Fishing for big brown trout at the upper parts of the river Vindelälven

To many game fishermen fishing for salmon, sea trout or brown trout has a magic aura. Terms like salmon fever and fishing mania are usual. More than one fisherman have been wandering around with a glassy look, day by day and sometimes for continuous months.

What drives a fisherman to adopt these manic features I really don’t know. What I do know is that I catch this fever myself with recurring intervals. It is a backward movement between euphoria and faded gloominess. “Now I’ll quit”, you think at one moment only to pull on your waders at the next and make a new try.

The fishing method you use to get in contact with the Ammarnäs trout is a lot like fishing for salmon. The flies and the behaviour of the fish though differ slightly from what the salmon fisher is used to. The brown trout feed actively all the time until the spawning starts and this is where we have the big difference compared to salmon fishing. The equipment should be lighter. A one handed rod line class eight is perfect or a two handed rod line class six-seven. If you only have a lighter one handed rod

that works well, but since all fish are big and released after catch we rather see that you do not fish with rods lighter than line class seven not to stress the fish during the handling. A reel with a good brake and float line, float line with intermediate tip and possibly a sink line type two, should also be brought.
 

When it comes to the choice of fly you may actually catch fish on most flies you normally use to fish smaller brown trout. If you want to increase your chances you should equip yourself with a handful of flies intended for this fishing. If you take an ordinary salmon fly and dress it up with larger hackle and larger wing you have come along way. If you also equip yourself with some dry flies, such as Sculpin Matuka and Bomber you might be able to brag about having caught a fur-five kilo brown trout in Sweden, at Ammarnäs.

Big brown trout hunts at nighttime, or rather, it hunts during the dark hours of the day in June, July and the beginning of August. When days become shorter the trout starts hunting more and more during daytime. The evening fishing is always hot and you could say that it is evening and night that count at the beginning of the season. By the season’s end it is day and evening. There are even those who fish only in daytime in September.

When it comes to the Ammarnäs trout, within Ammarnäs Fish Conservation Area, the first fish normally arrive at the beginning of July and they are mostly fish wandering down the river from the lake Gautsträsk.

A little later the fish come up through the rapid Järnforsen’s roaring water and the area is then filled with fish from both directions.

In practice this means that the rapid Sjöforsen ordinarily is the beat where the season’s first fish are caught to be followed by Järnforsen, Harabacken and the other beats. If you want to have a go at the really early fishing you should in other words make sure to book a couple of days at Sjöforsen. Järnforsen, within Kraddsele FCA, is not a bad choice either since the fish often hold resting in the area after a tiresome migration.

Järnforsen, Ammarnäs FCA, also normally offers very good fishing already by the end of July.

The brown trout you fish naturally guard their habitats why it is these you should look for when you plan to fish a beat. Boulders, riffles and cavities are, as at any other river, the best spots for trout to rest as they simultaneously control the food flow.

Never forget that the fish feed actively and often follow the fly a good distance. Always fish out your cast properly. Position yourself so that the fly does not reach water too shallow when you fish out the cast all the way in to your own side of the river.

The active hunt for food produces strikes somewhat unexpected to the experienced salmon fisher, when the trout bite in spots he isn’t used to.

Have you ever felt the tiniest urge to catch a really big brown trout you should also come to Ammarnäs. There is no other place in Sweden that offers as good odds to the brown trout fisherman as Ammarnäs and Kraddsele FCA.

Mikael Båth

Copyright 2005-2008 for text and photographs:
Mikael Båth, +46 70 249 6592

The flies in the pictures above are specially designed to fish the Ammarnäs trout and are part of the Ammarnäs series.