Angling in
November
It is November, and river fishing
is seriously drawing towards its end. Only grayling may still
be caught, while trout and salmon are on the spawning grounds.
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.
Grayling from Gudenåen
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have been replaced by water, which limits the culinary value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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