The following remark concerns research of charr:

Scientific fanaticism for charr is in part a product of intellectual frustration.

Ron Greer (Ferox trout and arctic charr).

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Tuesday July 4th 2006, Stutefosstjernet

Somehow I could not find a lot about flyfishing in the area around Moss, which is situated approximately 50 km South-South-East of Oslo. Anyway, the travelrod and other kit were put in the suitcase, just in case. The day after arrival a Norwegian colleague told me that there was a good fishing tackle store in the street right behind the hotel. The owner probably could help me with some information on where to go. The shop, "Østfold fiske & fritid", was found easily. On the question where one could go flyfishing for trout in brook, river or lake, the owner, Jan-Hugo Jeremiassen, answered "ah, there you have a problem". There was not a lot of such water around, he told me. The easiest option was to go down to the fjord, only a few hundred metres away. There seatrout is caught regularly. But there was a little lake at half an hour distance, and I could try my luck there. After I had bought a roadmap in town, Jan pointed out where the lake was, how to get there and where to get a permit. With a high spirit I went to the hotel and this time I made sure that everything was packed in my backpack. When I got to Svinndal I looked for the gasstation. In front of the Spar supermarket, there were a few petrol pumps, so this should be it. Unfortunately only the gouvernment licenses were sold here, but no daypermits for the Stutefosstjernet. When I told of the advise that Jan had given me, to go to the gassstation in Svinndal, I was advised to go 10 km further down the road, there would be a real gas station. The lady of the supermarket was very kind and phoned the place. Indeed, permits were sold there. Twenty minutes later I got the permit in my pocket and soon after the lake was found too.

The Stutefosstjernet is not a big lake, but it is very pretty. It is located in the forest and contains clear water with many beds of waterlillies near the shoreline. There is a track around the lake and at many places the bank is well accessible. But for a flyfisherman there are less suitable places because of the many trees and shrub on the bank. I was not the only angler who considered it a good evening to go fishing, a mother and grandpa with kids and a few other anglers apparently had the same idea. There surely is fish in the lake, despite the hot weather I saw several fish rising, but they were out of my casting range. I did not get a single take the whole evening, but had a very pleasant evening fishing anyway.

In a swampy corner of the lake there was a Goldeneye with three young. On the way back to Moss I saw a roe deer and near town one more with two fawns. That is something I don't see every day.

Thursday July 6th, Hobølelva

Our Norwegian colleague Knut had looked on the internet and found a website with information of fishing in the Østfold area. The Hobølelva was mentioned as a place were trout was present. Licenses could be had in the town of Tomter, at the Petter 'n Mix (a kiosk). I decided to give it a try. Tomter was easy to find, from Moss I only had to follow route 120. The Petter 'n Mix is located at the roadside, it could hardly be missed. The license was bought and after having something to eat, I went to the river. Up to Tomter the river was narrow, slow and deep. Now I was looking for a faster piece of water.

First I tried my luck at an old and abandoned sawingmill. I didn't catch anything, but I did spot a red squirrel from nearby. Then I went on till I came at a very attractive looking stretch of the river. There was enough room to park the car. A nymph was used to fish the deeper pools, and a dry sedge pattern for the shallower parts. At a spot that was overgrown by trees, there was a pool. Above it there was a fast piece of water, and a little deeper hole. The first pool did not bring anything, but when the nymph was casted into the hole a trout took it straigh away. It looked like a good fish. After a few minutes I could land the fish, a trout of just over 35 cm.

It did not have any red spots, I noticed, but it did not look like a seatrout. I doubt if salmon and seatrout could reach this part anyway, for at the sawmill the river is dammed. Anyway, I was very happy with it. Further I enjoyed the fishing and the beauty of the river and the surroundings. Wading was tough, it looked like a stretch in Germany that we call the "killing fields" because of the large rocks that are in the river. At about ten o'clock I decided I had fished enough.

A Norwegian angler that I spoke to at a parking place, mentioned that he had seen fish rising in the Mjaer (a lake). I wanted to have a look at it before driving back to Moss. At the spot where the Hobølelva runs out of the lake there is a bridge. From there I could see the rising fish in the lake, and I also saw a few fish in the river, but they did not look like trout. I climbed down at the bridge and started fishing. After a while I got a small rudd, which I enjoyed. It is a nice spot to flyfish, easily to wade and it is similar at fishing at the Wijde Blick in Holland for example. It was very pleasant, and the Mjaer looked smashing in the light of the setting sun. As a bonus, I saw a moose grazing in a meadow on the way back, and that completed a fine day.

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Bergen, Norway, 12-15 October 2001

After it became known that we would visit Stavanger and Bergen, a search was made on the internet to find information about angling. Surfing on the net I came across the website of Bergen Sportsfiskere where I found the name of my old friend Erik Falck. Erik and I fished together in 1981 and 1985 on occasion of earlier port visits. But in time we lost contact. After one e-mail the good contact was renewed.

In 1981 we caught Røye (Salvelinus alpinus - arctic charr) in the Gåsandvann. Up to now it has been the only time that I have ever caught arctic charr. It is a beautiful fish, steel blue back and bright orange belly. Friday evening Erik and I met and we went ashore for a beer. In a really nice pub we talked things over and planned to go fishing together next day. I would love to fish for charr again, and Erik knew a few places where that might be possible.

Saturday morning we were collected and headed for a lake. The drive was smashing, the landscape was breathtakingly beautiful with the rought mountains and the trees in full autumncolours. We passed many rivers, lakes and fjords. After a while we stopped at a supermarket to get some shrimps for bait and some rolls for ourselves. The weather was cooperating. Although we had a lot of wind and rough seas for the last two weeks, during the weekend the weather was nice and calm. Even a bit of sunshine was to be enjoyed. The angling association of Bergen owns a few boats on the Skogseidvannet in Hålandsdalen and we could use one of them. Erik explained that this lake is famous for its big trout.

The lake was deep, next to the shoreline it soon was 20 meters or more. Erik was the lucky guy and got the first brown trout. After a while we decided to head for a few islands. On our way up we trolled with a spoon. After an hour fishing a really big trout was spotted, breaking the surface and a bit later a second one showed. We casted towards the fish, but they could not be tempted to take the lures.

Further down, on our way back, something big took Eriks spoon. It appeared like we were stuck to the bottom, but when we rowed back and approached the spot, the bottom started to move. Fish !! But alas, the fish got rid of the spoon without us getting a look of it. Erik thought that it might have been a rainbow trout of a few kilo's. Pitty to have lost it.

Close to where we had launched the boat, I changed the spoon for a spinnerbait and tried to fish the water under the trees at the shoreline. Within a minute or two a brown trout took the lure. My colleague Jan had one on a bit later, but this fish threw the hook out near the boat, so it became a "short distance release". Anyway, we had a great time fishing this lake, followed by a beautiful drive back to Bergen.

We dicided to go out on sunday again and this time my friend Gerrit was to join us. First we went to a river that ran into a lake in Samdalen at Renen. There was a chance to find some charr. It turned out to be too early in the year and no charr was there to be found yet. Because I thought that the trout season would have closed already, I only took a #7 fly rod with me for codd and now I really missed my #4 flyrod.

But no matter what, it was a fantastic place to fish. When we got nothing, Erik had another spot to try and we went to the Langavannet in Åsane. When we arrived we saw some small brown trout rising, but there was no sign of charr yet.

Very soon I got a little brown trout and Gerrit got one a bit later. I tried to seduce them with a wet fly, but the wee brownies could not be interested. We enjoyed the fishing very much though. It was a beautiful lake, with mountains reflecting in the calm water. The number of greens and browns was overwhelming. At the end of the afternoon Erik dropped us off on board. And so this port visit ended, we could look back to a great fishing weekend.

Erik wrote an article about the visit in the year book of the Bergen Anglers Association,
click HERE !

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