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The season is already over in the places
where they still subscribe to the "old" close season,
which dictated November 1 instead of November 15.
- Nice sized grayling
from the River Guden near Åstedbro.
- © photo: Steen
Ulnits
Fishing season
In any case, the rivers are now full of
coloured sea trout ready to spawn. They will not look good or
taste good back home in the kitchen. They have long converted
their fat deposits to reproductive products - for the formation
of roe and semen for the approaching spawning. The fat deposits
have been replaced by water, which limits the culinary value
of spawning fish.
However, it is still legal to catch them
in many places, but there is no reason to bring home big fish
just because you have caught them. The coloured fish are very
robust - much more so than newly ascended fish, and they can
easily stand a fight, a quick snapshot and then a pat on the
back. At the moment they are best for what they are there for
- the spawning!
As spawning approaches, the fish move further
and further up the river. In the relatively few places where
you can still see salmon, they remain stubbornly in the main
course. Only here are they able to find spawning grounds that
suit them.
The sea trout, on the other hand, do not
mind moving into even the tiniest brook to spawn. Before the
actual spawning, they often stay in the main course downstream
from the small feeder brooks. The local anglers know that, and
they often fish out such places very thoroughly towards the end
of the season
Spawning season
But where most salmonoid - grayling and
rainbow trout being an exception as they are spring spawners
and thus legal prey in November - are now preparing for the highlight
of the year - spawning - most other types of fish are preparing
for a period with their metabolism on the back burner. For some
cold winter months without substantial nourishment.
Here in November they often feel that it
is just about the last chance for a proper blow-out before the
hard times of winter, so they stuff themselves where and when
possible.
Towards the end of the month, the air temperature
is often around 5 degrees Celsius with the water temperature
a couple of degrees lower. So even though it may feel cold to
be an angler in November, it is not yet particularly cold to
be a fish.
For this reason, fish can be caught all
day. Coastal cod and pike are probably the two species that offer
the best fishing this month. They are at the top of their form,
fat and prepared for a match on rod and line.
In several of our lakes that are polluted
by nutritive salts, the angling is at its peak now and for the
next few months. The cold and frost will kill off the algae and
make the water so clear that predatory fish like pike and zander
can again see properly on their hunt. You will very likely have
success with artificial bait at this time, unlike the period
with lots of algae when live bait was required.
Rowing across a winter lake with a couple
of wobblers in tow is the absolute highlight of the year for
many lake anglers. You get a little, much-needed, exercise, and
it is no problem keeping warm behind the oars - if you are rowing,
that is!
© Steen Ulnits
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