Return to Norway!

Hi guys and girls.... yes, I know it's been a long time since I last wrote on here again! Seems to be a trend with my lack of spare time this last year or so....Well, time for a few stories and some updates from moi. Lots has happened since my last post where Marianne and I visited Norway for the first time. First up, there's been a change in job. As of 6th January I started a new role as the parts advisor for Nissan/Jaecoo/Omoda in Bridgend. 

This came about for many reasons but the biggest being the long daily commute to Audi in Cardiff which some days was taking over an hour each way and amassing a lot of miles on my car. Not only that but a lot of expense in fuel. 

I now have a 15 minute trip each way and cut my fuel bill by 3/4! I still don't seem to have a huge amount of spare time but I do at least get Saturdays free now so hopefully I'll get the motivation back to do more after work and weekends soon. 

So, fishing wise it's not been that busy to be honest with only 2 trips to discuss since November. The first being a return to Norway but a lot further North this time and a trip with my old mate Evan Rees to the Artic Circle and Lyngenfjord near t0 Tromso. 

We headed out from Bristol airport on the 9th March with Easyjet and flew for 3 hrs 15mins into the cold artic air. The flight was spectacular in every way and the the air crew were utterly brilliant! 

Anyone who says otherwise about Easyjet has been unlucky because the guys we had were incredible. They dealt with a sick passenger, fed us all, chatted and made a concerted effort to make the flight as enjoyable as possible. 

One of the girls even took my mobile to the cockpit to get some inflight footage for me! Spectacular! 

On landing we were met by heavy snow storm and minus 10C at Tromso international airport. We got the luggage off the conveyor an grabbed our hire car from the reception area. I left Evan with the luggage and ventured outside into 2 foot deep snow to find our car.....A mission in itself as the car was literally buried! I eventually got the car uncovered and drove slowly to the front of the reception to grab Evan and the piles of fishing kit and bags. 

We steadily made our way out of the city with myself at the helm gradually learning how much or how little grip we had! Things went well and after stopping for a fuel station hotdog and seeing a mother Moose and her baby on route, we finally arrived about 10pm. We had a few drinks and grabbed sone rest before an early start to fish from our private jetty at the back of our AirB&B! 

We got up to mild clear conditions and donned our warm weather gear to venture out and cast into the fjord. Evan was first up catching 2 lovely codling on lures which was his biggest hope for the trip. The bites were a little low on the ground though and the fishing pretty tough during the day. I managed my first fish mid afternoon with my biggest want from the trip! 

An incredible 8lb 12 oz Wolf Fish which took a big old Mackerel hookbait on an 8/0 circle hook. The fight was epic and I had great fun holding a new species! Those things literally just want to eat you! Hilarious.....The day progressed to night and we went insider for some dinner before the tide change and a night session from the jetty.

The fishing on the first night was fairly good with numerous nice codling falling for our mackerel baits and I think we had about half a dozen each. Around 11pm Evan decided to call it a night but I stopped out as there was an inkling of the Aurora Borealis being visible within the next hour. I'm glad I stopped out as around 12.30pm the skies lit up with some incredible scenes! 

The light from the Aurora bathed all of the fjord in greens, blues, pink and purple hues from above! To say it was spectacular to witness sat with my fishing rods out, a gin in hand and a lovely cigar in the other! A night I will never forget as long as I live! I had at this point no idea what was to follow in the coming days though!

Day two started fairly similarly to the previous with a nice full English breakfast cooked by Evan before we went to get changed for the outside cold air. I stood in the bedroom changing and noticed some large fins sprouting out the water just beyond our jetty! 

Evan and I threw our kit on and ran outside to see numerous pods of Pilot Whales passing through the area! This was incredible to see but to be honest did little for the fishing. We had a few odd nibbles from crabs and smaller fish but by mid afternoon we felt in need to of a change of venue possibly. 

We headed into the local village of Sammuelsberg and grabbed some food for our stay from tne local CoopPrix. The food in there was fabulously fresh and we made an instant hit with the locals including a lovely guy called Simen who gave us lots of info where to go and what to see whilst we were there. What a great guy and we still stay in touch now! 

Our next day we headed out further north towards Lapland and the Swedish border. We found a couple of mega marks to fish including one right next to a ferry terminal. The tide was spot on and both of us managed some belting codling on lures from right next to the ferry base. 

We tried another spot with no results probably due to poor tidal times but also met another lovely local guy who pointed us towards a spot 20 mins further North near Rotsund. Apparently a bit of a hotspot!

The next day we headed over to the new spot which appeared to be on private property next to a commercial fish oil processing plant. We took a chance and drove straight onto the groyne and set up to fish expecting to be asked to leave at any moment! To be honest we saw a few staff members and not one of theme seemed bothered by our being there. 

We started to catch some of the best codling of the trip with lots of fish to 7-8lbs. It was a bit snaggy and very deep but the rewards where to catch. We stayed until late and filled our boots! Driving home was very interesting as we had a rather heavy blizzard to attend with. This made driving more fun than usual and the road was barely visible bar the red posts every 10 yards along the side of the road to tell you where to drive in the event of a white out!

After the storm cleared we had a few drinks indoors and headed out to fish off the jetty again. It was okay for about an hour then another blizzard came in and we sat in heavy snow awaiting very little action. I think we gave it till about 2am before retiring to bed. The latter end of the week saw a few clear days and one night we were witness to the greatest Aurora show I have seen to date! 

Waves of green lights smothered the sky over the fjord and left us bother totally speechless as seems to be a common trend with my Norway trips! I spent most of the night photographing the light display and the fishing kind of took a back seat. 

The last few days of the trip were spent over in Rhotsund on the groyne and by the ferry terminal chasing codling with lures. It was a spectacular trip and both of us are desperate to repeat it very soon! On our way back to the airport we stopped numerous times to take some incredible pictures and when in Tromso city we stopped for food and hot chocolate whilst I visited the famous church and the massive bridge. 

The trip home was a bit delayed due to a heavy snow storm and we spent 2 hours on the runway having the plane de-iced before we were able to take off into the strong winds and heavy snow. The take off was epic and above the storm we were even able to witness the Aurora yet again from onboard the flight home! I'm hoping to head out Norway again in the next 1-2 months if possible. Not 100% sure on the location as yet but maybe to Bodo/Lofoton. Probably back to Tromso in March if both Evan and I can get a venue to stay in time. 

Norway baby!

After no less than 20 years since our last couples holiday, Marianne and I finally found the time to book a trip away together! We looked at literally tons of destinations, but just one jumped out on both of us.....Norway! 

We booked a stunning chalet next to Lake Nisser near Vradal in Telemark. The time finally arrived and we flew from Gatwick mid morning, landing at Gardermoen Airport midday. We grabbed our hire care from Hertz and made the 4 hour drive North Westerly, taking in some of the most incredible scenery I have ever seen in my life! 

Each bend in the road gave way to more breath taking views of water falls, ravines, glorious strips of tarmac winding around mountains. We literally ran out of WOW remarks within an hour of being in the country! 

We stopped 3 hours in to grab food from a local store and got our first taste of local living. Finally at 8pm we arrived to our stunning chalet. We got some rest and awoke early to the most incredible view I've ever risen to across the mist covered lake.

 Mountains shrouded the surrounding horizon and all that was audible to the ear were the sounds of running water and birdlife. Utter heaven! 

The first day was spent familiarizing ourselves with the local area and some local sight seeing and hand feeding the local birds at a harbour. 

Marianne caught the first few fish of the trip in the form of minnows off the veranda. We then used a few for live baits to grab some nice Perch. 

Day 2 was spent travelling to the incredible Mount Gaustattoppen at 6770 feet! The weather being nothing short of exceptional! Clear skies to the horizon in a 360 degree panorama! We went up the inside of the mountain in an old train built prior to World War 2. 

It was very special and something I never thought we would ever add to our bucket list. The summit was bathed in sunlight and some snow remanence from the previous nights blast frost of minus 6. After leaving the mountain at Rjukan we took the long road home around the Northern roads through so many stunning, vast regions.

That night we were to witness one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life! The Northern Lights over our chalet! It was to be our second chance to see them in a year as we were incredibly lucky to see them in vivid animation back in May this year from our small holding on the hill in Wales. 

This time felt different being that much closer to the Artic Circle and the vivid colours electrified the sky with greens, pinks and purple beams of light! Utterly mesmerizing and breath taking! 

Our further few days were spent out boat fishing for Perch and after meeting both the chalet owner Lars Erik and his friends who were holidaying next to our chalet, Sven and Leila, I was lucky to get invited out to net fish with the lads while Marianne and Leila sat drinking Swedish Coffee. 

The trip was a real eyeopener as to how the Norwegians manage to stay well fed through the seasons....

We caught numerous fabulous trout, Perch and a white fish called Sik, which looks familiar to a Grayling. 

After the fishing we retired to Svens cabin for more coffee and to hear his beautiful accordion playing while Leila sang in Swedish! The two sounded unearthly as they played beautiful Swedish and Norwegian Folk. 

We retired to our cabin in the early hours after being given a bucket of freshly picked mushrooms as a gift by our lovely new friends. 

We continued our journeys the next few days, taking in lots of Telemarks incredible panoramic scenery, whilst fishing many rivers and pools along the way, catching endless virgin Brown Trout form the ultra clear waters. We were both in heaven! 

We visited a beautiful lady called Inger who owns a fantastic riding school in Fyrosdol. We had a fab few hours with her riding through a stunning forest on horse back. Marianne got her first taste of riding an Icelandic pony and I rode a lovely chunky cob called Scully. It was the perfect end to a perfect holiday. With just one day left we had to tick off just one more thing off the bucket list....see some Elk! 

We'd tried on a few evenings so far and got close with sightings of fresh droppings and foot prints. Inger reckoned she had a guaranteed spot for us that evening. We spent the afternoon driving to the incredible Giants Kettle falls and even catching a brownie from the pool above the rapids! On the return journey over Skredvatn lake pass we stopped to take in the sunset over the water before arriving at the spot Inger had suggested at her boy friends property. 

We pulled into the field and sat waiting behind a few bails of hay. As darkness started to fall we felt we'd probably missed our chance....then as quickly as we were about to leave, 3 Elk entered the field below us! I honestly couldn't believe our luck! A baby with it's mum and dad! I was utterly speechless and to be honest bloody emotional as the 3 animals peacefully munched away at berries and leaves on a tree in front of us. Just wow! We sat for a good 15 minutes watching them before they finally left the field for other pastures....

We got back in the car and just looked at each other with huge grins on our faces. What a trip! Needless to say we are going back again next year! I honestly can't bloody wait!

Back on the bank!

Hi Guys and Girls! Well, it's been a while since my last edit on the blog....many reasons but for the best part due to work getting in the way as usual and a of course the fact I've actually been out fishing too!

After my last blog starting off with ill health stuff I wanted to just go straight into the good shit this time instead. 

There's been plenty going on during March and April with 2 trips to France and numerous outings on the fly to discuss too. 

So lets kick off with the first trip back over to Nicks beautiful Carp Hunters lake in France during the start of March. 

This trip was a little different to previous one's in that my usual partner in crime Chris wasn't with me for this one. Instead I had my old mate Simon for company instead. 

Simon offered to be designated driver as it worked out far cheaper for us to use the estate car rather than my huge van! 

Simon's done a few odd over nighter's before with a few days out on French public waters but not really any intensive carp fishing. 

This was to be a bit of an eye opener for him! We arrived to our friend Gary already set up and catching and Nick wading through some of the small jobs we needed to sort whilst there. 

We got set up and got some rods out. The weather looked like being pretty awful all week with strong cold winds and potential for a lot of rain. We started off with a walk round to discuss spots and talk rigs etc before finally getting the rods in the water just after lunch. I then went off to cut up a fallen tree before cooking evening meals etc.

Things started very slowly for us with almost little to no action much before the Tuesday night. The weather had really put the fish down.....

My first run was around lunch time Tuesday and I landed a mirror called Pinky that I'd had before down in weight to 28lbs. Simon managed a common of high teens before landing a new PB common of 25lb. 

The action was fairly slow and inconsistent at best. As the week progressed we all struggled and it was a lot different to my previous two trips over in November 23 and March 23! All the same we had a great time and Gary caught Louisa at over 40, Simon bagged Scar at 36lb, a new PB and first ever thirty for him! What a highlight that was! I had ten in total including 4 twenties and also Scar myself at 36'4. Oh and a bonus Pike! We all had a great time despite some utterly shite weather.

After we got home I had news that my supervisor in work was being given a new role at one of our new branches and that another of my colleagues had left while I was away! Oh how things were about to change! I had no idea that upon my return to work, it was about to take on a whole new set of criteria for my daily chores. 

I was literally thrown in the deep end and had to take a heck of a lot in in just days! Needless to say that the young team I took the helm of really pulled together that first week and showed how good we can all be when we all pull our weight. Fun times to follow I think! Watch this space.....

A week later I was back in France once more with normal fishing partner Chris and two other pals Kev and Mark. We ventured down to Bruno Simons Seigniuers Lake some 3 hours from Calais. The lake is just a stones throw from venue Molyneux that I fished a few years back. We drew for swims and I came out third. It meant that Mark had the best draw and picked a swim which seemed to hold the majority of the carp. 

Kev dropped in next to him and Chris and I doubled up mid lake. There were very few features visible to go at and the first night we chose to fish mid lake to a fairly obvious gravel bar. This quickly became apparent to me that it wasn't going to hold feeding fish so I opted to go long over to the far bank snags at some 180 yards plus. The far bank snags were for the best part 'BRUTAL'! 

You had to lock the spools and clamp your rods down to stop the carp making their way into under water tree roots. I luckily took an electric out board with me and attached it to the boat provided. This meant I was able to motor out drop bait and rigs before returning to the swim and clamping down on the 6 oz lead.

With 24hrs passed and zero activity I felt this was almost certainly my best option for a bite....I was right as at just before dusk I had my first from distance at 32lbs. 

A stunning fat common that fought like a bastard all the way to the net! Two hours later and I was into another from the same spot, a mirror of 26.8. As I was boating the rod back out Chris had to jump into action and grab my extreme long rod that was now tearing off! 

I quick turned back around to grab said rod and an amazing boat battle commenced in a misty sky. Eventually after a torrid affair, I netted the fish in the boat and headed back to the swim for pics.....On the scales a mirror now sat of 43'4. My biggest carp for the last few years. 

Monday continued much the same for myself and for Mark who was doing very well down in the first swim! Kev had one but Chris was really struggling and just couldn't get into the swim at all. 

He worked at it but just didn't gel with the place at all. I continued to catch at distance though and Monday saw commons of 34'6, 39'2, 17lb and mirrors of 30'4 and 35'3! A decent day. 

Tuesdays weather was utterly shocking with strong 60mph winds and torrential rain which resulted in zero action other than a hook pull. Wednesday was again a 3 fish day with a 31'8 common, 25'8 mirror and a mega common of 38'11 finding the net! Great sport to say the least. 

Wednesday was a little slower across the board and the days were at best hard going with most of the bites coming after dusk. I had just a hook pull on Wednesday and Chris finally managed a common of 23lbs. I felt gutted for him as he was having a stinker of a week, drawing a shit swim with what appeared to be little to go at. 

The week progressed and both Mark and I continued to do fairly consistent with Mark ending on 18 and myself on 15 including 9 over thirty pounds and the forty. Kev had 3 and Chris just the one. A vast difference in catch rates due to the spots we were all fishing!

On my return back to the UK I decided I'd get fully back into my fly fishing after a near ten year break. I purchased a season ticket for my local river and headed down a few evenings after work. It's generally tough wading through heavy undergrowth, proper jungle fishing but I confess that I absolutely love it! The fish are small lively wild browns with the odd stocky lower down the river. 

It lends itself nicely to Dry fly or Euro Nymphing. I've now done about a half dozen sessions after work and had the best part of 20 or so trout. Most on my own tied patterns. I treated myself to lots of new kit including some new rods, reels and waders and so far it's already taken me to new venues I've wanted to fish for many years. 

The last 2 weekends have seen me venture up to fish the River Usk. Another venue I have wanted to fish since moving to Wales in 2005. Both the beats I've fished so far have been nothing short of spectacular on the scenery and exclusivity front with both have 2 miles and a mile to myself respectively. On both occasions I've had some cracking browns again on both dries and Euro nymph techniques. Last weekend was no exception with 3 over 2 pounds finding the net.

I've had a few other trips out to some stunning venues such as the beautiful River Teifi in West Wales with my old mate Ian Oxley...We had a brilliant day chasing wild browns in clear, low water conditions using both dry's and euro nymphing tactics. 

The good and the bad!

Evening all and I write this article feeling slightly better than I did this time last week! I'll start with the shit stuff first then we can talk about the good bits! So, as I spoke about last weekend, on Wednesday last week I had an Endoscopy procedure at the Princess of Wales Hospital. To say I was shitting myself would have been an understatement and after spending the last three and a half months thinking that it was highly likely I had Oesophageal Cancer like my father and grandmother. 

I honestly had resigned myself to the idea I was more than likely going to die in the very near future.....My head was totally gone and I can't describe to any of you how low I had got. There's many people out there who have had a terrible diagnosis and have a short time to go and I can't begin to know how that feels. It consumed my every thought and everything I did day in and day out for over three months. It was so destructive in my mind that I just couldn't think about anything else!......

Well, Wednesday came round pretty sharpish and the day was taken off with no food or drink in my tummy. The wife took my in the car and we sat for 3 hours awaiting the appointment. Finally it was my turn and the absolutely wonderful staff did their best to try and relax my mind. The worst bit being that I am allergic to the throat spray they use and I had to have the procedure under a very low level sedative that to be honest just made me tired for the rest of the day. 

The actual camera was awful! I couldn't believe that this thick piece of metal was going to fit down my throat in yet seconds later I was on my side with a plastic mouth piece in place and this alien thing going into my stomach! It lasted a mere couple of minutes but the gagging and feeling is something I'll never forget! The doctor then told me that I had the all clear! My heart stopped for a second as I took in the news.....'You do however most likely have Gallstones' said the doctor, 'and I need to see you for more tests in a weeks time with a view to removing your Gallbladder.' 

Well I'll take that to be honest and albeit pretty shit news, it could have been a fuck-ton worse! I spent an hour in recovery and then went out to see Marianne before leaving for home. On the way out I started to tell her the news and I just broke down in tears mainly from the absolute relief that I didn't have cancer. I spent the next 24hrs taking it easy and recuperating before returning to work on Friday. I'm an atheist but I confess to saying a little thankyou to whoever upstairs looked after me this time round! x

That's the shit bit done! Lets talk fishing!!!! YAY! So Sunday came around pretty quickly and after asking a few mates if they fancied a day out Trouting again, I ended up going on my own as everyone was tied up this time round.  I thought sod it I'll go back to Lechlade again as I had such a great day out last weekend! I got up early and headed down for the 8am start. The weather was once again pretty chilly with a heavy ground frost and mist. On arrival there were about 6 in front of me and I went into the office to get my ticket for the day. 

I stood at the back of the cue and heard a familiar voice at the front of the cue and a very familiar shape man! My old Roach fishing friend Rupert was down for the day on his own....I waited a few minutes for his conversation to end before calling over and abusing him for holding us all up! 

He was as shocked to see me as I was him and we had a hug and a quick chat before he suggested I join him on the boat he'd booked for the day. I grabbed my gear and joined him at the jetty to launch out for the day. 

We started in the cottage section casting all round with a mix of Inters and floating lines. It was bloody hard going to be honest and I only saw one fish get caught in the morning session. 

We moved on to the main pool and Rupert had a 7lb 8oz Rainbow about 12.40pm on a blue flash damsel towards the island and then lost another after a very quick take. It was blood tough out there and the majority of fish seemed to be falling to stalking tactics close to the bank out of our reach from the boat. 

I tried literally everything to no avail and despite Rupert having a couple of missed takes, it looked as If I was going to blank and he was going to bag just the single fish. By 2.30pm I was just about to give up hope when out of nowhere the line tightened and I was miraculously into my first bite of the day! It fought really hard and whizzed around everywhere before Rupert got the net under a very nice 7lb 8oz Rainbow of my own. I then missed 2 takes before finally tagging another around 4pm. This one felt a different beast though and one hell of a fight was had with a very fat rainbow! Finally after having the boat spun round numerous times, we sunk the net under a beautiful 11lb 1oz Rainbow. My second one over 11lbs in two weeks! What a result! 

Amazingly despite plenty of surface activity that was it for the day for us and we packed up and left at around 5.30pm feeling very tired but thoroughly fulfilled! I have to confess to really enjoying the fly fishing again after such a long break from that side of the sport. I feel reignited once more and there's just something so lovely about having just a small bag of bits, some flies and a rod and reel. And that really is all that is needed for the day! Thanks again Rupert for the wonderful company and the invite on to the boat. Totally enjoyed day and I really look forward to another trip down to Lechlade and also the chance to fish with my good friend once more. Tight lines guys x