GO SMALL OR GO HOME
LRF anglers bag 30 species in a week.
You might get excited about 200lb halibut and 70lb cod when you think about fishing in Norway, but have you ever wondered what else lurks beneath the surface? This question was well and truly answered when I was invited to Skarnsundet Fjordsenter, near Trondheim, to fish with the Tronixpro Fishing team during a week of tackle testing.
Skarnsundet is geared up for species fishing. They do catch some monster cod, ling, halibut and the like throughout the year, but the emphasis at this place is on light tackle and species hunting. You can catch cod and pollack to double figures just 60 seconds from the apartment all day long if you want to hear your reel scream, but it’s what lurks within the confines of the harbour and surrounding area that really opened my eyes.
Joining me on this trip was light-tackle lure guru and Sea Angler contributor Adam Kirby, along with kayak and species competition supremos Mark Radcliffe and Martin Collison. These three lads really know their short-spined sea scorpions from their corkwing wrasse, and luckily for me (not so much for them) the four of us were sharing an apartment for the week.
I was there primarily to search out some decent plaice fishing spots from the boat, as you will have probably read in issue 551. However, I also managed to grab a few evening’s fishing from the shore and inside the harbour with the lads. I also took Adam out for a couple of boat sessions, just to see what he could do afloat with his little lures. Just as I expected, he didn’t disappoint – the man is a lure-fishing machine.
I’ve been travelling to Norway at least once or twice a year for the past decade, and not once have I thought about trying small lures or tiny baited hooks inside the harbour. This trip was a real eye-opener for me, and it was a privilege to watch Adam, Martin and Mark work their magic.
Between them, using either tiny lures or Sabiki micro rigs baited with tiny segments of ragworm, the trio managed to catch 15 different species out of the inner harbour during the week. They caught goldsinny, corkwing and ballan wrasse, flounders, dabs, plaice, short and long-spined sea scorpions,
and even a butterfish, to name just a few. I couldn’t believe it either, but as the days and evenings rolled on, it began to sink in that there is an awful lot more to Norway than I had first thought.
WHAT TO TAKE
The big worry when travelling to Norway is luggage weight, and you may think that carting over yet more specialised kit could eat into that precious baggage allowance, but think again. I took one of my DB3, four-piece travel rods and a tiny fixed-spool reel, plus a small box of end tackle for this type of fishing. The box weighs less than a 250g pirk, and my rod actually weighs just over 100g.
The great thing about light-tackle fishing is that the gear weighs next to nothing. You can quite easily stow a dedicated rod, like the HTO Rockfish, in with your bigger rods, and shove a small reel and bits box in one of your cases.
I always carry my little bits box with me now, even in the UK. It has a dozen or so small metals weighing between 5g and 8g, plus half-a-dozen 8-15g jigs, a load of tiny jig-heads, LRF soft plastics and a few dropshot weights – that’s pretty much all you need.
Looking at Adam’s kit, I would suggest taking some tiny paddletails, some packets of Isome and a few other small soft plastics, plus a few sets of Tronixpro Sabiki Micro Rigs as used by Martin and Mark. Job done!
ON THE BOAT
As if watching Adam stalking the mini species around the harbour wasn’t insight enough, he showed me what was possible out on the boat in the sheltered bays.
Rather than heading off to 30 or 40 metres of water, like I normally do, we spent a couple of evenings taking the boat around to where I had found the plaice previously. Adam was desperate to catch one on a lure, so we did our best to try and make it happen.
Adam did eventually catch his plaice on a soft plastic, but also caught all manner of weird and wonderful species. The most notable for both of us was a rather magnificent lumpsucker. It had been years since I’d seen one in the flesh, and, to my amazement, Adam caught one on a tiny lure within just a few hours of fishing on the boat with me.
He followed this up with numerous dabs on a variety of soft plastics, including small paddletails, and even a bunch of Isome worms. Just as he thought he’d hooked into his plaice, Adam was fooled again as a rather large grey gurnard broke the surface.
It was turning out to be an interesting lesson for me – I never even knew they had gurnards in Norway.
Adam kept changing his tactics from fishing small jig-heads and SPs, to dropshotting and working tiny metals. We’d cover some ground, he’d switch tactics and cover it again, then we’d move off to another spot and repeat the process.
His dedication and knowledge of how, what and when to fish the mind-boggling array of lures he had with him is second to none. It’s his methodical approach that brings him the results. I would have moved off to another mark way before Adam decided he’d covered it, and, time and time again, I watched him sneak out a fish after changing his approach while fishing water that he’d already covered.
I learned a lot during the few hours that I spent fishing with him, and it’s definitely sparked an interest in tactics that I can try wherever I travel.
Next time you’re heading off to Norway, step back and think again about chucking some ultra-light gear into your baggage. If the weather’s too rough to get out on the boat, you can kill countless hours and have some awesome fun in the marinas and harbours of central and southern Norway.