First experience in Namsen

[murtovaaput]

I have promised so many people to tell about my first salmon fishing experience at Namsen that I find this way to be a little bit easier than posting couple of e-mails and filling up your mailboxes

Thursday 26.8.2010

I had decided earlier this season with Jim Frode to visit him at the end of this season to see the famous Namsen in real life. We decided that the very last weekend before the season end could be the best time because the water conditions would most probably be better in late August than for example in late July.

I arrived on Thursday 26th of August to Overhalla. I took the flights from Helsinki to Oslo and managed to miss my first connection flight to Trondheim. Luckily I wasn’t the only one. We got new flights for free but still I had to call Jim and apologize for the delay.

I arrived to Trondheim around 11.00 and saw Jim on the baggage claim area. Luckily my bag that had my wobblers and fishing clothes in was still in one piece (I have some former bad experience about the luggage handling at airports…).

Well, after a couple of hours driving we managed to get to Overhalla. We had a quick look around the different pools. I always thought the river was different. It was nothing I expected. Maybe the low water level made it look smaller than I had thought. The flowing conditions were not the best there could be.

But – you should never give up fishing. It is always good time to be at the river and if you want to catch some fish, you ain’t going to catch anything if you are staying home worrying about the water conditions. So I paid the licences and we went for a quick harling session at the river. In zone 2 the flow was minimal and we had to row upwards going across the river. Although we saw some salmon in the surface we were not able to get any salmoncontacts.

Friday 27.8.2010

On Friday we rowed at Heknin. In Heknin the flow was much better and it was easy to adjust the wobblers to make their work in the water.

After a couple of hours we managed to catch the first fish, a 2,3kg male Namsenlaks that had gained some light colour on flanks but still had some lice on the head. Perhaps the fish had been in the river before and had a little turn at the fjord before coming back up the river. Anyway we decided to take the fish and make it as a dinner next day.

My first salmon from the river Namsen. Not a beast but a nice fish anyway.

We went to the river after having some lunch and had some strikes at wobblers. It was not that long until we managed to hook a 4kg silverbright Bjøralaks with lots of lice (some of them even had the eggs on). What a beautiful fish it was!

The bag limit was filled with this beautiful silverbright salmon

The fish is in Jim’s freezer waiting to be coldsmoked Norwegian way and delivered to my Christmas table.

Afterwards we had some beer and whiskey and went to the local pub to meet some other fisherman. Too bad I don’t remember them so well… The Norwegian drinking style is even worse than the Finnish way. And of course I had to adapt to the culture.

Saturday 28.8.2010

On Saturday we fished in Ristad. There was not that much flow. Only on the very top border of the pool where the river gets shallower we had enough current to make the wobblers swim properly.

We had couple of nice strikes on the wobblers, on the other strike I was able to feel a couple of kicks at the end of the line before the fish managed to unhook itself.

We went for a little drive and Jim showed me the river Bjøra. It did not have that much of water but it gave me an idea of the river. It reminded me a lot about the typical places where I fish for brown trout. The dark bottom with lots of green vegetation was most definitely different from Namsen.

Sunday 29.8.2010

Jim had earlier on Thursday showed me a place called Sællagshylla. Normally that is a very dangerous place to fish because the water makes a sudden drop and the current is so strong that the boat can easily flip over. If you get in to the vortex under the waterfall you might never get back to the surface again.

Wobblerfishing in that place is not that common, people mainly stay at the rockcliffs and use some worms to get their salmon.

When I saw the place on Thursday, I said to Jim that we have to go on the neck of the waterfall and try to get some rising salmon with our wobblers.

On Sunday then we did not have to row for that long time until we managed to hook the first fish. It was a 2kg little bit dark fish that we gently released.

A little bit brownish salmon that was released to continue its life and make some more salmon.

After that we managed to hook approx. 5kg fat Bjøralaks that jumped almost to the shore. The fish landed behind some sharp rocks and the line was broken. The wobbler was lost. I did not want to believe this but I had to…

We just had to try again. We managed to hook a 800g fresh smålaks but released it really quickly and continued fishing. It was not that long that we had a bigger salmon striking and the reel started to play some music. I managed to get the rod into my hand, tried to resist the salmon from swimming down the rapid. For the second time, the fish managed to rub the line to the rocks and after some seconds - snap - the line was broken! It just was not possible.

Afterwards, we changed our leader line to 0,6mm fluorocarbon. The line was not to be broken again.

In the afternoon we fished in Heknin again, we had some nice strikes but nothing more.

Sunday was my last day at the river.

Monday 30.8.2010

In Monday morning we drove to Namsos to get the bus to Trondheim. After a couple of hours I arrived to the airport. I was home in Ylöjärvi 04:00 Finnish time in Tuesday morning. And of course I went to work. I was completely tired the next evening and actually did not wake up to the alarm clock on Wednesday morning. Now the rhythm seems to be back and I am ready for some more fishing.

I will most definetely want to come back to Namsen next year. The river is really beautiful in its own originality. You can’t find that kind of a salmonriver here in Finland. Even though it is expensive, it is worth it.

I think we had extraordinary many contacts with the fish. I just have to be happy and say that I am satisfied with the trip. We had some bad luck with the fish that got away or broke the line but that belongs to the nature of this hobby. I think we also had some cultural differences that affected our rower-rodman teamskills. The Norwegian way of working with the salmon differs a lot from the Finnish way. But next time it will be the Bamselaks then…

I have to thank Jim and Lene once again for having me as their quest. I have to say that based on this experience, Norwegian people are amongst the nicest people on the planet earth.

I am looking forward to be at the Namsen next season again. Hopefully I get the chance.

Endret September 2, 2010 av murtovaaput

[Nils Master]

Seems like you had a nice trip. You should come back in may next year, to fish Bjøra when the water is high,

[murtovaaput]

Yes, the trip was really nice.

Do you think that there will be some storlaks in Bjøra in May?

[h1rik]

I am happy to hear you had a nice trip , but then again, with a guide like Jim Frode - what could go wrong (apart from the traditional drinkingculture in Nord-Trøndelag.

I hope they did not introduce you to the lokal brew "Karsk" - coffee and moonshine )

Regarding Bjøra - in May, Bjøra probably is the best place to hunt for the really big lohi`s. But I think the knowledge of a local/experienced is needed, if you want success.

[Tequila]

Hi Petri.

Good report and you would have loved Namsen in June.....

[PerH]

Seems like an ok trip you had, Petri. Congrats with your first Namsen salmons!

Namsen is very different in june, and the average size of lohi too - that's for sure!

I see you mention Bjøra, but you did not fish there? Maybe down at Himo-Rodum?

Regarding Bjøra - in May, Bjøra probably is the best place to hunt for the really big lohi`s. But I think the knowledge of a local/experienced is needed, if you want success.

If you want to try Bjøra before Namsen opens, in may/june, feel free to come and fish with us. We will probably go there next spring and have fished there for some seasons now. You know my e-mail, so we can discuss it later on!

Some of the guys I fish with are professional rowers and really know that river. This fishing will be more like the type you are used to in calm, finnish rivers. It is a very demanding one - you really need vaapput that swims in almost no stream. But as h1rik points out - you really will need good guides there. That river really is a difficult and treacherous one, quietly flowing and almost impossible to "read". Therefore you have to know where to fish, so this is not a river where you can jump into the boat and rely on pure luck to catch your fishes!

"Oteren" probably lost the biggest norwegian salmon of this century there some seasons ago, that was an incredibly big fish!

That line broke - a sad moment. But Oteren know their wherabouts and sometimes manages to get the big ones out of Bjøra, like this one here:

An old pic of our team and the guys that worked at Skogmo Gjestgiveri from some days fishing in may/june 2001 (salmons are 6.9-16,4 kgs):

Here is links to some forum threads from the last three years.

May/June 2010:

May 2009: http://www.fiskersid...=1

May 2008: http://www.fiskersid...=1

There are also som pics from Bjøra this year here, where one of the salmons was caught on a Murto NRS:

http://www.fiskersid...=1

[Vaaput]

Hei Petri!

Slik ser det ut i juni!

Heknin juni 2010

Fullversjon: http://fiskevatn.no/foto/arkiv/42995/106748.jpg

Fullversjon: http://fiskevatn.no/foto/arkiv/42995/106749.jpg

Sellægfossen juni 2010

Fullversjon: http://fiskevatn.no/foto/arkiv/42996/106750.jpg

[murtovaaput]

Thanks for the info and the photos. I did not fish in Bjøra at all, it was between Heknin - Sellægshylla this time.

First of all, I know the river is different in beginning of season. We saw the waterline on the shore and Jim told me lots of things about the river, for ex. where to find the hot spots on each waterlevel and so on.

I know there could have been bigger salmon and the early season could have been better. But this time it was a known decicion to make the timing for the trip the way it was. For me it was most important to see the river and meet Jim. Salmonfishing is always fun, you don't go there just to break records or maximise the catch. For me salmonfishing (and actually all kind of active fishing) is a "lifeline".

And taking into account the conditions and the time of the year, I am more than happy with the catches we had.

Next year it will be earlier, if I manage to do all the arrangements and my holidays are favourable.

Lets see what happens back in Finland, my salmon season is not yet over. The bright salmon will start to rise to river Kymi any days now. There is already some salmon in the river but not any catches yet from the harling area. Most often the best month has been August but this year the salmon has been late due to the slow flow and really hot water (over 27 degrees).

The season goes up until 14.10. After that you can still fish in the river but all salmon and also seatrout that are starting to spawn must be released. We of course always (before that day too) release the fish if it is even slightly coloured.

After the possibilities catching a bright salmon will be gone, I will concentrate on seatrout. Last season was catastrophic, mainly because of huge amount of nets on the rivermouth.

The seatrout season continues all the way to december and starts again in March next year.

So there is a lot of fishing to do. Only one common problem - where to find the time?

Endret September 3, 2010 av murtovaaput

[Tequila]

I will be happy to invite you on our team if its space next year (might be my place).

I,m occupied to of the weekends in June, so it might be the first time for 18 years that i do not visit Namsen.... but time will show.