Our heroes

Meet our heroes; our muses.

Catfish

The catfish (Silurus glanis) is without a doubt our largest freshwater fish. Maximum length is probably around 3 meters, with a weight of about 150 kg. Diameter length is 130 cm. This is a purebred predator, who hunts for eels, carp and ducks. Catfish Fishing is Big Game. The season runs from April to November.

Pike

The pike (Esox lucius) is an imaginative predatory fish. With a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, which firmly fix her prey. She has a natural “woodland” camouflage to attack her victims out of ambush. Female pike grow considerably larger than males, reaching a length of up to five feet, with a weight of over 30 kilograms. We strongly recommend that you attack this beautiful sport fish on the fly. The season runs from September to March.

Zander

The zander (Perca lucioperca) is, like the pike and the perch, a predatory fish. Like the latter, the zander belongs to the true bass family. She can be about 125 cm long and around 20 kg in weight. Such specimens are exceptionally rare. A fish of 80 cm (4-5 kg) is considered large. A fish of 90 cm is a super specimen. In addition to dangerous teeth, the pikeperch also has a series of strong spikes… The season runs from June to March.

Perch

The perch (Perca fluviatilis) is a somewhat smaller, but very aggressive predatory fish, which also operates in schools. Maximum length is around 60 cm. One of 40 is already a big one; a 50+ is “A fish of a lifetime”. The perch is a formidable opponent on the spinning or fly rod.
The season runs from June to March. The largest are mainly caught in the winter months.

Eel

The eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a ray-finned fish from the true eel family. It's an elongated fish with a maximum length of probably between 150 and 160 cm with a weight of about 5 kilos. She's a scavenger. The season runs from April to October. This species is mainly active at night.

The amazing feeling of having a slithery eel hooked on your fishing rod

Tench

The tench (Tinca tinca) belongs to the cyprinid family. She can reach a maximum length of about 70 cm with a weight of more than 14 pounds. The fish has a dark moss green color in this area. She's truly a special image in the fish world. Another thing that characterizes this fish is the red iris in the eye. The tench mainly preys on mosquito larvae, worms and snails, but does not despise a small fish either. The season runs from the end of February to the end of October.

Carp

The carp (Cyprinus carpio) is the largest representative of the eponymous order (order of cyprinids) in our regions. Partly because of this, it is the most popular whitefish and hundreds of thousands of carp anglers only fish for this extremely strong game fish. The species has several scale variants: there are lineair, mirror, leather and gold carp. The European carp grow up to about 120 cm long. Carps of more than 40 kg have already been caught. In the Netherlands, 20 - 25 kg kilos of fish are absolute specimen.

Grass carp

The grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is an exotic species in our waters. She's a vegetarian. The species has been released since the 1970s to combat excessive plant growth in a natural way. The species cannot reproduce in our waters, since the water temperatures are too low. Nevertheless, it can be great fun to fish for this animals, especially with the fly rod. The season runs from mid-April to mid-October.

Rudd

The common rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) is a native whitefish, which is very common in almost all Dutch waters. The species can grow up to 50 cm in length. She is a very popular catch with the fly fisherman. The fly fishing season runs from roughly March to October. In this season, it's even possible to hook a 40+ specimen.

Roach

Roach is a somewhat smaller representative of the whitefish and belongs to the family of the Cyprinidea (cyprinid). The average size is 13-17 cm and a large one is 25.30 cm. We can bring you to a 40+...

Let's go for Roach!

Roaches are among the most popular fish among children and adults alike!

Ide

The Ide (Leuciscus idus) is the largest of the roaches. Like the other white fish, she belongs to the order of the cyprinid. She can reach 80 cm in length. The Ide feeds on worms, larvae, nymphs, flies and pintails. She's a very nice fish to catch on the fly. The season runs from February to the end of September.

Specimen hunter anglers will know about the beautiful ide

Asp

The asp (Aspius aspius) is a predatory whitefish; a very fast, dynamic predatory fish from the cyprinid order. The diet consists mainly of small fish, bleak and roach. The asp can reach a length of more than 120 cm. A specimen of 80 cm by 5 kilograms is exceptionally large; a 60+ is a good fish. The season runs from early June to mid-October.

Asps are among the most wanted specimen on the list of fishing enthousiasts

Trout

Trout, like salmon, belong to the salmonids. She's a noble fish. Over here we have rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and the sea trout (Salmo trutta trutta). Both are ideal opponents on the fly. You can't think of a more classic catch with this rig. In our view, the rainbow trout is a spring and autumn fish, while the sea trout makes themselves catchable in the winter. A 60 cm by 2.5-3 kg trout is large; a 5 kg fish is capital.

Sea bass

The sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a fish in the Moronidae family and belongs to the order of Perch. The adult fish is on average 50 cm. A large perch is above 70 cm; a capital one above 80 cm. The fish can grow to more than a meter in length with a weight of more than 10 kilograms. It is a very popular saltwater game fish, and a very suitable one to cath with the fly rod… The season runs from mid-May to the end of November.

Cod

The cod (Gadus morhua) is the largest representative of the cod family (Gadidea) in this area, and it belongs to the order Cod-like (Gadiformes). It is economically the most important species in the North Sea: both for professional and for recreational fishing! The cod grows between one and a half and two meters long, with a weight of more than fifty kilograms. Unfortunately, the species is having a hard time due to overfishing. Nowadays a 10-15 kilo fish is already very big. The smaller cod (so-called 'gullen') are fished from the shore. The season from the shore runs from late November to mid-January, and from late February to late April. Grab a bout and the season runs from the end of October to the end of May.

We are specialists regarding catching the atlantic cods on the dutch coast.

Sole

The sole (Solea solea) is a brown, spotted flatfish in the sole family (Soleidae). She's an oval-shaped fish with a relatively small mouth. The sole has a preference for deeper water, preferably with a (mixed) mud bottom. She can grow over 70 cm in length; one of 50 cm can already be called big. She's a very tasty fish. She's a summer nocturnal scavenger: The season runs from June to mid-October.

Flounder

The flounder (Platichthysflesus) is a flat-bottomed fish in the family of plaices. They are old acquaintances along the Dutch coast; also in river estuaries. She's regularly found in large, fresh inland waters. She can reach a length of 60 cm.

Garfish

The garfish (Belone belone) belongs, like the flying fish, to the Belonidae family. She's a migratory fish which can be caught along the Dutch coast from April. The garfish can grow to a meter in length and weigh a few kilograms. She's a fierce predator that survives by hunting for pintail (herring, sprat) on the surface of the water. The fight is particularly exciting when the garfish, once hooked, starts 'walking' on the water surface. The season usually lasts until the end of September.

Mullet

Mullet (Mugil cephalus) is a fish in the mullet family. She's a summer guest out here and can be caught from May to mid-October. Her diet is largely vegetarian; algae and seaweeds are high on the menu. She also likes mussels, ragweed, shrimp, and the occasional small fish. She's a very strong fighter, able to take a 100 meter run. Makes for a great fish to hunt with your fly rod.

Shark

From the coast (beach fishing) we focus on three species: the smooth-headed shark (Mustelus mustelus), the spotted smooth-headed shark (Mustelus asterias) and the tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus). This species can grow to almost two meters in length. We call fish above 1 meter large. The season runs from mid-May to the end of September. Offshore we focus on the porbeagle (Lamna nasus) in October, November and December. This species can grow up to 3.5 meters in length. The highest published weight was 250 kg.

Get to know us

With a passion for large game fish and a preference for fly fishing, we at Esox Talking, offer you professional support in becoming adept at fishing and catching your dream fish.

The pike (Esox Lucius) always had a special meaning in Russian culture. In pre-christian religions the pike was a symbol for death en the guardian of the underworld. Later on the mythical attributes changed. Like in the folk lore of 'Yemelya the blockhead' (by order of the pike), where a big pike spoke to her happy captor and convinced him to put her back, in exchange for unlimited wish fulfillment of course...

Times have changed. Still, we, at Esox Talking, believe that a pike can speak, even if only to our imagination. It inspire to go further, to explore and evolve; to push the boundaries.

We found our passion in fishing. From ever since we remember we were on the banks. Fly fishing particularly found a way to our heart! We are happy and grateful we can now continue our passion in our professional life. We like to share our passion with the world through our fishing guide service and the premium products available through this website. We also love helping beginners get the hang of the several techniques used in fly fishing!