Hi.

Forgot to say that Steffen’s salmon from last report weighed 2,65 kilos.

We did not fish as hard this Wednesday morning, we weren’t at the river until noon, it was good to relax a bit with some coffee and fly tying. The weather forecast now is somewhat poorer, predicting rain during the day, and also rain for Thursday. It started raining early this Wednesday, and slowly the river started to rise. It went from 7 to 9 m3/s at Eggafossen during the morning. I could see the salmon becoming more active, and there was a steady run of fish, we had mostly seen grilse earlier this week but now there big salmon running, all fresh and nice.

I lost a big salmon on the first go, while using a tube fly which Steffen had tied earlier that day, it was a Black and Yellow micro tube. This salmon took the fly while I was retrieving it, I lost it after two hard knocks in the rod and a very short run. Steffen managed to annoy several fish in a small run a bit further up, he had seen a few fish there. So he tried the riffling there, which created a bit of a stir. But no fish had taken, just chasing the fly, as I arrived to have a look he was changing to a single hook Rotenon fly. He placed the fly in the same spot where he had annoyed those fish with the riffling, and on the first cast he hooked a nice mid-sized salmon. This salmon went powerfully upstream and towards the other bank, the 7 weight rod was really pushed hard by this fish. Steffen got to the bank and was about to begin the fight, he first tried to turn the fish but realised that this was a bit early, as the salmon replied with a short and powerful run sideways which made the fly pop out of its mouth, and the line went slack. Once again we had lost a salmon, it was great to see my kid salute the fish by taking off his cap and thanking it for the experience, it was clear that my reaction after losing the really big salmon yesterday had helped his own reaction now. It helps to focus on the positive aspects of such an experience, had I been shouting and swearing I am sure he would have done the same thing.

After this we had a few bites from grilse, they came off just after taking the fly and we felt it was time for dinner and a break before the evening fishing was to start. Now the river had increased even more, and I got worried that we would have another summer flood as it rained so much that it was quite horrible to be outside. The evening fishing did not last very long this evening, the river really gained some volume now. I do not have many good experiences from fishing a quickly rising river, we had a few casts in 3 different pools, but we did not see nor feel any salmon. So we went back early. The river became quite large throughout the night, we went home today as Steffen is going on a holiday with his mum – so that marked the end of our boy’s trip for now. However, we will also have a few days of fishing in August as well, so there is still much to look forward to. I thank Steffen and Ole Bjørn for some great days of fishing at the banks of our beloved Gaula.

Granbos.

Hi.

Forgot to say that the salmon we caught last weighed around 6 kilos, totally fresh – beautiful!

The fishing on Tuesday was of the sort which we will not easily forget. The river was still sinking slowly, and was now down to 7-8 m3/s at Eggafossen. It is getting very low now, but as long as you fish light you can still get in touch with the Gaula salmon during these conditions too.  

The show began on my second go, the choice was still the F/S1 line but now the fly was a Greenlander Frödin micro tube. On the fourth cast all hell broke loose, how is it possible to smash a fly this bloody hard? The closest I get to try and explain the experience from this take is that it felt like this salmon had come all the way from the ocean just to take this particular fly. As I lifted the rod and set the hook water was splashing high in the middle of the pool, and next the salmon jumped out of the water as if to see who was threatening its freedom. Well, I did not have time to say hallo before the next plan was carried out, it felt like the salmon had a date somewhere down by Støren, too bad then that this happened in Haltdalen! The salmon went down the pool in one big run, around 80 metres below it jumped again, and now the single handed fly rod was starting to feel a bit light. I think the salmon could feel the same thing, as it continued down towards the tail of the pool.

Dad, dad, dad! The kid was standing on the bank yelling ”dad, dad, give me the rod!!” What, how would that happen? I was still standing there in the river, I could not move. “Take pictures, take pictures” I yelled back – “it is big!”. But you can’t take good pictures when you are jumping up and down yelling dad. Try to stand still for at least one picture I yelled as I looked for a possibility to get to the bank to make good on our deal. Then the salmon jumped again 100 metres downstream, and now it pushed so hard I could see the result of the fight, as I had experienced this once before in this pool. So I lost that fish, 4 minutes of maximum excitement turned into a somewhat sadder feeling, but then the paternal instinct kicked in, one has to stay positive and teach the kid good values. So I told my fishing buddy that – sorry for not being able to hand you the rod, I did not stand a chance against this massive fish, it was too big and strong and a bit wiser than me, sorry my son – but you managed to get one picture. After this it was time for a break and a recap, I could not get this out of my mind, why was it so extremely angry at just this fly? The rest of the day was also very exciting, we kept fishing this fly in various versions and both Steffen and I had several salmon contacts throughout the day.

Salmon started running in the evening. “Salmon is running” I said, and Steffen asked “can I go up on to the head of the pool?”. “Of course” I said.  

Steffen went up to the head of the pool, here there is a place where the salmon will pass very close to the bank, so chances are good for getting a take here. I sat in the salmon hut observing the beautiful loops arriving from out of the bushes where the kid was spey casting using a single hander. Suddenly the loops disappeared, “What!?” I thought, the paternal instincts kicked in again as this was a slightly sketchy spot with a strong current and slippery rocks, he had seen a salmon and thus he forgot the rules we had for that place. I could not really do anything but smile as he yelled “I saw the salmon jump there”, then the spey cast went into the river again, I had been there maybe 1 minute and he said ”got it!” He lifted the rod and the salmon was hooked, how about that I thought, this is not an easy spot to fish. Most people would have gone past this spot due to casting difficulties, man was I proud! I called out to Ole Bjørn that Steffen fought a salmon and he had to bring the camera. He was “at the scene” quickly, Ole Bjørn was all rested up as he had caught a nice mid-sized salmon during the night and as such he had relaxed for almost a whole day by now.

This was a grilse, but it was really strong. Steffen was using a LeCie 10 feet 7 weight rod, and the line was still a F/S1 with a small double hook Greenlander. This coupled with beautiful spey casts ensured I had a dream situation as a photographer. Due to the terrain it was quickly decided that Ole Bjørn should help Steffen to land the salmon, although he really would prefer to do this himself. Thus I had both “ghillie”, fisherman and fish within the camera lens at the same time several times, I look forward to have a look at these pictures! It was a difficult fight, I believe he fought this grilse for more than 10 minutes, which is a long time for such a fish. But after a while we could land this fish, Steffen had already decided to keep this fish as he had promised his big sister a grilse for dinner, and now he had taken care of just that, well done Steffen.

Then both my fellow fishermen had a “red card” and it wa still another hour until we reached the next day, now I was going to enjoy myself! I had a pull further down the pool, but this salmon was not quite serious in its attack on this honourable Stoats Tail fly tempting the inhabitants of the pool this evening as it has done so many times before.

After this we were quite “full” on experiences for the day, the kid was tired and dad had a sore back, so it felt natural to retreat for a good night’s sleep. Ole Bjørn’s situation was completely different, he had rested for a full day now and was going to fish throughout the night. Now he had the pool to himself, he was making coffee too he said – this will be a long night, I thought. Remember to send me a text, I said, so we can see how the night turned out. And it was a nice read when I got up today, as he had caught a 7 kilo salmon on his single hand rod. What great fishing on a low river – hehehe.  

Jan Erik/Steffen.

Hi.

The trip to Selbu was great, we started up on Friday, fishing a small trout stream, where we fished bamboo rods and worms in the small runs. Steffen liked this fishing a lot, the guys caught as many fish as they could only dream about. This type of fishing is very charming, this is how most people start their fishing careers as kids, there is certainly a nostalgic element to this method of fishing. It is good to have a rest from the salmon river, where there may be many hours without any catches. However, salmon fishing does wonders for your patience, which I can see that Steffen is taking advantage of in other settings as well.  

We were fishing with Morten (dad) and Sander (son) on this trip. This family is originally from Selbu, so most of their relatives live here, and we were staying in the cabin of Morten’s parents in law. Sander has been fishing here since he was a little boy, so he was our local guide on this small trout stream. He performed this job in an excellent manner, he was very precise when showing us the favourite spots. I was very impressed by the way he guided us and by the way he fished. He has been taught by his grandfather Per Magne, and this granddad lives and breathes for everything to do with the wilderness, and spends most of his time in the great outdoors – on skis or carrying a fishing rod. So he might just be the best granddad to learn from in the whole of Selbu. Steffen and Sandercaught more than 60 trout in this river, well done!

We woke up to dream weather for sunbathing and swimming on Saturday, but we were going to Nea and the weather was not good for fooling big spooky trout. We caught some smaller trout, everyone caught fish – except for me! I just kept dropping them. We also went for a swim in the Selbu lake, here we met the rest of the family, they had gone out to a nice bay by boat to swim, barbeque and fish. We were invited there for coffee and home baked waffles, which was a nice break from the fishing. But after a short break the guys were ready for fishing again. Before this we had tried pike fishing, Steffen had never done that before, and he is not sure if he still has, as we did not catch any.

We went back to Nea, were we found a nice pool full of fish, we had a few bites and caught a couple of small trout. But after 9 hours “on the road” it was about time to head back to the cabin for some food and relaxing. We did manage a short trip to that small stream again before we left on Sunday, and plenty of trout were landed this time as well. Slowly but surely the salmon fever had snuck back into my mind, we were going back to Gaula the same day.

We thank Sander and Morten for a great weekend, it is always nice to hang out with you guys. Of course we thank the whole Sirås and Aunehaugen family for coffee and a nice welcoming no matter where we met you, you guys are great. Also a big thank you for letting us use the “Sirbu” cabin, the best cabin there is for experiencing everything Selbu has to offer. And finally a special thanks to Per Magne for excellent teaching of extreme guide Sander.

Sunday afternoon we were once again at the banks of the Gaula, we had leased a super beat this week instead of spending that money on a trip to Spain or Greece etc. So we were very excited as we met up with Ole Bjørn with whom we were fishing for a few days.   

Before I had rigged my fly rod I had seen 10 salmon in this pool, my hands were trembling as I tried to finish the last knot, I just managed. But seeing many fish does not automatically mean a bent rod. Salmon fishing is not easy, it is not supposed to be easy either. The first evening we did not have many contacts, Ole Bjørm had a couple of small pulls early in the morning, that was all. But on the first round on Monday morning I was fishing a F/S1 and a Grey and Green spey on a size 2 single hook, this fly is tied by Ole Kristian Skaar from the company Flies of Norway, he ties the greatest spey flies imaginable, and I had dreamt of fishing his flies all throughout winter.  And when you, on the first morning round gets the most violent take of your life using the fly you have wanted to use for so long, then the joy is just complete. As per our agreement, Steffen took over the rod and it was once again a spectacular fight on the single hander. After around 15 minutes the fish was landed, Steffen also wanted to release the fish himself, we took pictures and made sure the salmon was released as carefully as possible, now the Granbo’s were back on track! Steffen says that it is always a great feeling to feel the fish coming back to life, the energy returns to the fish and water is splashing as it swims back into the river.

More to follow.

Granbos.

Hi.

Then half the salmon season is already over, time goes just too fast I think. The river rose a bit on Tuesday, flowing at 28 m3/s in Eggafossen, not that this is very dramatic, but it was only 7 m3/s before this so it was noticeable. However, water levels measured at Eggafossen or Gaulfossen can vary quite a bit depending on where it rains. The river was much bigger downstream of Eggafossen this time around, due to a lot of rain in the Haltdalen area on both sides of the valley. At Dragåsen I spoke to a fisherman who knows the river well there, and he felt thaht on his beat it was around 60 m3/s Tuesday night/Wednesday. I could see for myself that the tributaries “delivered” lots of coloured water into the main river, it was rushing out from the hills and into the river. On Wednesday night the river dropped again, the water colour was indeed quite black due to this hillside water, which makes the salmon harder to catch, but that got better towards Thursday. On Thursday morning the Eggafossen was down to around 15 m3/s, and many fishermen were active throughout the valley. The fishing in the upper Haltdalen area was squite good after the rain, which is normal, and the fishing in the lower Haltdalen becomes slower due to a narrower river valley creating higher water speed.

We began fishing around 10 am, and already during the first round using the Int/S2/S4 and Granbokhorva I had a great take by a big salmon at the tail of the pool. My adrenaline levels peaked as it flattened the 15-footer on the first run, but it stopped after just a few metres and started trashing from side to side. This is never a good sign, as the salmon will often get free from the hook when this occurs, which also happened this time. So the joy was short lived, although this is also a good sign. There are fish on the beat and it will take, a good starting point for the rest of the day’s fishing.  

I have a careful pull further down the run using a Floating/Sink5 and the Kobberslagar tube on the second round, but this salmon was never seriously attacking the tube. After this it was time to go home and pack for this year’s trout fishing trip to Selbu, we have been looking forward to this for a long time. Trout fishing is really exciting and fun too. On Sunday we are going back to Gaula to finish the holiday there, not a bad holiday this – hehehe.

Jan Erik.

Hi again.

It is still raining quite a bit in Haltdalen, it has been raining steadily since last night, but I checked the water levels at Eggafossen right now and it had not increased yet – it is flowing at around 7 m3/s. But with this much rain it will increase throughout the day. For the fishing right now, this is a good thing.

We fished quite a bit yesterday, first we had one go during the day, when we were down at a pool with lots of fish, but this is a narrow pool land when the river is as low as it was yesterday, the fish is very spooky here. We saw several fish jumping, and I must admit I was pretty convinced of catching something. But no, suddenly we got such strong winds it was actually not possible to cast. I really wondered where this strong wind came from all of a sudden, everything was so perfect but just when we were about to begin fishing it was suddenly impossible to get the fly to where we wanted it to be. It must have been Mother Nature playing tricks on us, it was definitively one salmon more in the books of nature because of this. I am not superstitious, but this was a strange experience.

After this we had a break, eating dinner before the evening fishing, we were extra excited about this as we had seen so much fish on the beat. When we returned, these fish seemed to have moved on, as it was all quiet now. We did see some grilse throughout the evening without catching any, it seems they are running so fast they can’t even see our flies. I think it is strange that they run so fast this far up the river, you would think they had more time given how close to the top they were, but there are lots of things we do not know about the salmon. I sometimes think that there may be as much we do NOT know about salmon behavior as we do know, exciting thought.

Well, the Granbo’s did not have any salmon fights to report of after this day and that is just salmon fishing, it is a bit up and down. We will fish here until Thursday night, after that we are trout fishing in Nea.

Report to follow.

Jan Erik.