Shore fishing in Norway is becoming more and more popular each year, with the fishing around the UK coastline becoming less productive year after year anglers are heading away from UK beach fishing and heading to the Land of the Big Fish in hope of catching a monster fish from the shore. These fish can range in sizes from the smallest of fish targeted on LRF tackle to the monstrous Halibut that requires super strong rods, reels and plenty of skill to land. Here I will take you through the tackle that I would recommend anglers heading to Norway to take with themselves to get the best out of their shore fishing holiday. Did someone say tackle shopping trip?!
Fishing Rods
I would suggest taking a surf rod with you that has some power in the blank as the fish you could well be doing battle with, in Norway, can sometimes be of a very large size. A good quality rod that can cast 6-7oz plus bait but still has good bite indication is perfect, typical examples would be the ZZiplex M4GT, Century T900 and the Anyfish Anywhere 6 & bait. These rods are perfect for your standard bait fishing and also handling strong tides when trying to hook a larger specimen.
Norway also has some outstanding flatty fishing for species like Plaice and Dabs. To get the best out of this style of fishing I would suggest taking a much lighter rod with you that will handle less weight but give you more of a fight when playing these fish. I would suggest looking at the YUKI range of rods for this style of fishing.
Another great idea would be to take a spinning rod out with you to work the shads and lures around these fish-rich shores, you never know what you could hook into with many fish predators patrolling here including Pollock, Cod and of course Halibut.
Fishing Reels
You will need a strong, well-built reel when fishing in Norway. Depending on your preference you can use either fixed spool reels or multipliers in Norway but they really must have a good drag on them with 14kg normally being about the right amount of drag to land these big fish that you could well end up hooking into.
Loading these reels up with either braid or mono will see you fishing well with 18-20lb mono or 60lb braid being perfect for general fishing around these shores. For the lighter side of fishing for Plaice and Dabs over clean ground, I personally go down to as low as 8lb in mainline strength. Mono Lines such as Asso Bullet, Yuki Invisible and Daiwa sensor are all favoured by anglers heading to Norway with Berkley whiplash being a popular braid.
Leads
Take a good selection of leads with you. At the Lofoten Islands, we found that 6oz grip-leads were perfect for the deep clean marks but at times you may require slightly more due to tide run. It is always a good idea to fish with rotten bottoms here, you would not want to lose that fish of your dreams on a snag whilst winding in.
Along with the grip leads, I would take some plain leads such as pyramids for when fishing lighter tactics for flatfish and smaller species.
Terminal Shore Fishing Tackle
Tackle wise, you need some strong tackle made from quality terminal bits to stand a better chance of landing some of the larger species in Norway. Swivels of 250lb breaking strain or more are suggested along with heavier snoods and rig bodies.
For general fishing, 80lb rig bodies and 50lb snoods are the norm, when fishing for Halibut upping the breaking strain of the snoods and rig bodies is essential. I personally would suggest 150 – 200lb snoods.
Big strong hook patterns are another essential for Norway with 4/0 – 6/0 being perfect for general fishing and when stepping up to fish for big Halibut I would always suggest a very strong hook around the 8/0-10/0 size range. When fishing for smaller species like Plaice and Dabs lighter lines are the order of the day, dropping to 15-20lb snoods and size 1 – 2 hooks will ensure that you hook these smaller mouthed fish.
Shore Fishing Tackle Hire
We at Sportquest Holidays like to be able to give you, the angler, everything possible to make sure your holiday goes smoothly this is why we now offer hire equipment at our shore fishing destination. For as little as £100 you can hire two rods and two reels of good quality loaded with mono.
The guide also offers his own homemade rigs for all manner of species, these are very reasonably priced and made of very top quality rig components. You will also notice that we include free of charge a two-rod tripod and a seatbox as these items are bulky to travel with.
Contact us
If you would like further information about our Shore Fishing in Norway call our office on 01603 407696 to speak to a member of our sea fishing team who will be happy help. You can also find a range of videos of our shore fishing holidays here on our YouTube channel.