Fishing in/around Bergen

[christoph]

Hi everyone!

I am Christoph from Austria and i’ll be staying in Bergen until february for an internship.

I’ve already had some first success fishing at Sotrabrua, Nordasstraumen and Gjeddevatnet (Fyllingsdalen), but am always looking for more good fishing spots in Bergen.

I am especially interested in:

1. spots for spin- and flyfishing for pollocks

2. deep spots withing casting distance from shore for baitfishing

3. lakes for pike fishing

4. rivers where flyfishing for trout is possible

If anyone could help me and recommend some good spots i would be really grateful. As i have a car I don’t mind driving some time to areas that can’t be reached by foot from the citycenter.

Best regards, Christoph

[Ølgylt]

Hi and welcome to Bergen.

I can start to answer so you get a discussion

 

 

1. spots for spin- and flyfishing for pollocks

Depends on how big you want them, and whether they are for eating or just for fun. But basically everywhere theres saltwater and a bit of current

 

2. deep spots withing casting distance from shore for baitfishing

You are in heaven concerning this. The options are almost endless. Most start at Bontelabo to get going, and then go searching for species afterward. Which species do you want?

 

3. lakes for pike fishing

Grimen, Hallandsvannet.

Read this for good tips (google translate)

4. rivers where flyfishing for trout is possible

You have to drive a bit for this. But Eksingedalen is really beautiful. There are other options

 

For all your questrions the best answer though is to pay Campelen på Bryggen a visit.

The beste tackleshop i town (and Norway). Where you will get answers from someone who have time to show you spots on the map.

Good luck

 

 

[christoph]

8 timer siden, Ølgylt skrev:

Hi and welcome to Bergen.

I can start to answer so you get a discussion

 

 

1. spots for spin- and flyfishing for pollocks Depends on how big you want them, and whether they are for eating or just for fun. But basically everywhere theres saltwater and a bit of current

 

2. deep spots withing casting distance from shore for baitfishing

You are in heaven concerning this. The options are almost endless. Most start at Bontelabo to get going, and then go searching for species afterward. Which species do you want?

 

3. lakes for pike fishing

Grimen, Hallandsvannet.

Read this for good tips (google translate)

4. rivers where flyfishing for trout is possible

You have to drive a bit for this. But Eksingedalen is really beautiful. There are other options

 

For all your questrions the best answer though is to pay Campelen på Bryggen a visit.

The beste tackleshop i town (and Norway). Where you will get answers from someone who have time to show you spots on the map.

Good luck

 

 

Hi Ølgylt!

First of all thanks a lot for your answer!

Some words to clearify my questions:

1. Pollocks: Of course i want them as big as possible ;-) , but at the moment i would be satisfied with some decent fish to eat for dinner. With „just for fun“ you mean fishing in heavier polluted areas?

I also haven’t really found out what the best lures are for  them. I caught a few fish on Streamer (woolly bugger), Rapalas, Softplastic lures but i haven’t found any lure that works more or less regularly. Could you give me some general advice about pattern, colour, size, style of retrieve (slow-fast) of lures they prefer.

 

2.  With Bontelabo you mean the docks close to the Bergenhus Festning? Species i want: torsk, lange, brosme (don’t know if the last two are possible from shore?), basically any species. I guess the method is dropping chunks of mackerel to the bottom with heavy sinkers (how heavy??)?

 

3.  Is threre a license required for the 2 lakes you suggested?

 

I’ll definitely check out Campelen as soon as i have time.

 

Best reagards, Chris

[AsleB]

Here is an app you can use to see if there are warnings active for the kind of fish you're targeting where you are: http://www.matportalen.no/matvaregrupper/tema/fisk_og_skalldyr/trygg_fisk_der_du_fiskar_last_ned_appen_miljostatus

All the mentioned lakes don't require a permit. A word of caution however, Grimevatnet is far down on my list of recommended pike lakes due to the low concentration of pike compared to other lakes. 80% of the shoreline is steep and rocky, and the mean depth is around 35 m. The lake is also a reservoir for a hydroelectric dam and is drained to avoid floods - especially during the spring and fall, which doesn't help the recruitment or survival rates of young pike.

You can get lucky and find some of the bigger pike near obvious spots of vegetation and structure, but most of the time they seem to be hanging out pelagically.

There is a small channel between Grimevatnet and Søylevatnet, and Søylevatnet has a more numerous population of both pike and perch.

For easy access perch and pike fishing, Tveitevatnet is a decent alternative if you don't mind a more urban backdrop.  Most of the pike/perch lakes produce pike up to 90-95 cm and perch from 35-40 , pike over 100 cm do occur but are much rarer.

Fly-fishing for trout in rivers, well.. Most of our rivers are basically small streams, but some of them do hold nice trout and fish up to 1.5 kgs is realistic, and fish twice as big do exist. Osvassdraget has the biggest potential, it does require a permit and parts of it is under restrictions due to having anadromous fish. An alternative is Nesttunelven, which is quite small and urban but has very nice trout. Myrdalsvatnet is a nice alternative, it has an extremely large population of smaller trout up to 250 g.

[christoph]

Hi AsleB, thanks a lot for these informations!

I`ll definitely check out Søylevatnet and Tveitevatnet . I have a few questions about the trout streams: Is Osvassdraget the same river as Oselva? If yes, i could only find informations about licenses for salmon fishing (inatur.no) and i guess that part is closed at the moment. Do you know where i can get a permit for the non-anadromous stretch? And are there permits required for Nesttunelven and Myrdalsvatnet? If yes, where can i get them?

best regards, Chris

Edited September 20, 2016 by christoph

[AsleB]

Nesttunelven and Myrdalsvatnet is free for all. Oselven is the last stretch of Osvassdraget. The entire system consists of many small streams and several lakes holding trout, arctic char and pike. It does require a permit, and you can fish for non-anadromous fish in parts of the system.A permit can be bought here: http://www.eranauto.no/kontakt/

 

[Ølgylt]

1. Pollocks: Of course i want them as big as possible ;-) , but at the moment i would be satisfied with some decent fish to eat for dinner. With „just for fun“ you mean fishing in heavier polluted areas?

I also haven’t really found out what the best lures are for  them. I caught a few fish on Streamer (woolly bugger), Rapalas, Softplastic lures but i haven’t found any lure that works more or less regularly. Could you give me some general advice about pattern, colour, size, style of retrieve (slow-fast) of lures they prefer.

If you want them for eating, they taste best around 3 kilos. You can catch a lot of these at Bontelabo when it gets more autumnly, while you are also testing the bottom for other fish.

The most efficient way is a piece of mackerel on a hook and no weight. I cant really say what is best though, I rarely fish for these.

 

 

2.  With Bontelabo you mean the docks close to the Bergenhus Festning? Species i want: torsk, lange, brosme (don’t know if the last two are possible from shore?), basically any species. I guess the method is dropping chunks of mackerel to the bottom with heavy sinkers (how heavy??)?

 

Yes. Torsk and lange are quite common there, and brosme sometimes, along with alot of sharks and other species.

The weight of the sinker depends on your rod. But 90 grams and up to 170 is the most commenly used.

[christoph]

Thanks again to both of you!

I went to Campelen yesterday and got some good infos about fishing spots. Tried Nordnes in the evening and caught my first Hågjel. Tonight i will try Bontelabo.

[AsleB]

Pollock are not finicky. They will hit a wide variety of artifical and natural bait.  The most important factor in my opinion is locating them and being able to present the bait to them, colour and action being of secondary importance. Wobblers are great for trolling, some are OK for casting but plastic grubs, shads and light pirks outperform wobblers in my opinion when casting from shore because they go further and allow you to quickly cover water.  They will hit lures retrieved at a moderate pace, will quite often hit on spin stops or on the drop. A wide selection of sizes can work - anything from 5  and up to 15 cm if you're fishing for the big ones further out at sea, a 5-10 kg pollock has no problems with taking much bigger bait. The pollock will quite often relate to structure and areas with a tidal current. If you can find a rocky point with varying depths, shallows and deeper dropoffs it's usually holds a few pollock of varying size. Try different approaches, like dropping a shad down to the bottom and jigging it home, or just letting it sink a metre or two and retrieve it steadily. When trolling for mackerel and other species I catch a lot more pollock than my target species, and then I'm using wobblers of around 7 cm, silver and black working at 1-2 m depth over anything from 60 m to 3 m. When I have targeted pollock in the past, few things outperformed a neon yellow or neon orange grub in the 10 cm range.

Natural baits like pieces of mackerel work great as well, but you will get bycatches of just about everything big enough to swallow it.

 

Edited September 22, 2016 by AsleB

[christoph]

Ok, i'll keep trying for pollock, sounds like i just need more patience.

Had my first success at Bontelabo yesterday evening: Lange, 100 cm, 5,1 kg

[MichaelS]

Did you cath it from land? Nice fish btw, i have never get it, my self.

[Ølgylt]

congrats!

No dogfish?

[christoph]

@MichaelS: Yes, caught it from land.

@Ølgylt: Thanks! No dogfish. The Lange was the only fish that took the groundbait. There were a few more bites but most of them seemed to be just crabs messing around with the bait. Also tried it yesterday evening but apart from some really small pollock, nothing. Nevertheless i really like that place. I guess i`ll be there quite often in the future.

 

[Ølgylt]

We`ll probably meet in the near future then.

[MichaelS]

22 timer siden, christoph skrev:

@MichaelS: Yes, caught it from land.

 

Cool, i have a friend. That loves to fish Lange, he always says, that it's hard to catch Lange from land. He have never done it. So i liked, that you did proved him wrong

Edited September 24, 2016 by MichaelS

[christoph]

First Pigghå at Bontelabo:

[cannonbang]

Quote

Ok, i'll keep trying for pollock, sounds like i just need more patience.

Hi

About pollock, as ølgyls says, when it gets more autumly. Or more spesific, when the water cools down towards the winter. In summer time, when the water is warm, they hunt mainly along land on shallow water, typically on places with current, or against open sea where the waves makes rough water. Don't worry about baits for them, this is a predator, and a møresild or toby (or similar) in silver and blue/black/green will do the job, typical 25-30 g . The trick is to cast along the land instead of as far out as you can.

[christoph]

Thanks for these tips, cannonbang!

My last attempts were not successful. On sunday i tried some places with current on Søtra but didn`t catch a single Lyr. To my excuse, the wind was so strong that keeping contact to the lure was quite difficult.

Yesterday i fished Bontelabo from 8 pm  til midnight and just caught 2 crabs. Are these big red crabs good eating or is it better to throw them back?

[MichaelS]

The helth departmeth (if i rember corect), says: Don't eat anything cought between Askøy and Helleneset. They say it's not safe.

[ford prefect]

Eating a couple of them probably won't hurt you in any way, but I believe it is recomended to keep away from crabs caught in that area.

Good luck with future adventures and chasing the mighty Lyr

[AsleB]

I would stay the hell away from crustaceans caught in the city basin. As mentioned by Michael, the seafood is monitored by NIFES and Mattilsynet and they have specific recommendations for which areas and which species are safe, and for whom. Google translate this: http://www.matportalen.no/matvaregrupper/tema/fisk_og_skalldyr/undersokelser_av_byfjorden_i_bergen

The TL;DR is to stay the hell away from most non-pelagic, non-anadromous fish from that zone unless you enjoy a week's allowance of heavy metals in a meal or two.

[Ølgylt]

why would you want to eat bait?

[christoph]

I got it, don't eat anything that lives near the bottom in the vicinity of Bergen .

Made a trip to Radøy on sunday. A friend got two very small pike in Hallandsvatnet and I finally got two nice pollock at Fosnstraumen on a savage gear sandeel.

[christoph]

Did a few fishing trips to Bontelabo the last weeks. Apart from a decent whiting, some pigghå and mackerels and an "almost caught" escaped farmed salmon (lost due to a too small dipnet) i dont have many catches to show. Yesterday i wasn`t even able to catch a singel mackerel although there were huge schools patroling along the shore. I am wondering if the fishing at Bontelabo is generally slow at the moment or am i doing something wrong? Maybe someone can give me advice.

Edited October 23, 2016 by christoph

[Ølgylt]

yes you are doing something wrong. you are fishing when the weather is nice.

 

normally this time of year there sre long periods with no activity (3-4 hours) followed by a couple of intense hours. the periods dont really correlate with the tide. 2300 to 0300 is usually the best time.

maybe try other places where you get deeper? salhus, nordnes, steinestø.

 

and yes, it really is better when thr rain is pouring down