Norway 2016

Bucho

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Joined
Mar 29, 2013
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919
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Kiel, Germany
The wild coast of norway is #1 holiday destination for most german anglers. It was time I did my first "real" fishing vacation there. I joined a group of 3 other guys I hardly knew. We went up to Dalsfjord with 2 cars loaded with 2 kayaks and rented a house and a motorboat there.

On the first kayak trip , I tested a trolled bucktail fly behind a jet diver & action disc. Got a a number of mackerel (=bait!) , pollock and small coalfish.
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Small tins were effective bait collectors, too, but also hooked (and lost) some substantial pollock that were fixated on small fry as well as a wide arry of bottom fish - given the weather was calm enough to reach ground.
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Most fishing up there is bottom fishing, dropping bait 300-900`down with 50lbs tackle and 16-30(!)oz of lead. Electric reels are not uncommon as every bait check is agonizing work. I was very happy to prove my theory (why the heck not fish with tipped bucktails like they do in america??) worked... on first try :D . With the help of a drift sock, I could slow winddrift enough to use 2oz bucktails in 100-200`of water and catch some nice ling on medium spin tackle.  
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The gaula river that leads into the fjord is known for world class atlantic salmon fishing. We didn´t encounter any, but bought some affordable licences for the clear mountain lakes above the salmon leading part which held a large number of small but very pretty browns. 
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To encrease their range, we used the boat to mothership our kayaks. Not really worth the trouble if you can reach the same spot by car but it was fun trying. 
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a 13lbs cod dwarfing an 8oz bucktail.
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I like horse mackerel. Its the only trevally we got up there, strong fighters and not even bad eating.
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Fishing for ling and brismark (brosme brosme) :huh: in >400`of water called for large baits and 8-16 oz of weight. The stingers were additionally tipped.
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Enough strampling!
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This is what a decent ling looks like. - 11kg, 128cm
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from a depth of 300´bait stealing small sharks became a problem. Here´s  a haul of three - two hooked, one tangled into the leader whicch should have been straightened by the 8oz bucktail an the extra 10oz weight atached to the spinner blade arm, seen under the larger sharks pectorial fin tip.  
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last day started with some trolling, I tried a 3 3/4 kach moor spoon as a flasher for a very small tube fly.
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Good size pollock went for the fly after I lost two bigger ones on small tins.

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it was so calm I could use 1,5oz bucktails in 180`of water, literally dead-drifting. Got me some nice fish on light spin tackle.
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Nice ling in the 30" range

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The stinger wasn´t needed for the target fish but extra-tipping it brought nice bycatch
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Not sure how to call it in English, (lumb / lat: brosme brosme) but some of the best eating fish I´ve ever had. 
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Fantastic landscape, nice company, great fishing and a lot of ideas for a very interesting market. No seatrout, salmon or halibut but that´s up fot the next trip!
 

hookup

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
2,698
Location
VA
Beautiful country. And fishing that deep from a kayak must be a challenge.

Do you 'tick' the bottom with the jig to attract the fish?
 

Bucho

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Messages
919
Location
Kiel, Germany
nope, not intentionally. Maybe I should have, I`m not an expert in this fishing. For cod, I usually let the jig drift a good deal above the ground, like one would do with float and fly. Not even sure if the ground was rocky or muddy.

Now that you mention it it seemed to mee I got most action when I did tick the ground in order to make contact with it.
 

slammingjack

New member
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
241
Thank you for the post and pics. To see baits I know in the mouth of fish , I had never seem ... was real cool.
 

Hawnjigs

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Mar 23, 2010
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Location
Ogallala, NE
Looks like the weather Gods favored your adventure.
Any shoreline opportunity?
Trying to free or break a bottom snag from a kayak in deep water must be fun.
The ling look like an interesting challenge to fillet.
 

Bucho

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Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Messages
919
Location
Kiel, Germany
The weather was exceptionally indeed, sometimes almost too warm and calm with all the safety gear on. Shoreline was far, no reason to go there. You´d be surprised how much pressure one can apply from a kayak. The Inuit used them for whaling.
 

hookup

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May 22, 2012
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2,698
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VA
When I lived in CA, use to go out on the party boats allot for ling, snapper, and what ever else would bite. An ol' black guy on the boat taught me to hug the bottom with the lure. You'll loose a few lures, but you'll bring home fish. After I got the idea, found out that the technique works for just about any fish I hunt. Wife has 4 fish tanks and the big fish always hang on the bottom until feeding time.
 

Bucho

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Messages
919
Location
Kiel, Germany
I believe the pacific lingcod is a whole different species that doesn´t even have a swim bladder. Light tackling for ling in 90-180`, my impression was that letting the jig throw a silhouette a few feet above the ground wasn´t even too bad. I hooked the better two of them at moments when I had no ground contact at all. Speaking of depths in excess of 300`however where there´s virtually no sunlight I`m 100% with you on the ground hugging. Down there its all about scent, blades and luminouscense.
 

AtticaFish

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Mar 22, 2010
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5,445
Location
Attica, OH
I've read through your post a couple times now....... looks like an amazing trip with some beautiful background scenery as well. Those fish are crazy looking species too. That deep water sounds like a challenge. The deepest water i fish through any normal year is usually only around 40' (12 meters) deep. Can't imagine reeling in a fighter from that deep water. Good to see you showing that the tried and true patterns work in such different water. Amazing mountains in the background.

With the colder weather on its way, the predator fish should be getting cranked up around here as well as the fish really feed hard before the long winter.
 
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