This week on Å has offered really tough weather, several days where the weather simply did not allow us to leave port but also a few days where we fought our way out in the hunt for Cod and Halibut. On Thursday, we were able to go fishing and noticed quite immediately that the Cod had moved and in the “usual places where they usually live”, the sonar showed a sea without fish. After a lot of searching, our Norwegian guests were able to spot a shoal with their baits and catch a lot of nice Cod. Another thing that has really shone with its presence lately is large shoals of Haddock, not the largest fish in the sea but in the sizes 1.5-3 kilos, they are incomparably good food fish.
After Thursday, the weather on Friday-Sunday was simply too harsh to leave port, with wind speeds closer to 30 meters per second, you do best to stay ashore and socialize. Some guests bowled while others sat inside the cabins and socialized. But on Monday, it was finally possible to get out on the water again, tough weather but still completely fishable according to the forecasts, Alex and Daniel drove the guide boat with the guests, Martin and his son Arthur towards a little Halibut fishing spot in the morning. After a while, Arthur had the first contact but unfortunately, that fish was not hooked.
Well, they are there anyway and after a while, Daniel managed to hook a nice Halibut on the spin and gave the rod to Arthur 12 years who really got to measure his powers with the Queen of the Sea. After an intense fight in the shallow and crystal clear water, Daniel could land Arthur’s first Halibut and the joy in the boat was indescribable! Our guide, Daniel recognized himself from his childhood from when he landed his first Halibut also with the NSA, He laughed a little and said “Yeah then it became another Nordic Sea Angling guide in the future”. And considering how incredibly talented Arthur is already as a young man, there is good potential for him as a guide in the future!
After the Halibut fishing in the morning, the weather calmed down a bit and we decided to look for the Cod on the open sea. After a while of fighting with scattered fish, we were able to sum up a rather poor number of Cod, but new catches for tomorrow…
The last fishing line finally loosened the Cod fishing and several fine Cod were landed and the smiles were wider than the sea is deep. Arthur, who got the taste for Halibut fishing yesterday, wanted to try this fishing again and after some planning, we steered the boat towards some peaks in search of baitfish. After a period of searching, we were able to sum up the number of baitfish on one finger. The time of rising tides that can usually be really good for Halibut was coming to an end and Daniel made the decision that we drive with a Coalfish bait so we can spin fish at the same time. Said and done, we arrived, after a while boating on the Halibut pot from yesterday and baited the only baitfish we had and also started spin fishing to increase the chances. After a few minutes, we see how the rod with the baitfish bends towards the water surface and Artur throws himself over the rod and hooks the fish.
After a short but fun fight, Daniel was able to lift Arthur’s second Halibut in life with the baitfish still hanging around his paw. Daniel hooks the Halibut that was below measure and without thinking about it, he releases it the same baitfish again. A wonderful photo session with Arthur and his Halibut was underway and in the middle of it all, it bites on the same baitfish again, we release the Halibut and Arthur grabs the rod for round 2 with the same baitfish. The Halibut that was in perfect food size was landed and we could not really understand how it happened… So Arthur 12 Years landed two Halibut within 3 minutes and not enough of it on the same baitfish… talk about it being a day when everything just was right!
After that, we went out again in search of Skrei and ended up in a real race where we could fill the last of the boxes for the trip home.
Now we are expecting new guests and hopefully better weather!
Tight Lines //
Daniel Freland and Alexander Lindgren
CONTACT US
If you, like many others, have ever dreamt about fishing the prolific waters of Å on the Lofoten Islands and would like to know more information on how you can join us, you can contact our sea fishing specialist, Paul Stevens, on 01603 407596 or email at paul@sportquestholidays.com.