Post on R.O.F.F.

Northern Sweden has been called Europe’s last wilderness, which isn't quite accurate since it should also include the northern parts of Norway and Finland. I live at latitude 65 degrees North, but the influence from the Gulf Stream makes it more than habitable, in fact the summers can be very nice. The population is very small in the northern half of Sweden, something like half a million people living in an area equal to Great Britain.

There's a large number of unexploited rivers and lakes that hold a variety of fish, the most common being perch, pike, brown trout, sea trout, Baltic salmon, grayling and arctic char. Methods of fishing vary, but fly fishing and spin fishing are the most adapted to these species.

The World Fly Fishing Championships were recently held in this corner of the world and it was great fun to hear what others thought about this "my" part of the world.

The things that seems to have made an impression on people is the "cleanliness of the nature"?? and the bright summer nights (lucky them, they didn't have to spend winter here!).

I've been fly fishing for 26 years now and somehow, even though I've laboured hard, the mental list of waters yet to be fished has only grown bigger.

Fly fishing for trout, arctic char and grayling is mainly done with different sedge (caddis) imitations, pupae’s as well as fully developed insects. At times, You would however be more successful with terrestrials, mayflies, bugs or wasps.

Even though some of our rivers are very large I prefer a #5-6 fly rod for most of my fishing (not salmon or sea trout) the one that I use more often than others is 10 feet long.

Fishing starts at mid May and, if we’re lucky, continues until October.

There are three regions that one can fish, waters near the coast, inland waters and last but not least the mountain waters. For salmon, sea trout and grayling the coastal region and the inland would be a first choice, for arctic char and brown trout the inland region and all the way up to the mountains is the better choice.

We are talking nature with very little population here, so some knowledge of camping/hiking is of use, but the benefits of Your efforts in reaching a distant mountain water can be rewarding.

I visited a mountain river called River Laisan in the county of Vasterbotten a few years ago. It was high up this river, way beyond the nearest road, that I had a summer night of fishing that is forever imprinted in memory. Trout everywhere, feeding from the surface, with a persistence that made my friend exclaim that “this is even better than sex”, of course his wife was 500 kilometres due east, otherwise I doubt that he would have said anything like that out loud. I caught that evening, on dry fly, one wild brown trout weighing lb 7, one weighing lb 3, one weighing lb 2 and several around lb 1. There are no grayling in that river (at least not that far west), otherwise it would be a favourite. Instead there is a river in the county of Norrbotten that is called River Pite that is one of the places closest to my heart. This is a river with salmon, sea trout (close to the coast), grayling, brown trout and even arctic char (up in the mountains), a river that every year produces grayling in the lb 4+ category.

To fish this far north means that You’re not controlled by daylight (since the sun hardly sets) and the feeling of total freedom and humility on a night with rising fish in a landscape untouched by man can be overwhelming. There is no pollution this far north and You may drink the river water without reservation, if not I can recommend a single malt, I promise You it has never tasted better.

Anyhow, there are people more suited to the task of describing what fishing can be like in these parts (I’m not impartial, if You know what I mean) and since I found a homepage that obviously has been developed since the World Fly Fishing Championships, I thought I might share it with You.

The part I found interesting is what Chris Ogborne, captain of the English team has to say under Journalist's View on the first page.

http://www.laplandfishing.com/

God! this text sounds like a commercial, which it wasn't meant to be, only an attempt to share what I believe to be a good description of the fishing that can be found in this "my" part of the world.

--
Roger Ohlund, 

Daytime Engineer
Lifetime Fly fisher