Brende/Gildset/Ler salmon beat in Haltdalen.

This exciting salmon beat is located in Haltdalen, this is a beat which is available mainly on a weekly basis. The beat is 1,2 kilometres in length, and contains three different main pools named Moa Pool, Stig Pool, and Brenn Pool. In addition it can be very exciting to fish the runs between the pools when the river is low.

The beat will fish very well at different water levels.

The Moa Pool can provide very god entertainment in a wide variety of conditions. The Moa Pool is also located in a spawning area, so many salmon will hold here throughout the season and create plenty of action for a keen salmon fisher. There are periods when the fishing is not as good in all rivers, but in this pool you will always have the possibility to meet winter armed with good memories. I have fished this beat for two seasons now, and it is always exciting to fish this pool because you can see salmon holding here, and often big salmon. This is also one of the favourite pools of many of the Haltdalen course participants. At the lower end of the Moa pool there is an exciting glide, and below this there are productive rapids containing several holding lies for the salmon.

The Moa Pool.

The Moa Pool.

The Stig Pool including the rapids below is a sight to be seen, talk about beautiful and exciting nature at a salmon pool! In this pool the river is at its most narrow so here the salmon cannot pass you without seeing your fly. The fish will also often stop here to rest, this pool challenges the fly fisher in the best possible way. We're not talking long casts but the challenge is the terrain - all the large rocks creating odd currents, seams, etc, all of which can be potential holding spots for salmon. Then it will be important to vary how you fish but at least as important; to present the fly in the best way possible (one tip: remember to fish the current closest to you first). I recommend you fish a floating/sink1, floating/sink3, or floating/sink5 line here, choose one of these lines according to the water level. These lines are perfect here as you can lift the floating part over rocks, you can slow down or increase the speed of the fly by mending the line over seams, rocks etc.

The Stig Pool upstream.

The Stig Pool downstream.

The Brenn Pool is a really good salmon pool, this is a pool which also has an exciting glide in its lower parts. This pool is one of those pools containing the really big salmon! The pool is fished from a large rocky area making it that much easier to move about in this steep terrain. The rapids both upstream and downstream of the pool are also exciting fishing spots when the river is lower, and just this water level is something we experience quite often in this part of the river. The inlet to this pool is also a very exciting fishing spot.

I recommend that 6 people can fish this beat without feeling crowded, you can then split up in three groups and rotate between the three different main pools, exciting! The beat is located in an area of the upper Gaula which stops the fish, the valley is quite narrow, but with lots of large rocks and thus holding spots everywhere. This is what often makes the salmon to pause its upstream journey in this area.

There will be some fishermen at the other bank, but it will be like this in most places on the river, the advantage you have on this beat is that it is quite long with several pools to choose from so that other fishermen on the other side is rarely a problem.

The 2009 season saw 60 salmon landed from this beat, and many of these are large salmon. The river valley is as previously stated quite narrow here, so the experience when a large salmon grabs your fly on a short line will give you an experience to be remembered for the rest of your life. You can just imagine yourself how exciting the fight will be.

The 2010 season saw 69 salmon landed from this beat, the statistics for the past 2 years tells us that this beat is fishing very consistently.

I used this beat for the Haltdalen course for the 2009 and 2010 seasons; the participants were very impressed by this beat. We often catch fish during the course on this beat, and the character of the beat suits my course topic very well, as we normally fish a low river using light equipment and riffling hitch and many different fishing strategies for low water conditions. But as previously stated, the beat also fishes well on higher water levels, and especially the Moa pool is good in such conditions.

The Brenn Pool downstream.

The Brenn Pool upstream.

Contact Knut Sætre vuia e-mail for further information with regards to available weeks and prices: saetr.knut@hotmail.com

Bjørn Forberg, happy fisherman after a week of fishing the Brende beat.

Available weeks for 2011.
Weeks 25, 26, 31, 33, 34.

Jan Erik's comments to the available weeks.

Week 25:
This week is available at a lower rate, talk directly to Knut about this. Due to Gaulfossen this week may be a bit too early; however the first Haltdalen salmon is often caught at this time, and often further upstream as well. If things are right during this week there will only be big salmon about. I always start my own fishing this week, because if it is in the pools now, you can experience the fishing of a lifetime.

Week 26:
Believe it or not, this is usually the best week for fresh big salmon. Normally there will be salmon in the pools at this time. And when the fresh, large salmon enter the pools in this area they are so angry that they will take the flies with impressive levels of aggression. The takes are so hard and brutal that it's an experience in itself. It is just as if the long journey in high water levels makes these fish angrier than the ones entering a bit later with lower water levels. This is actually the most exciting week of the season. The salmon arriving now have not seen much fishing gear yet, as already at the opening of the season these fish will be way upriver. This may also contribute to the aggressive behaviour when striking.

Week 31:
Now it will take a lot to leave empty-handed, the pools are usually full of salmon at this stage of the season. Salmon in all sizes are holding in the currents. You may experience everything from summer flood fishing to fishing with small flies and light equipment. My advice: bring all the gear you have!

Week 33:
I arrange my fishing school in Haltdalen at this beat during week 32, and there is a reason for that I will tell you; the fishing is very good then. Week 33 is just as good, perhaps even better, as the holidays are over and less people are fishing. And there is just as much fish in the pools at this time, don't hesitate I say!

Week 34:
This is one of the weeks in which I usually take a few days of fishing holiday, there are still many fresh salmon running upriver. Naturally the established/coloured salmon make up for the bulk of the fish, but it is just this which makes the fresh salmon strike more easily as well. The fishing can be a real adventure at the end of the season on the Gaula. And very often it is the really large salmon of the pool that is testing you at this time.

Contact Knut Sætre via e-mail on saetr.knut@hotmail.com or via telephone on +47 90774877 for further information with regards to available weeks and prices.