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IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:
Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com
What
a difference a fish makes
Our March 2002 contribution from Terry Lawton
"If you want to catch grayling, use a goldhead. If you want trout, use something big and bushy," said Nicke, one of the guides on Lögdeälven. I wanted to catch a big trout and so there was no doubt in my mind that I had to fish a Lögde Special. Although I had caught some very nice small wild brown trout and grayling, I still wanted to catch one of the really big trout for which this stretch of the river is famous.
Jerome Phillipon, who I had met earlier at Stockholm airport and had
come to join me fishing Lögdeälven, was fishing further downstream
and was soon into some co-operative grayling. I fished and waded my way
out into a lovely big pool - waist deep, reasonable bottom and the current
not too strong. The pool ended in a V with broken water either side as
the pool ran out over some shallow rapids. I caught a mixture of small
trout and grayling as I went and even a pike that rose just a like a trout.
Nice to catch but not what I wanted! We were fishing during the day which
both Nicke and Harry reckoned was no good for catching big fish. It was
also very warm and sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky.
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As I made my way slowly across and down through the pool, there was a monster rise, right down in the smooth water of the V at the end of the pool. Jerome turned round and we both gasped. What a fish. As it was out of casting distance I had to work my way down towards where it had risen. Having experienced the size and power of these trout on a previous visit, I was fishing with a 6lb tippet and hoped that it was going to be strong enough. Even with strong tackle, these fish are quite capable of taking your fly and setting off downstream, never to be seen again. They don't even bother to stop and wave goodbye; they just go. Very rude.
It must have been nearly 24 inches long: a truly magnificent fish. It made my holiday
My heart beat started to rise as my next cast landed in just the right place and my fly swung round, right through where the monster had risen a few minutes earlier. I felt a bang as the trout hit my fly and then my reel started screaming as the fish stripped line. It didn't quite get down to the backing (which was clearly visible) as I managed to keep it in the pool. If it had got into the rapids that would have been the end of it as I could not have followed it downstream. This was a fish that had to be played on the reel, using the drag with care, and reeling furiously. After a number of searing runs I was eventually able to bring the fish to hand and get a brief idea of its size, before releasing it. It must have been nearly 24 inches long: a truly magnificent fish. It made my holiday.
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deep in the forest. |
It wasn't the only big trout that came my way either. A couple of days
later, Jerome and I went off further downstream to fish some water that
was new to me. Again we were soon catching grayling and small trout. I
was fishing Czech style with a goldhead nymph on the point and a sparse
deer hair muddler as a dropper. And again we were fishing during the day
and it was hot and sunny. Wearing fewer clothes meant that the mosquitoes
had better access to unprotected flesh.
Fishing Czech style with a short line is very productive when you have
fast, broken water. It is a very good way to cover a lot of water. As
no conventional casting is required, you can stand with one hand on your
wading stick while you lob your flies upstream with the other. A wading
stick is an absolute must because the river is very powerful and while
some of the bottom is sand and stones, there are many stretches where
the bottom is all rocks and boulders and you really have to feel your
way slowly and carefully. In the deeper water it is very easy to loose
your footing and get swept off your feet if you are not careful.
The water was starting to get deeper as I moved down, close to the bank, towards what looked like a little feeder stream. It was, in fact, a still backwater. The river was running strongly and it was ideal grayling water. I had caught grayling on both the point fly and the dropper and when I felt a good take on the point fly, I thought that I was into a substantial grayling. There then followed a real struggle as I did my best to keep the fish within close range as, again, it would have been very difficult to follow the fish downstream through what was a deep hole in front of me. Eventually I saw the fish and far from it being a grayling, it was another wonderful trout. Not as big as the previous one but still one to remember. It had taken a home-tied gold head gold ribbed hare's ear nymph.
Everything was wrong: we were fishing during the day, the weather was hot and the trout took a grayling fly in a piece of typical grayling water. I didn't complain!
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fishing in northern Sweden is the absence of other fishermen. |
Everything was wrong: we were fishing during the day, the weather was
hot and the trout took a grayling fly in a piece of typical grayling water.
I didn't complain!
It was then time to return upstream to find the other members of our party
and enjoy a cup of coffee cooked over a camp fire and a sandwich of smoked
reindeer. This is one of the many pleasures of fishing in northern Sweden.
Although it was the end of a perfect day, there was still a night's fishing
ahead of us after a sauna bath back at the camp. And that's another story.
Terry Lawton is a passionate nymph fisherman who caught his biggest wild brown trout (in the UK) - 4lb 2oz - on a home-tied variant of a goldhead, Sawyer-style pheasant tail nymph.