Valtajokk creek
For four years in a row now, we have visited this area, 1995-1998. We have had our camps at several different locations on both the north and the south side of Valtajokk creek. The fishing in this creek has differed from time to time, but one year we had great fishing high upstream in the creek with both trout and Arctic char in the lb 2 category. In the numerous lakes on both sides of the creek, on the other hand, we have had superb fishing throughout all these years. The last(?) year we noticed that one of our favourite lakes had been netted. How can anyone put nets in a lake no larger than two football fields when it takes 10-15 years for this kind of water to recover? Unethical, not to mention illegal.
In 1997 we lived at Lake Laijpajaure. That summer was extremely hot with up to 30 degrees Celsius in the mountains. Daytime fishing was almost out of the question, but we went higher up in the mountains where it was a bit cooler. We found a couple of small lakes but only caught small trout, there should’ve been some lake with larger trout but we didn’t find one.
We put up towels as sun protection and swam in the lakes, some of us even crossed the bay that we camped by.
Night time the char was feeding ferociously. We fought with the mosquitoes and casted like madmen. There are an enormous amount of lakes in the area should you think of visiting. Keep on trying and you will find one with BIG fish, we did.
Valtajokk creek is somewhat difficult to fish with its crystal clear water and man high undergrowth hanging out over the surface. The creek is alternating between rapids and calmer stretches, and if I were to give a hint I would say to try the fishing higher up.
If you’re lucky you might just see a Golden eagle come flying. This happened to us one year. In the middle of the night an eagle came gliding no more than fifteen meters above our camp, it was a mighty sight. We are very cautious not to kill more fish than we need, but who can resist cured char in the mountains.