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A dream week in Gaula

First of all the headline contains a lot of sarcasm… We had a nice but fishing wise quiet week on the Gaula ending to midsummers. The bites were few and far between. It was one of those weeks that if I had to market Atlantic salmon fishing to someone it would be a pretty tough job. It was certainly not a trip for a beginner.

All and all the season on the Gaula has been a disaster and the low water levels contributed to the fact that our fishing area on the lower Gaula did not stop the few fish running. So there was a lot empty casts made between bites and. Even the weather which is normally very nice on the Gaula was not cooperating. It was cold and very windy most of the trip. The positive side to the low water levels was that we got most of our action with floating lines and light tips.

The highlights of the trip where, my friends beautiful hen salmon of about 11kg that was safely released and salmon sashimi that we made from a smaller fish. We also had a great crew and a lot of laughs on our week there. I do have to say though that all the other things could not save the trip as it’s all about the fish. The slow fishing and very low returns to the whole river did not leave a positive feel. I am very concerned about the state of that river and hope all the best for it. I just love to fish on that river and it would brake my heart if it’s downward spiral does not come to a stop.

Thanks to everyone and hopefully I’ll be back again on the golden river soon. Additional photo credits to Ilkka Neva and Joonas Saarikko.

Gaula catch statistics and water level at Gaulfossen.

 

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River Mörrum early bird

Our sales guy, Tommi, has been having some good time in River Mörrum Sweden the past week or so. Today he reported some fascinating news about a catch of his fishing companion Mr. Mikko Jutila. A fresh salmon measured 112cm was landed today and according to locals it was the earliest salmon catch in 74 years. Amazing! Mörrums Kronolaksfiske has been reporting about a good start in their Facebook pages but we wanted to share some insights about the fly that was chosen by the fish.

The previous day Mikko caught an eye on an old rusty Ullsocken fly in the river bank. Poor Ullsocken, a real Mörrum classic, was in a bad shape and the guys made some funny jokes about anyone who would dare to tie it on the leader. Well, there’s always one in a group who is brave enough to do thing others won’t do. So was in this group and this guy was the only one who hooked a few good sea trout that day and all others didn’t have a pull.

Encouraged by the catches the guys went to a local fly fishing shop to get some tying materials. Not everything they hoped was available so they bought what was in their minds “close enough”. That night Tommi tied a tube fly variation of Ullsocken to his friend. Though, Mikko was pretty much in charge and appointed the materials that must be used in the fly. What the guys didn’t knew yet was, that it would only take ten casts for the first Atlantic salmon catch in Mörrum river in 2014…

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A short Tay report

River Tay, in Scotland, has been very good in this season. Especially in the lower parts of the river salmon catches have been great. The average size has been also quite good. Our Editor in Chief, Miki, visited Lower Kinnaird beat on week 15. Kinnaird Estate is located in the upper part on river system. Water level was very high and water temperature was around six degrees celsius. Conditions were really tough but hey, isn’t it more usual than unusual in salmon fishing?

The lowest pools of river Tummel, Mike´s run and Bridge pool, were having very good water levels and we managed to catch and lose some nice springers. In the photo below you see one of the Tummel´s beautiful springers, caught by Mr. Reijo Ikonen from Finland. The fish was measured 92cm, and was carefully released after posing to our camera man. In the photo above Mr. Teemu Venejärvi is casting on Junction pool, where river Tummel meets the Mighty Tay.

Tummel springer
Photo: Teemu Venejärvi

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