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Denmark - Condition of Equipment:
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As an American expat living in the Netherlands, I decided to try a little Euro beach fishing. We had moved to NL from Washington State so I was motivated by some beach fishing reports that I read on the Washington state fly-fishing list. In Washington, they fly fish for Coho and sea run cutthroat off the beach. So, please pardon the comparisons to the Washington state coastline. I wanted to report as relevant as possible to Washington state list members. Denmark is the European haven for sea run brown trout. According to the literature, it has over 7,500 kilometers of coastline. Major populations of sea trout are maintained both naturally and with hatchery release programs. To get a picture of the Danish coastline think of an inverted and inside out Puget Sound. While the Sound is surrounded by land on three sides (for the most part), Denmarks Jutland peninsula and the islands making up this Scandinavian country are surrounded by the Baltic Sea to the north and east and the Atlantic Ocean (north sea) to the west. Most sea trout fishing takes place in the Baltic Sea. To draw another comparison, the Baltic Sea of Denmark is much greater scale. And like the South Sound, the Baltic also has some major fresh water drainages. These factors have two effects; they restrict tidal fluctuation and limit salinity. For example, I stayed near the city of Fredericia. It is at the same latitude as Ketchikan, AK. The tidal fluctuation for Ketchikan averages around 12 feet. The tidal fluctuation for Fredericia is about one foot. This makes shore fishing a little easier. The reduced salinity affects migration of the sea trout during the year. Sea trout prefer less saline water during the winter when water temperatures drop. So in the winter they migrate further south in the Baltic along the southern coast of the Jutland Peninsula. As the water temperatures increase, the sea trout move into the more saline waters along the northern sections of the Danish Baltic coast. The seasons also have an effect on sea trout fishing. Fall is the time when mature fish return to their home creeks and rivers to spawn. After spawning, some fish remain in the rivers, others return to the sea, but to the less saline sections of the sea. As water temperatures increase in the spring, the fish start to spawn (from March and into May). Herring spawn in the gravel and coarse sand close to shore. This brings the large sea trout into action. The current record sea trout is 36 pounds. During the summer, the sea trout circulate throughout the region with some of the best fishing being done at night. Obtaining a Danish fishing license via the Internet is easy and inexpensive. An annual license costs DKK100 (around $15). Regulations and access rights concerning saltwater fishing are very liberal. All beaches to the high tide line are public. While the property along the beaches may be private, getting access to the beach through the numerous parks and public access areas is fairly easy (on the most part). However, freshwater spawning areas are protected with restrictive regulations. Larger estuaries have permanent preservation zones that restrict any type of fishing within a 500-meter radius of the watersheds mouth year round. Smaller watersheds have the same restriction, but only during the spawning season. It is 750 kilometers from Eindhoven, NL to Fredericia, and DK with most of the drive through northern Germany. The drive took seven hours door to door. I choose to stay at a campground suggested by a friend rather than a local hotel. Many Danish campgrounds offer cabins with all of the conveniences. All you need to bring are your own linens or a sleeping bag. I arrived at the campground, just outside Fredericia, around 5:00 pm. After loading my gear into the cabin, I quickly rigged up and headed for the beach. The beach was on a point of land named the Treldenaes. This peninsula juts eastward with the Lillebaelt Channel (Danish for Little Belt) to the south and east - Would you recommend this trip to a friend?:
Yes