fishybuisness
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2021
- Messages
- 107
- Reaction score
- 800
- Points
- 93
- Location
- Devon
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Hi all, hope everyone has had a nice festive season and santa managed to drop rods and reels, tackle and in some cases boats down the chimney!
I usually fish the big beach alot over christmas and really try to make the most of the time off. After looking at the forecasts and impending doom in on the south coast it wasn’t looking promising. So it was the 11th of dec and this time is usually specimen time for me but it wasnt going to be - or was it?
That night i decided norway was the best option so booked my flight to tromso for the christmas break, knowing that the days were only 2hrs long and the aurora forecast was very high ranging from 3 all the way up to 5-6 at certain points. I was staying at a place very near to rystraumen about 30mins south of tromso itself. This is king halibut land and in june july you can pluck out hali’s up to 90kg off the piers but in dead winter its supposed to be pretty hard going in the fjords apart from 1-2lb codling. Much the same as chesil to be fair. I took my slow pitch jigging kit with about 20 jigs ranging from 150-250g, the saltiga gt86 popping rod and 2 ccld beach rods with spinfisher 7500’s. On arrival at the apartment the owner gave a slight giggle and said ive come at the wrong time of year “theres only small codling here” the challenge was set and having a few tick boxes to fill i didnt hold back in trying. I had 50 fresh macks that hadnt been frozen but sitting on ice throughout the flight! I had everychance!
First night of arrival
-13*
35-40mph offshore wind
Thick blizzard 10m vis
Shore fishing off the pier
I set out like a michelin man with hand warmers down my pants in my ears and under my hat! Up and over rigs made with 130lb and 6.0’s and loads of glow/bling. Even cut up bits of glow muppets attached. It was slow and tedious until low tide, when the water changed direction it was fish a chuck and all small codling. Hhhhm
The next morning we woke up to 3-4ft of snow and i wasn’t prepared to sit on the same mark again. After speaking to some friends they gave me a few marks to try so that was the next session sorted.
Second session
-12*
15-20 mph wind
Crystal clear - perfect for the aurora
Location- fjordvegan - Patrick’s
It was quite daunting to drive over an hr on sheet ice and snow to find a mark and also find somewhere to park near the mark. I spoke to a chap (patrick) outside his house clearing snow and asked if i could fish off his pontoon. He was a commercial fisherman with his boat outside his house and a lorry to take his catch straight to market. He had it completely sussed like most nord’s. He brought his tractor around and cleared an old jetty for me and he was so happy to help, all i could do is nod like the Japanese and hold a thumbs up as he was doing it. He said i would catch fish here and i did. I started with the up and overs i used the night before but they didnt last long. So the 3 way swivel weak link rig was used with 130lb snood and 30lb for the lead line. Basically a brilliant rock mark rig thats so simple, you hang the lead off the hook instead of the bait on the lead this making casting big baits easy and all the weight is on the snood and not the 30lb. This was a deep mark and i was having trouble pulling fish over the ledge 20yrds infront of me. When you have this situation with very limited gear it starts to make you think what your doing. As soon as i had a fish on I initially would go like the clappers to keep the fish away from snags and try to get it in. This actually worked against me as the cod i was hooking were all around the 8-10lb mark and staying deep. After loosing a couple of fish with gear i tried a different approach and left the fish out there and played it until it was getting a little tired. When i thought that most of its energy had gone i really wellied it up and the fish would surface way before the ledge i was struggling with. It was dark and cold by now and i had 3 fish one kept for dinner and 2 returned. The aurora made a great appearance at this point and i did manage a few nice shots.
Boat session
-14* bitter
20mph
Clear for a spell
I hired a boat from vikran apartments to the owner’s amazement that i actually wanted to go fishing! The boat was an aluminium center console with a brand new 60 yamaha and a lowrance elite chart and finder. I had to clear 2ft of snow off everything and the deck was 2 inches thick with sheet ice. I reluctantly turned the frozen key and the engine came to life without hesitation. After loading 2 rods and some kit on board i set off with not a clue where i was going and was a little apprehensive. It took most of the morning to find some decent sized cod and up until then i had had numerous codlets wrasse and coalies. The mark i had ended up on was a flat plateau around 35-45m and fairly close to shore. I predominantly used the jigging rod which was a 60-100g light spj setup from majorcraft with sidewinder helm and odin jigs. I used a uv light to charge the glow up on the jigs and this really was the game changer, without doing this i think the game would have been much harder. Bearing in mind its now considerably colder than i have ever experienced before and my hands were wet and so were my gloves. It gets light around 10:30am dark at 12:30pm and its now 1pm and im out on a little tub trying to better my big fish decemer! Crazy stuff.
Anyway back to the fishing, i was drifting this small mark holding some considerable fish with quite a few 20+ cod coming aboard i thought thats enough and headed in. Whilst cruising home cowering behind the perspex i had to keep alook out for any ships passing as this was a major shipping lane with some 300m monsters passing me. What on earth am i doing i thought.
I moored up and checked the fuel and had only used 15lts! What a difference from my gadget back home. Dinner was served and it gave me a chance to gather my beach gear to head to a pontoon within casting range of where i had been earlier on.
I set out whole mack baits on sliders and the train of 2lbers started. I thought i should really try some jigs cast off the shore whikst im waiting so i used the saltiga popping rod and was whacking a 200g glowing jig out on a big pendulum to try and get to the drop off i was drifting before. Once the jig sank all the way to the bottom it was a case of there was either a fish already on or i would pump it in until something grabbed it. I had a few good fish doing this but then a real treat grabbed the jig and boy was i in for a fight! Slow long thumps and just casually taking line. In the moment i did bring it in too fast and nearly lost it on the ledge 20ft out and a couple of metres down. Luckly one of the assist hooks was in the gob and the other nailed the side of the gill plate and in came a cod i would guess at around 30-35lb! That was me done
The next day or two was quite bad weather and i did think - can i just nip around the corner on floaty? - it was best i didnt as an hr after thinking it we would have a complete white out.
Session 2 on boat
-6*
5mph winds
Clear
Floaty session
The previous evening i met a new arrival called Alex out side the apartments and he was holding a spinning rod and going to the pier to entice anything that swam infront of him. After talking he really wanted to have a crack on the boat and we sort of made a little arrangement that if the weather suits we will get out and see if theres any of the same i had a before. Well it was a late start i went to tromso for a cooked breakfast and arrived back at about 11:30 and it was calm like mirror calm. Alex was getting his golden card out he had for Christmas and was flashing it infront of his wife saying hes off fishing! Without agreement he was on floaty in no time at all with all his gear. We headed to the same mark and we had small fish. The bigger fish had moved on, its funny that fish actually swim to different areas!
It took us until 3pm to find the fish with alex grinning with a couple of 8-10kg cod on the deck. It was pitch black and starting to snow and i hadnt hooked anything decent this session i just wanted one lump to make it worth it but Alex was getting a little scared due to the vis and the impending doom of the big ships passing us. Alex at this point pulled out a bunch of yellow fruits that are long and thin with a slight bend and offered me one. I froze in shock and said hold on and took a pic of him offering me one. I have never seen such a confused german in all my life so i kindly asked him not to eat them and chuck them over board. So he put one on the dash of the boat and i whipered until it was discarded. I said a prayer and turned the key and the engine started fffffeeew we are out of the woods!
I had pushed somewhat to get a decent fish this holiday and i was really glad i did. People wanting to come out to fish norway must think its easy and the fish are everywhere, it seriously is not the case and its harder work and more frustrating than anywhere ive fished before. I guess in summer with 24hrs of sun light its a bit different but the only way i can explain my experience this time round was extreme.
I had tried to do a little bit of filming on the phone and made a badly edited video on YouTube (i really need to redo it) but i plan to re make it and edit it on the laptop this time around instead of the phone.
Tromso is such a nice place to visit but make sure you hire a car and get full zero wavier when doing so as even brushing snow and ice off the car will scratch it and they will try and get you. We had many nights the aurora was out and some nights were very strong and the bands were so visible that a video from the phone would pick them up. Luckily i had the dlsr with me and managed to get some cracking shots with green purple reds and blues coming over us in columns. It really does pay off to find somewhere very dark with no light pollution to witness it in full song.
Id love to add a few more pics but it wont let me
I usually fish the big beach alot over christmas and really try to make the most of the time off. After looking at the forecasts and impending doom in on the south coast it wasn’t looking promising. So it was the 11th of dec and this time is usually specimen time for me but it wasnt going to be - or was it?
That night i decided norway was the best option so booked my flight to tromso for the christmas break, knowing that the days were only 2hrs long and the aurora forecast was very high ranging from 3 all the way up to 5-6 at certain points. I was staying at a place very near to rystraumen about 30mins south of tromso itself. This is king halibut land and in june july you can pluck out hali’s up to 90kg off the piers but in dead winter its supposed to be pretty hard going in the fjords apart from 1-2lb codling. Much the same as chesil to be fair. I took my slow pitch jigging kit with about 20 jigs ranging from 150-250g, the saltiga gt86 popping rod and 2 ccld beach rods with spinfisher 7500’s. On arrival at the apartment the owner gave a slight giggle and said ive come at the wrong time of year “theres only small codling here” the challenge was set and having a few tick boxes to fill i didnt hold back in trying. I had 50 fresh macks that hadnt been frozen but sitting on ice throughout the flight! I had everychance!
First night of arrival
-13*
35-40mph offshore wind
Thick blizzard 10m vis
Shore fishing off the pier
I set out like a michelin man with hand warmers down my pants in my ears and under my hat! Up and over rigs made with 130lb and 6.0’s and loads of glow/bling. Even cut up bits of glow muppets attached. It was slow and tedious until low tide, when the water changed direction it was fish a chuck and all small codling. Hhhhm
The next morning we woke up to 3-4ft of snow and i wasn’t prepared to sit on the same mark again. After speaking to some friends they gave me a few marks to try so that was the next session sorted.
Second session
-12*
15-20 mph wind
Crystal clear - perfect for the aurora
Location- fjordvegan - Patrick’s
It was quite daunting to drive over an hr on sheet ice and snow to find a mark and also find somewhere to park near the mark. I spoke to a chap (patrick) outside his house clearing snow and asked if i could fish off his pontoon. He was a commercial fisherman with his boat outside his house and a lorry to take his catch straight to market. He had it completely sussed like most nord’s. He brought his tractor around and cleared an old jetty for me and he was so happy to help, all i could do is nod like the Japanese and hold a thumbs up as he was doing it. He said i would catch fish here and i did. I started with the up and overs i used the night before but they didnt last long. So the 3 way swivel weak link rig was used with 130lb snood and 30lb for the lead line. Basically a brilliant rock mark rig thats so simple, you hang the lead off the hook instead of the bait on the lead this making casting big baits easy and all the weight is on the snood and not the 30lb. This was a deep mark and i was having trouble pulling fish over the ledge 20yrds infront of me. When you have this situation with very limited gear it starts to make you think what your doing. As soon as i had a fish on I initially would go like the clappers to keep the fish away from snags and try to get it in. This actually worked against me as the cod i was hooking were all around the 8-10lb mark and staying deep. After loosing a couple of fish with gear i tried a different approach and left the fish out there and played it until it was getting a little tired. When i thought that most of its energy had gone i really wellied it up and the fish would surface way before the ledge i was struggling with. It was dark and cold by now and i had 3 fish one kept for dinner and 2 returned. The aurora made a great appearance at this point and i did manage a few nice shots.
Boat session
-14* bitter
20mph
Clear for a spell
I hired a boat from vikran apartments to the owner’s amazement that i actually wanted to go fishing! The boat was an aluminium center console with a brand new 60 yamaha and a lowrance elite chart and finder. I had to clear 2ft of snow off everything and the deck was 2 inches thick with sheet ice. I reluctantly turned the frozen key and the engine came to life without hesitation. After loading 2 rods and some kit on board i set off with not a clue where i was going and was a little apprehensive. It took most of the morning to find some decent sized cod and up until then i had had numerous codlets wrasse and coalies. The mark i had ended up on was a flat plateau around 35-45m and fairly close to shore. I predominantly used the jigging rod which was a 60-100g light spj setup from majorcraft with sidewinder helm and odin jigs. I used a uv light to charge the glow up on the jigs and this really was the game changer, without doing this i think the game would have been much harder. Bearing in mind its now considerably colder than i have ever experienced before and my hands were wet and so were my gloves. It gets light around 10:30am dark at 12:30pm and its now 1pm and im out on a little tub trying to better my big fish decemer! Crazy stuff.
Anyway back to the fishing, i was drifting this small mark holding some considerable fish with quite a few 20+ cod coming aboard i thought thats enough and headed in. Whilst cruising home cowering behind the perspex i had to keep alook out for any ships passing as this was a major shipping lane with some 300m monsters passing me. What on earth am i doing i thought.
I moored up and checked the fuel and had only used 15lts! What a difference from my gadget back home. Dinner was served and it gave me a chance to gather my beach gear to head to a pontoon within casting range of where i had been earlier on.
I set out whole mack baits on sliders and the train of 2lbers started. I thought i should really try some jigs cast off the shore whikst im waiting so i used the saltiga popping rod and was whacking a 200g glowing jig out on a big pendulum to try and get to the drop off i was drifting before. Once the jig sank all the way to the bottom it was a case of there was either a fish already on or i would pump it in until something grabbed it. I had a few good fish doing this but then a real treat grabbed the jig and boy was i in for a fight! Slow long thumps and just casually taking line. In the moment i did bring it in too fast and nearly lost it on the ledge 20ft out and a couple of metres down. Luckly one of the assist hooks was in the gob and the other nailed the side of the gill plate and in came a cod i would guess at around 30-35lb! That was me done
The next day or two was quite bad weather and i did think - can i just nip around the corner on floaty? - it was best i didnt as an hr after thinking it we would have a complete white out.
Session 2 on boat
-6*
5mph winds
Clear
Floaty session
The previous evening i met a new arrival called Alex out side the apartments and he was holding a spinning rod and going to the pier to entice anything that swam infront of him. After talking he really wanted to have a crack on the boat and we sort of made a little arrangement that if the weather suits we will get out and see if theres any of the same i had a before. Well it was a late start i went to tromso for a cooked breakfast and arrived back at about 11:30 and it was calm like mirror calm. Alex was getting his golden card out he had for Christmas and was flashing it infront of his wife saying hes off fishing! Without agreement he was on floaty in no time at all with all his gear. We headed to the same mark and we had small fish. The bigger fish had moved on, its funny that fish actually swim to different areas!
It took us until 3pm to find the fish with alex grinning with a couple of 8-10kg cod on the deck. It was pitch black and starting to snow and i hadnt hooked anything decent this session i just wanted one lump to make it worth it but Alex was getting a little scared due to the vis and the impending doom of the big ships passing us. Alex at this point pulled out a bunch of yellow fruits that are long and thin with a slight bend and offered me one. I froze in shock and said hold on and took a pic of him offering me one. I have never seen such a confused german in all my life so i kindly asked him not to eat them and chuck them over board. So he put one on the dash of the boat and i whipered until it was discarded. I said a prayer and turned the key and the engine started fffffeeew we are out of the woods!
I had pushed somewhat to get a decent fish this holiday and i was really glad i did. People wanting to come out to fish norway must think its easy and the fish are everywhere, it seriously is not the case and its harder work and more frustrating than anywhere ive fished before. I guess in summer with 24hrs of sun light its a bit different but the only way i can explain my experience this time round was extreme.
I had tried to do a little bit of filming on the phone and made a badly edited video on YouTube (i really need to redo it) but i plan to re make it and edit it on the laptop this time around instead of the phone.
Tromso is such a nice place to visit but make sure you hire a car and get full zero wavier when doing so as even brushing snow and ice off the car will scratch it and they will try and get you. We had many nights the aurora was out and some nights were very strong and the bands were so visible that a video from the phone would pick them up. Luckily i had the dlsr with me and managed to get some cracking shots with green purple reds and blues coming over us in columns. It really does pay off to find somewhere very dark with no light pollution to witness it in full song.
Id love to add a few more pics but it wont let me
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