Over the past week, we’ve really had some beautiful days here outside of Vesterålen. The weather has been great, and although Monday was tougher, the boats still managed some good fishing! There’s been a bigger focus on cod fishing recently, but a good amount of time has also been spent on halibut among the boat crews – and they’ve proven to be quite fruitful!
This weekend, we also had a visit from a family from Småland, who brought 10-year-old Edvard! As the weather allowed for a trip out to the cod banks, there was no doubt about what Edvard wanted to fish for. Right from the first drop, Edvard landed his very first cod weighing around 5 kilos! And the great fishing continued throughout the day, with Edvard really showing how cod fishing should be done, pulling in fine cods up to 11 kilos! His dad, Marc, also caught some nice cod up to 12 kilos. It was incredibly fun to bring the younger generation out for this fishing, and great to see that we really have a young big fisher here at the camp!
On Friday, Douglas steered the guide boat, taking our Borås guests out for a targeted halibut fishing trip as the wind was still weak. It couldn’t have been more than 5 seconds from when Hilmertz’s bait hit the bottom, to the first halibut taking the hook! After a messy fight, they managed to land the day’s first halibut at 136 cm, which then got to swim on after a really fun fight in shallow water. Just a few moments later, they caught another fish, about 100 cm on spin fishing too!
We’ve also had visits from a large pod of orcas right outside the camp in recent days, chasing herring! A truly magnificent sight, and a great experience to see them so close!
The crazy cod fishing has continued throughout the whole week, and I can’t really say how many cods over 10 kilos we have landed recently, but there are many! Every time we’ve dropped down during these saithe swarms, they’ve immediately hit all the rods. On Saturday, some really big cods came up, and Christoffer in the guide boat pulled the longest straw with a real whopper at 24 kilos! Gustav in boat 2 also got a really great cod at 17-18 kilos. The Norwegians in boats 4 and 7 have been focusing a lot on halibut in the area in recent days, and have really succeeded in luring up these flatfish. During a short session the other day, they caught several edible fish at 90-110 cm just a stone’s throw from the camp!
Our Scottish guests in boat 5 dedicated their last fishing session entirely to halibut, and really finished on a high! First thing in the morning on the last day, it hits hard for Pete, and it feels really heavy. Up comes a larger halibut, and Pete manages to land his first halibut of his life at 142 cm on the very last day of this week! The joy was immense, and their grins were unmistakable when they came ashore.
Now we’re gearing up for another new week, and it’s going to be really fun to get out again! The weather doesn’t look very promising for the first few days, but it should calm down over the weekend. But there have been some nice fish coming up near the camp, so we should manage!
Tight Lines // Jörgen & Douglas
CONTACT US
If you, like many others, have ever dreamt about fishing the prolific waters of Vesterålen 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.
