three porpoises hunting close to the beach.
The best way to get away from stress and daily routine and do nothing else than relax.
What a morning!

Martin Joergensen's favorite time for coastal fishing has always been in the autumn. Only a few things will in his opinion beat a nice September or October day on the coast.

This article will try to point you in the right direction when choosing equipment for coastal fishing for sea trout in Denmark and the Baltic. This kind of fishing usually involves a lot of casting. A lot! So the gear has to be easy to cast with - time and time again.

I had a bunch of friends who were fishing in Iceland while I was watching this DVD (again) to review it. The DVD did undeniably make me a bit and envious. Because the quality of the Icelandic fishing as shown on Nick Reygaert's latest video is just fantastic! And thinking that four of my best fishing friends were feasting on this as I was locked to a computer monitor working was not reassuring.

This is the lazy man's muddler, the sloppy tier's muddler, the beginner's muddler.
It's actually quite close in style to some of the first Muddler Minnows tied by Don Gapen back in the 30's.

If you have been a regular on GFF for any time during its long existence, you will know that my everyday fishing is chasing sea run brown trout - we call them sea trout.
There has been lots of books and a number of videos out on the subject of sea trout fishing, but most of it in Danish. There is some Swedish, Norwegian and even German material out there, but very little in English.

Klympen is a simple and efficient fly for sea run browns, which should be able to catch many other kinds of fish. Originated by Henning Eskol, this fly has seen many variations since its birth.

Few flies are as classical as the Red Tag, which was originated as a dry fly for grayling, but has been adapted to many other kinds of fishing. The fly dates back to the 1850's where it came out of the vice of Martyn Flynn. This variation is for sea run browns.

Nils is born Danish but moved to Iceland where he has been living, fishing and guiding for a very long time now.

Black and blue colors are great no matter where you are fishing for salmon or sea trout. The PET Blue is just one of several colors of Nils Jorgensen's PETs. They are great in all sizes and easy to tie on the new Pro Tube System.

Frida is the little sister of the beloved Grey Frede, and that alone is a recommendation. It's a small and compact, yet shiny fly meant for sea trout, but definitely useful for other species too - panfish in small sizes, bonefish in larger.

Richard Maree, a friend of GFF and an returning participant in the GFF Summits, challenged a demanding calendar and decided to squeeze in a couple of days of fishing in Denmark this autumn. He wrote an email and sent us these photos to inspire others to go.

Flatwings - "the new black" in Denmark and Sweden. Are they really that good. Not too big for casting? For the trout? Will they twist? Are they better than other sand eel imitations? Are they better suited for pike? Kill your skepticism and take a

A set of very good Danish DVD's have been translated into English.

Fish must be stupid to mistake this simple and efficient pattern for something edible, and luckily they are and they do. Danish Per Gade leads you through the paces of tying and fishing The Fluff.

I'll be leaving for the first real spring fishing tomorrow - four days on German Rügen

The Charlie Fly was inspired by the underfur from the originator's Chocolate Lab. Ken Bonde Larsen's dog has unwillingly become the material manufacturer for this great sea trout producer. As it often is with Danish with sea trout flies it's a small, generic pattern.

A classical pattern originated back in the sixties - here adapted for Scandinavian sea trout fishing, but probably also useful for bass and other species as well as the brownies it was originally tied for. The fly is fairly easy to tie and we have made it even simpler.

This fly is originally meant to be an imitation of a small clamworm like a small Nereis, but can be considered a generic pattern more than an exact imitation of these polychaetes. It takes its outset in the red body feathers of the Golden Pheasant.

Swedish Frederik Odelberg thinks back on this year's Global FlyFisher Summit in Denmark, and has penned down a few thoughts on the venue. Read his story and see tonnes of pictures from the successful meeting amongst happy anglers.

The GFF Summit 2008 is over. And it was great!

The follow up to the "Early Morning" pocasts - with evening and morning fishing and an extra fishing day thrown in.

Planning to get up at 3 in the morning to fish

A beautiful but cold day in February.

Two days. Two teams. Six fly fishers. Very different and difficult circumstances. Kasper Mühlbach was invited by a Lithuanian and a German team to go fishing with them. Their role was to catch and pose. Kasper's role was to photograph.

German Kai Nolting caught his first sea trout in his second cast for this silver bullet of the ocean. It would take three years before he caught the second one! In this article he thinks back and analyzes why this happened and draws some conclusions that may help others be a bit more lucky.

I managed to squeeze in one more trip before 2008

Sitting there with the smell of Christmas in the nose and Christmas music in the ears, Martin has been thinking back on the year that passed, and wishes to say Merry Christmas to all the GFF readers with a small gallery from the year that passed.

Chris Edghill writes: "Fascinating to see how they worked together, one would dive in between the rocks and sea grass, completely burying itself and the others just milled around waiting for a shrimp to dart out from it's hiding place where it would be quickly devoured."

The GFF Summit 2007 was a great venue, and lots of people had lots of fun and caught lots of fish - and took lots of pictures! GFF partner Martin Joergensen has collected the best from all the participants into a huge photo collage.

A few thoughts about killing fish - or letting them live...

Anticipation and disappointment is a part of fishing - looking forward to the catch that never comes

A bit about the flies that we use for fishing for sea run browns in the salt

I attended a nice little fishing show yesterday

So there will be a GFF Summit this year! At long last Martin Joergensen has found the time to get some facts together and start working on the dates and practicalities. It will be in September and take place on Fyn, Denmark like last year,

Two days. Two teams. Six fly fishers. Very different and difficult circumstances.
Kasper Mühlbach was invited by a Lithuanian and a German team to go fishing with them. Their role was to catch and pose. Kasper's role was to photograph.

That's why it's called fishing and not catching

After a work stint from hell I went fishing yesterday. And I'm leaving again in a minute.

Maybe you found the tandem worm too tandemnised and would be better of with a one-hook-only fly.Then the fly The Wiggling Jigging Worm shown beneath is a good alternative.

It is strongly inspired by the fly Sandiglen (The Sand Leech) originally tied by René Hansen.

Ways to fight the cold and ways to catch fish in freezing water

Every year in March and April the rag worms emerge from the bottom to secure the next generation. They swim freely in the water, wiggling from one side to the other. Sea gulls feed on the from above and many fish species seem to focus on them from beneath.

A new set of Danish DVD's look extremely interesting

How to avoid getting wet when you fall.

Getting up to see the sun rise

The first Global FlyFisher Conclave

We've had an extremely warm June and July and an extremely wet August. Now it's turning autumn

Meet other Global FlyFishers at this fish-in for GFF staff, readers and friends, which will take place in Denmark mid-September. We will mainly aim for coastal fishing, but there will also be stream and lake optoins.

Going for sea trout in the dark

The sound of catching a large sea trout

I had one of those fishing days you can usually only dream of

GFF partner Martin Joergensen's annual trip to Bornholm! A highlight in his fishing calendar and always a great trip no matter how lousy the fishing is. This year fishing was fine and the trip a success in spite of troublesome wind and a late and cold spring.

A Christmas Tree out of season

The annual trip to Bornholm is now. Yieeehaaaa!

Preparing for a weekend trip

On the lookout for winter sea trout in a stream near Copenhagen

Join GFF partner Martin Joergensen on the Danish coast on a cold January day

These past couple of weeks have been fantastic on the Danish coast

This year has started off very promising on the Danish coast

A wish for a generic bait imitation was what made Kasper Mühlbach develop a fly, which he originally dubbed the Epoxy Triumph; A small epoxied baitfish imitation along the lines of the American tradition.

This fly was since modified a bit, and is now the Epoxy Miracle.

Two things attracted me by this book: the pictures and the price. I could have ordered it online in Paul Morgan's excellent Welsh book store Coch-y-Bonddu Books, but I actually found it in Paul's booth at The Danish Fly Festival for UK£12.95. That seemed like a bargain, and I still feel that I got a lot for my money. You can now find it online or in his catalog for even less: UK£ 9.95 (about 18 US$ or 15 Euros).

Martin Joergensen's annual trip to the Danish island Bornholm is coming up. This year without GFF partner Steve Schweitzer by his side. Steve here tells the story of the 2002 trip, where they both indulged in fish, good food and friendship for a week.

The more I think the more I realize my luck

I fish - a lot, actually!

Mad dogs and Englishmen go fishing in Denmark in October

Some days - even fishing days - just won't come out right

Dalby is a place in Western Sealand often fished by Danish coastal fisher and photographer Mark Vagn Hansen. For one of his trips here, he tied a fly using a couple of brown hackles and an orange hot spot on the back of the hook.

Read the collected stories about the Danish Fly Festival and the enjoyable fishing, which took place before and after. Tons of pictures and great stories taken and written by contributors from the Netherlands, Slovenia, Wales and Denmark. See it all here.

Pictures from GFF partner Martin Joergensen's trip to the Danish Island Bornholm in March 2001. There isn't much text yet, but a selection of nice pictures from a succesful trip.

Most dog owning fly fishers have probably combed their dogs and been struck by the fact that dogs' hair would make a fine dubbing material. Danish fly angler and photographer Mark Vagn Hansen did so with his dog Mia.

This one of the really genuine Danish flies for sea trout in the streams. The Moor Fly (Hedefluen in Danish) in some fishers eyes work magic and can at times be the most dominating fly on certain Danish sea trout streams.

A well worn, ugly, but nevertheless effective specimen of The Moyerfokker

South African friend Derek goes to the Danish coast to try some sea trout fishing. Since he always comes during Christmas, it is bound to be cold.

Archive of reports, AKA /blog/earlier.htm

A few really old images

A favorite season

Usually September is considered the last summer month in regards to fishing. This year is different. The summer has been cold with little sun and lots of NW wind which has kept the ocean from warming as it usually would.

The umbrella is a nice looking fly inspired by stream flies for sea trout. It was formerly known as the Double Umbrella because of the to wet fly type hackle feathers, that gives the fly its unique appearance and a lot of life in the water. The feathers will collapse when wet and almost cover the silver tinsel in a pulsing motion.

Trout!

So it happened... I have just been browsing the earlier reports in this section, and have read my own stories about the miserable trout fishing the last two years. It seems that things have taken a turn to the better at last.
The fish have been taking flies consistently. They are not big. The largest in the company of friends I fish with being a 4.5 kilo fish. Most have been less than 1 kilo, but on the other hand: there has been many.

Spring at last!

This spring has brought some hope for a season that will look like a normal one. Both 1996 and 1997 have been more than dissapointing to most sea trout fishers. i've had great days and great fun with both garfish and cod, but there are people who go for sea trout only, and they will probably have e good time this spring.
My own outings have been fine until now. We've had trips with more than 20 sea trout per man - not big ones, but still.

The trout have returned

After a terrible 1996, a dissapointing spring this year and an extremely hot summer, it seems that the sea trout are now returning to the Danish coasts.
There are consistent reports from all our coasts and both fly and spin fishers are catching fish in a respectable number and in good sizes too.

A normal season

Everything indicates that this season will be far better than the last one - which was catastrophic.
The spring fishing has been moderately good until now, but it seems that there's a fairly good day time fishing right now. I hear regular reports of good catches - unfortunately I haven't participated myself - too little time and too much to do... you know the story.

The ice is gone...

After a couple of long months - November and December - with very nice but very cold weather - it seems to be back to the usual Danish winter: dark, moist, not really cold but certainly not warm either.
This means that the ice on the open coasts has gone, but that the fjords are still somewhat covered. The fishing is still slow, even though sporadic stories about good winter days are heard.

The name and appearance of this fly owes a bit to the New Zealand Mrs. Simpson flies in which a couple of feathers are roofed on each side of the fly. These flies are also known as Killer flies or tied in the Killwell style.

A couple of questions from Germany

I recieved an e-mail today and will let that be the first 'Right now' section for a long time:

That #?%&/# wind!

This spring has been a strange one. I have never experienced anything that unstable. We are well into May and it's still very cold and windy. The predominant wind has been North East for almost since new year - and NE is about the worst wind you could want in Denmark. We miss the mild Southern winds that bring up warmth from central Europe and makes water flow the right way.

Fish early and late

This has been a strange spring. All March was icy and cold, and the usual daytime fishing was almost non-existent. The spring broke with a bang, and fishing exploded yielding dozens and dozens of fish the the fishers on the right spot at the right time. That lasted for one week or so, and the all the suddenly it was over. The best spots in the fjords were overrun by people, and a good time was had by most.

Muddlers are a type of flies that I love to tie and fish with. And they also catch fish. In my small story from the Danish summer night, you can read what this small modest muddler can do. A fly I had a fair success with

A great Danish fly for sea trout - The classic Magnus

Saturday evening was as Saturday evenings often are in the summer: kids playing outside, tidying the kitchen, having a cup of coffee and just looking out the window. Outside my kitchen window, I can see my 'wind tree'. My guess is that all Danish coast fishermen have a wind tree or something like it: a flag, a chimney -- something to judge the wind from. Force and direction.

The key to success in the pursuit of sea trout in salt water on the coasts of the Baltic Sea is understanding some important aspects of the trout's behavior in respect to the seasonal changes. The sea trout i salt water can't be fished the same way all year. Some key factors here are water temperatures, currents, the wind and the trout's migratory patterns.

When the sea trout is in salt water it's normally 'uncolored' meaning shining silvery with a bluish black back. Also the scales are normally many, but loose, and will fall off when the fish is touched. The fish is in an excellent condition, as it is eating all the time.

Most Danes fish 7-8 wt. rods and lines. And most use a weight forward floating (WF-F) line or a shooting head. Expect that fairly long casts under difficult (that's mostly windy) conditions can save a day. All salt water flyfishing is done wading, and both waders and warm clothes for almost all seasons are essential.

For your comfort when sea trout fishing you'll want a light wind from any direction or a heavier wind blowing away from the shore. Fish will be there in any wind and hard winds will often bring bigger fish that bite harder, but fishing can be tricky and tiring.

These pictures all feature that master of casting and excellence of the 5 wt. Brian Kjær - honored member of the Bananaflies