Tuesday 26 June 2012

The Newbie

A friend of mine, Vedran, has been nagging me for quite some time to take him fishing with me. So after he had a quick introduction to fly casting (about a month ago) I took him for at trip to Cuddly Creek. Lise came to, and since Vedran held a fly rod only once before, I was going to be his "guide" for the day.
The Noob and The Guide
 As is, nobody is born with a fly rod in their hands, but Vedran did the best he could. But when the wind came, it was safer for me to do the casting and he the fishing part. E. danica was hatching and the fish were rising. One really nice one to, well nice for the Cuddly Creek. So I took the cast, and gave the rod to the newbie, and bang! But nooooooo, it didn't sit....

Taking a closer look made me realize that the leader snapped in a wind-knot.... Should have checked the leader..... Bad Guide, Bad!!

Alas, what can we do than continue fishing. So a quick tippet change (love those micro rings!) and back to action.





While I'm playing guide, Lise i "killing", landing one after another. And some of the nice fish.
Sooooooooo happy


After a "few" striking problems, the noob finally hooked a fish! He did have some problem holding it for a photo, so I was a good guide and did it for him....
Noob's first fly caught trout!

Now it was my turn to catch a few, and so I did. Soon the hunger kicked in, those noobs... So we gave it a day and went home. Lise was really pleased, and so was the noob. The guide? Pleased!

Sunday 17 June 2012

What a weekend!

How to start?
Let's start with Friday night. At late o'clock I gave Lise a call because we just had to do some fishing! She was tired from work, but it didn't take much to convince her that fishing is the right thing to do.
In no time we were on our way.
Arriving at the river we saw two guys on the other bank, looked like fly fishermen, but they were just sitting....
OK with me. On the way down we saw a few fish rising in a sweet spot, but on the way there Lise got distracted by another fish. So I went to the sweet spot and waited with my #13 olive mayfly. The fish rose again and I cast my fly just to the left of the rise. Wait, take, wait two seconds, lift rod, It's on!
OOOOOOH, feels like a nice fish. So I call out to Lise and she comes running. Got to have photos.
After a nice fight I land a long, but a bit skinny (yet very beautiful) trout. 51,2 cm.
Yeah
Lise was a bit rusty on the hooking part, probably due to the tiredness, and after a few hours it got a bit cold so we went home. Man did I sleep like a bear hibernating!

Saturday and the wind is blowing.... Crap! What to do..... Pack up a lot of gear in the car and head out to Stjoerdal, visit a fly fishing store that has a sale on a bunch of stuff, then decide where to go. We ended up spending plenty of time at the store, but the wind was still blowing, so it was OK. When Lise got bored, we drove back to Trondheim and the same river we visited on Friday.
Today I was playing guide, so Lise could land a few nice fish.

It started a bit bad with a slight timing problem, but Lise soon calmed down and did it proper.
Action!
And after a few more fish it was the guides turn.
Whopper!!
Time flies when having fun and it was time to get home, early start tomorrow.

For some reason or other it's much easier to wake up early (for some) to go fishing then when you got to go to school... I was up at the crack of dawn. No wait, sun went up 03.03, ah the north... Everlasting day during the summer...
Well I was up pretty early, and after agreeing with Lise to pick her up in an hour, I got ready to do some more fishing. BUT Lise was still sleeping when I came to pick her up??!! WTF woman??!! So she had to get ready in a jiffy, can't waist precious fishing time, and we were on our way.

A bit of action was on when we arrived, and it took Lise no time to land a trout (after burning one due to slight loss of concentration..) and It took me no time at all to land my first trout too.

It was a bit colder today, so the fishing was a bit slow, but we managed to catch a few fish each.



All in all it was a nice weekend, now I got to get some new lines on the reels for the next trips :)

Tight lines all!

More photos here.


Monday 11 June 2012

The Water Wolf

Lise was ready to pop her pike-on-the-fly-cherry, so we packed up our float tubes and went fly fishing for pike.
The sun was warming and nice, and there was almost no wind. The tubes and the gear got ready, but to my surprise, I managed to forget the box with the pike-flies at home! Luckily there was one fly that I forgot in the trunk. Lucky me! Fly meet leader and let's go fly fishing!
It did not take long before Lise got her first pike, and it was a nice size.
Lie with her first fly-caught pike
I on the other hand only got reeds for a time. But luck soon came my way and I hooked something pretty big. After 4 big runs, the hook came out, followed by some nice words...
But shit happens, so the fly went out again and it took about 2 sec before another pike took the fly.
My new personal best.
After that the fishing got pretty slow, so we went home. Hope that the bigger ones are there the next time.

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Sun, Wind & Trout

Yet again it was time to visit the island of Smoela (map here)

If you clicked on the map link, which you should do, you saw that there is no shortage in places to fly fish (fresh water or salt).If I can "complain" about anything, it would be that there are to many places to fish :D


Anywho, Lise an I arrived pretty late at night, but we had to do some fishing before we set up camp. So we decided to try the place where I caught the rainbow trout last year. The tide was a bit to low, but we gave it a go. A few rising fish, non big, but Lise managed to catch a pollack, that must have been the limpest fish in the sea.

As the night got colder, it was time to put up the tent and get the ready for a slightly cold night. And as we got those things sorted, a few fish wre rising in the lake near the camp site, so we had to try and catch a few before bed.

A slight digression, sleeping in a tent must be one of the best things in the world. I don't know why, but there is something about sleeping on the ground and listening to the sounds of nature while falling asleep.

Any way, we woke up to blazing sun (which reminds me to by a polar filter for my dslr camera) and after a nice breakfast we packed up the tent and went to the same little creek we visited the last time we were here.


The wind was blowing pretty bad, and was cold to, so there were not many rising trout, but a few risers showed that there was some life in the creek. Lise got the first go, but had some trouble with hooking. This was very unusual for her. I, on the other hand did not have such problems, and after a while I got my first trout of the day.

We continued fishing down the creek and taking photos, many of them over exposed due to the strong sunlight, with a nice lunch-break consisting of home-made pasta salad (made by yours truly). With tummies full, we decided it was time to move.

On the way to another creek, we had to stop for some ice cream. Yum yum yum! After that nice cool-down, it was back in the car and tosome more fly fishing!

This creek also gave us some nice surprises last year, and we took turns in fishing/taking photos. Both of us landed a few trout each, and the day was coming to an end. But before supper, we had to try Straumen. But nothing more than a few nibbles at the fly happened there.

By now it was getting late and supper sounded really good, so it was in the car and to the new camping site. The tent went up in no time and dinner never tastes as good as under an open sky after a long day of fly fishing.

On Sunday the wind was really blowing, and getting stronger. We ate breakfast and packed up the camp, before we headed to little creek near the camp. But the wind was blowing so hard, that we decided that sightseeing sounded much better than using ultra-light gear in strong wind.


So after a nice drive around the island, we got some coffee and crisps, before we drove to the ferry. And the wind sure did make the ferry ride fun, with plenty of waves and a fair amount spray.

The weather was so nice, even if it was windy, that we stopped half-way to take a lunch beside one of the clearest rivers I've seen.

All in all it was a very nice trio, even if the wind ruined the chances of getting any of the bigger fish, but using ultra-light gear and hunting trout in small creeks is a lot of fun too!!!



You can see all the photos from the trip here.

Alpaca Comparadun

The Anchor

Olive & Brown, Salmon fly

Tony's Crazy Critter

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Pike Suprise

I love surprises!

Thomas and I went fly fishing for pike, and man was it fun. It started a bit slow, but soon Thomas landed a fish, and it was a trout. On a 8 wt with a pike fly... That trout must have been hungry.

After a lovely downpour, Thomas spotted a nice pike resting in some weeds, after a few goes the pike ate the fly and Thomas got a new personal best :)


We changed the spot and I went for a nice fat popper. After a few casts something large jumps out of the water and tries to take the popper, it's a big trout! Surprise! Man was I shocked. The popper is enormous! After that I changed down to the smallest pike fly I got, but the tail was so log, that it was impossible to hook anything.....

So again we changed spots, visiting two different lakes, with no pike on land, well no pike at all.It was getting a bit late, and Thomas had a date with Captain Morgan so we packed up and went home.

But after I dropped Thomas off, I started thinking of that trout. I had all my trout flies and a 3 wt in tha car, so why not give it a go? But after I arrived, i went for the 7 wt, no need in playing with the fish to much and there are some trees in the water, so the extra control the 7 wt gives is welcome. Luckily I had some tippet that I use for sea trout in the backpack, so I didn't need to use 0,45 mm mono :D

I went for a small streamer, since that trout went for a huge popper and after landing a few small but FAT trout, I tied on a small streamer/dragonfly nymph on. After a few castes something takes the fly, something strong. And after a good fight on the 7 wt (smart choice, because the 3 wt would have been to weak) I land a perfect example of the Salmo trutta, fat as a pig and 1,05 kg.

It was raining so much by now, that I was soaking wet. So I decided that after a extremely nice fish like the fat trout, there is no need for more fishing (for that day only, of course)

The Cuddly Creek

The Cuddly Creek is where we go to "cuddle fly fish", meaning light gear and just enjoying nice fly fishing, even if the fish are not huge.

This time it was Thomas and I who went, Lise had to work, and upon arriving and seeing the amount of rising fish, the hopes soared sky-high. But as usual, the fish were not so easy to fool...

They left all the duns floating for ages and did not give the a look, so after some trial and error, I found that what they really liked was a nymph, floating in the surface film. Still very visible fly fishing.

After a few fish, there is one that rises a few feet in front of me (I was hidden in some reeds) and a well aimed cast results in an instant take. At once I feel that this fish is bigger, an after a nice fight I land my new personal best for the Cuddly Creek :) Whole 850 grams.

As you can see on the photo, the fish is a bit skinny, so it will probably get to be over 1 kg when I meet it later this year.
Bending that 3wt :)

BQ Bead Head

The Fluttering Stonefly

Autnmn Time = Grayling Time (2011)


There is nothing better than planning a fly fishing trip, during a week filled with work and school. Once again we set way for Roeros, it's close and there is plenty of grayling to satisfy the urge. And since there are plenty of them, in varying water conditions, I focused on short-nymphing. A fun, yet hard way of fly fishing. More on that in another article.

Because Lise had to work til 16.00, we decided that eating a good dinner (super-hot curry) was better, than leaving in the middle of rush hour. At 19.00 all was ready and we set off. It was dark when we got there, so getting the tent up was No. 1. The temperature was so low (it was - 1.7 the day before) that getting into the sleeping bag was No. 2. And believe me, it was so cold that only my nose was sticking out of the sleeping bag.

This was the view in the morning, a bit chilly too.

But the sun came up and all got better. So after a hearty breakfast and something warm to drink (toddy) we got in our waders and got ready for fishing. Lise had to borrow my lousy Soelvkroken waders, size XL (that is super wide and short), because hers Guideline Gaula started leaking after 8 days of use...

NIce huh? :D

But staying dry, is more important then looking good! Anywho, we started fishing, and soon Lise landed a few nice fat grayling, while I was short-nymphing my way towards a nice deep pool, where the big fish wait. I started with a light anchor fly and two droppers. It resulted in 0 fish, until I started fishing the pool. Then I put on a heavy anchor, and soon fish started taking the fly.

The one in the middle, got most of the attention.

After a while, Lise went upstream, which left me all alone in the good spot. In no time I landed about 10 grayling, the biggest about 400 gr. And when Lise went to the other bank, I got a snag. Well it was no snag, but a really big grayling. With my good luck 4x tippet was not (!) enough and shortly after it snapped. After a few "nice" words, it was time for lunch.

Grayling and mashed potatoes. With our bellies full, we wanted a short break from fishing and decided to try and find some edible mushrooms. No luck there, but Lise went downstream, and found some nice fishing spots instead. So after a quick cup of tea, we put on our waders and headed downstream (north side of the river) with the rods.

Every good-looking pool was fished and a few grayling were caught. After a few kilometers the bush got so heavy, that walking thru it was a bore, but we were lucky because there was a really nice pool at "the end of the line". Since Lise used a single nymph, fished downstream, she got to fish first. For some reason the bigger grayling wouldn't stay hooked, and when she got tired of this, it was my turn. Now I had changed my rig to; heavy anchor, small cream nymph with bead head and a red hot spot, hot orange bead head, PT nymph. It worked a charm, and soon I landed a few nice grayling.

By now it was getting colder and darker, so we headed back to cook some good dinner. And man was it good! Minced meat, olives, shroons, lingonberries in red wine sauce, home-made bread, mashed potatoes and paprika-garlic salad.

Then it was time for bed. Lise fell asleep in a breath, while I read LOTR book one.

Ah, wind and clouds full of rain. We ate a quick breakfast, packed everything down and put it in the car, before it started to rain. But fishing was on our to-do list, so we headed downstream (on the south side). Just like yesterday, we fished all the nice spots. On our last visit here, we came over a big and deep pool, that was given some extra attention this time, and here I scored a double.

We fished our way down to some cabins, and by that time it was "drive home" time, so we headed back to the car for a late lunch, before starting the drive back home.

In famous words of The Starks "The Winter is coming", and a bit faster then I like, but there is still time for some good fly fishing.

More photos here.

PT & Hare, bead head

Hot Spot PT

Black & Green

O Grayling Where Art Thou (20111)


When the weather forecast says sunny & little wind, it's fly fishing time. So me and Lise decided to try some grayling fishing in River Glomma, the upper parts near the town of Roeros.

We got there on Friday night and started fishing straight away, a few fish were rising, but none really big. Moving downstream and looking for rising grayling, we finally came over one that looked nice and big. After a quick RPS (Rock Paper Scissors), the winner got to try. Yes it was me.

The fish was rising steady, closer to the other bank. I gave it a try, but casting far with a 3wt is pointless. So we were gonna try that one again tomorrow from the other side.

Nothing much happened after that, except Lise hooking a "huge" minnow in the tail. And since it was a bit chilly we lit a fire and got some hot food in our bellies.

Here you can see the huge fish :D

We woke up to some strong wind and after breakfast (and a few futile attempts with the fly rod) we decided to go in to town (Roeros) and check out the sights. Now Roeros is famous for the smelting plant museum and a lot of old houses are just the way they were back in the day, so it's almost like going back in time. A lot of crafts men and women, make everything from pottery to hand carved cups, boxes and so on.

The main street.

After a lot of sightseeing we ended up in a small shop, where the owner was a old fisherman. There we got a few tips about a small river and a lake. Glomma was not that good now, he said, and you always listen to the locals. So after a long talk and good gelato, we arrived to Dals river. Small, fast flowing and full of grayling.

The wind was still pretty strong, but we had to give it a go. There were no bugs on the water, so I went for good ol' wet fly. And just after a few casts I landed my first (ever) grayling.

Lise was fishing on the other bank, and after a while she hooked a nice one.

That one became dinner.

After that good meal and a cup of tea, we went to the lake. Now in this lake, trout of 1 kg + are plenty. Well that was what er were told and meeting two guys telling us the same thing, kind of confirmed that. And yes we saw plenty big fish rising, but (and there is a big but) all of them out of casting range and the lake was not that suitable for fly fishing, with only a few places with enough room for a back cast.... But if use of a bellyboat is allowed, then there is good possibility for great trout fishing.

So we went back to the river and fished our way further down stream. When twilight came we had to put up camp and by the time it was done, it was sleepy time.

Sunday morning was also very windy, so we took our time to eat a breakfast and enjoy the tea in the sun. Since Lise's waders where leaking, she wanted to fish from the bank, so I went to the other side and waded out to the pool. A few casts with the wet fly and a few small grayling caught, but the local guy said that the big ones are deep in the pool. So on with a peeping caddis, up stream cast, mend, let sink and at the end of the pool tighten the line and let the fly rise. BOOM! This one feels big and heavy, but as I glimpse the silver in the sun, the fly comes out.

Lise is catching the trees and the bushes.

Since the pool is really deep I rig up a three fly short line setup. Caddis larvae as the anker, a small dark bead head second and a small buzzer as the top fly. On the third cast a fish takes one of the flies and I set tho hook. A short wile later I land a nice grayling, the camera resting in the tent...

The wind really pick up, so we brake camp and head on home.

All in all a good trip and landing a grayling mission achieved.

More photos here.

Swimming Caddis Pupa

Fiskebackskil, Sweden (2011)


Fiskebackskil, Sweden is a nice place. Well that's what I've heard. So when Lise said come over and we'll do some fishing, I packed my stuff and drove down south. After a few (more like 9) hours driving I was finally there.

After a good stretch me and Lise grabbed a bite. Driving makes me hungry! With a full stomach, fly fishing seemed like a good idea. It was a bit late and windy, but what the hell.

Mackerel! Man can they fight! With them came garfish, but they where impossible to hook. Pretty bad, since they where really big! And yes, the hooks where sharp as hell....

I managed to hook a nice sea trout, but that one screwed me over and lost the fly in a nice jump...

Feeling the long drive in my body, it was time for bed. And I slept like a baby.

The next day brought the sun, but also the wind, so I spent the early hours helping Lise with her research. After dinner we took a quick trip, but nothing much happened. So it was off to watch a movie.

So hot! was the first thing that came to my mind when I woke up. The sun was shining and the wind blowing, but unlike the day before it was really hot. So Lise had to manage her research her self, while I took my fly rod and went fishing. One small sea trout, one mackerel, plenty of takes and a sunburn before lunch. Not bad.

After lunch I went fishing again and Lise went to the lab. Not much action, but a few really big fish followed the fly. Looked like they competed over it, but none of them took the damn fly.... And of course, the gar was there, but no hookups. This is odd, because TMC 777sp hooks are horribly sharp...

Dinner time! Well, more of a second lunch. So we planned to barbeque the mackerel before the evening session of fly fishing. And it was a great barbeque, pesto marinated mackerel, potatoes, veggie packs and local beer. Mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm!

After that awesome meal, we took the boat out. Mackerel was hunting all over the place, but Lise wanted to focus on the sea trout. So we did. I got one tiny sea trout an mackerel. That was it...

Of to bed.

Saturday was just as hot, but not as windy. So we spent the day inside, until it got a bit cooler. After that we went fishing, just to catch a few fish for the barbeque. And so we did, but that stupid gar was there again! And still no hookups.... Lise taught I was stupid, because I'm the only guy who wants to catch gar... Well I do! And I caught a new species on the fly to :)

A greater weever.

The barbeque was great with homemade burgers, chili and garlic marinated chicken and of course mackerel. Full to the brim we decided to fish from the docks. Unlike the day before, there was no mackerel hunting on the surface, but Lise managed to catch a nice mackerel. And since there was a nice breeze, we decided that a movie sounded really good. It was.

Driving back to Norway. After a good breakfast it was time to head back to Trondheim. Can't say that it was  an appealing thought, but duties call.

VagWing Caddis

Alpaca emereger

The Rainbow, The Brownie & The Sunset (2011)

This time, I and Lise went to the island of Smoela, where the fishing is great and the fish are plenty!


Before you start reading, check out this map and ask your self: Where should I start fishing? Oh, feel free to zoom in and see just how much water there is.
Now, back to the story. We packed the car up with plenty of stuff to keep us going for two days and headed out to that beautiful island. CC could not join us, since he had a lot of laboratory work to do for his Bachelor.
The hard thing was not to stop and do some fishing along the way, because thee are a lot of nice spots along the road....
We arrived to Smoela at 19.00 and we decided to start fishing at once. Sea trout was the target fish and a nice spot (of the possible billion) was chosen.
The water was clear, with a nice current that made it feel like salmon & sea trout fishing in a river. On with an olive shrimp and on the third, or was it fourth, cast something takes the fly hard. I hook it nicely and the thing goes crazy. Jumping and pulling like a train. It's something silver and that's always a nice thing. To my surprise and dislike it's a rainbow! A first one for me, but they are not indigenous to Norwegian waters and it's pretty clear that this fellow escaped from a farm. So a quick blow to the head takes care of any harm it could do. We meant to eat it, no point in wasting food, but the fish appeared to be suffering from nephrocalcinosis. So it became sea gull food...
After we caught a few small coalfish, we decided it was time to find a place to put up our tent and make camp. We did some fishing after the camp was ready, but caught nothing. Bed time, well sleeping bag time.


Morning, clear skies and a slight breeze. Lise is still in Dreamland while I'm gathering wood and preparing for breakfast. By the time the fire is burning and the tea water is boiling, Lise gets up and joins me by the fire. The breakfast is nice and tasty, as usual, and now was the time to start fishing. Target fish, brown trout.


Before we could do that, we had to buy a fishing license. And the only place to do that was on the other side of the island, so we jumped in the car and got to it. It was almost noon before we got to the fishing spot, but hey, we got the whole day left.


The breeze was making small waves on the lake and there where a few guys I know from Trondheim there, so we decided to fish our way down the small creek that was going from the lake to the sea.


At once we ( means I) saw a few rising fish. None huge, but on light gear (3 and 2 wt) it's all fun). I was the one to catch the first one.
Lise followed quickly with a few fish to. To our delight there was a lot of L.marginata spinners everywhere. Then at 13.55 the L.Marginata started popping up all over the surface. The fish went crazy and so did we. Having fun fly fishing is way above big fish hunting in my book, and fun we did have. Since the day was saved we went to a different lake to see if there was any action going on there. There where a few fish rising, but none of them took anything dry. Who cares, on with a nice tasty dry fly, and they took it every time.


Here are few of them drying in the sun.
Time for lunch. Home made BBQ Ribs, mmmmmmmmmmmmmgood! After lunch we caught a few more trout and before we knew it it was time to head back to camp. There we rested, enjoyed the lovely evening and, of course, cooked a great dish.



With good food in the belly it was a true pleasure to go to bed. Slept like a rock!
Last day, woke up hot like hell. The sun was burning on the tent. That cold water from the creek, running by our camp, came in handy. And as usual we ate a good breakfast, then broke camp and packed up the car. That gave us the possibility to fish as much as possible before having to get back to Trondheim, and not having to mess around with packing when tired from all the fishing.
So, out with the map and try to decide where to go..... we chose some lakes closest to our camp. Same thing, lots of spinners and rising fish, but none huge, So we hiked along the lakes, did some recon and caught a few trout each. It was so hot that I had to soak my cap in the water all the time to keep my head cool.


here is a picture of one of the lakes.
Fed up with the heat we went to the only petrol station on the island and got some ice cream, man it was good. After enjoying the ice cream we had to get going if we were to catch the ferry. On the ferry we met the guys from Trondheim, and they too had "poor" fishing. The biggest about 400 grams. They told us that they used Sink 3 lines with nymphs to get fish that size... Well, I and Lise sure as hell didn't want to use anything else but floating lines, otherwise we could just as well fish for sea trout.


All in all it was a great weekend and the first trip with the tent. Next time we just hope for a bit better conditions to see if those big trout are there.

Friday 1 June 2012

Easter Hell (2011)

A trip to CC's cabin and new hunting grounds and sea trout. Or so I thought....

Day 1 Wensday
Woke up to sunny and warm weather in great mood. Cooked a nice breakfast for the gang that was eaten on the porch while the sun warmed the air and the bugs were stirring. After that hearty meal we got ready for some trout fly fishing. We new that there are no monsters where we are going, but this early we just didn't give a damn. And after a short while we where on our way.
The place we where driving to is called Drangedal, and it's about one hour's drive south from CC's cabin.
We where met by clear blue skies, shiny sun and rising fish, although I didn't see any rising fish (almost drove of the road looking for them :D ). No time was wasted getting our light rods ready and in no time we were at the river looking for those rising fish.
I got lucky and saw one of them in the corner of my eye, and first see, first try to catch it. On with one tiny shiny green caddis pattern and after a few casts one of the smallest fish takes it. Jippi!
After that it was Lise's turn to get her first (of the year) on the dry.
CC got a few trout on the nymph and before we knew it, it was time to head back home to make dinner. We made kickass lasagne.
After the food we rested for a wile, then went out to do some night fishing after sea trout. The area we focused on was a few hundred meters away from CC's cabin. We started at the beach and slowly fished our way towards some nice rocks. Lise got one long & slim sea trout.
This fish could easily be 3 kg if it was nice and fat....
Bed time!
Day 2 Thursday
Early up, it was kind of hard to get up, and again a good breakfast. Eating plenty of carbs and fat keeps you going for hours at a time. After a quick cup of tea, e headed to CC's " Two Kilo Spot", a place where the poor guy lost a nice sea trout, even got wet trying to land it. Any way, we got there, the sun was shining and a slight breeze was making everything nice and almost perfect.
Not much happened the first hour, so we fished our way to "The Lighthouse" and straight away we saw rising sea trout. No action. I move a few meters and on the first cast a sea trout follows the fly all the way in. And on the second and the third cast. OK, so I retrieve the fly faster. It takes it, but no hook up. SHIT!
OK, change the fly. Same thing happens. 3 time follows and on the fourth it takes, but still no hook up. Feels like they take the fly really gently. Then I see a sea bass :) It didn't even look at the fly. After several more followers, we move to "The Beach". The place reminds me of a bonefish flat. Here to the fish only follow the fly, but after a while CC hooks a nice sea trout. When it jumped, it looked like it was 1,5-2 kilos. Alas the fish is smarter then us and goes for the nearest buoy and looses the hook.
After a few more followers we throw in the towel and head home, it's pizza making time. The dough needs time to raise.
While the dough is raising, we head to the rocks outside CC's cabin. By the time we got there the fog comes in, thick as cream, but hey got to fish. Right? Right!
So I put on a hot pink J-fly and on the second cast something hits that thing like it hates it and the line slips out of my hand.... Now I say some really bad words that I can't write.
We pack up and head home to cook that delicious pizza. And it was delicious. Extremely fool on food, we try to decide if going out and giving the fishing another go is worth it in the fog. It was not.
We got to "The Beach", Lise caught a flounder and when the night came there was so much noctilucales in the water, that we could see our fly lines like a green line in the water. So we pack up and start scaring small flounders in the shallows. Pretty cool, because they looked like some alien ships.
Met two of the local fly fisherman and they to had no luck.
So we head out to "The Lantern" where we short nymph for small cod and shorthorn sculpins. I even managed to catch a viviparous eelpout. Pretty cool, but no sea trout or sea bass.
Bed time.
PS! My mood getting worse.
Day 3 Friday
Up early again, breakfast. CC leaves to visit some family and me and Lise head out to "The Beach". The first thing that happens is that a sea trout, about 2 kg, swims 2 meters from me. I take a shot at it, but it just ignores my fly. After a few more casts, three sea trout follow my fly. None of them take it..... Lise sees no fish.
We move to "The Lighthouse". We fish for a while and finally something happens, Lise hooks a nice sea trout. After a short fight it's in the net, and this one will be dinner.
It was time for Lise to leave, to spend some time with her mom and dad, which left me and CC to catch the big one.
After we dropped Lise of, we went to the cabin to get our stuff and headed out to "The Beach". Nothing happened there for a while, so yet again we went to "The Lantern". After a few cod and shorthorn sculpins it was time for bed.
Now my mood was pretty bad. Weird what not catching targeted fish can do.....
Day 4 Saturday
After a breakfast at McDonalds (I know) we took the boat out. It took CC a good 30 min to get the engine running, but eventually we headed out to some nice islands near by in hope of catching the elusive sea trout.
Again a sea bass swims by, no interest in the fly.... It's really hot and sunny, so no big expectations for the sea trout, but I manage to catch a lumpsucker. First one on the fly for me and it was sight fishing style. But that poor thing has no power at all, 1,3 kg and it felt just like a big piece of weed. If I haven't seen it take the fly, I surely would guessed weed on the hook.
The bird life on the islands was nice, so I managed to take a few photos of bird eggs int the nests. When the heat from the rocks was too much, we took the boat to a small cove, where CC caught some nice sea trout before. To our surprise the water was boiling with feeding fish! I hook one on the first cast and it's something silver. Nice. Not sea trout, but herring! Big (biggest 500 gram +) feeding like crazy. And they really put up a fight, like tiny tarpon. We have a lot of fun for some time and when the herring stop feeding we head back home to do some barbecue before the night session.
The food was great and the hope of catching a sea trout was still there, although my hopes and mood were not the best. Tired and sick of fish following the fly I was not it the best of moods, I must admit.
We got to "The Lighthouse" and started fishing. In no time both me and CC get a few bites, before I hook something. It took a second to recognize the way a flounder fights. It was a fish, but I just wanted to cry. And to make matters worse a bloody seal shows up....
Tired we decide that TV is the thing. So we head back to the cabin and watch some TV before bed.
Day 5 Sunday
Up early, eat breakfast, wash all the gear in fresh water let it dry and clean the cabin. Pack the car. We meant to do some fishing before heading to Lise's parents cabin to meet up with her, but the wind changed our minds. And after a kebab we jumped in the car and stepped on it. In few hours we were at the cabin with our fishing gear, of course, and after the drive we just rested in the sun before dinner. With a nice dinner in our bellies we took a trip to a lake nearby to see if the trout were active. They were, but not interested in our flies.... So TV again. A movie before bed does the body good.
On Monday we left for Trondheim, after a really nice breakfast with homemade bread and good cheese.
In all this trip was nice, I did catch 3 new species on the fly, but lack of sea trout did leave me feeling a bit useless.


More photos here.

Hot Spot Bead Head

Simple Scud

Simple Buzzers

The J-fly

The Sunday

One great day of fly fishing!

So CC. Lise and I desided to take a short trip and do some fly fishing before we were going to make some pizza and do some flytying. CC said he wanted to try out The Camp, so we went there (by the way, this spot is the only place I ever broke off a fish on 0.45 mm leader....) and arrived to some really nice conditions.
I started with a sink 7 line and shortly after a nice pollack was landed, but CC had to show off and he got a garfish. Now, I'm not shure, but I don't think that this is something common this up here in Troendelag, unlike from where CC comes from (Larvik). So for him it wasn't such a big deal....
After that he got a nice mackrel, while I and Lise only got pollack. BUt hey, pollack is a great fighter and Lise's flyrod can confirm that.
And the pollack kept taking the fly, over and over again. We had several double hookups and a few fish taking the fly at our feet. This is one of my biggest pollack taken that day. Fish this size put a nice bend in the 7 wt ;)
And after we all got a load of fish, Lise hooks a pollack. It looks like a 2 kg fish, but it does something terrible, brakes Lises 7 wt during the fight... We just stand there dumbstruck for a while and look at eachother.
I'm not shure how many fish we got that day, but it's over 20 and that is not a common thing.
If you are wondering what kind of flies worked that day, well for me it was a white Mini-Bnny, for Lise a chartreuse/white and pink/white Clouser and for CC it was a pink/white Clouser that looked like anything but that.
When the hunger was unbearable we had to get going. By the way the pizza tasted great!


More photos here.

SLF Shrimp

Rackelhanen

Sea trout flyfishing, autumn-season (by Tony Pedersen)

In northern Norway autumn has already started and the best months are September and October, while in the south it’s the October, November and December that are the best. It’s especially Mr. Sea trout, who appreciates the cooler water during this time period. This isn’t that obvious in the north, as the water temperature is just above 10 °C and the fish has a different thriving temperature then in the south. The Oslo-fjord has temperature of about 20 °C right now and that’s just a little bit too hot for the sea trout.





The thing that makes the autumn so fun, is the lenght of the season. And as the water cooles down, so will the sea trout come closer to land. Then you’ll be able to find sea trout almost everywhere. During the autumn-season there is also a lot of surface activity, which leads to less blind-fishing, and there is an abundance of food and the fish will indulge in what ever it comes over. This abundance of food makes the fly choices a lot easier, and most of the time you will manage with just a few flies.






The flies that work best for me are:
-       Pattegrisen in gray and salmon colours, fished in clear an calm water. They should be big, then they attract the fish from bigger distances.
-       Tonys CdC Shrimp in pink, white or tan. This fly seems to be preferred by the bigger sea trout and the small size of this fly makes the fish less    sceptical.
-       Angel, use it when the fish are chasing herring and sprat. Since this is a pretty big fly, I use it in windy/murky water conditions. This fly is definitly not a favorite for calm and stillwater early in the morning. (My favorite for seabass)
-       “Kobberbassen” is used qite a bit, for when you need a small scud imitation. This is sometimes necessary during the autumn, especially in brackish water.
-       Jiggi. This fly is Runar’s favourite and a good fly for most conditions. I use it mostly during strong headwind and fishing over ledges.
-       Crazy Critter, a suprisingly good fly, that catches fish under most conditions. Chartreuse has shown to be the best colour.
A floating flyline is something I almost never use in the sea, just too many disadvantages with it. Sink 1 is standard for me, like Striped Bass or Crystal Clear Camo when the watar is realy cold. The latter is the softest and smoothest sinking line I have ever tried, no tangles here. The leader I use is often 12 – 15 feet, with a 0.22 tip, but in super-clear and calm water, I’ll go down to a 0.17 tip and use a #5 rod. I’ll also take with me a sink 3 line, just in case, but this is a type of line that doesn’t get used a lot during the autumn, because of all the surface action.
It’s often the leader that “desides” if you’ll get 2 or 10 fish and if the fish ain’t biting, I’ll make the leader longer. BUT you don’t fish a 12 cm Angel with 20 foot leader that has a 0.17 mm tip and a #8 rod.... When it comes to leader material, I use flourocarbon. This material is tougher than monofilament, doesn’t absorb water and is supposed to be invisible. This last thing can give you a psychological advantage, and that is always a plus.
I mostly use a 9’ #6 rod, but a #7 and a #5 are often in the car. When the wind is strong and the flies big, I’ll use an #8. Other than that, the rod you choose is not that important, but it should not be longer than 9’ and it should be intended for saltwater use, with aluminium reel seat, large guides, and the rod must be fast-actioned.


Other things I’ll take with me is a stripping basket, never ever leave home without it! A small chest pack/backpack, with room for some snack and a thermos with coffee in the back, the rest of the gear goes in the front of the pack. With this I can fish over large areas, without thinking of the large backpack laying somewhere on the land.
When it comes to clothing it has to be of good quality, tough and practical in use. There are many different brands to choose from, but the most important thing is that the clothing can stand hard use and that it doesn’t leak. Leaky waders in cold weather will ruin your fishing trip in no time.
When it comes to practical fishing, you should have in mind that sea trout often swims against the current. So when casting on rising fish, you should try casting “up-stream” of the rise, rarely in the center of the rise.
An interesting phenomenon is “jumping” sea trout. These guys jump high over the water surface. Some fly fishermen say that these fish will not take the fly, while other say they will. I, myself, always cast on “jumping” fish, because they jump for a reason. One of the reasons can be “territorial behavior” when other sea trout swim by/into this “territory”, because of this you may hook a totally different fish than the one you saw jump.
Often you’ll experience that the sea trout only nibbles at the flies with long tails. This makes it difficult to hook them, but if you increase the speed of the retrieve or change the fly. You can also tie in a tandem-hook on the fly.
Early in the autumn you should look for places with good current, kelp and big stones, while later in autumn, when the water gets colder, you should look for places with long shallows and brackish water.






When I go fly fishing, I’ll usually visit 3 – 5 places, all of them with different biotope and wind/current conditions. But there is no right answer to this, and the seeking fly fisherman, will always experience more. Coastline fly fishing is difficult to predict!
The rods & tippets I use may sound weird to someone. The rods are lighter and tippets are thinner then what most of the people use for coastline fly fishing. I always think trout fly fishing, it’s the same fish (Salmo trutta) and choose the rod and tippet depending on wind conditions and the size of the fly. Where I fly fish now, there are not so many big fish there, but you can easily land a sea trout up to 5 kg on a #5 – 6 rod and 0.20 mm tippet.
Explaining how to retrieve the fly and how fast the retrieve should be is difficult, you’ll just have to try a bit you’re self. Many people retrieve too slowly. Because no matter how fast you retrieve it’s not faster than the sea trout can swim, but not all flies have to be retrieved fast. The basic rule is that small flies, like shrimps and scuds, should be retrieved slowly with good jerks and long stops. Yet sometimes the fish likes it when a shrimp imitation is retrieved fast with both hands. Bigger flies, like 8 – 10 cm baitfish imitations should be retrieved fast. Stops during the retrieve are sometimes necessary, but a steady fast retrieve is often the best thing. If you’re fishing on fish that are chasing baitfish on the surface, you can try retrieving the fly fast for 2 -3 meters than stopping and letting the fly sink a bit. This is a typical behavior of hurt/stressed baitfish. Big flies can also be used to fish over new spots or to “find” the fish. If the fish are interested in the big fly, but aren’t taking it, you can easily change to a smaller fly. The Crazy critter is fished best with a jigging motion, 10 – 15 cm fast jerky retrieve. Another thing that is important is to use a loop knot on all the flies, because this will give the flies much more movement.





I base my fly choice on what the fish is eating and the varying need for attracting the fish. You’ll always have the best result if you try to imitate what the fish is eating at that time. If you’re not sure of what the fish are eating you can use a big fly with a lot of movement. I personally like the Pattegrisen, it’s big, has a lot of movement and can imitate several things. But if the fish are rising a lot a big fly will not be necessary. After all, you can see where the fish are and a small shrimp imitation will often be more tempting to the fish. Using dark colored flies when clouded and light colored flies when sunny, is not a rule I base my fly choice on. I think that visibility in the water is much more important, because the food that the fish preys on will not change color in different light conditions, some will reflect more light yes, but not change color. So “my” rule is simple, neutral colors in clear water and hot colors like chartreuse in murky water. Black is the color I use almost only during night time. Black works OK in murky water too, but I think that chartreuse works best in murky water. There is one exception and that is pink. It works almost all the time, no matter the conditions. And remember, lightly dressed flies always move better and “fakeness” won’t be that obvious.






Sea trout fishing can, as Toggi says, be hard at times. The fishing is always varied and there are several conditions to consider, like high tide/low tide, visibility in the water, current, time of year, depth, wind and weather. All of these will affect the fishing, so if you don’t catch/feel any fish, you should consider trying another place. You can always go back if you know that there are fish in that area, current change or arrival of baitfish can put the fish in a biting mood.
I’ve experienced good fishing in all sorts of weather, but bad weather is something to be preferred. And the heavier the cloud cover, the less important the wind becomes. If the weather is no wind, a slight drizzle and low clouds, preferably with a bit of fog, I’ll always try to do some fishing. This sort of weather seems to make fish rise and not be so shy. When the skies are clear, I like it windy, unless its early morning just before sunrise or the fish are in a place that the sun won’t hit before later that day. These shady places can be great fly fishing spots during the autumn season.
And remember, you’re never finished learning about fly fishing, this includes fly fishing in the sea. Every trip brings new experience.