Published Jul 3. 2014 - 10 years ago
Updated or edited May 14. 2020

Video review: Sea Trout Secrets 5+6

Spin Fishing + Fly Fishing

Danish Niels Vestergaard as upped the ante and outdone himself in the latest two videos in the Sea Trout Secrets series - one on spin fishing and one on fly-fishing.


Info
Author: 
Niels Vestergaard
Publisher: 
Wide Open Outdoor Film
Publishing year: 
2014
Minutes: 
83+79
Price: 
31.50
US$ each


Reviewed by: 

If you are a sea trout angler who like me has just fished a week on the Baltic coast in pursue of coastal sea trout and haven't felt a tug, these videos will reinvigorate you and restore your belief in the fact that there are actually fish in the ocean in spite of you not seeing or feeling any for a week.
The piece de resistance of these videos is a large number of clips showing flies or lures passing through the water - and passing by dozens upon dozens of fish! Vestergaard has simply mounted a camera in front of the hook, cast it out and retrieved it while filming. I write "simply", but I suspect that it hasn't been that simple. Vestergaard reveals only little about his camera rig, but that really doesn't matter a bit, because the results are pretty amazing and very convincing - and highly surprising.
Again and again we see footage of a fly or a lure passing one, two or 50 fish - loners and large schools of sea trout, seemingly unaffected by the tasty looking bait imitation dancing amongst them. Many times the fish simply don't react to the lure, which oftentimes bumps into several fish as it's pulled towards the unsuspecting angler, who may feel or see nothing of this underwater abundance of fish.
After fishing for hours in what seemed to be perfect but empty water, I envisioned these scenes for my inner eye and imagined my fly passing through large schools of sea trout, inciting just a little optimism and enough trust in the fact that there might be fish out there for me to cast once more... and once more... and once more.

But fret not: Not all fish ignore the bait, and Vestergaard illustrates a number of scenarios from total ignorance over curiosity to vigorous attacks, and he draws some conclusions, which to a certain degree has changed my way of thinking when I fish for sea trout. The videos confirm some of my ideas but also brutally shows me how wrong I have been on other accounts.

The two DVDs deal with spin fishing and fly fishing respectively, but will be of equal interest to "the other team". In DVD 5 angler Thomas Hansen takes us out spin fishing, and in DVD 6 it's fly-angler Claus Eriksen from the Danish tackle shop Go Fishing who is the main character. Both DVDs contain a lot of general advice, and apart from a long sequence on Thomas Hansen's boat, I found it both educating and fascinating no matter the fishing method. Some people will find the boat talk intriguing. I personally didn't.
There is of course specific coverage of rigs, flies and lures, which might not be directly applicable to your fishing if you're a purist - fly or spin - but still it's worth listening to what these two very experienced anglers have to say about gear and fishing strategies.

If you're a regular on the Baltic coast - in Scandinavia, Germany, Poland or any of the other countries facing the Baltic sea - or if you hunt migrating coastal fish elsewhere, be it Norway, the UK or even in the US or Canada where many trout and salmon species migrate into the salt, these two new volumes in the ongoing "Sea Trout Secrets" series are bound to excite you and will be a great addition to your DVD collection. For those not wanting to own, but just wanting to watch, the videos are expected to be available for online streaming at very reasonable prices through Niels Vestergaard's site some time after the summer.

The DVDs are Danish, but are narrated and subtitled in English. Both participants as well as Niels Vestergaard himself speak Danish in the sequences where they appear.

Any curious sea trout angler will simply have to watch these videos. They are a revelation! Vestergaard has put static cameras in the water before, showing fish cruising where the angler felt nothing, but these recordings take that concept to another level! If you haven't seen it, you won't believe it, and it's bound to change some of your concepts of coastal fishing.

Beautiful videos - Niels Vestergaard has his video production down to an art and produces some very beautiful footage
Thomas Hansen\'s boat - Some will surely enjoy the thorough coverage of spin fisher Thomas Hansen\'s sumptuous boat
Under the surface - The underwater scenes are fascinating and mesmerizing
That\'s a fly! - And three fish chasing it. Another amazing sequence from Niels Vestergaard\'s videos
The number of fish! - There\'s a surprising number of fish down there
Fish are caught - There\'s lots of fishing action on the DVDs
Stills from the videos
Niels Vestergaard

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