Swedish Rivers

[salmonfly]

The sea trout fishing has gone off here with a bang, but there is still ice on mosts of the rivers.
I will have some more reports for you soon!

[salmonfly]

Springer, have you done any research about fishing in Oslo, what type of fishing will you be looking to do while you are in Oslo?

[tyneandrew]

We were talking about going up there for a weekend when we were on our Tay week in February. Would be interested to here any details.

How about getting the ferry - easier with your own car and kit???

[tyneandrew]

That was an option we considered too. I remember seeing John Wilson Sea Trout fishing in Sweden once in one of his better series before he started taking laughing gas before every programme!

[salmonfly]

springer said:

Salmonfly,
Game fishing is my only real interest. Ive read great things about Norway in T&S etc. Ive no idea how far from Oslo I'd need to travel and/or how easy it would be to find some fairly inexpensive fishing.
Tyneandrew,
The cheap flight appealed as its so much quicker, more time fishing than traveling. Car hire between say 4 wouldn't be so bad.

Norway and inexpensive should never be use in the same sentence, the flights are cheap but the fishing is not, if you want I can check and see if there is some place fairly reasonable for you to check out.

[kercock]

I've been to Norway a couple of times, the last time cost about £650 for ten days ,Including flights and fishing. Flying out of Aberdeen to Trondhiem, mini bus to Storen, fished the Gaula a ssociation water(about three to four miles of it )for ten days,then home. Great place ,great river and the natives are friendly.I was very lucky two years previous to that visit because,it seems,the locals had never seen Speycasting LIVE,so I spent a lot of my time teaching locals the basics and was invited back at their expense to spend two weeks teaching in Storen , However,I did not take up the offer. Back I went two years later with eight others and again spent a lot of time with Scandanavians and had a great time showing them how to speycast. In my experience the were all about shooting heads and it did take a wee while to convince them they could cast just as far with a lot less effort. Really though, Norway need not be expensive,we took a lot of food with us,AND DRINK. but that is not legal they told us.In fact one guy from another party had one more bottle than is allowed...... one.!, got stopped and lost the lot and was fined £100, We had 39 litres,no problems !! The fishing camps are not expensive,ie four sharing a hut the fishing ,was about £30 a day. The local supermarket,in Storen, was not that bad. Have a look on the net,see what there is. You are only on this planet using a one way ticket mind !

[salmonfly]

kercock said:

I've been to Norway a couple of times, the last time cost about £650 for ten days ,Including flights and fishing. Flying out of Aberdeen to Trondhiem, mini bus to Storen, fished the Gaula a ssociation water(about three to four miles of it )for ten days,then home. Great place ,great river and the natives are friendly.I was very lucky two years previous to that visit because,it seems,the locals had never seen Speycasting LIVE,so I spent a lot of my time teaching locals the basics and was invited back at their expense to spend two weeks teaching in Storen , However,I did not take up the offer. Back I went two years later with eight others and again spent a lot of time with Scandanavians and had a great time showing them how to speycast. In my experience the were all about shooting heads and it did take a wee while to convince them they could cast just as far with a lot less effort. Really though, Norway need not be expensive,we took a lot of food with us,AND DRINK. but that is not legal they told us.In fact one guy from another party had one more bottle than is allowed...... one.!, got stopped and lost the lot and was fined £100, We had 39 litres,no problems !! The fishing camps are not expensive,ie four sharing a hut the fishing ,was about £30 a day. The local supermarket,in Storen, was not that bad. Have a look on the net,see what there is. You are only on this planet using a one way ticket mind !

Well spoken Kercock, will you be going back to Norway this year? Do you really think that when you are spey casting, you cast with a lot less effort?

[storlaks]

As well as direct flight to Oslo, you can also get cheap flights direct to Trondheim from Stansted. www.norwegian.no/

I say that because if you fly to Oslo you then to get another flight to Trondheim or drive 10 hrs which isn't handy on a long weekend!!

There are rivers around and close to Oslo. Haven't fished down there, but have a look at this site...it might help. fishbooking.com/indexe.html

By going direct to Trondheim, you can then choose between the Gaula, Orkla and Storjdal. All great flyfishing rivers and good runs of salmon. I fish Gaula every year and it's fantastic. The club water is also good and it's cheap. best time is Mid-June to end of July.

I'll be there mid-July.

[kercock]

I certainly won't be going back this year,even though I was lucky enough to be invited back,sponsored by an angling clothing company but had already made other arrangements for mid June. My style of casting is very relaxed.I try to get the maximum result from the rod and line with the least amount of effort(it's called laziness). I certainly don't do the 50yd stuff,Ireckon people are a bit carried away with distance,. Not so long ago salmon lines were all around 27yds,all double tapered.Are more salmon caught with the spey lines cast a very long way,I'm not convinced. Don't get me wrong,I am a big fan of spey lines,but presentation is the better fish catcher I reckon. The people I saw using the shooting head set up looked more like they were dry fly fishing,I reckoned at the time,that by the time they had built up the momentum for the forward part of the cast,they were knackered,nothing left for the tickly bit ! Ihave seen the local experts on the Tay with the shooting heads since then and these guys cast a looooooooooooooooong way .I do have the guideline set up and I do use it when I remember I have it ! !. Generally though I have a 15ft rod with a windcutter on it,simply because that is what I use to show people how to spey cast.usually on a B/W (both out on loan ) or an Altmore Spey.Doddles to use.

[salmonfly]

kercock said:

I certainly won't be going back this year,even though I was lucky enough to be invited back,sponsored by an angling clothing company but had already made other arrangements for mid June. My style of casting is very relaxed.I try to get the maximum result from the rod and line with the least amount of effort(it's called laziness). I certainly don't do the 50yd stuff,Ireckon people are a bit carried away with distance,. Not so long ago salmon lines were all around 27yds,all double tapered.Are more salmon caught with the spey lines cast a very long way,I'm not convinced. Don't get me wrong,I am a big fan of spey lines,but presentation is the better fish catcher I reckon. The people I saw using the shooting head set up looked more like they were dry fly fishing,I reckoned at the time,that by the time they had built up the momentum for the forward part of the cast,they were knackered,nothing left for the tickly bit ! Ihave seen the local experts on the Tay with the shooting heads since then and these guys cast a looooooooooooooooong way .I do have the guideline set up and I do use it when I remember I have it ! !. Generally though I have a 15ft rod with a windcutter on it,simply because that is what I use to show people how to spey cast.usually on a B/W (both out on loan ) or an Altmore Spey.Doddles to use.

Kercock, I think that you have misunderstood the question, I have fish with people that are good spey caster and at the end of the day there are very tired, while I on the other hand is still fit and ready for a good fight, by the way my casting style is also called LAZY, I go fishing not casting.
If you have ever seen a good underhand caster you will understand what I mean about the LAZY STYLE. Casting long distance every time is not really needed but sometimes a long cast is required too reach a fish or two. I find that if you are fishing a long line it is harder to set your hook if you get a take; most of the fish that I hook are just out side of the shooting head while retrieving it for a new cast.

[williegunn]

You would be exhausted stripping in all that line, strip strip strip. Learn to cast a long bellied line easy simple. Tired get real..............I fish about 300 days a year.

[storlaks]

Willie, you are beginning to sound like 3 guys in a well-known salmon magazine suggesting long-bellied are the only line of choice. Stripping line is not a problem and it seems not to bother the many Scandanavians that use it exclusively. They often question that fact that we haul out 70 yards of fast sinking line when they are using a floating shooting head and a sinking tip. It's all about preference. If you are casting properly and efficiently it shouldn't be tiring.

[salmonfly]

williegunn said:

You would be exhausted stripping in all that line, strip strip strip. Learn to cast a long bellied line easy simple. Tired get real..............I fish about 300 days a year.

Willie, have I ever told you to learn to cast with a sage or Loomis rod and not to cast with your own rod!!
We all know your thought on shooting heads.
I am willing to have out the discussion with you it’s all about preference!

[kercock]

I certainly aint a long caster,never claimed to be,I can on I very good day get the 40yds or so.My usual is about 35yds,I'd say. The guys I saw in Norway were not so hot, as I said earlier "they were like dryfly fishers".I did see some very good flyfishers,two of them were seriously good. One fella I got to know quite well ,called Per,he is/was on the local association at Storen on the Gaula,he was a superb caster and at that time used shooting heads. The people I mentioned were the "Mr average" who made it all look like hard work. I don't really get the time to get in the swing of the long belly lines. I got the ian G at least a month ago and still have'nt had a chance to try it out yet. Not moaning you understand ,it goes with the territory. Salmonfly I, stopped casting many years ago,and have been fishing ever since ,I definately agree with you that most of the takes are not so far from my own bank with the exception being when the Grilse and salmon are lying in the fast broken water on the far side,then,distance is important.

[fredtrout]

I´m Scandinavian and I like both shooting heads and spey lines. It all depends on the situation.

However, there are a few features inherited in the shooting head system that often lead to bad casting. The thin shooting line means you need to be very careful not to lose energy when the sweep is done and you begin the back cast, or d-loop, especially when using fast action rods. I´d say 80% of Scandinavian salmon anglers have this problem and it´s always solved by the same method; casting once, twice or even three times into the river before making the actual cast. Not only does it annoy people waiting to fish the pool (spooking fish) it also means a lot of energy is wasted. Take a look at Göran Andersson of Loop or Leif Stävmo of Guideline and the effortless *lazy* manner in which they cover the water. That is real underhand casting, as opposed to the hammering that most people are doing. This was the main reason why I started out with a spey line, seeing too many people thrashing the water. Nowadays I´m more than happy to use shooting heads as well but I aviod "false casting" like the plague.

[kercock]

Welcome fredtrout, your first post and a good one too and I agree with what you say. I just could not see any advantage to any of that false casting style,line crashing down on the water,It must make a signifcant sound as the line hits the water to any fish lying in that area.

[fredtrout]

Yes, it must affect the fish in some way.

If you come to a famous chalk stream or to a great bone fish flat and mess around people would probably make remarks. For some weird reason it´s *ok* to beat the crap out of salmon pools...

[splicedsharpe]

First fresh fish of the year in river Mörrum

www.morrum.com/templates/Page.aspx?id=141

Also river Ätran on the west coast (City of Falkenberg) have had there first fishes landed as early as 14'th of April.
Web page not in English but nice pictures of a cracking sea-trout and the biggest salmon so far www.atranssportfiske.se/

regards

Janne

[splicedsharpe]

Also Scandinavia has gotten its fair share of rain lately. For the river Mörrum that has meant unusually high flows for this part of the year. Today 50 m3 which is some 40 m3 more than it usually is and relatively low temperatures 18-19 Celsius. And as could be expected this has lead to good runs of fish both salmon and sea-trout, last Thursday a cracking 10.8 kg sea-trout was landed in pool #7. also some nice salmon have been caught. Still waiting for a pic. of the sea-trout on the Mörrum web page but there are some other nice salmon and sea-trout to look at.

www.morrum.com/templates/Page.aspx?id=177

regards

janne