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Fishing and customs
Norway is a country where fish is an integral part of the culture.
Whether in freshwater or the sea, the waters are rich and fishing is a very popular pastime.
The first surprise came when I entered a sports equipment store. I naturally headed for the fishing section. Admittedly, Norwegians don't make life particularly difficult for themselves with overly elaborate techniques. Ice-fishing and fly-fishing equipment take up a large part of the shelves.
For the sea, you'll find mostly large metal jig lures, with no particular attention paid to finish, and a few soft lures. The more fish there are, the less you have to worry about fishing methods and techniques!
Lightweight travel gear
The light game is the easiest way to catch a variety of species and have fun over short sessions and random spots. I opted for this fishing option and light tackle.
My set is designed to fish a bit of all-rounder. But I have to admit that I've been surprised by the Norwegian all-rounders, which are rather large-calibre. Between migrating salmonids and large gadids (cod, pollack, saithe...) an M or even MH combo is more versatile and suitable...
My set consists of a Pepper S2104UL Pearl Dock, which with its 4 strands fits in any suitcase. On the Pepper is a Daiwa Exist Hyper Custom with an RCS 2506 spool and an almost new PE 0.6 braid, so I don't have to change it on the spot.
Especially since I haven't seen this type of braid on the shelves in Norway...
A single spool of fluorocarbon 20/100 (6 lbs) for my leaders. It's an all-purpose diameter, fine enough to bring out beautiful fish.
In my boxes, quite a few different soft lures and lead heads (but no more than 10 grams) to cover a maximum number of configurations and species, even if, as mentioned, I've been limited...
I've also got a few swimmer fish designed more for freshwater trout than sea fishing. I'll come back to the ones that worked best.
Fjord and mackerel
Sea fishing does not require a license in Norway. Norwegians make a point of ensuring that everyone can fish and have access to the country's fish resources.
The ubiquitous fjords are not only prime fishing spots, but also magical, emblematic Norwegian sites that are a must-see. Our home base for the week was Olden, in the immediate vicinity of Nordfjord, and that's where I naturally started fishing.
The salt water of the fjord is clear and cool. I started by prospecting wide, beating around in the open water with a soft lure to see what predators were active. And they were not long in coming: mackerel were omnipresent. Impossible not to find them. They hunt everywhere, sometimes very close to shore. They're tough and they fight! In the open water, in the midst of these fighting fish, it's sometimes a sea trout that attacks the lure.
Despite the pleasure of fooling these mackerel on light tackle, you soon get bored and naturally want to see other species. What's more, the tackle is full of scales afterwards...
Scraping slowly, it's first a haddock that gives me a dry bite, followed by a relatively powerful fight for a fish of this size, i.e. around 35 cm. Haddock are gadids whose fillets are used to prepare haddock. It is very common in the cold waters of Norway. After this gadid, there are many small gurnards biting at the waver shrimp... But it's time to bend the rods and go home.
I did several sessions in the fjords, very close to our cottage. Each time, the soft lures generated more bites than the jigs cast by the locals, who were specifically looking for mackerel and often fished with their families. At low tide on sandy and muddy beaches, I was also able to catch flatfish on sight. An atypical and exciting fishery, even if the latter are harder to decide than I thought.
Ocean and gadids
Here, the sea is rougher than in the fjords, even if it is rather calm. The swell makes the kelp on the rocks dance. I soon catch more mackerel, but miss one or two fish near the kelp. I insist on Texas-style fishing in these areas with the waver shrimp.
It doesn't take me long to spot a pollack, then several more and even a saithe. They blend in perfectly with the surrounding environment, hunting anything that gets too close to the weed beds. Some fish are of a decent size, exceeding 50 cm. On a fine line and on a Pepper, these are great sensations. You need to bridle the fish quickly as they have a natural tendency to seek refuge in obstacles or play with currents.
More quietly, in the harbors, we find a lot of kelp. There are fewer spots and more wrasses, like the old ones. I start with a waver shrimp on a lead head, fishing above the weed beds. But here again, the Texan light rig comes into its own, allowing me to fish slowly in very crowded environments that generate more bites. Between the old ones, small cod (up to 50 cm) pose after powerful battles. The entrance to the harbours is a prime spot, with the channel providing a fairly deep position.
