Faroe Islands halibut bashing 2006

[rik_j]

Well, I'm going to the faroe islands in may 2006

We will take the ferry (a pleasant 2 day trip - each way:banghead: ) and stay in Fuglefjord to the north east.

Any tips and recommendations?

[Scrudgy]

Don't think I've seen anyone posting about Faroe Islands before Rik.

Really look forward to hearing how you get on when you return though.

[robertlangford]

Okay ;so your going from Hanstholm withthe new Smyrl Line ferry or is there a new connection?
What makes you think that there are a lot of halibut there?
When are you going?
Robert

[rik_j]

Yep - we are going with smyril line from hanstholm.

The skipper were very confident in catching halibut for us, apparently there is multiple sounds where trawls are not allowed, which again means very healthy fish stocks. I plan to live bait for the halibut, but I know some of the others have bought penn's halibut jigger. I refuse to pay £10 for a big squid though. Anyway we aim for a mixed fishing, both cod and coalfish jigging style and hopefully a chance to do real deap sea fishing, like 500meter+.

We are going in late may, which should be the best compromise between good weather and good fishing.

[robertlangford]

Hi.
That sounds very promising. Forget that H.Jigger. They're a rip off!
They aren’t made to catch fish just anglers!
I've had a lot of success with Svenskapilk's both in Norway and in the Faroes. A coalfish flapper is a really good bait also. It also sorted out the bigger cod for me on my trip.
Do you know about the self hooking rig?
This works very well in all situations where there are masses of small fish, particularly coalfish. It has the advantage that you are presenting your bait where you hook it which is exactly where predators are looking for it.
How many of you are going?
Robert

[rik_j]

I have used live baiting on Røst also, but it was just catching a small coalfish and wait for it to be eaten by a bigger fish :D I have never seen that "self-hooking" rig you are talking about, but I would like to.

I got some svenskapilks, but would have more if they weren't so damn expensive, especially when they get heavy. I agree that they are good, but they are perhaps a little too lively for my taste, they tend to catch other anglers lines.

The trip is organised for 10 anglers, but since the the booking hasn't started yet I don't know exactly how many are going. I would expect all spaces to be booked very fast though. The overall cost for ferry, accommodation and fishing is £300, and then there's expenses like food and drink.

[robertlangford]

I have used live baiting on Røst also, but it was just catching a small coalfish and wait for it to be eaten by a bigger fish :D I have never seen that "self-hooking" rig you are talking about, but I would like to.

I got some svenskapilks, but would have more if they weren't so damn expensive, especially when they get heavy. I agree that they are good, but they are perhaps a little too lively for my taste, they tend to catch other anglers lines.

The trip is organised for 10 anglers, but since the the booking hasn't started yet I don't know exactly how many are going. I would expect all spaces to be booked very fast though. The overall cost for ferry, accommodation and fishing is £300, and then there's expenses like food and drink.

Yeah the self hooking rig does just that but its a bit more effective than a big hook.
It simply involves putting a big sturdy treble behind a small Gummi-Makk; see image. I use VMC xtra strong 6/0 trebles but with really big halibutt you may want to think about using Owner trebles. It's not rocket science.
I've fornd that the lighter Svenskapilk's are best for Halibut and don't generally have much trouble with other lines. Partly because I usually don't fish in large groups but also as I generally dont use any other hooks. That keeps it simple. The price sounds good. Did you arrange everything yourself or do you use a travel agent?

[rik_j]

I get your point with the rig, I have tried something similar earlier, just the other way around, a small makk sliding above the treble, but didn't find it very succesful.
We usually use Mustad duratin trebles in size 8/0 for everything, they are in the same league as the VMC's just a tad cheaper.

I'm saving up for a big order from Askari (Reels, booms and other accesories) so I might as well add some vmc hooks and some more svenskapilks.

We are a small club that focus on sea fishing only, we got around 20 trips annually, most in denmark but with one or two trips to other locations. We got a member from the faroes who have arranged the deal with the commercial fisherman and then we have just booked the ferry. I suppose you won't be able to get that price with a travel agent.

[robertlangford]

You probably couldn't do that price with an agent, but sometimes they surprise me. Good quality Mustad are just as good. It's just that the VMC's are more readily available over here but the Permasteel are very good hooks.
Have you run across a guy called Hans F Hansen? He organised my Faroe trip. Smyrl line got in touch with him and he 's a great bloke and very knowledgeable. Do you know him?

Robert

[rik_j]

No, I can't say I know him, but I know that smyril line offer guided fishing trips as well. I think (not sure) that it's through this agent: www.greengate.fo, but it was much too pricey for us. If we had booked with them and wanted the same time on the sea (i.e. 10-12 hours daily at a minimum) then the price for our trip would double.
The main problem with faroes charters were their fishing time, some only offering as little as 6 hours a day.

To be honest we don't go all the way to the faroes just to sit and watch the birds (edit: those who fly, I may add ;)).

[robertlangford]

Yes i can imagine that that would not be ideal. It seems like your pretty well organised but if you want someone to help, or maybe even come along I'm sure Hans would be interested.
Robert

[rik_j]

I think we got everything covered regarding the trip to and from the faroes. The only problem we got is the lack of fishing reports from other people, a lot of people fish norway so it's usually no problem to find out what to expect from a new venue, but it's not the case with the faroe islands. We have been told to expect cod, coalfish, haddock and halibut, but what about wolffish, ling, tusk, various rays, sharks etc.?

I suppose it will be very much like norway though, perhaps just a tad more virgin.

[robertlangford]

There was a article going around a while ago about porbeagle being caught there. I thought it was a Danish angling group?
But from my experience you can expect the same as Norway just as you say a bit more virgin.
Which doesn't always mean good fishing but it is quite an experience and of course it might be fantastic. I was in the south west and as the skipper had a bum deal with the tourist board, and he was a nice guy we fished for the boat in the afternoons. The result was that between 1 o'clock and 4 o'clock in the afternoon 3 anglers had two boxes of cod split and washed. The boxes where a cubic meter each though. We only took fish between 4 and 8 kg which resulted in a very happy chappy.
Interestingly the locals came out when they heard about our fishing but couldn't mach us with there Jucsas. Rod and line can be very effective.
That could also be the reason that we didn't see any Halibut.
The biggest fish of the trip went about 12 kg. But I've never seen so many cod. And of course the usual brosme, ling, sea wolf, haddock.
You know I was fishing in Djibouti a few weeks ago. I dropped a line down deep with bait to see what was down there and joked that I would probably catch a brosme. I said that we had been there 4 days and that my brosme have had time to follow me from Hitra where I fish a lot. And guess what; I caught a brosme. Small, snotty, sharp teeth and tasteless and I wound it up out of 250 m. I nearly fell in.
Here’s hoping you do better.
Robert

[rik_j]

You are correct, there was an article of porbeagle fishing in the faroes done by some danes a couple of years ago, but that was in winter, so I don't expect us to go hunting for porbeagles although it could be funny.

I expect the species to be more or less the same as found in norway, but I'm keen if there are other species around that could be fun to catch. Greenland halibut is an option if the weather is good, as is various rays, spotted catfish, blue catfish and so on.

I wouldn't mind a few hours of fishing for the boat, if that could make the skipper happy, then no problem. A skilled angler can outfish Jucsas no problem, I've seen and done that in Norway in the past.

Brosme is a true plague, nothing worse than reeling in a 2 lbs brosme when you target other species. I have however seen very good catches of big ling if you find the spots, simply because they feed heavily on small brosme. The downside is you need to catch too many small brosme before finding the ling - but when you do, it is even more rewarding.

[Scrudgy]

Great thread guys - makes me want to come to the Faroes - Is there many pubs in Torshavn or where ever else you stay?

[rik_j]

Don't know about Thorshavn, but I will expect it to be very expensive.

I'm not going for the pubs (staying in Fuglefjord, about 1000 citizens), but for the fishing.

[flattiefanatic]

When you talk about Brosme, are you referring to Torsk?

[rik_j]

Yes, brosme (danish, norwegian) is the same as Tusk, cusk, torsk. Lumb in german.
It's are real mixup, as torsk means cod in danish and norwegian. Hence the confusion

[robertlangford]

Yes, brosme (danish, norwegian) is the same as Tusk, cusk, torsk. Lumb in german.
It's are real mixup, as torsk means cod in danish and norwegian. Hence the confusion
Hi guys. Yes torsk in english means brosme in norwegian and tusk in English is kind of fresh water cod known in Gemany as Quappe. Hence I used the Norwegian name.

Thorshavn is a typical scandinavian town with nice pubs, cafes and resaurants and a great marina and even two fishing tackle shops.

Robert

[rik_j]

Btw. I got a nice link for all of you going to a new destination:

It's basically an online seachart of most of the world, a bit fiddly to work with, but gives a nice view of the depths in the area you are going to:

C-Map (http://mappe.c-marina.com/main/search/portsearch.asp)

[lobsterkid]

:) So how did the trip go

[rik_j]

Just found this old thread, and realized I had some un-finished buisness:

Overall we were disappointed with both the number and the size of the fish we caught. Basically I think our skipper didn't quite understand our intensions, and thus we stayed mainly close to shore, although we had 100% flat water, which allowed us to go far out on the banks with the big fish. We caught a lot of cod up to about 4 kg's, a lot of coalfish up to 2-3 kg and the best fishing was perhaps when we found a school of whitings, catching a lot of fish up to 1,55 kg.

Pics from the trip are here: http://maaleren.dk/r200506.php

We all agreed that the boats of the faroes aren't geared towards sea anglers like us, when we travel so far and spend so much cash, we would expect the fishing to better.

This year we are 17 anglers going to Røst in Norway, and it is probably safe to say that it's better there. For 2008 we are working on iceland or Sørøya.

[The Big Man]

If you're thinking about boat fishing in Iceland I can highly recommend the Westman Islands. A report of our recent trip here - http://www.efsa-scotland.org/competitions/Iceland_2007.htm and lots of photos starting here - http://www.efsa-scotland.org/gallery/iceland2007.htm