Guided Sea Fishing Lofoten Norway Guided Fishing In Nappstraumen

I travelled with Phillip Gavey's group

As you may well recall, the cabins we were supposed to stay in were still under contruction and the hotel was basic, with a communal kitchen, very basic utensils, lucky we were the only group using it at that time, wasn't very happy with that.

A massive thanks Paul for pointing us in the direction of this hosted trip to the Lofoten Islands. We really enjoyed the fishing and also good to finally meet you. We could see how hard you worked for us and a massive thanks for that as I dont think we would of been able to land that huge Halibut with out your careful driving of the boat. Awesom trip and highly recommend it to any one. We have a meeting with our local sea fishing club at the weekend and are due to give them a little slide show of our trip so hopefully we can book for next year as a larger group

Thanks once again

Good day Paul, thanks for inviting me on this awesome trip. Flying all the way from Oz I was a little unsure on what to expect but soon found myself in a great location with absolutely great views. The fishing for those Coalies was unreal especially on the popper!! Believe me I will be back

Thanks Sportquest was a great experience a little cold at times but still very enjoyable. Can you please pass on my thanks to Paul

Being the youngest on the trip was a little hard at times as the guys gave me lots of banter, which I loved. Couldnt of asked for a better group to spend the week with and thanks Paul for all your help. The real highlight for me was catching that 50LB Cod and thanks for the amazing pictures which I would very much appreciate you emailing me as my friends do not believe me!!!!

Perhaps I may look at a different destination for next year as I would ideally like to make this an annual thing. Hope we will catch up soon

Hello Paul what a great trip as usual. This is the third trip with you guys and they just get better each time. I really wanted a big Coalfish on this trip and was not let down. I managed a 43LB Coalfish which was huge, we all on the boat thought we had hooked a Halibut. The Plaice fishing was a little slow and was hoping for better but thats fishing sometimes.

Thanks Sportquest for yet another amazing trip. See you next year

Weather was bad ( gale force winds ) ? Had to stay in the fjords and plaice fish, but the days we got out were nothing short of amazing we were putting back 25-30lb COD regularly! This really is an amazing place to fish. Even though we were unlucky with the weather I'd definitely go back ??

Great all round. Beds not very good. Flotation suit which was was hired was very poor

Memorable moment: Catching a Halibut

Improvements: Catch more Halibut, Bigger kettle in cabin, double quilt on double bed (minor items really)

Holiday was a trip of a lifetime and have already booked for 2017 and 2018 will be booked very soon

Overall a great holiday. I would of liked more detail about the extra costs (petrol etc) to assist how much cash would be needed.

I would be pleased to hear from you if and when you get any cancellations for future trips thanks

This was my second trip to Norway with Sportquest and I had an amazing time. I was more organized this time round, still little room in the luggage department although plenty of room for improvement from an angling point of view.
Saying that I feel I've improved on last year's performance, helped along by Calle at the vastly stocked tackle shop,following my fellow guests advice and not forgetting the outstanding guidance from our main man Ross. Not only is he an incredible angler but also a really great guy ,undoubtedly a priceless asset to Sportquest because he works his butt off and nothing is too much to ask of him.
Flights/transfers and pre trip info/communication was excellent.
Accommodation was of high standard and we enjoyed the single sleeping arrangements although I did feel sorry for Ross who was assigned to the couch. We were all fished out at the end of every day although we did feel obliged to get out of his way to give him some space and privacy so he could unwind from a busy day.
The microwave wasn't in an ideal position especially for a short person.
The electric tripped out when dishwasher and oven used simultaneously.
It was warm at night and I received several insect bites whilst sleeping with the window open. Bug zappers or insect window screens would have been a godsend to be used in the summer months.
Nearing the end of our last day fishing I injured myself with a treble hook, there wasn't a first aid kit onboard the boat. We eventually did find one Whiteside but it was very basic, contained little equipment and with no antiseptic to clean a wound.

My tavel tips for summer visitors to Nappstraumen are : pack suncream/ lipbalm/ Avon skin so soft or jungle formula/ bite cream.

Local large supermarket nearby is very well stocked with foodstuffs and a reasonable price apart from alcohol which is expensive. Shop closes early on a Saturday and does not sell alcohol on a Sunday and unlike most UK supermarkets they do not have a pharmacy.

Tackle wise, small heavy 5",6",7" shads caught the majority of cod and coalies during our stay, Mike's firetiger perch super shad outfished everything in bright conditions. Savagegear 150g sandeel in green took the largest cod of the trip. Hard to beat a 400g chrome pilk on performance but it does get tedious after a while. Sandy Andy 150g sink and draw technique was a killer method.

If I haven't already said it, I had the most amazing 6 days of fishing and I couldn't have hoped for a finer group of solo anglers to share the experience with. The warm dry weather was a real bonus but I have to emphasize the expertise and manner of our workhorse guide Ross who is solely responsible for our successful fishing reports. The man is a class act and I wish him all the very best for the future.
Thank you everyone at Sportquest for all your hard work, I can't imagine how tough this year has been for. Warm wishes, good health to you and your families and kind regards, until the next tide !

After a long journey, two days, we were split from the rest of the team of anglers for the last two flights. But the fishing was great. Guides were really good & very helpful. Weather was really kind to us, apart from the last day. Other members of the trip were also really nice guys which added to the fun. Thanks to Calle & Ross for making it a special trip

Amazing trip, will go again as soon as I get a chance. Meet great fisherman and a big thank you to Jimmy for all the tips for showing us how to the rigs and bits. Can’t wait to book again.

Superb Holiday.

Ross was a fantastic guide, skilled at the helm and put us on the fish.

We went on a Halibut and plaice holiday, we caught good specimens of both. Even managed haddock, PB cod and also saw an incredible amount of orca pods, we were lucky enough for them to surface about 20 to 30 feet from our boat.

Holiday of a lifetime.

The hosted trip was excellent, Ross our guide worked really hard for us,put us on to a lot of good fish and gave excellent advice,personally I would have him as a guide again.
Highlights of the trip were the breaking of some pb's and seeing the wildlife I have never seen orcas before and we managed to get really close without disturbing them,we also sawfin whales and eagles.
The idea of the trip was to try and catch a halibut which thanks to advice and tips from Ross we all did.
Well done

Thank you sportquest for yet another amazing holiday

Superb accommodation, so many fish caught and released including halibut 197cm 220-240lb

Can’t wait to go again

Having just finished a sea fishing week at the Nappstraumen Camp targeting Halibut , Cod and Coley all to large sizes ; I would definitely recommend this trip to like minded fisherman looking for great sport with an absolutely breathtaking backdrop for scenery.
The guiding both by Sportquest and Nordic Sea Angling was absolutely first class, nothing was too much trouble. We had the first two days fishing on flat calm seas with blue sky and sunshine and amazing fishing ( triple Halibut hook-up and all landed !), then the remaining four days were either very windy or just a bit scuffly but we still managed to fish every day for at least 6hrs, on one day we didn’t leave the camp until 4.00pm due to high winds but our guide was happy to give us a fishing day so we stayed out until midnight and had great fishing, a plus point due to the 24hrs of daylight in this area at this time of year!
We managed to see an Orca Whale just outside the fjord and a number of Sea Eagles too.
We also managed some superb Plaice / Dab fishing in a few of the sandy bays.
So with guides experience and the fact you can almost certainly find a Lee shore in any weather , there is little chance of lost fishing days at this camp.
You might just want a day off for a rest because the fishing definitely isn’t dull.
I, for one will definitely return to this camp with Sportquest.

Highlights are the fishing.
Communication during the week by onsite reps should/ could be improved.

Travelling hosted was great not having to worry about the drifts on the boat & help & advise on methods & tackle . Ross was particularly good nothing was too much trouble a true gent ! & very very knowledgeable

My son and I have just returned from an amazing fishing holiday in the Lofoten Islands, Norway. The trip was organized by Paul at Sportquest who tailor-made it to suit our needs. The arrangements, flights and collection at our final destination all went super smoothly, which after 3 flights starting at Heathrow was an acheivement in itself.

We were collected at Leknes and introduced to our two guides - Celle & Christian. Both were extremely knowledgable about the camp and fishing. Our accommodation was lovely, spacious and most importantly warm. It had everything we needed to self-cater and the views out to the bay were breathtakingly picturesque.

Celle was our main guide over the next 4 days and worked tirelessly to find the best most fruitful fishing spots to ensure we had the most magical of Norwegian fishing experiences. And his perseverance finally delivered results - we caught several large Cod, some Plaice, Dabs and a couple of very large Halibut, one at 27kg!!

The landscape and surroundings were stunningly beautiful. The air - crisp and clean. We had a lot of rain and were at times cold and wet, bobbing around in 2 to 3 meter swells for long periods of time hoping to catch the 'big one', but that's fishing!!

All-in-all we had a fabulous vacation and look forward to returning again sometime soon.

Thank you Sportquest!!!!

Weather is always a factor with fishing and is something you have to accept. Northern Norway in March is always unpredictable and unfortunately for us, the wind stopped us going offshore for skrei cod for the first 5 days. Luckily at nappstraumen, there is always somewhere to fish and we luckily found inshore cod on two days with which we filled our boxes up with, the biggest being 39lbs with an average size of around 14lbs. We also caught some decent plaice. The halibut season started the last two days we were there but proved elusive. It was noticeable that there weren’t any baitfish around. If I go back I will go in the summer when the halibut and coalfish are there in numbers and would go further north in search of skrei cod in the future. All in all a difficult week but we made the most of it and had a good time.

Caught plenty of fish.
Enjoyed the whole experience
Second time going on trip.
Already booked again for next year
Would recommend to anyone who loves to fish.

Accommodation, camp and guides were excellent, only lost a few days to weather cod fishing but could have went for halibut/flats in the sheltered marks closer in.

Great experience and look forward to the next

Dear SQH Team,
Just back from a week's fishing in the Lofoten Islands at Nappstraumen. The trip was largely exactly what I have come to expect from SQH. Very well informed before departure and with excellent customer service from all members of the SQH team that we dealt with. Re: the ratings above, I rated the fishing as only adequate due largely to factors beyond anyone's control - wind and waves. This trip probably highlighted just how lucky we were in Vesteralen with the weather and even more so our host/guide in Sept 2022. For the Staff and Service rating above, I am only referring to the in resort team in Nappstraumen. Even then I would split the week into 2 very different halves. For the first 3 days Calle was our guide/host and he was everything you would expect and more. He lead the way and was a very good communicator at all times - very happy to follow his lead. For days 4-6 Gus was our guide/host, and although very polite and nice, the overall guiding experience was ineffective and disappointing. It was not one major thing or incident, but rather an accumulation of lots of points that formed this opinion.
1. A guide imo should never be the last person on the boat in the morning, or the first person off it in the evening. With the exception of the last days boat clean, this was the case with Gus. A small point I know but things like that and filling up the petrol tanks in morning with everyone wanting to get out, are not exactly setting an example imo.
2. Although we raised some basic communication issues with Gus after day 1, the overall comms were very sporadic. Calle would read out depth changes for those in the front of the boat who could not see the Garmin - this rarely happened with Gus.
3. Drifts were often very long and unproductive - even with no fish showing on the Garmin, we stayed on the same drift. Calle did not hesitate to go looking for the fish. We made it clear to Gus that we had no issue in paying for the petrol - our time was more valuable.
4. For some reason Gus could not or would not hold the boat. We often found ourselves fishing 500g at 45 degree angles - not much good will come from that. Only when one of us called him out did he pilot the boat as you would expect for a short period.
5. Less is more - last 2 days saw us encounter some rougher conditions - no need to try and take the swells at 20mph with great discomfort, when 15mph was much more comfortable for pax and boat.
This is not meant to be a personal attack on Gus in any way as he seemed a very nice chap, but as guides go, he could not hold a candle to Ross or Calle.

We had an issue with Craig's ticket from Leknes to Bodo on the day of departure. I was able to contact SQH helpline at 6am, and fortunately there was a no show on the flight, so Craig was able to travel as planned. He had to buy a replacement ticket for the 1 portion of the journey, and SQH have already been in contact with me about getting the refund sorted. SQH customer service top notch.

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to take your call any time. Many thanks to the SQH team and looking forward to the next trip.

BR,
Dirk

The fishing this year was poor compared to last year. The fish were plentiful, but small, with many having to be returned.my biggest cod only 19 b, and halibut were very small with only 1 retained by myself. While this is outside the control of sportquest, better fishing was envisaged.
I would like to visit other venues but very important for me is the single sleeping accommodation.. if sportquest is able to arrange single sleeping accommodation please contact me.