The cod fishing is slowing down as the water temperature has dropped to 5 celsius. But the fishing for flounder and dab is really good right now and Yesterday I caught some big flounders in Nordhavn on my new winter fishing setup.
Winter is coming and today – the 26th of November – the water temperature has dropped down to 5 degrees celsius both in Sandkaj in Nordhavn and Islands Brygge in the inner harbour. Traditionally this means that the cod fishing is starting to slow down in the harbour.
Whereas in October most cod in the harbour really hit your jig or bait hard, then it is a different picture now. The harbour cod are more slow and cautious and I more often feel their small nibbles in my jig without a real take which can be a bit frustrating.
But don´t give up on the cod fishing just yet. There are still many cod around and so there will be at least the next month. But you need more patience to get in contact with them and I can´t highlight enough how important it is to fish slow.
Good size flounders right now
Right now I am preparing for a winter season where I plan to do a good deal of bait fishing in the harbour and I have geared up with a new setup with a rod pod, some new nice flatfish rods and even a couple of beepers than can help a bit when fishing in the dark.
I´ve tried the setup on three spots in the harbour over the last week, and caught some nice flatfish on all three occasions and spots. After recommendation from The Shrimp King – Johnni Frederiksen, I am primarily using whole shrimps and mix it up a bit with some anchovies.
Sunday action in Nordhavn
Yesterday I had my best flatfish trip so far this november. Using whole shrimps as bait I banked eight flounders and two dabs in four hours. The first 90 minutes they only nibbled a bit on my shrimps, but suddenly they got more aggressive and started taking the shrimps without hesitation. I released eight of them but took the two biggest flounders on 44 cm and 39 cm with me home. The biggest one was part of a double hookup with another smaller flounder. It weighed 675 grams and will make a great dinner.
Speaking of dinner. I know that By & Havn are advising against eating flatfish that stay all their lives in the bottom of the harbour. Now I can´t advice others on what to do, but as for myself I feel absolutely safe eating fish from the outer parts of Nordhavn. I would not take flatfish home from the inner harbour, but I believe that the water in outer Nordhavn is cleaner than the inner harbour, and have not had any bad experiences with eating flatfish from here, so I will continue to do so.
Classical flatfish rigs are not optimal for shrimps
This kind of fishing is pretty new to me and there are lots of things that I can improve. The classical flatfish rigs that you buy in the fishing shops are one of those things. They are surely not optimal for shrimp fishing.
The hooks on these rigs are made for using worms and their shaft are a bit too long for fishing with shrimps. On the other hand the hooks shouldn´t be too small either as this will make it difficult to release smaller fish. So I will now starting making my own rigs with some medium sized single hooks.
As mentioned I have invested in a rod pod and some beepers so I almost look like a real carp angler. But before any of you carp dudes start commenting that my setup looks like a total amateur let me admit that you are right. Improvements can still be made and I look forward to perfectioning my setup over the winter.
Maybe I´ll meet you out there 🙂
Fishing Copenhagen 