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Post by robbie on Jul 19, 2007 19:07:45 GMT
Being new to the forum I have been reading the archive threads, trying to get the feel of the forum ( still not sure  ) I found a fairly volatile thread about re-imbursment for unfishable days. I do not intend to reopen that particular can of worms but it reminded me of my recent trip to Norway at the end of June. Cost : 1) 6 annual leave days from work, 2) 2 days of awkward travel, 3) Cost of extra tackle purchased using the trip as the excuse! 4) 2K for the package 5) Paying outrageous amounts for anything. £1.80 for a bottle of water £2.50 for a bar of chocolate £ 35.00 for 2 pints of coke and 2 club sandwiches !! All this with my eyes wide open and totally tolerable if there had been any water in the rivers. While people in Sheffield were boating down the high street, Norway was experiencing the driest June since 1934. Still, fly fishing for sea trout and pollack in a stunningly beautiful saltwater fjord was a very welcome consolation, along with seeing moose, deer, sea eagles and even bear prints on one of the remote (former) rivers we tried to fish. Can I have my money back pleeeeze? p.s. 6 days fishing, 4 rods Bag = 1 Sea Trout, 1 Grilse 50 plus Pollack |
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Post by stu47 on Jul 19, 2007 20:16:54 GMT
Just no pleasing some folk is there,plenty of water now,im going fishing in the fields tomorrow
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Post by robbie on Jul 19, 2007 21:13:04 GMT
Hi Stu47
Things are looking up in Norway!! Not only can you fish now but if you bottle the water in the fields and sell it you should be able to finance your trip, buy a yacht and retire at Norwegian prices.
Despite the lack of fishing I still had a great time. The other rods were good fun and the guide did everything in his power to get us on water. I felt that I had had a holiday (much needed) and I will definitely take a gamble and go back.
Good luck tomorrow
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Post by jaxck5 on Jul 20, 2007 10:41:52 GMT
There is obviously a common thread about fishing in Norway. My brother and I had a week there in June 2005. After considerable research we selected the second week of June as this gave the best opportunity of contacting the big fish coming in on the snow melt ( in previous years 40 pounders were caught on our beat ) In preparation we equipped ourselves with super fast sinking Teenys and large tubes , Temple dogs etc., I even put 400yards of 40lb backing on my reels. Our Swedish guide met us at the airport and after disinfecting our kit took us to see the river ,it was very very low , what snow melt there had been occured in March/April. He mentioned casually that the first week of the season ( season starts June 1st )had been completely blank for the whole river and this was the first time that this had happened for fifty years.
Having spent quite a lot of money on the trip we decided to give it our best and threw away our Teenys , dug out the floater with small flies and fished very hard for the week - up to 18 hours a day !
Unfortunately there was no happy ending, we both blanked for the week having tried everything. We heard that there was one fish caught on the river that week - -spinning !
At the airport on the way home we met people who had fished other rivers and they had the same story , no water.no fish.
As a footnote in the August 2005 edition of Trout and Salmon it stated that the Norwegian rivers had started the season well !
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Post by robbie on Jul 20, 2007 14:14:55 GMT
My trip this year was as a result of last years (2006) trip being called off due to no water. That trip was meant to be at the end of August and luckily word had got around and all the trip places had not been filled so the guide found it more simple/honest to cancel the trip. Maybe I'll try somewhere else that is less vulnerable. Any suggestions ??
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Post by stu47 on Jul 21, 2007 7:20:56 GMT
Can understand your dissapointment lads,but you can book your fishing but not the weather,i live over here now and know the cost of travel and everything. Only a small seatrout yesterday robbie,river was dropping of nicely so give it a bash today
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Post by robbie on Jul 21, 2007 7:36:03 GMT
Stu47. Hi there. Understand what you say about the weather however it does make you reluctant to pay a trip deposit 4 months in advance. also blood supply to crossed fingers ,legs etc can be compromised!!. As stated I did still enjoy the trip. At worst I had 6 days casting practice in what was stunning scenery. The locals were friendly and I enjoyed an hour long advice session with a guy working in th big tackle shop in Namsos. Good luck today, where are you fishing?
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Post by pertempledog on Jul 21, 2007 16:29:23 GMT
Robbie while I do appreciate that we are meant to be phlegmatic and take the bad times along with the good, you have my complete sympathy. I felt bad about my trip to Orkla evaporating along with the last of the water last year, but your experience has been terrible by comparison.
I have yet to fish in Norway and look forward to the time when it happens but after last year I remain a tad nervous about making a booking and your post has not done anything to make me feel braver!
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Post by robbie on Jul 21, 2007 20:14:47 GMT
Pertempledog
If you have never fished abroad, my immediate response would be to take a gamble. Get as much background on the guides you will be using. Will they try to find water for you?, or will they simply leave you on a skeletal river and not look for alternatives. Our guide was on the phone constantly trying to look for areas that had received any rain. He procured fishing for us on the Namsen (big enough to have water all the time) at next to no notice. next spring we will be able to see if there has been a rain pattern for the previous 3 years, which may help date selection. As I said before, the fishing was in some ways the excuse for being there. If you would like to know more details on who I travelled with PM me.
ATB
Robbie
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Post by D-Loop on Jul 23, 2007 15:50:20 GMT
Just back from 5 days fishing the Gaula on the SJFF association beats at Storen. Could be summed up as ' Lucky with the Weather (it rained)  - Nae Luck with the Fish (I Blanked)'  . On Monday the river was running at a very low 20 m3/s - by Wednesday after the rain it was up to 120 m3/s. This brought out the locals and it was a case of combat fishing with queues to get into the river at some points. I counted 10 fish taken on the SJFF water while I was there - the majority fell to cutlery. I stuck with my 15' Norway/ Monteith multi-tip - using every combination of tip/fly/leader tried - to no avail. Locals were at a loss to explain the lack of fish given the near-perfect water conditions. Still it was a great break, lovely location, nice people - I hope to return. D-Loop. |
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Post by darrenuk on Jul 23, 2007 16:39:31 GMT
I was on the Gaula last week in June above Storen with 2 mates and we blanked aswell and hardly saw a fish all week.
Darren
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Post by pond321 on Jul 24, 2007 12:05:47 GMT
I was on the Verdal last week. The water was lovely - the river was full when we arrived we had a spate mid week, with the river dropping beautifully over the next couple of days.
There were no fish about though!
We had a total of 7 fish for 10 rods. 5 of these were stale fish.
However, I did manage 1 fish - which was a) fresh and b) my first Salmon, so not a total write off !!
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Post by acw on Jul 24, 2007 14:35:19 GMT
I was on the Verdal last week. The water was lovely - the river was full when we arrived we had a spate mid week, with the river dropping beautifully over the next couple of days. There were no fish about though! We had a total of 7 fish for 10 rods. 5 of these were stale fish. However, I did manage 1 fish - which was a) fresh and b) my first Salmon, so not a total write off !! Jon , well done mate ,bet it fought harder than a kennet grayling |
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Post by splicedsharpe on Aug 7, 2007 0:25:48 GMT
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) I found a fairly volatile thread about re-imbursment for unfishable days. I do not intend to reopen that particular can of worms but it reminded me of my recent trip to Norway at the end of June. Cost : 
- Nae Luck with the Fish (I Blanked)' 
.
