On a test fishing visit to the LögdeÄlven (river Lögde) in northern Sweden, Terry Lawton says that he has never had such satisfying fishing. Although the fishing was never easy and he did not catch large numbers, trout and grayling were caught wherever he fished. The whole experience was such that he is planning to go back again next summer with a small party. The LögdeÄlven has the potential to be one of the top fly fishing destinations in Sweden.

"Strip faster, there's a big trout following you," Harry called out. Wham and I was into what turned out to be a trout of over 6lbs when I eventually managed to get hold of it and release it after a hectic battle. Although it did not take me down to my backing, there was plenty of frantic winding needed to keep in contact. This monster was followed by another cracking trout and three small grayling, all caught at the tail of the pool covering a mussel bank which was one of the hot spots on the LögdeÄlven (river Lögde) in northern Sweden. Fish even bigger than the one I had just caught could be seen jumping out of the water further up the pool.

This was my first evening on the river, having flown out from Stanstead that morning to Umeå via Stockholm. Harry Salmgren and Nicke Romanenko, who were our guides and organisers of the visit, collected me a German fishing journalist, Jürgen Oeder, from the airport. They drove us to the camp on the bank of a lake just off the main river, which was to be our base for the next week. After we had unpacked and had a meal, none of us could wait to start fishing! We got changed into our waders and as much clothing as we could put on - it wasn't very warm even for mid summer - and drove off to the mussel bank.

What a place and way to start a test fishing visit. The fishing was quite unbelievable. I have never caught such satisfying fish. During the whole of the visit we never caught large numbers of fish - between six and eight large, quality fish a day. But the fishing was challenging - big river, deep wading over often rocky bottoms - and every fish caught was a real thrill. And catching fish seemed to be guaranteed. More on this later.

We finished our first night on a pool on a bend just below a small suspension bridge which swayed and rocked pretty alarmingly the first time across. (If people are worried about the new bridge across the river Thames swaying, they should try this one!) Here Jürgen caught a nice grayling first cast. Casting was difficult with pine and birch trees growing right down to the edge of the river which was too deep to be able to wade out very far. As I have said, the fishing was challenging but the fish were there to be caught.

We had an early night and packed up at about 1.30am. It was still broad daylight and with ice on our rod rings, we were all quite happy to head back to the log cabin, get a good fire going and warm up.

We were on the river for what was effectively the start of the season and the water was a little on the high side and the colour of strong tea which meant that it was impossible to see fish. As it was the start of the season the water and air temperatures meant that you could fish all day as well as all through the night which was often the most productive fishing. Later in the season, as the weather improves and the water warms, the best fishing is definitely at night.

We were fishing big flies, typically size eight Lögde Specials, a variation of the Wolly Bugger developed by Harry, as well as a nice slim muddler tied by Nicke. A nine foot rod and a six or seven weight line had enough power to be able to cast far enough and still be able to bring fish to hand to release without exhausting them unnecessarily. As this was a style of fishing that was new to me, casting across or across and down and stripping-in the fly, that first evening I failed to hook probably four or five fish before I realised what was happening. I think Harry wondered what was going on, because, from where he was standing up on the bank, he could see the fish following my fly. But at water level it was only when a big fish, just under the surface, rushed after the fly that you could see what was happening.

Harry likes to fish a fly that can represent different food forms, depending on how it is fished. His Lögde Special does this brilliantly. You can cast it across and let it swim down and round with the current or cast , mend your line downstream and strip fast to get the fly going really quickly. A hungry fish will rush after your fly if it thinks that it is about to loose a meal and take really aggressively. The fly will even take fish on the surface as happened to me when I cast towards a rising fish which grabbed my fly as it touched the water.

Fishing with a guide who knows the river was essential. Harry and Nicke were able to point out holding areas as well as give advice on where to wade. Fish were to be found on the edge of shallow water as it got deeper and around rocks in the deep water that provided shelter and protection for fish so that they were out of sight of each other. The shallows in front of the rapids at the tails of the pools were always very productive areas to fish.

At times it was suggested to me that I was not fishing fast enough nor aggressively enough. I was reckoning to fish through a pool or run pretty thoroughly but Harry's technique is to have three or four casts, fishing the fly in different ways, then move downstream and have another three or four casts. This way you can cover a lot of water. In vindication of my technique of taking it slower, I fished through one pool using Harry's technique and caught two nice fish. Harry followed me down through the same pool and also caught two fish. If I had fished slower, would I have caught more fish? They were obviously in the pool and feeding.

Although fish were to be seen rising and could be caught on the surface, we did not do any dry fly fishing. This is something that I will try next time. Although the hatches were relatively short, you could spot when one was about to start as the smaller fish and grayling would start rising. I am sure that changing quickly to a dry fly - a big bushy sedge? - would have been productive and very exciting, particularly in the middle of the night. As it was, a hatch would bring frantic activity for a few minutes with enormous trout leaping out of the water and slashing takes to stripped flies. There were lots of different flies about including some of the biggest sedges that I have ever seen. We saw more of these monsters when we had a day pike fishing on a nearby lake.

On Sunday morning we got up, got the fire going and put the kettle on it to make some tea. The log cabins that we were staying in were very traditional with no electricity or running water. Staffan who did all our cooking had a couple of portable gas rings and also made camp fires out in the forest when were fishing. Here he would produce a cup of coffee (real cowboy coffe made in a kettle) and chunks of sausage which we cooked on sticks over the fire. As both Jürgen and I had had a very long day on Saturday, we had a lazy Sunday. We both caught a couple of fish before we all had a communal bath! This was the only bath that I have had when the water kept getting hotter. Eventually we had to throw-in buckets of cold water out of the lake to cool it down. The sauna was also wood powered. It got so hot that when Harry went in with a plastic mug, it melted! Afterwards we went off to prospect likely areas to fish the next day.

Monday morning was warm and sunny and started with a quick dip in a very cold lake. Late that morning we set off to fish for the next 12 or 14 hours. As I was getting into my waders, I felt the nervous excitement in my stomach that I have not experienced since my dinghy racing days when getting ready to race in strong winds and big seas. The fishing was that exciting! We all caught trout and grayling from a number of different areas of the river. I also used some of the shallow runs to try out the Czech nymphing technique. Although some of the riffles and runs were, I thought, ideal for this technique, I am sorry to say that I did not catch a fish. To be honest, I did not spend long enough fishing this way.

We eventually stopped fishing at about three in the morning and drove back to the camp. Here Staffan got his grill going and started cooking hamburgers. Jürgen stood looking at them and said "My head tells me that it is bed time, my stomch tells me that I am hungry: I'm going to have a beer!" So without further ado, we set about the 'burgers and downed several bottles of beer. And then to bed at about 5.30am.

On Tuesday we went off to a local lake for a spot of fly fishing for pike for a change. We went out in two rowing boats and fished the weedy margins of the lake. The sun shone and it was warm enough to peel-off some of our clothing. (Thermal underwear, thick shirts and fleeces were very much the order of the day.) We went ashore on an island and lit a fire in a little log cabin and had lunch enjoying the sunshine. There were plenty of pike in the lake and they could be seen swimming about just under the surface. It made for exciting fishing. At the end of the day Staffan cooked our supper beside the lake. On the way back we saw some reindeer which had failed to join the main migration and also storks flying over head.

I am sure that fishermen, particularly in the UK, do not realise just how good the fishing can be in Sweden as well as having a real adventure out in the forest away from civilisation. Where else can you fish from river banks carpeted with Lilies of the Valley everywhere?