Rügen: Beasts of the Baltic Sea

Rügen Island clings to Germany’s Northern shore. During the summer, half of Germany seem to descend on the little island for their holidays, but in the late autumn and early winter months, the place is abandoned, desolate, and bewitchingly wild. Its sandy beaches and myriad coves and inlets are utterly deserted, and as such, they are a fisherman’s wonderland, surrounded as they are by the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea. And fish. Lots and lots of fish!

BY Matt Harris

The Baltic Sea is a strange anomaly. Bottled up by the Danish islands that crowd its mouth into the infamous Skagerrak, it is very much like a giant inland lake. It has little tide and little by way of salt either.

The upper layers of this shallow sea have a salinity of just 0.3 to 0.9%. As such, it plays host to not only cod, herring, and flatfish, but also to huge shoals of bream and roach. Fed by these limitless whitefish stocks, a host of bristling perch and zander, and to my mind, the jewel in its crown, some truly spectacular pike that are just waiting for the adventurous angler.

In winter, the pike are galvanised into feeding hard prior to spawning. On Rügen’s shallow flats, they are a perfect fly rod quarry, and well worth facing the icy winds and frigid water. But where to start?

There are hundreds of miles of shallow sandy flats all around Rügen and knowing where to find the fish is a daunting proposition. You can “Doit-Yourself” but I would strongly advise against it – there is every chance that you will go home empty-handed. Instead, find yourself a guide. THE guide. My friend Bernd Ziesche.

Let me tell you a little about Bernd: I rarely run into a flyfisher who possesses the same degree of passion for the sport as I, but Bernd Ziesche is one such man. To give you an idea of just how keen he is, Bernd reckons that he will rack up 350 days of fly-fishing this year. 350 days! Think on that!

Needless to say, Bernd is an absolutely obsessive fly fisherman and, in the true German tradition, he is relentlessly analytical and ultra-technical. His exhaustive studies involving slow-motion cameras have left him with controversial but very persuasive theories on the physics of fly-casting, and he doesn’t just talk the talk: his excellent casting technique is testament to the veracity of his ideas.

His attention to detail extends to his kit and terminal tackle, and if you are interested in pike fishing with a fly rod, a few days with Bernd are an absolute education. Crucially, Bernd also knows where the pike are.

Years of experience

Having fished Rügen for nearly twenty years, Bernd knows this vast fishery backwards. He has befriended many of the locals, and the tips that he receives from his friends on the ground prove invaluable. The pike of Rügen hunt in packs, and if you can locate them, you have every chance of a field day. They move around frequently, and every year – indeed every day – can be different.

As a result of his long years on the island, Bernd’s guiding services are hugely successful – this year every last one of his guests caught at least one pike, and he and his guests rattled up well over 1600 pike – a remarkable figure given the short, 2-month season.

The tackle for Rügen

Bernd will tell you that the trick with this fishing is to travel light. So, what do you need? A steely fast-actioned nine weight rod is perfect. Couple it with a solid reel, preferably featuring quick change spools. I like to carry three spools with different fly lines so that you can change the speed of your retrieve or fish in different depths of water. A full floater allows you to fish slowly or in the shallowest water, where even the biggest fish can be lying on warmer days.

“The pike of Rügen hunt in packs, and if you can locate them, you have every chance of a field day”

An intermediate tip is perhaps the most versatile, and a full intermediate is perfect for deeper water or faster retrieves, when the fish are most active. Short, powerful tapers are perfect for throwing big flies, but try to fish with the maximum of stealth.

Couple this set-up with a line tray, a small wallet of flies, a spool of 25lb fluorocarbon, some titanium wire and some long, needle-nose pliers and you have all you need. Sling a good waterproof rucksack over your shoulder, and don’t forget your camera. There are special fish here.

Wrap up warm, don some neoprene mittens and make sure your waders are leakproof and that your jacket will keep you properly dry. Throw some extra layers in your rucksack. You might want to take a nip of something warming in a hipflask too.

What to expect?

Let me tell you about a typical winter’s day pike fishing on Rügen. We are out early, and it is still dark as we leave the car and shuffle through the dense curtain of high reeds that border the shore. The first blue light of the December dawn creeps into the east as we step into the frigid waters of the Baltic, and wade through the shallows towards the drop-off. After long minutes forcing tired limbs through the knee-deep water, finally, the water deepens. The three of us spread out, and lengthen our lines, sending the big, flashy flies arcing out over the surface. The water has chilled during the clear, frosty night, and, understandably, for the first hour or so, the fishing is slow.

We keep moving. As we edge along the dropoff, searching out the deeper water, the sun comes winking through the leafless winter poplars behind us. Suddenly, there it is. A big, aggressive boil, and then that classic wrenching grab. The first fish of the day.

Hard-fighting fish

People say that pike don’t fight. They should come to Rügen. The fish thrashes up through the grey waves, and then cartwheels away towards the horizon. The steely nine weight hoops over for a fair while, but slowly, the crisp carbon does its work, and finally the lithe, lean predator lies snarling and sullen and beaten.

I hear a whoop of excitement and look round to see my friend Bernd hooked up too.

Our fish aren’t the big metre-long beasts that we are hunting, but both are a handful, charging ferociously across the shallow flats before we can finally bring them to hand. Bernd hollers to his friend Hansi – a wonderful character - a warm old Rügen veteran who’s English is even worse than my German. No matter – Hansi’s relentless smiles and laughter can’t be impeded by any language barrier, and we get on famously. Hansi wades over and pulls out his little compact camera. We hold up the lissom jack pike and mug up for a picture.

“Fish after fish come to hand, and finally, I find the fish I am looking for”

Looking for the big one

Under Bernd’s expert guidance, we roam a wide channel between two islands and run into pike after pike.

The gleaming sunshine disappears behind a vast grey blanket of wintery cloud, and the lower light levels seem to switch the pike on to attacking the myriad shoals of roach, sticklebacks and sculpin with even greater gusto.

Fish after fish come to hand, and finally, I find the fish I am looking for…

Hunting a big fish, I’ve changed up to a bigger, flashier fly pattern, and it is the right move. First cast, a double figure fish comes greyhounding through the surface after the fly. I abruptly stop the retrieve – as Bernd advises – and the rod suddenly buckles around.

Armed with my new fly and the big dose of confidence that this first cast has given me, I work my way along the drop-off into deeper water, and two more sizeable fish come to hand.

There is no doubt that the larger fly is picking out bigger fish. Two additional fish in the teens come one after the other and then, suddenly, something serious. A big, savage headshake and then the water erupts as a real beast - a fish of at least 25 pounds - comes thrashing up through the livid grey Baltic waters.

This is the one

I reel the line up smartly onto the reel and then let the fish burn itself up against the smooth heavy drag. It makes long dogged runs but slowly the pressure starts to tell. The fish bursts up through the surface again, wild and angry. I ease off the pressure and let the fish use up the last of its precious reserves. Finally, it is done. Bernd wades over and I draw the big fish to him. Bernd expertly slides his finger under the fish’s chin and lifts its vast head gently out of the water.

I am elated!

I’ve loved pike ever since I was a kid, and this one is magnificent: A real beast of the Baltic Sea. It is also one of the most malevolent looking creatures I’ve ever seen. It stares balefully back at us, working its jaw and showing off a formidable array of murderous teeth. I’m glad that Bernd is holding it.

We measure it at just over 46 inches - a proper pike even by Rügen’s standards - and calculate its weight at around 26 pounds. Bernd removes the fly, and for a moment, I cradle it in the shallow water and study its exquisite mottled frame: olive flanks, flecked with creamy spots and framed by rusty orange and black fins. Then I watch the fish right itself and kick back into the icy waters, slowly fading from view.

It is one of the biggest fish of Bernd’s season, but there are bigger pike in Rugen’s fertile waters. A fifty-inch fish is a real possibility.

Let’s go find one.

Matt Harris will be fishing with Bernd in late 2022. If you want to join them, You can contact Matt at: mattharris@mattharris.com