How to catch Fifty species of Fish? part 1. (An amazing fisherman's adventure at Tregde, in the southern part of Norway)

Transcription

1 How to catch Fifty species of Fish? part 1 (An amazing fisherman's adventure at Tregde, in the southern part of Norway) What they say is true: I am a somewhat strange fisherman. Sometimes I d rather catch a three inch herring than a three foot cod. And sometimes I d rather have one lousy sandeel than a crate full of coalfish. What turns me on is catching as many different species of fish as possible. Let me tell you how that came about, and what it s all about in real life. I had an early start. About 58 years ago this picture was taken in my grandfather s garden, showing me as an angler. Dressed for the kill in a fresh nappy and my grandad s seven-league boots. Now you may think that that washing tub was empty, and I was just fooling around, trying to catch an imaginary fish. But no. there was a real live perch in that tub, freshly caught by my old grandad that very afternoon. So I was very keen to step into my grandad s boots, as it were. So I hung around till my nappy was as wet as the fish in the tub, but the perch was not willing to bite. It kept bothering me, so for the rest of my life I have done my utmost to make every catch a certainty. However, at this early stage there was no way my parents would allow me to go gallivanting around the watersides of Amsterdam, in search of a catch. They wanted me to get my swimming diploma first, before I was allowed to go out on my own, to catch my first real Perch. ( all fish-species with a Capital : see picture)

2 From then on, things moved quickly. It wasn t long before I had caught a whole bucketful of perch. In fact, I was so successful that I began to get a little bored. That was when I caught a stoneperch. Now that was a nice surprise! But when an hour later, the bucket was overflowing with perch and stoneperch, I began to hope for just another surprise. Well, lo and behold, my float (actually a cork from a wine-bottle), was pulled under, and the hook (a bent paperclip) yielded a smashing Tench! Fine that makes three different ones, I remember thinking and a lifelong hunt for species was born. In the following years I caught Rudd, roach, bream, silverbream, several types of Carp, and some spectacular pike later on. (But the zander and catfish didn t come until much later.) I used to fill my scrapbook with impressive tables showing length, weight and location of all the species I had caught, so my lifelong fascination for fish-species had a running start.

3 My parents took us on holiday to Austria, where I proudly laid my first splashing Brown Trout on the barbecue, and over the course of several decades my list has been drastically extended. We moved more close to the sea and I could add to my list a lot of whiting, cod, pouteel, eel, dab, plaice, sole, garfish, fint, mackerel and funny flat Flounder.

4 Camping out on the coast of Brittany (France), I caught dozens of sandeel, herring, mullet and sea bass. On a cycling tour in the Ardennes (Belgium) I encountered grayling, chub and barbel, and on several fantastic fishing holidays in Ireland it was my luck to catch pollack, coalfish, dogfish, ray, skate, conger, blue shark and even a real salmon. So things were going strong. But then a period opened up when my mates and I began to focus on very big fish, so we went on many fishing-trips, mostly to northern Norway and the Lofoten. I ll be frank about it: that was a bad time for my list of species. We did catch some impressive yard-long Cod, and we did land crates of coalfish, pollack and whiting, and we did add haddock, pouting and cusk to the list. We even caught a five-foot ling, but we rarely ever saw more than ten different species at any time.

5 However, if you look at it from a tactical point of view, there is really no need to go for bulky sea monsters. The same species can usually be found in shallower waters. Only, they may be a bit smaller there. But for our species-list that makes no difference at all! My fishing mate Peter usually needs no longer than a few seconds to land the first Coalfish, and also a young Ling that will fit into the palm of your hand. is a full score on the list!

6 That was when my first Halibut turned up, and I was dazed by the event. For years I dreamt about nothing but tough halibut, the size of a stable door, and for weeks we trolled with big baits to pursue the halibut in northern Norway. But my good old species-list somehow faded to the background. and was hardly ever mentioned. I wasn t happy about it. I began to search for places where, in a one-week period, I would be able to catch as many species as possible. I made several attempts on the Canary Islands, on Madeira, Corsica, and on Curaçao, where I caught various kinds of wrasse, seabream, dorade and barracuda, but in one week I would be lucky to score about fifteen species.

7 I gave my whole heart to Denmark, and sitting in my small boat I caught a lot of fish, like Bullhead and grey Gurnard, and I caught some beautiful Plaice... but the list ended at twenty species... We flew to mid-norway, and near Trondheim, Skarnsundet and Hitra we caught our first hake, and we were left in doubt whether it was a lemon sole or another flatfish hanging on our line. We had to work hard to catch one lonely haddock, but what really made our day was the ugly Wolffish that we caught. Number twenty-four on our list, and that was the end of it.

8 Until. six years ago, I ended up in the small town of Tregde, between Kristiansand and Mandal, on the southernmost tip of Norway. That was party-time! Without exception we caught all the species we had caught on our previous Norwegian trips, and a lot more besides. For the first time in my life I saw a Silversmelt, a Dragonet, a black Shark, we caught a number of beautiful poisonous Weever fish... and there is a whole lot more to discover. So, last August, when we had our sixth edition of the species-hunt at Tregde Ferie... the score was a total of as many as 29 different species. Now we re talking! I will show you some of the pictures I took, and give more details in Part Two of this life-long hunt for species. Fishfriendly greetings fromand photography by Geert Luinge g.luinge2@upcmail.nl tel Couhornerhoek KR. Amsterdam. Holland

9 How to catch Fifty species of Fish. part 2 (An amazing fisherman's adventure at Tregde, Norway) I am hooked. As I told you before, my addiction is a life-long attempt to catch as many different species of fish as possible. You will also know that for years I have been searching for locations that yield a maximum number of scores for my list of species, which brought me to the small Norwegian town of Tregde about six years ago. There we managed to land as many as 29 different species in one week. And I promised to show you some more pictures. You know what this is? My fish-determination-manual tells us it must be a Black Dogfish. It was a small specimen, scouting around the seabed at 120 metres deep, who fell for a strip of mackerel. Isn t he a mysterious looking alien? There s beauty in ugliness. And it means a good score om my list! This is a species that rarely gets caught, so I left my fishing buddies far behind on the score, causing them to start nervously groping around in their folders for other lines and traces. Copying your neighbour s good ideas, by the way, is perfectly allowed, and very wise to do. Occasionally a single detail (like the colour of a bead or the size of your hook) can really make a difference. If you consider those tiny nozzle-like mouths of the Dragonets that I caught here, you will see that most hooks will be too large, making it necessary to continually adapt your terminal tackle.

10 So I spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out which species were most likely to be caught near Tregde. My research indicated over 50 different species, including the ones in freshwater rivers and lakes. Good grief! That s quite a net full! For now, I couldn t tell you of any other location with a more varied underwater population than at Tregde, southern Norway. And it is easy to reach, too. No need for costly airfares, no boring air transfers, no luggage limits, no great expenses. Just drive your own carload up to Hirtshals, take the three-hour ferry across to Norway, and another fifty kilometre drive will bring you from Kristiansand to the peacefull village of Tregde... where you will find the paradise for fish-variation-lovers. What about this Silversmelt? Isn t she a beauty? Never seen before. The company called Tregde Ferie let cottages and luxury apartments in various price categories and they have an array of boats tied to the jetty to make you jealous. There is accommodation in all shapes and sizes, the natural environment is absolutely beautiful, the summer climate is very agreeable and the variety in fish-species is simply fabulous. Also. we actually caught a halibut here, there are wolffish and dogfish swimming around, there is an abundance of colourful wrasse and the whiting and Pollack usually turn up in huge shoals.

11 And let s not forget the number of impressive Seatrout that we caught last year. I tell you, Tregde is really top of the bill. Almost all the species that feature in my photos illustrating these three articles are to be found within a 10 km radius, so now you know what fun awaits you, if you don t fancy long airtrips, catching nothing but cod for days on end, or exercising hours of patience for just one big strike. My motto is: if you don t care for a small sandeel... you re not worth the sight of a large halibut. If you take a good look at the map of the area around Tregde, what strikes you is the enormous number of islands. So there s always a leeside spot somewhere. In some places in between the islands there is a pretty strong current, where often the seatrout hunt, there are flat sand banks where the dabs are lying in layers and there are underwater mountains surrounded by deep water. In short, there s an abundance of good fishing spots.

12 The letters on the map will give you a general idea where the various species are to be found. Coalfish, whiting and pollack are on your doorstep. HH means dogfish, and ZW means wolffish. Near the sandy beach at Mandal we caught seatrout and brown trout. But in the middle of the map there s TB? What does that mean? And ZD? What is that?... I ll tell you later. If your aim is to do some deep sea fishing (that s where the bigger specimens are), and the weather conditions are favourable, it is not hard to fish on the open sea, where the bottom slopes down to 200 metres and more. As a matter of fact, there s a comfortable spot in the herring tub (HA on the map) where you can tie your boat to a jetty in a secluded bay, and there s even a public toilet and a barbecue available. It is also a perfect spot for snorkeling, which we did several times. Brilliant. swimming over the bottom of your own crystal clear fishing spot! And scuba diving trips are also on offer, taking you to shipwrecks lying at a depth of 20 to 40 metres off the rocky shore, and I m told it s very beautiful. The biggest fish on the Tregde record list is a halibut measuring around 170 cm. That was a giant of a beast of 33 kilo so there s a good offer of jumbos if you know where to find them! They also caught a 165 centimetre ling, a 130 cm cusk, and a 120 cm hake. They have seen plenty of cod over 1 meter long, and impressive 10 kilo turbots are scouring the seabed. But if you re after many different species it s definitely best to go for the shallower waters.

13 Between the jetties in the harbour, for example, you can see the seatrout cruising among the poles... and every corner with abundant vegetation also harbours shoals of numerous small prey-fish, which means that every so often large groups of pollack, mackerel and coalfish show up for the hunt, making the water between the jetties bubble with fish. Underneath the jetty of our filleting shed we saw a thick Eel nibbling the detritus, flounder and dab scurried away when we were snorkeling along the shore and we even spotted a rare snotolf guarding its nest. So that one could be classified as a 'present, but not yet caught species'. There was also the unique catch by fishing buddy Dennis, in spot HE on the map, where we could make wonderfully long drifts along a flat seabed. Very little wind, a slope going from 10 to 50 metres, on the leeward side of the islands, dragging slowly along with strips of squid, shrimp, sandeel, herring or mackerel is always exciting. This time we were surprised to catch a Hake! On the left hand side of the map, you see the bridge to Mandal that you see in the background of the picture of a dogfish that we caught there. Fishing here really is full of surprises.

14 But now it s time for a little technical chat, for the main question of course is: What can you do... to catch so many different species? Tip 1: use lighter gear. Most anglers coming back from a day out at sea have a box full of just one species, because they keep fishing with always the same paternosters, without trying any different materials or techniques. In our case we landed a crate full of 11 species, which I converted into as many delicious portions of fried fish (no spices added, just to keep the pure taste), so we set up a critical fish-tasting competition, which, by the way, was a joint victory by Mr Haddock and Mrs Weever. Tip 2: use natural bait more frequently. Most anglers these days have no more than a box full of artificial lures, and nobody is prepared to get his fingers dirty on stinking squid, herring or mackerel fillets. But that is actually the best way to make an exclusive catch. I have lost count of the number of times we were scoring dozens of cod or coalfish using artificial lures, but as soon as we added a strip of fishmeat (simply attached to the hook of the shad) up came a wolffish, a cusk or a ling or some other mysterious sea creature. So they are there for sure, but you can t blame them for preferring natural bait. In this particular spot, for example, we caught dozens of cod, but it wasn t until my son Mick fixed a strip of mackerel to the shad that a nice silvery shining Ling took the bait, within a minute!

15 The very best of tricks is to produce your own sturdy feather paternoster with good sized hooks and flashing fluttering bright feathers and beads, complemented with some strips of fragrant bait. If you fish just shy of the bottom you ll find any kind of fish, and if they pull off your strip of bait, there s no need to pull your line up straight away. You can just go on fishing, knowing your hook is not empty and the feathers and beads are still attracting attention. Tip 3: change your location more frequently, and avoid staying in the same spot for too long. Just a couple of hundred metres further on the seabed and current may be quite different, naturally harbouring different species altogether. Item 4: make a point of doing your homework properly beforehand, which means preparing a number of traces for various conditions. In the course of many years I have made my own set of handmade traces of the weirdest kind, offering a trace of particular attraction for each different species. There s traces with or without tube-booms, with short and long flutter lines, with invisible fluorocarbon traces, or eyecatching red Amnesia traces, flashing silverblue streamers and attractive fluo beads, in all types, shapes and sizes.

16 To start with, it's wise to go for Sandeel and herring, because these are also a perfect bait for catching the bigger fish. Each session of a species-hunter should always start with catching a number of small fish, to use as natural bait for the big ones later on. Another quality bait is shelled Norwegian shrimp. They are a treat for any sea-animal, so you're certain to get a bite. Another piece of insider advice: if you cut your shelled shrimp into pieces before attaching it to the hook, you will avoid the trace kinking, allowing you to keep sliding fresh bits on, and also keeping the tip of the hook free, which is important. The most ideal bait of all is a freshly cut tail fillet of a sandeel or Herring, bound securely to the hook with a piece of thin rubber band, fluttering freely in the current. It s full of attraction, it s juicy, fragrant, tasty, solid and strong, and everybody on the bottom loves it. It has a small minus in that it also attracts crab and other creeping crawlies. Which reminds me of the time I had a shocking experience when I had an attractive natural bait on my line... wriggling its way along the seabed and all of a sudden something really strong got hold of it... When the mysterious beast surfaced, we stood screaming for pure joy at the spectacle. At the same time, we were disappointed because it didn t officially count as a species of fish.

17 Of course there were those who claimed bonus points for this extraordinary catch, but the jury did not agree and refused the claims, because after all a Lobster is no fish. Not even half a point? No, we re sorry, not a chance. Next time you ll hear someone claiming quarter points for a foulhooked starfish. Out of the question. Forget it. Now back to business please, gentlemen! While our boat is gently drifting down the slope I drop the bait and feel the sinker scratching the bottom. The tip of the rod echoes the ripples in the sand and I feel a slight trembling in my hand. suddenly. Bang! A strong pull of a relatively small, but enchantingly beautiful fish. This is the venomous Weever fish, which requires extreme care when handling. Do not grab this fish with your hands! Remove the hook very very cautiously with a long pair of pliers and put it back at once. They make a delicious meal, but be warned: even when it s being filleted the poisonous spines (which are also located on its gills) give a nasty sting, causing fierce pain for many hours. A friend of mine still had a thick thumb after three months,... so be wise and warned.

18 My favourite allround trace looks more or less like this: behind the sinker (as light as possible, and adorned with flashy beads), hangs a pretty long flutterline with a comparatively small hook and a bit of bait that scurries along the bottom. This will enable you to catch a most diverse array of species. About a metre above the sinker hangs a rather short fluorocarbon flutterline with a large hook and beads and/or feathers in striking colours. This is mainly attractive to the species cruising around at medium depth. If you lift this tackle once in a while, or let it hover near the surface you ll be ready to catch anything. Did we mention the Garfish and the Horsemackerel? Now it is time to take a break, but I will come back for part 3, to show you some picture updates of our latest trip to Tregde Ferie, where we were able to catch 29 different species, while in theory even more than 50 species are present!... What a challenge... Our hunt will be continued. Fishfriendly greetings fromand photography by Geert Luinge g.luinge2@upcmail.nl tel Couhornerhoek KR. Amsterdam. Holland.

19 How to catch Fifty species of Fish? part 3 (An amazing fisherman's adventure at Tregde, Norway) In part 1 and 2 I showed you some pictures of the many fishes we could write upon our species-list, when for the sixth time this year we visited Tregde Ferie on the southernmost tip of Norway. Here are some more pictures of the different fish-species that we caught. My old fishing buddy Arie, who for the first time joined our hunt, had wisely left at home all his Dutch tackle for carp, pike and catfish, but what he had brought was his vertical rods for zander. and that was a great success! The coalfish that were cruising around the harbour jetty were not of impressive size, but great in number, and at least as strong as the zander back home. It was an uninterrupted frenzy of catches. The next Wrasse was even more colourful than the previous one and he had not expected fish of such beauty here in Norway.

20 But that was not all, for when a large shoal of mackerel paraded underneath our boat we had an excited drilling party with screaming slips, superlightweight arching rods and buckets full of torpedo Mackerel. He couldn t get enough of it.

21 Being the umpire and referee on this trip, I reminded him that all those hundreds of mackerel did not count towards our species list, so he d be well advised to think of better plans. In order to catch some seatrout, for instance. We consulted our map to find a spot with lots of current, and let the boat drift closely to the rocks along a steep slope. To his line he attached an old current spinner which had been left unused for years, and.wham! Sure enough, a beauty of a Seatrout. Right on cue. Bingo!

22 But. hang on.. or is it a salmon? There s us in the middle of the sea discussing whether it s a male or a female seatrout, or perhaps a salmon, which is why I allways have a heavy fish-species-manual-book in my box, giving us all the information to determine any species caught. But sometimes it s not as easy as you might think. For instance, male wrasse have very different colour patterns than female wrasse, and other kinds of wrasse may be a different kettle of fish altogether. The tail fin of a seatrout looks very different from that of a salmon, or so the experts say. And so on. As an uncertified referee I have to admit that it sometimes becomes a bit complicated. For example: is this a lemon sole or a megrim, or something else perhaps? You say it. And the flat one in the next picture? Your guess is as good as mine.

23 Our fishing bible gives us reason to believe that the top one is a Megrin and the bottom one a Lemon sole. My buddy Ronald is a real specialist in catching many different species, and at the end of the week he s usually in the lead. You see him going about with a wide grin on his face whenever he reports species number X, asking for a measuring tape with an air of jealous-making pride. But... the amount of administrative work involved has a ruinous effect on my own hands-on fishing time and there is actually one more species on my list that has not been ticked off. Now let me see if I ve got the right tackle in my folder here. My buddy Arie, meanwhile, is in such good spirits that he s stepping up his efforts, when suddenly I hear him crying out: Hey mister umpire. what about this one? You wouldn't believe it... he's showing us a spooky squid! Legally caught on rod and line. It's an exquisite bait and even a delicious meal, but this ink squirting creature cannot be written on our list. You can beg all you want. it s not a fish. Period!... Okay, but..

24 On the final day, with the trip home already on our minds, there was still one species waiting for me to catch. We searched on the map for the right spot (a depth of more than 100 metres, good things never come easy). I dropped my specially prepared state-of-the-art baited trace down to the bottom.... a littlebit of patience.. and Bingo! A brightly sparkling Redfish. Yes! Mission completed. We have already hired our cottage for next spring with TregdeFerie.no. Hopefully we ll be able to fill in the last blanks in our fish-wish-list, for it would be heaven if finally we could catch a beautiful turbot! Tregde Ferie s Flickr account shows hundreds of fish caught locally, including several specimens that make your mouth water, so to speak. Imagine our joy if we could catch a real anglerfish and wouldn t it be spectacular if we caught a couple of big rays or sharks here? If you ask my opinion: anything is possible here. Anyway, we are already looking forward to those calm, quiet evenings, when, sitting on the balcony, you can hear the coalfish splashing in the bay below.

25 One of those nights when Ronald the allrounder finished the fishing business in style, by making the catch of the day. Standing in the dark, between the jetties, with his fly-rod, without a landing net, and bringing in a giant of a seatrout. He loudly claimed to have earned double points. Because of the degree of difficulty, you see. Well, no, buddy. That would only trigger more doubtful claims and I have heard that song before. Oh well, being a fair judge of things can be difficult sometimes, but the main thing is to keep smiling, and not take things too seriously. But our hunt for species has been a really glorious project for many years! Do we have any chance of breaking our own record next time? We re certainly going to try. It may be more than just fishful thinking. Fishfriendly greetings fromand photography by Geert Luinge g.luinge2(et)upcmail.nl tel Couhornerhoek KR. Amsterdam. Holland.