fish bait ball

the swedish sport fishing association presents big one! i've found ten so far. a freewater pictures production during one full year we've been following the common fish in swedish water.

a fish spread out all over the country. from north to south, from east to west. this is the fish which brings back memories from childhood.

those warm summer nights in august, or windblown days out on the ice, during winter holidays. beautiful memories we want to share with our next of kin. but we can't take our coast, rivers or lakes for granted. humans have had a negative impact on life beneath the surface for a long time now. if this persists, our memories might stay just that, memories. sweden's most fish

this is the story about swedish sport fishing association and it's work towards lots of fish in healthy water. biologists lars and tobias are passionate about fishing and fish management. come along on this journey where we take a closer look at sweden's most fish, the perch. the perch are around lars. not the biggest one. but it's our first! some archipelago fishing today.

we're aiming for these small pots in the outer archipelago now. these spots hold big shoals of perch. here they're all about eating these, small yearlings of whitefish in this size. perfect snack for the perch. can you see all the bait? i've been working all over the archipelago way back. but rarely fished it like this before. this archipelago is an unique heritage. it is essential that we keep it this way.

even improve some of the spots mankind have been tampering with. there's no place like this in the whole world. this kind of scenery is a one of a kind. during the last 40 years, 40% of the fish spawning areas, such as shallow bays and big flat bays, vanished because of human impact. to thrive, perch needs just like the pike and roach shallow environment with weed where roe and smolts are well protected. many coastal species spawn in lakes and streams connected to the sea. to reverse the trend of declining fish stocks,

we need to restore what we once devastated. and let nature heal. today i'm visiting lars to learn about the perch. traditional fish management is usually all about salmon and trout. and the last couple of years also a bit about pike. the perch has up until now fallen behind and not been in focus. lars on the other hand, have reached a ton of knowledge with this project that we will benefit from. and now i'm here to learn all he knows. look, there's a pike in here!

yeah, a pike! take this. pike and roach! all pike haven't spawned yet. here's some perch. nice perch too. let's settle with these for now and measure them. we'll continue later with the others. looks like a small female.

yeah, roe all over her. let her go so she can go back and do her thing. did you see that jump she did in the bucket? quite suited for getting past objects actually. not what you would think. but they're far better jumpers than expected. how are the perch? not the same? perch are probably the weakest swimmers around. roach pretty much bounce up all their way up the streams. but the perch struggle.

weak swimmers through rough passages. nice catch this time lars. decent perch that one. let's see. 335 millimeters. when is the main season for migrating perch? probably now, second half of april and a few days into may for freshwater spawning fish. full speed now. they gather here from a big area around this coastal line.

usually they scatter around 10-15 kilometers around their spawning areas. 210 millimeters. male. there are perch spawning on the coast, and there are others migrating into fresh water. and it differs a lot from where you are on the swedish coastline. in some areas 100% spawn in brackish water,and other areas all of them spawn in fresh water. but if there's an average i would say about 30% of all coastal perch come from fresh water. so these improvements we do up here make a big different for the coastal perch. it's very encouraging we're getting this much perch here now.

we had a dam stopping migration before. full stop here for all perch. but they fixed the inlet here, unfortunately they missed this part down here. water was flowing so fast during spring flood so we had to have a go at it again a couple of years ago. put down big chunks of stone to make migration easier. we went from zero perch to five hundred going upstream the first year. quality fish management responds fast. check that beaver! it will surface behind me! it can be quite delicate what lure you're using fishing perch.

hard to believe it would make such a big difference but... sometimes super small differences makes a whole lot. a few grams heavier or lighter jig skull. or maybe the paddle action. or with a spinner, how big blade you have. perch can be quite moody, always experiment a bit and find the way of the day. they have very distinct biting times. usually early mornings and late evenings. sometimes even into the dark hours. especially in the lakes.

like now, now they're only nibbling my bait. we did some experiments up in ume㥠once. we had both perch and zander in big containers which we fed with shrimps. and the perch were super clear on feeding in dawn, in dawn and dusk they feed. well it says itself, perch as a species must work together, unlike the pike. they're always hunting in shoals. it would be hard for them to go solo. a cool observation we did was, they're swimming around in gangs...

and they always have a boss. missed one there. if you farm perch there's always one who's in charge. if you remove that one another one takes over. and the boss decides how much the others get to feed, which means different gangs grow different. in this bay we've put spruce bundles down. we inventoried this bay here of perch roe a few years back. and we saw that those spruce bundles still were here. and they were full of roe.

how was the situation here then? can't remember precisely but this place is truly one of a few jewels out here. works like it should with spawning fish here. this spot is like, it once was all over the archipelago. i'd say we had a rough day today catching big fish, even though we got big numbers. a pleasant trip, but yeah, we're missing the big ones. next week we're at it again. we'll get them.

cityjanuary this is simply the best! to get out in the field. not just desk service! and be useful. can't be any better. this is pretty much how the city looks right now. steep edges and docks. no natural habitat for the fish to live in. but as soon as we put down these spruce bundles,

we're creating natural habitat and shelter for the fish. and both big and small fish thrive here. they can hide or hunt here, in all have a better life. shall we head out and dump down these john? yeah let's do that and then build some more of these later. this is a nice example of a bleak and dull shore line. but now we're doing something to help that. let's do another one.

in pursuit of a bigger perch lars and tobias head to untouched wilderness. here perch have a better chance of growing big and get old. this adventure takes them down stream along the river, through land that has not been tampered with by man. perch! got it! this is a decent perch! nice! just cast right into the stream and they'll bite. perch there too! poppers, always worth a try.

especially on a spot like this. a traditional lure would easily get stuck in the bottom. and with the popper you can cast wherever you want. the perch is so interesting, they can adapt to all kind of environment. so cool, wherever you are you can find nice perch. but to get those really big fish, thats harder. there, perch! might be a better fish! and i've got a pike!

double strike. must be a pike, so strong fish. small pike. what's on the menu for you lars? feels like a pike right? perch, perch god damnit! this is a stripy warrior tobbe! i'm ready with the net. now!

so nice! well done lars, now they're on it! i'll just unhook this marauder. well done lars. let's see the length! 43 centimeters. nice perch there. well done. these fish can't be found everywhere.

can't be any mortality in the stock. if you want those old fish. and that is probably an old one. what was it? 1125 grams, 43 centimeters. right now we're in a stream connected to the sea just north of gã¤vle. and we're opening up and removing migration obstacles in this stream. these small streams might have a big impact on the stocks of both coastal perch and pike. but they're affected by so many things.

both historically and in modern times we've been systematically trenching these water systems, lowering the water levels. that's been done for a couple of hundred years now. i believe we'll see difference already next year. we'll see fish migrating through here. this is already a functioning system with this small lake below us. i mean, there are fish out here, we're just helping them find their way back to where they should be. it's not a long shot thinking it might be quadrupled smolt production already next year. here you go tobbe, smoked perch. sweet. perch?

just by the end of all those rocks. i think that might have been a decent perch. maybe we should put down some more time here. decent fish there. why do they miss the lure. that's usually what's happening with poppers. same one you had on earlier? poppers! nice perch!

on the surface. if you can go ahead and jump up on one of those rocks, and take the boat when i'm going through here. water wolf! i'm a perch hunter all the way into the bones. not the fattest fish but with ease above 40 centimeters. a stripy warrior appeared among all the pike all of a sudden. ooo the tension in the line. care my pike now.

where's the anchor line? straight down here somewhere. might have to take the anchor up. crowded in the prow now tobbe. my pike is incredibly strong. oh god! that is a big fish tobbe. it's got some kind of ulcer, but it might be a tenner. easily above seven.

i'll get the anchor up now so we get rid of that. fat pike! big pike, eat small lures. probably eight kilo fish. give up now already. what do you think this one has gone trough lars? i don't know, i've got my hands full with this fish. sometimes you catch water wolves in the perch pit. a common belief is that a strong pike stock will damage other fish populations.

but the many pike are the reason to the big perch. yeah those fish weed out the perch population. the ones who make it will have more food. and once they grow big enough they're home safe. big one lars! open your mouth now. nice tobbe! just when i said we'll never get any strikes in the fog. i think i was wrong. i'm glad your off some times.

this is a brute. old warrior. 47 centimeters or something like that. got the measuring tape? i've gotta check the length. what a perch! a true brute at 47 centimeters and 1200 grams. a perch like this, i can guarantee you it's at least 20 years old. if you want fish like this in the lake.

we need proper fish management done right now. and your grandkids can catch them in 20 years. let's release this beast. pretty much everyone who fish spots like this take the perch for granted. but one should know that there are tons of threats to all aquatic life, and the only real player working for continued successful sport fishing and bigger and better fish, is the swedish sport fishing association. the more members we have, the more and bigger fish you'll catch.

this project is run by the swedish sport fishing association with funds from balticsea2020. made possible by: