Its starting to look like the main brunt of the bad Norway weather is starting to pass, allowing the guides to take guests out a lot further!
140cm+ Halibut and Large Cod
Another week is underway in Vesterålen, and it has not exactly started badly! The wind has been quite strong the first few days, but luckily we got the wind from the northeast. Vesterålen itself has given us shelter in recent days, and has made it possible to fish a good bit outside the camp. And already, on the first day, Håkon was able to take the Swedish gang from the Gothenburg area, to a Cod mark that has delivered extremely well lately.
On Thursday, it was also no worse than last week. The fishing started quite tough for the Guide boat the first hour when they tried to look for the Cod. But Håkon saw a shallow peak near deep water, and searched the area. The small Coalfish was here, and then the big Cod also were grazing on these just below. It immediately turned out that there were lots of Cod down the edge, and it was not long before all the men all stood with their own rod bents. Now it was big Cod time. The boys caught several coarse Cod over 10 kilos, and the vast majority beat their PB on Cod fairly quickly this fishing session. Mattias pulled the biggest fish, and smacked up a Cod of 19 kilos! It was non stop action, and they caught more fish in the 14-15 kilo class. After this mark, they were quite happy already, but the drift went on. Mattias had switched to lowering with whole Coalfish. And where there is good access to food, there are also the large Cod .. Because at the edge at the top, it should really shovel. Mattias stood with the rod down in the water crust, and it howled out of the reel. Håkon immediately realized that it was a Halibut who had taken the bait, and shouted for the halibut hook. After a brutal rush, pumping begins. After hauling in Cod for several hours, Mattias was probably quite tired from before. But the adrenaline probably took over, and he slowly but surely won the line. Before you knew it, the fish was at the boat trip, and Håkon could secure a fantastic PB halibut for Mattias of 146 cm!
On Friday, the wind was supposed to be quite strong, and we therefore chose to stay in the fjord. The guide boat wanted varied fishing and wanted to try different methods for new species. In Vesterålen we are so lucky that we have a unique species diversity right outside the camp. We have the deep Eidsfjord which holds several interesting deep-sea species, and we have the grounds that hold Cod, Coalfish, Halibut, Pollack, Haddock etc… So we took a trip on the fjord. We rigged up light reel rods for Pollack! Only 5 minutes away from the camp we have some hefty Pollack. The fishing takes place in very shallow water, and it gives absolutely brutal takes! We tested several different spots, and everyone in the boat got a pole bend with these incredible cool fighters. There was a good cut on the fish, and everyone in the boat got more Pollack (pale) over 4 kilos. This is a very stationary fish, so we try not to keep any of the fish we get. It’s quick to ruin a good shelter if you have to take them all. After getting some nice Pollack each, we were going out into the deep. Only 4-5 minutes away from the grounds, comes the 200 meter curve. There are several different species, but the most common are Redfish and Whiting. At times it was annoying due to a lot of Coalfish between 4-8 kilos that took our bait on the way down, so we had to move around a bit. But we got some nice food fish around 2-3 kilos, and we got several nice Whiting immediately over the kilo mark in the same place!
Yesterday our own boss Jimmy was going out with a group of friends for some Cod fishing, and they had great success! They went to the area that has delivered well lately, and got several nice Cod in the 10-kilo class. It was again good action, and they also got several big wins when they came out on the edge. But the coolest thing was probably when Mattias tried to speed jig with a little lighter equipment after the Coalfish. Followed by a good rush, they thought they had gotten on a monster Coalfish. They quickly discovered that it was not a Coalfish, but a Halibut over the meter mark had taken the speed jig! The other boats at the camp waited for their fishing until later in the evening, when the night turned out to be quite windless and nice. The guests have not woken up yet, so I look forward to hearing how it went last night… It is perfectly fine weather at the time of writing, and we aim to go at lunch about with the Guide boat.
It has been a great start to the week so far, and we really hope it continues in the same direction! The weather in the coming days looks a bit unstable, but luckily there are some windows with nice weather as well, so we will probably use these moments to get out! Stay tuned…
Tight Lines // Jørgen Zwilgmeyer, Håkon Nilsen
Contact us
We do still have the odd week available for the 2022 season at Vesterålen. If you would like to join us at the famous Northern Norway destination call us on 01603 407596 or email us info@sportquestholidays.com.
Tight lines,
Paul
