Angling in
January
At many of the country's rivers,
the new season kicks off on 16 January. Not least in Northern
Jutland this day is one of the big red-letter days, where everybody
is out and about.
But the river may look very different
in this early part of the season. It may be high and brown and
look extremely unattractive for both fish and fishermen if there
is a sudden thaw.
Ribe Vesterå
in southern Jutland on Opening Day.
© photo: Steen Ulnits
The river may also be low and
clear if the winter has been dry, or if the snow is still held
back by Jack Frost. Such a situation is a dream come true, not
least for the fly-fisher, who has a little more difficulty in
getting his bait down than do anglers using spinners or worms.
Finally the river may be cold
or freezing cold. If it is only cold, it is possible to go angling
- and you might even catch something. If the river is freezing
cold, the odds are somewhat poorer, and they become truly miserable
if the temperature suddenly takes a dive - typically because
of a sudden thaw.
Most anglers are primarily interested
in the immature, silvery and fat-bellied "Greenlanders".
Fish that fight well and taste even better. The only problem
is that most of them are just below the minimum size limit, and
therefore have to be put back.
Unfortunately, a lot of the fish
that are under the limit swallow the hook if live bait is used.
As a consequence, they cannot be put back in a viable condition,
and are lost. This is a good reason for leaving the worms at
home this early in the season and instead trying a spinner or
fly, both of which are kinder to the fish.
Cod of the sea
At sea, the picture is reversed.
Here the anglers are primarily interested in mature cod, which
are just in the process of spawning at this time of year.
Because the cod is a typical
winter spawner. In the cold of winter they assemble in large
shoals, and the actual spawning is a kind of mass wedding where
many fish spawn at the same time. However, it is not a case of
shoal spawning, as the cod actually form couples.
The spawning takes place at places
and depths where the salt content is suitable because the spawn
must be able to flow freely in the water so it can be moved by
the current. If salinity is too low, the spawn will sink and
maybe die from lack of oxygen at the bottom of the sea.
The big cod of the Sound typically
spawns in January-February, whereas isolated cod shoals in other
Danish waters may spawn much later - in the spring months.
Cod of the lake
Spawning also takes place in
our freshwater lakes at this time of year. The burbot has a special
place among the fish of the lake - as our only freshwater whitefish.
Its barbel reveals its kinship with the other varieties of cod
that all require salt water.
Like the other varieties of cod,
the burbot also likes cold water. This is demonstrated by the
fact that it chooses to spawn in the deepest part of winter,
when the water temperature is at its lowest. Very often the spawning
takes place below the ice, where the burbot gather in large shoals
in deep waters.
The burbot is a typically nocturnal
fish that during daylight hours hides in the dark . So fishing
for burbot in clear sunshine is doomed - you have to fish at
night - and use live bait - even in the winter
© Steen Ulnits
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