Many hard-core fishermen have started their fishing careers coarse fishing for roach, perch, and bream. On Bornholm, there are lots of lakes, ponds, and gravel pits perfectly suited for families with children, who would like to get into fishing. Species such as, for instance, tench, carp, bream, roach, and crucian carp are rather plentiful here, and coarse fishing is a great and very relaxing way of targeting them. And best of all, it doesn’t require a lot of previous experience or expensive tackle.
Coarse fishing, in all its simplicity, is about fishing with live or natural bait such as, for instance, earth worms, corn, maggots, bread, or live bait. All fish – both predatory and otherwise, can be caught on natural bait, and contrary to jig-, spin-, and fly fishing you’re not just fishing “imitations” artificially designed to lure the fish into striking. When coarse fishing, you’re fishing with “the real deal” – something that can be seen, smelled, and eaten.
Coarse fishing involves lots of sub-disciplines, but you don’t need to know a lot about bait and tackle – or invest in lots of new gear, to spend time coarse fishing Bornholm’s many beautiful lakes and ponds.
All you need to get started coarse fishing is an ordinary spinning setup including a light 7-8’ spinning rod and a sturdy spinning reel pre-spooled with 0,20 – 0,25mm nylon (or braided) line. Additionally, you’ll need an assortment of hooks, floats, and sinkers. The hooks are mounted on a simple rig, either below a float with a few split shots for balancing the float (when fishing the surface), or in front of- or behind a sinker (when fishing the bottom). Once the hook has been baited and the bait has been cast out, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the surroundings while waiting for a fish to stumble upon you bait and strike.
Once you’ve bought your state fishing license, you can fish a number of municipal lakes on Bornholm for free. The following are the most interesting.
Safirsøen (The Saphire Lake) in Hasle Lystskov (Hasle Recreational Forest), which besides pike and perch, also has a rich variety of coarse fish such as, for instance, carp and roach.
Snorrebakkesøen, which is situated near Snorrebakken outside of Rønne, is home to pike and perch. Furthermore, it has great eel fishing.
Kanegårdssøerne, which are situated in Kanegårdsskoven just outside of Rønne. These lakes offer a great place to fish for carp, tench, eel, and other coarse fish – as well as a few pike and perch.
Kaolingraven in the vicinity of Rønne is a great pike fishery.
The lake near Torneværksvej close to Rønne’s city limits has a solid population of coarse fish including carp.
No separate licenses are needed for the following two state forest lakes:
Sdr. Borgedal, which is situated in Rø Plantage (Rø Plantation). Here, you can catch small pike, roach, and even trout.
Åsedam, which is found in Almindingen. Here, you’ll find pike, perch, and eel. Furthermore, it’s a great place to combine a picknick with the kids and some float fishing for roach.
The following commercial fisheries are available on Bornholm:
“Ørredsøen på Vellensbyvej” (The Vellensbyvej Trout Lake): A Put & Take trout fishery. Licenses can be bought on-site or in the tackle store Sport Dres Bornholm.
“Stenbrudssøen”: The “Gravel Pit Lake” is situated near the Nexø Camp Site, where you can buy fishing licenses. Here, you can catch pike, zander, tench, carp, and eel in addition to stocked rainbow trout.
What’s so great about fishing Bornholm’s lakes is that the season peaks during the summer months when lots of visitors arrive on the island. Especially the wee hours of the morning and the evenings are great for targeting the big predatory fish lurking in the lakes. However, traditional coarse fish such as roach, crucian carp, bream, tench, and common carp can be caught throughout the day. The latter species of fish provide a basis for an extremely family-friendly form of fishing, which is the perfect supplement to other relaxing social activities on the island. For more experienced fishermen, there are exciting challenges associated with targeting some of the lakes’ fully-grown inhabitants whether it be pike, zander, perch, or carp.
Some of Bornholm’s best lakes include Rubinsøen (The Ruby Lake) in Hasle Lystskov, which houses a good population of pike and perch, and Safirsøen (Sapphire Lake) – also in Hasle Lystskov. The latter boasts a healthy population of coarse fish (including carp), in addition to pike and perch.
Particularly family-friendly are Snorrebakkesøen and Kaolinsøen – both situated along the eastern periphery of Rønne. You can catch pike, tench, perch, roach, and eel in these lakes, and there are well-established parking lots and easy access. Ferskesø in Nexø is another city-limit lake in which you can catch eel, pike, perch, tench, and – during the fall season, seatrout. Otherwise, you should consider bringing some fishing tackle if you plan to visit the well-known Hammersø; an incredibly beautiful and gin-clear hike-in lake, where there is good fishing and particularly good chances of catching perch.
