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IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:
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Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com
A Swedish Adventure
Our March 2002 contribution from Jerome Phillipon
As part of this month's feature on Sweden, Jerome Phillipon, who is French but lives and works in England, describes his do-it-yourself visit to Västerbotten, just south of the Arctic Circle. He fished two rivers, Byskeälven and Lögdeälven, for salmon, trout and grayling. And enjoyed some fine wild mushrooms too.
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A Same or Lapp tent at the |
Scandinavia conjures up a picture of true wilderness with endless numbers of lakes rich with trout and pike but also numerous large rivers where runs of sea trout and salmon are still plentiful: in short, an angler's paradise. I was looking for a change from the more obvious destinations of Scotland or Ireland and keen for a wilder adventure, I set off in June to the Västerbotten, Sweden, just a couple of hours south of the Artic Circle. The salmon season opened on 19 June and my hopes were high that after a few days of putting my new Sage salmon rod through its paces, I would be in for a few good fish on the fly.
My choice of destination had been guided by a combination of articles in the angling press and a lot of exciting research on the internet. The plan was to fish two rivers, Byskeälven and Lögdeälven, and I was going for a week and would split my time between the two rivers. As if there is anything like ideal conditions in angling lore! The two rivers are about three hours drive apart and have different characters as I would discover and give me just a flavour of the immense water resources of this country.
Despite landing six hours late in Skellefteå because of a missed flight connection in Stockholm Arlanda, I picked up a hire car and headed off north to the small town of Byske where I was meeting Carl Holmkvist, my guide for the following day. One of only two Scandinavian APGAI instructors, Carl is an English and music teacher who leaves in southern Sweden but travels to Byskeälven every summer to guide for the short salmon season (19 June to 31 August). We met in Byske and bought my permit (a fiskekort which costs £8 a day) and a few supplies at the local service station. After a half hour drive through the forest on tarmac and gravel tracks, Carl dropped me around 9pm at his caravan by the river. It was going to be my base camp for the next two days. He told me that some 30lb fish had been caught this week but it was in spate and unlikely to be in fishable condition for three to five days. We agreed to meet at 10am the next morning. There was no need for an early start as the river would take plenty of time to drop.
Here I was alone in the middle of nowhere in the Swedish forest surrounded by the evening songs of birds and the roar of Byskeälven in the background
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Jerome Phillipon shows off |
Here I was alone in the middle of nowhere in the Swedish forest surrounded by the evening songs of birds and the roar of Byskeälven in the background. Prospects were not ideal for salmon fishing but I was here to find out and very much determined to do so! Gathering my lunchbox for an evening picnic I drove on a dirt track following the river to Fällfors, the biggest falls on Byskeälven where a new salmon ladder is being built. Just like in Pitlochry. the Fällfors salmon ladder allows visitors to go in a vision chamber underneath the water and observe ascending fish. I had my sandwich in the vicinity and admired the sheer force of these falls: quite a sight! By the end of the first day I had seen one fox, two mountain hares with their white socks, several curlew (the provincial bird of Västerbotten) and last but not least one female elk busy licking a salt rock left by the local rangers.
Byskeälven is Sweden's largest forest river with a width varying between 50 and 100 yards
The following day, after a quick dip in the river to wash, the fishing started and Carl guided me into about eight different pools showing access to the water, correcting my casting and explaining the favourite lies. As expected, the locals use a lot of fox hair patterns on traditional hooks but also tied on tubes. Casting tends to be very square and any mending would rather be downstream to accelerate the fly rather than anything else. Byskeälven is Sweden's largest forest river with a width varying between 50 and 100 yards. Of course larger rivers exist in the north (Kalixälven, Torneälven) but with Byskeälven you are already talking very serious current including series of rapids and frequent falls. Banks are often lined with birch trees and the river bed made of big rocks. Hence the wading is very tricky, with some deep holes right by the bank. A wading staff is an absolute essential.
Pools presented a contrast with gentle tails above falls where fish would rest and fast deep glides and seams created by large rocks on the bottom. Just as in the UK, remote pools with more difficult access tend to be more lightly fished and since this is association water, a guide's knowledge is essential to discover lesser known pools where there is a good chance of a take and less angling pressure.
In Carl's good company the day passed very quickly, only interrupted by a nice meal of reindeer cooked by a hut on an open fire. No sign of any salmon and just the odd small grayling finding the size 6 fly to its liking. Returning to the car in the evening and by way of consolation, we picked up the largest morelles òwild mushroom buffs will know what I mean ò that I have ever seen. Some up to a pound and twice the size of my salmon reel. They made for a nice fry up back at the caravan!
With bright sunshine and a river level down, I fished hard the following day round the clock till 3am but to no avail. Locals were telling stories of fish being caught and indeed I saw one lucky angler succeed from the other bank. In a good year Byskeälven will yield 350 salmon for what is effectively only a two and a half months fishing season. Not bad at all with some of these fishes being 40lbs "pigs" as they are called locally.
Lögdeälven
With very warm weather but the water still much too high and a recent influx of anglers queuing to occupy pools at night, I decided to make my way to Lodgealven and try a different river. The lower Lodgealven is managed by Lödgeälvens FVO can be fished for a mere £3.50 a day. The river is described by the locals as the "best northern river to dip a fly in". Not only salmon but also sea trout run it. My internet searches had resulted in contacts with local anglers both in the lower river near Nordmaling and upper catchments in Bjurholm. I was going to spend the rest of the week trying my luck for salmon and eventually finishing by concentrating on grayling and brown trout in the upper river.
All along my trip the Swedish very friendly and eager to help, whether fellow anglers or camping owner, but the real warm welcome came from Rickard Sjöstrom who runs laxguiden.com, an internet portal specialising in salmon angling in Northern Sweden. We had been chatting by e-mail for months and Rickard made a point of showing me the river himself. We fished his favourite pools and indeed saw some fish although we did not manage to land one.
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Nicke Romanenko, left, and |
Rickard guided me like a true professional and confirmed that Lögdeälven is indeed ideal fly water. It is much shallower than Byskeälven and is not as wide and powerful but still with plenty of character. This is fishing as wild as it gets and pools such as Tobole or Klose offer true wilderness. Access is good via dirt tracks and sightings of elk are a strong possibility especially at night (we saw three in a few hours).
The Swedish love their outdoor and their taste is reflected in the infrastructure for anglers: there are wooden shelters and log cabins beside the river. I slept for two nights by the river in a very robust and comfortable log cabin. An angler who was going home even lent me his sleeping bag to make the night a bit warmer. Bed and breakfasts do exist but with a low population density there are not many of them and advanced bookings are advisable. In Sweden, a tent can be pitched almost anywhere. It all comes down to an angler's expectations both in terms of fishing and standard of accommodation.
Half way between the rough sleeping experienced earlier in the week and a five star lodge with all modern comforts stands Gammelgården where my trip ended. Situated up river in a stunning forest location by a lake through which Lodgealven passes, it is run by world fly fishing championship contestant and organiser Harry Salmgren. Traditional log cabins with open fire and a massive Same tepee where meals are cooked add to the character of the camp.
I stayed in the camp for three days fishing different pools in search of the huge browns that can be seen chasing anglers' flies forming an impressive water bulge right behind the leader
I stayed in the camp for three days fishing different pools in search of the huge browns that can be seen chasing anglers' flies forming an impressive water bulge right behind the leader. To tell the truth all anglers in the party but me succeeded in their quest of catching each at least one of these leviathans. The biggest was just short of 8lbs. We all enjoyed bags of three to 10 fish a day with a mixture of grayling to 2lbs and brownies. Still I had my own exhilarating moment when a huge fish leaped in the air right in front of me ostentatiously ignoring my fly. Each party needs its poor soul!
For the whole week the weather was excellent - may be too good - and altogether Sweden delivered its promise of wild fishing and pleasing encounters with fellow anglers and locals. Opportunities to learn are plenty with wet fly fishing, Czech nymphing, the occasional dry fly fishing not to mention excursions on Gammelgården lake to tempt pike with streamers. Even in Sweden, salmon fishing keeps its degree of uncertainty and although I had to go home without a fish, this definitely was quality fishing! I am up for it next year without a doubt.
By Jerome Phillipon - jphil@jphilipon.freeserve.co.uk