Angling in
July
Where June is the fly-fisher's
peak season on Danish rivers, July is usually a somewhat quiet
month for the angler who has an inclination towards dry flies
and wet nymphs.
Most of the fly-fisher's insects
hatched in May and June, which may make the rivers seem relatively
dead over the summer. However, the fish are still there, and
they certainly still feed. The difference is that this takes
place near the bottom instead.
Viking boat on Fårup
Sø near Vejle.
© photo: Steen Ulnits
In freshwater
Or the fish focus on the land
insects that might fall or be blown into the water by mistake.
A fatal mistake, as the fish are usually there like a shot during
the summer months, where food is less abundant.
If the summer is wet and cold,
July may offer really god sea trout fishing in the rivers. So
good that it is not a rare thing for the biggest catch of the
year to be made here - newly ascended, bulging and silvery, after
a nourishing stay in the plentiful larder of the sea.
This was especially the case
in the fantastic summer of 1998. A summer which yielded more
and bigger ascending fish than are normally seen. And this was
all due to the water that happened to come down at an unusual
time.
If you meet these fresh ascending
fish, you are almost guaranteed that they will rise to your bait.
They are not at all difficult. provided they have been in freshwater
for only a few days. Then they still have the reflex to rise,
but if they have spent just a week in the river, they become
much more difficult to lure.
In saltwater
If you are on holiday at the
sea and the beach, there are excellent opportunities of making
contact with the cod all through the summer. By July the coastal
waters have become a little too warm for them, and they will
move out to slightly deeper waters. Here they are usually not
difficult to find at depths between 5 and 15 metres - usually
where a little current refreshes the water - and usually over
a hard bottom.
The flatfish have now also gained
some weight after the spring breeding, and this makes them an
attractive prey - and a great delicacy in the kitchen. Flounders,
dabs and not least plaice will also move to deeper waters as
the summer heat increases. If you can find a spot with a purely
sandy bottom, you are almost guaranteed a helping of plaice on
a hand line.
If you happen to be in Northern
Jutland, there is a very good chance of encountering mackerel
at the end of July - if the weather behaves. It has been possible
to catch them further out in the North Sea from May through June,
but now they are seriously approaching the coast - usually hunting
for sprat.
But good weather is needed. The
mackerel does not like to get sand in its gills, as their gill
rakers are too fine-meshed. Therefore, the mackerel usually stays
away when the westerly winds have made the water along the west
coast's breakwaters and piers too muddy.
However, if you come after a
few days of good weather and easterly winds, the water is usually
clear, and then a shoal of mackerel may come rushing by at any
time and within throwing range. They may force a shoal of sprats
up between the breakwater and the beach - a very hectic affair.
Very often an excited mackerel gets too close to the shore and
is washed up on the beach by a wave.
The chances of meeting mackerel
increase during the month of July and peak sometime in August.
So there is something to look forward to and wait for!
© Steen Ulnits
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