Fishing Plans For Season 2015

Hi all!

What is different this year is that I probably start making some of my own boilies. I experimented on some boilies a few years ago, but as I was fishing successfully with Prologic baits, I had no interest to go on with my bait production. Now the time is different, and I will start the long and winding road of baitmaking. Of course I have some ready ideas, mixes and flavours, so this will help me a lot. Luckily I still have some of my trusty old bait, so I don't have to depend totally on my own recipes. 

On another perspective, I am not totally sure how I will enjoy my long hours of boilie making, but I don't think I have an option. So this year you can expect some reports on my boilie development and possible catches. I hope it will be fun despite all the hard work.

One of the few carp I have caught from Finland that I can call fat. Most of the fish are long and lean. This fish is also in the photo below. (The net looks dry, but it isn't. Polarizing filter does wonders to reflections)

This beautiful common carp was really loving boilies (as you can see). Let's hope she will get obsessed with my own boilie recipes and I will catch her a few kilos heavier.

Wind(blade) of change

I have usually changed a lot of my set-up between seasons. It's a long time from November to May, so it's too easy to start changing all of my tackle when you have nothing else to do (I am not into ice fishing at all). 

The biggest change will probably be just that I am starting to use the Prologic Windblade swingers. They are really good looking - than not being the main reason for my change. I have been looking for hangers/swingers that really are not prone to hard wind. Getting beeps all night long due to the wind is something I hate. Turning alarm sensitivity down isn't a good option either. You might miss cautious bites and dropback bites.

Last spring I was fishing with a friend, David. I noticed how nicely the windblades worked. (Photo from Smartinsko lake)

One thing I am definitely NOT going to change is my rods. Prologic Fastwater 9'6" 3,5lbs are the best rods I could be fishing with. I am going to stick with them for years to come. Last summer I was playing a carp with one hand, easily controlling the rod lifted high. It couldn't have been possible with longer rods. Also the short butt-section of the rod gives me freedom to play the fish as I want. (Of course I still have my 12' rods for lakes that require longer casting distances). Rods are forgiving while playing the fish, yet you still have total control.

A blog update usually requires a photo of a carp and its captor. Well here you go! This one was caught from Slovenia.

Indoor Carp Fishing

Hi all!

I might not be a big surprise that I am a keen gamer as I am a carp angler. So when I was approached by guys who are combining them, I was really interested in cooperation. Some of my blogs are on Dovetail Games Fishing -website. It is a fishing simulation, and at its current situation it is in development. It's on Steam early access, so enthusiastic gamers can go and check it out (link to my latest blog entry there).

http://dtgfishing.com/freedom-of-the-true-wild-arctic-fishing/

I have used some old texts, but will also publish something new there.

Best regards-

Henrik

Just Another Blog Update - With a Belly Rub!

Dear Readers,

It's been too long since my last update. Sometimes writing is easy, sometimes it isn't. Well, just to summarize my season - it was nice. Especially as I didn't have so many nights out on the bank. My fishing notes regarding this year however were quite good considering the seasons to come. I learned a lot of new things. I even managed to pull off a 4 carp night fishing alone. Considering the low number of carp in our lakes, it's more or less an achievement here.

Hopefully you will enjoy this picture of a very concentrated belly rub!

Sometimes it's good to have a landing mat with walls. Carp can get veeery active when you don't expect it.

Some product talk here. I started using the Prologic C.O.M. pod this season. It is really nice on tight swims, and its low profile is really stealthy, so you can stay below radar on waters where you don't want to be seen. The light attached to the pod is just to humor me, and to give me an indication where the pod is (in pitch black conditions).

My current set-up (Switching hangers to Prologic Windblades for 2015)

Rocky swims and RIGHT lines

Dear Readers,

It's been a while since my last blog entry. I managed to do some fishing since, and had some good experiences with new tackle.

As I have told earlier, the carp swims here in Finland can be rocky and weedy (a lot of these lakes formed during the last ice age, hence the rough banks). Normal monofilament usually ends up in the bin after a few fights with a carp, as the line gets "the rash" from the rocks. Braided line would just break almost in an instant. 

Now my issues with line have been solved with the Prologic Interceptor Fluoro Carbon Coated mono. It performs like a mono, with good breaking strain. It really doesn't get any scratches (because of the fluorocarbon coating) and after a trip it is as good as new. I am using 0,40 mm and it suits my needs perfectly. I can recommend this line to anyone who is fishing on rocky & weedy swims.

Ah - that will be it for my tackle related talk. 

The last trip I did was a nice two-night session fishing alone. I managed to catch a nice brace of carp, and I was more than happy being on the bank. I still had my fair share of misfortune, as my cameras remote controller died on a critical moment. Few good photos anyway, and here's a pic of my first carp of the session.

Big Fish Still Get Slaughtered...

Hi all!

This post will be quite grim, and I already warn my readers abroad:This post has a link to a big dead carp... Yet again, Finns have been skillful enough to fill lakes with all-killing gill nets. They are commonly using them to catch "trophy fish". This makes no sense at all - a fish caught with a gill net requires no skill at all. It just kills everything that swims in it. Even our Saimaa ringed seal.

That's enough of the almost-extinct endemic seal species - and on with the ramblings about carp. So a carp that was claimed to be the biggest fish in Finland was caught and killed. To the catchers excuse, he wasn't actually trying to catch a carp. To make things worse, the biggest tench in Finland was ALSO caught a few weeks ago with a gill net. This tench was caught and killed intentionally. Just to claim the record. What a sporty way of catching record fish! Yay!

Big fish are really important to the ecosystem in numerous ways. It is really important to release them every time it's possible. 

A nice common carp going back to do what he/she does best (that is being a big fish).

Ps. The carp in the magazine was claimed to be "closer to 50kg than 20 kg..." Yeah - right.

Midsummer Nights (and Jinxed Again!)

Dear Readers,

Midsummer nights in Finland are really different from nights in Southern Europe. It really doesn't get dark even at midnight, and time has less meaning. But as much as I love the bright night skies, I still prefer the embracing darkness of August nights.

Midnight "darkness"...

My brother caught a big carp on a trip with me. I seem to have been jinxed again! My trips with my brothers have been really good, but not for me. If my calculations are correct, I have blanked on nine (9!) consecutive trips with my brothers. My misfortune seems to be of a very personal kind, as all of my brothers have been catching quite good. I hope I can lift this curse...

Fishing Books Worth Reading

Hi all!

I just wanted to share a picture of my Chris Yates collection (plus a few quality books by other great writers). For all of you who are yet to read one of Chris' books, I can recommend strongly doing that. Chris has a good sense of humor and his story-telling abilities are beyond my reviews. He also has a lesson for those anglers "who know it all" [at least I learned something].

One of these books has my name in it!

I share the angling philosophy Chris states on his books but I still love to use new tackle and technological gimmicks. A guy like me in his 30's isn't very credible using old tackle twice his age. For now, maybe I'll just be quiet and go a-angling.