Trip Baltic

Westerly wind, about force 4, gusting occasionally. The boat is
rocking a bit, and a couple of the new lads look a bit queasy.

An hour´s motoring sees us well out into Fehmarn Sund, and we have
tackled up en route. The water here is about 6 metres deep, and there
is also a fairly powerful drift, so HI-D sinking lines are the order
of the day.

I try a crab fly first, a pretty impressionistic epoxy version, which
often works quite well;

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-on..._2/crab_2.html

The technique is really quite simple, the short heavy head is cast,
and allowed to sink, while paying out some extra backing. This is to
ensure that the line does actually reach the bottom.

Some way is kept on the boat to slow down the drift, and the fly is
retrieved slowly along the bottom. An occasional snag on weed is a
good sign, but on rocky weedy bottoms one can also lose a lot of
flies.

Something thumps my crab, and I set the hook with a slip strike. Even
though the cod is only quite small, it puts a good bend in my #9
weight, and puts up a good fight. It is over the size limit at 50 cm,
45 is the limit, but I release it anyway.

One or two of the other lads get a couple of fish as well, but nothing
of any size.

Unfortunately the stocks of Baltic cod are steadily decreasing, and
the average size of fish has also decreased very considerably since I
started fishing here almost 25 years ago. This is mainly the result
of commercial overfishing, but other factors like pollution,
eutrophication, and problems with the halocline have also reduced the
cod stocks. The halocline is a permanent feature of the Baltic, and
is the depth at which salinity increases rapidly.

Salt water in the Baltic deep basins is only renewed through irregular
oceanographic events called salinity pulses, created by very strong
and constant winds forcing Atlantic surface water through the Danish
straits.

Two main layers are present in the Baltic, surface and bottom waters.
Salinity changes abruptly at depths of from 50 to 80m from brackish
surface water to the saltier deep water. Below the halocline, salinity
increases slowly towards the bottom as salt water is denser than fresh
water. Density is also strongly influenced by salinity, and the depth
of rapid change in density, or pycnocline, is often in similar depths
to the halocline.

As a result of this permanent density difference between the surface
and bottom water, the less dense surface water is not easily mixed
with the denser deepwater. Deepwater oxygen is therefore only very
minimally replenished from atmospheric oxygen diffusing to the surface
waters and sal****er pulses from the Atlantic are essential for
replenishment. This has a wide range of effects on marine organisms,
especially fish like cod, of which there are two quite distinct
species in the Baltic. One species which requires salt water to bred,
and the other which requires brackish water.

In recent years, salinity pulses have been rarer, and some extreme
winters have also caused problems for immature cod in shallow waters.

These things run through my mind as I fish. Nowadays I very rarely
take fish home, I have no real use for them as I once did. Most of my
friends and neighbours seem to prefer a packet of ready battered or
otherwise prepared fish from the supermarket, It is just more
convenient for them. A far cry from the days of my youth, when every
fish I caught was most gratefully recieved by my neighbours.

Slowly, the trip comes to an end, the boats rarely stay out longer
than about six hours now, they used to stay out a lot longer, but none
of them fish in the dark any more. Everybody on board has had at
least a couple of fish, but there were none of any size. At one time,
twenty pounders were relatively common but are now extremely rare.

I disassemble my tackle on the way back to port, and reflect some more
on how much things have changed in my lifetime, and also wonder how
many more such trips I will even bother making, there does not seem to
be much point really.

I did not take any photos, I already have loads, and there was nothing
really memorable to record anyway.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the day, had a good chat with the lads, and
caught a few fish on my special crab fly as did a couple of the other
lads I had given them to. This time at least, they were more
successful than the clousers which a lot of people use.

There are doubtless far worse ways of spending a day.

TL
MC

Mike wrote:

I did not take any photos, I already have loads, and there was nothing
really memorable to record anyway.

....of course...some photos illustrate and create new memories for
others. as one unfamiliar with the baltic and its fish...and unlikely to
ever experience it except through the photos of others... i'd enjoy
seeing them. abpf newsgroup perhaps...or a link to your pages?


Nevertheless, I enjoyed the day, had a good chat with the lads, and
caught a few fish on my special crab fly as did a couple of the other
lads I had given them to. This time at least, they were more
successful than the clousers which a lot of people use.

There are doubtless far worse ways of spending a day.


indeed...or of spending one's words. thanks.

jeff

On 4 Nov, 16:18, jeff wrote:
Mike wrote:
I did not take any photos, I already have loads, and there was nothing
really memorable to record anyway.

...of course...some photos illustrate and create new memories for
others. as one unfamiliar with the baltic and its fish...and unlikely to
ever experience it except through the photos of others... i'd enjoy
seeing them. abpf newsgroup perhaps...or a link to your pages?



Nevertheless, I enjoyed the day, had a good chat with the lads, and
caught a few fish on my special crab fly as did a couple of the other
lads I had given them to. This time at least, they were more
successful than the clousers which a lot of people use.

There are doubtless far worse ways of spending a day.

indeed...or of spending one's words. thanks.

jeff

ABPF doesn´t work for me, but I´ll see what I can do. If you would
like to know a little about Baltic seatrout for instance, then you
might like to have a look here;

http://www.ukswff.co.uk/Forum2/viewt...70fead 836d08

A few of the photos in that series are actually from the ROFF Baltic
clave.

TL
MC