2019 Report
Helen with her prize
10 June 2019. My wife, Helen, and I travelled out by car this year carrying a large load of red patterned china, identical to the set probably brought over by Mr Potts, who owned the river and house from 1870 onwards. I found this china in an antique shop in our home town in England. It will be used to supplement the existing stock that has diminished due to breakages and wear and tear over the years.
Turning to fishing matters, the quotas for this year remain the same as last year, signifying that both scientists and the river owners view the river to be in good health.
For last years’ season I made a prediction that conditions might be difficult because much of the winter snow melted in April and May leaving little left to feed the river. What I was not able to predict at the time was the once in a lifetime drought conditions that then led to a very low water levels. The fishing therefore turned out to be extraordinarily poor for most weeks. Our statistics for 2018 reflect this but do not tell the whole story as the conditions were so poor that even catching a small sea trout (of less than 1 kg) was regarded as a triumph and such fish were recorded in the book, when usually they would be returned to the river without noting them. The run of salmon was slow through June and July but picked up in the early autumn and by the end of the 2018 season some 2300 fish had passed through the counter, more than enough to sustain future generations.
So for the 2019 season I put my prediction reputation to the test again observing that the snow fall over the winter appears to be below average. A short heatwave in April reduced the snow in the mountains still further. Since then it seems to have been cold and not so much snow has melted. Thus the river was relatively cold and small (110 cms) on 1 June opening night. These conditions have resulted in a very poor start to the season with only 7 fish taken when ordinarily one could expect three to ten times as many. Of note, last year’s opening was exceptionally good after which things went dramatically downhill. So far very few fish have been seen below the waterfall and the river this morning was a cold 8.5 degrees. With some rain, the river has risen to 160 cms, an excellent height and the arrival of the first guests saw a 2.3 kg fish taken last night and a 6.7 kg fish caught this morning, both fresh run with white tailed sea lice. A larger fish was also lost this morning. With the life cycle of the salmon being 5 years, 2014 was not such a good year, so one can expect this year to be below average. Taking the above factors into account, my crystal ball tells me that in the coming weeks and like last year we will need some summer rain to keep the river fishing well. On a more positive note the main run of salmon has yet to arrive so there should be better sport to when conditions warm up. In conclusion, I am expecting a less than average season but am hoping that the skills of my guests can prove me wrong!
Enough of predictions and back to fishing. My wife, Helen, was into a fish from the boat. We rowed the boat into the bay and another fisherman kindly took the oars out of the boat so that she could get out of the boat more easily. Unfortunately, having played the fish to the point where it was ready to beach, the fish wriggled free, much to Helen’s frustration. Helen was not to be defeated so easily so I launched the boat again for anther try but this time without the oars which had been left in the grass – fishing can be a humbling experience, but this was a first! On the second attempt, Helen took a cock salmon in Ladder pool, a fine fish of 5.7 kg which is now smoked. Later that day, my cousin, the river owner, and I had fished most of a cold evening without success until close to midnight when I decided enough was a enough and retired to bed empty handed leaving my cousin to do likewise. After I had gone, he decided to do one more go on the Wall which paid handsomely as he took a fish of 7.3 kg. The following day there was some discussion about whether it was a case of superior skill, or just sheer determination proving that if one has a fly in the water it will eventually prove successful – the jury is still debating this one!
10 to 17 June. Our first guests, just 2 fishermen arrived to perfect conditions, a river of 150 cms, and then some rain that pushed the level up to 160. During the week it fell to around 115 with the water temperature hovering around 10 degrees.
Early in the week a very friendly otter was seen strolling along the grass in the bay below Muren, seemingly unconcerned by the fishermen or even a dog that went up to it to have a sniff. The otter gave the impression that it was the owner of the place. This was confirmed as a salmon caught late in the day and left hanging overnight had been removed and was later found in the grass nearby someone clearly having had it for their breakfast!
In terms of fishing, the week was satisfactory with 12 fish taken including one of 11 kg measuring 102 cms taken at dusk on a floating line. Another guest quickly got into the swing of fishing and did exceedingly well to take 7 fish with three being on his last night. Having hooked a fish he prided himself on quickly being able to estimate the size. So by the end of the week on what turned out to be his last fish, he announced that he had a small fish on of maybe 3 kg. Five minutes later he said that the fish might be a little bigger at 4 or 5 kg. As time went by he admitted that the fish could even be 6 or 7 kg. This fish was not coming in in a hurry and after some 30 minutes it was eventually landed and scaled a mighty 107 cms in length and 9.8 kg – a classic, powerful Gaula torpedo shaped specimen. He admitted that this concluded the most memorable days fishing of his life. The week was also memorable for me as this guest is one of Norways best known chefs and curtesy of him and the other guests I tasted the finest barbecue food and some fabulous wines. He even gave me a test drive in his Tesla car, the acceleration of which left me totally shocked.
18 June. The counter was installed on 24 May and a large salmon passed through that day. The next salmon was not recorded until 11 June although there were plenty of sea trout, some close to 70 cms in length. By 18 June 9 salmon and some 70 sea trout had gone up the ladder and I spotted the first salmon above the foss this day too. A little rain overnight has raised the river from 109 to 112 cms and we have seen increased activity in terms of new fish which is encouraging.
16 to 19 June. For this three days we had a party that have been coming to Osen for several decades ably assisted by Morten who acts as guest and guide. One regular member of the party was unable to come due to medical reasons and we wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him next year; in the event he did not miss much in the way of fishing although there were moments of excitement.
I took one member of the group out in the boat to cover Ladder Pool and a fish struck in the middle of the fast water as the fisherman was letting out line. The fish sat in the fast water whilst I manoeuvred the boat below the rocks and then it obediently followed the boat downstream. At the back of my mind was the fact that this fish was caught in the white water so in theory should be a big one but the way it followed the boat it seemed more like a grilse, except that the rod was not shaking, or a farmed fish. The fish was uncomfortably close to the boat and I was about to warn the fisherman to watch out in case it decided to take off when it did exactly that, tearing away with such force that the rod dipped violently and then nothing – on inspection the line had broken such was the strength of the fish.
I cannot remember a time when this group did not take home two fish each but this time there were not a lot of fish to be seen and it was even remarked that Morten himself was doing more fishing than usual in an attempt to catch something. The river stood at 109 cms and rose to 128 cms but was still comparatively low for this time of the year. Where usually the group would take a couple of fish each, they had to be satisfied with 2 fish between them.
19 to 22 June. For the second half of the week Morten stays on with his own group of accomplished fishermen. Using a football analogy I made a joke that evening that as the premier league of fishermen had had no luck on Muren the reserves were being used as the youngest member of the group, the son of one of the guests took his turn. He is a good fisherman but not as experienced. It is funny how these things said in jest come back to bite you – the first fish was taken that night at 0300 hours by the son. Fishing just below the lower bend in the wall the fly had done its course and was drawn in when a light tug was felt. Very soon it was realised that this was no ordinary fish and after half an hour the fish was sitting below the jetty at the top of Lower Bank and it was decided to take to the boat and follow the fish down stream. Another fisherman took a net and after an hour the fish was ready but such was the size of the fish that it was difficult to get it in the net. On landing the fish was measured at 115 cms and a whopping 14.5 kg – the largest fish recorded on our beats for some years – so much for the Reserve fisherman!
By the end of the 3 days 11 fish had been taken with all fishermen getting a fish except for one gentlemen who was not to have any luck. He was doubly unfortunate to be the only one not to catch a salmon last year too, so the poor man took some ribbing that perhaps it was time for him to retire from fishing – the sport of salmon fish can be cruel to the best of us!
24 to 30 June. At the start of the week the total fish caught so far stood at 36 with some 49 salmon and 99 sea trout through the counter. The salmon going through seem to be larger than usual with a high proportion being between 85 and 105 cms. The river was up to 145 cms after some heavy rain and has now fallen to 128 cms and the water reads 10.5 degrees – still quite cold for late June.
During the week 12 fish were taken yet despite a rapidly falling river, down to 89 cms by the end, the fishing on Muren remained good with a steady stream of catches.
One guest had not caught a salmon before and was determined to do so. Such an honour came to him from the boat in Ladder Pool. It was obvious that it was a fine fish from the start sitting stationary in the fast stream to start but then it following the boat down stream in exactly the same fashion as a fish that got away the previous week. Following this pattern it then did a run across the river but the fisherman played it well and it was beached on the grass. It measured just over a metre in length and 8.8 kg – a great catch as his first salmon experience. It was uncanny that its behaviour was so similar to a fish lost last week – it was definitely not a farmed fish.
The prize for the week has to go to a young lady fisherman, who showed great determination to catch salmon and fully deserved the 3 fish she caught in 3 days.
1 to 7 July. New guests arrived last night. Such was the weather that we saw the plane flying low below the cloud base but the pilot aborted the landing and the guests were taken back to Bergen, then to Fløra and then by bus to Førde before eventually arriving 6 hours late at around midnight. About an inch of rain fell last night – much needed. The river was at 89 and has so far risen to 130 cms. More rain is forecast for the next 3 days so I am optimistic that conditions will remain good once the now coloured water clears.
On a rising river, the first fish to be caught was a fine sea trout of 1.2 kg but after that it was difficult conditions and some of the guests resorted a spoon which resulted in two fish, one a beauty of 7.5 kg. Some harling in Rekevik at 125 cms resulted in a small sea trout, a brown trout of 1.2 kg and a salmon on the take but no more than an encouraging tug or two, suggesting sport up river was to be had.
With more heavy rain the water level rose to a magnificent 200 cms. I spent some time over these days emptying the boats of water, which in past years I regarded as a chore, but after last years drought I shall never complain of having to do so again, as I now happily went about this duty! Not only was it heavy rain but it was also cold, so cold in fact that we had snow on the top of Kvarmshesten mountain, unheard of for early July. Between 10 and 25 cms of snow fell on the glacier so over the next few days this snow gradually melted, holding the river high for longer than usual. With a big river of 170 cms a good stream was to be had on Lower Bank; the preceding night two fish were taken by Lervik fishermen including one of 7.2 kgs and the following day one of my guests took a 3.2 kg salmon by boat whilst fishing two rods, the first fish taken by us on this stretch.
The run of salmon has been later this year. This time last year 600 fish had passed the counter, and the year before it was 1300 whilst the counter now registers only 300. So the chances of catching a fish up river are correspondingly smaller. Nevertheless, the river had been over 130 cms for a few days so it was possible that a few salmon would be waiting at the bottom of Rekevik. Above 130 cms salmon cannot ascend Rekevik foss, so a few salmon were likely to be waiting at the bottom of the Rekevik. I am always keen on the challenge of seeking fish from the upper river and to catch the first salmon upstream is a bonus. Sophie, our housekeeper, was the only maid in 9 years not to have caught a salmon during her stay last year, despite being keen to do so. With this as background I decided to take her to Rekevik on Saturday evening, our night off. With a big river the salmon seem to sit a little higher up so we started harling accordingly, and soon Sophie struck a fish which judging by the strong thuds to her line was a larger fish. I manoeuvred the boat upstream a little whilst Sophie did well to keep the rod bent and a tight line but then the fish took off downstream, the reel screamed and suddenly Sophie was well into the backing of her line. After much coaxing the fish started to come up towards the island where we like to land fish. After half and hour the fish was close to being landed but kept going out again and Sophie, her arms aching and petrified that she was going to lose the fish was begging me to take the rod. I refused of course as the long term satisfaction of taking your own fish with entirely your own efforts far outweighs these immediate concerns and soon she beached the salmon in the grass. Sophie has many followers on Instagram so priority now was to photograph the fish before releasing it. I was holding the tail of the fish in the water whilst she got her phone out. She then took the tail of the fish herself whilst I prepared the camera but just as she took grip of the tail the fish wriggled and sprinted out into deep water. The photos we did get of the fish were not so impressive, but we estimated the fish to be 6.1 kgs, a fine fish for one’s first salmon which will no doubt add to Sophie’s Instagram followers!
After some fishing upriver which drew 2 brown trout and a sighting of a salmon in lower Gamlegjerdet, I took a quick fish down Muren with the river standing at 160 cms. I was rewarded almost immediately with a heavy tug, followed by a charge across the river. My impression was of a sizeable fish which on landing was 6.7 kg – a lovely hen salmon which had fought like it was a 10 kg fish.
The week ended with a total of 10 fish, a little disappointing given the excellent river conditions. The water is still just below 12 degrees, the temperature at which salmon run in greater numbers and there do not yet seem to be the numbers of salmon seen in previous years. The total catch stands at 55 and the fish through the counter at 270.
7 to 14 July. A British party arrived today, some of whom had had great experiences of the river in Norsk Hydro days but came back again last year which coincided with the drought conditions and left more or less empty handed. Despite this, 4 of the six decided to give it another try this year, knowing that the river can produce good results. The river was now 135 cms and falling fast.
Within 30 minutes of arriving two of the guests had taken a fish each, one of 5.5 kgs and a grilse, and lost another. Within 12 hours all the guests had taken a fish or more and within a day and a half 12 fish were bagged – a great start compared to last year!
By 10 July the river was down to 90 cms with little prospect of rain and unsurprisingly fish catches have slowed. At least plenty of fish have been caught so far, so the party can either relax or up their game to match the more challenging conditions.
By the end of the week the river was down to a paltry 60 cms. Four more fish were caught making a total of 16 fish for the week including one of 6.6 kgs although this and one or two of the others were taken by spoon on Muren after all attempts with a fly had been exhausted.
480 fish have passed through the counter, a little below average for this time in July and with the low water and sunshine, no one had caught anything up river apart from Sophie’s fish out of Rekevik last week. Two of my guests had fish on, at the points in Rekevik and on the bend at Skjaerer (probably grilse), but disappointingly had lost both. After the guests had departed and always up for a challenge I was determined to be the first to catch a fish upstream so on Saturday night ventured forth to gain the accolade of being the first to catch a fish upstream from the bank. I had a nice tug in Katteholen and something showed interest in Skjaerer but despite my best attempts I came back empty handed, concluding that a few more running fish and some rain was needed.
15 to 21 July. Some regular German guests arrived last night. The river was down to 57 cms with barely any stream on Muren. One of the fishermen this morning gave the Wall a go with a spoon and came back with a Pukkellax (Camel Fish). Shortly afterwards, he had another go and then I saw him walking down the Wall having given up but then I realised he had caught the bottom and was trying to free the spoon as he shouted something in German. It was a shame as at the same time I had seen a huge splash close to where he had been fishing some 70 metres up. Seeing all this and the language barrier not helping, as his english is no better than my norwegian, it took a few moments to realise that he was into a fish. Having seen the fish splash close to the Wall, the fish had moved out to the other side of the river, it then came in again and then then skimmed across the water at speed. It took about half an hour to bring this fish under control and land it. It was a beautiful fresh run monster cock fish of 107 cms and weighed in at 11.4 kg.
So despite the low river, fresh fish are coming in. The other good news is that there is some rain forecast for Thursday onwards, which should improve matters.
The following day the same fisherman took another fish of 6.9 kgs, again on a spoon but this fish had serious nose and jaw damage probably from a seal – however it looked good enough to smoke.
The highlight of the week was the taking of a salmon in Rekevik by our youngest guest whilst harling with his father. Although he has been coming to Osen since he was 3 years old it was still a remarkable achievement for him to catch a 2 kg grilse on the fly at the ripe old age of 9 years.
The week ended with a visit to the Tønna Pub for seafood platter which as usual was delicious. On our return another young guest who had recently passed her driving test was rounding the blind bend on the way back from Bygstad when she was unlucky enough to meet an oncoming vehicle and had to reverse quite some distance to the previous lay-by. I was in my car behind her. Reversing was clearly not her strong point and I will only say that the journey home took a little longer than usual!
Unusually, a kelt of 4.7 kgs was taken on the wall the following day. That evening, after a little rain I took the opportunity to fish the other side of Rekevik. With a low river, I waded up to the rocky island at the bottom of the foss and I started with a very short line. My second cast was a metre longer but still the fly was not far from my feet when the line took off and the reel spun delightfully. Shortly after I landed the fish; it was so fresh I had to check it carefully to see if it still had sea lice. In itself it was wonderful to catch but it was also satisfying as it was the first fish caught up river from the river bank rather than from the boat.
The total for the week was a disappointing 6 fish. On the plus side, at least fish were being caught despite the river now standing at 50 cms, it having fallen to 46 cms earlier in the week, the same low level as last year. The water was so low that the counter camera was out of the water for three days. I note again that whilst in these conditions grilse and sea trout can climb the ladder, there appears to be insufficient water for salmon to ascend the ladder when the river is 55 cms or below.
I am told that many rivers have had a disastrous season and that the government has closed quite a few of them due to poor returns and what appears to be a lack of salmon. So we count ourselves lucky that our tally of salmon whilst not good by historical standards now stands at 79 fish caught and 590 fish through the ladder 33 of them last night after some more rain. One can also see plenty of salmon lined up in the white water of the waterfall, their tails or dorsal fins breaking the surface as they maintain their station and enjoy the oxygenated water.
22 to 29 July. The river rose from 50 to 68 cms during the week so the rain was not sufficient to make a significant difference to conditions. Whilst the number of fish going through the counter seemed impressive, most of the fish were sea trout and grilse. It therefore left the upper river with little prospect of catching fresh fish of any size and below the foss there was no stream to speak of. To make matters worse, summer decided to arrive and we had over 30 degrees for several days, peaking at 33.5 degrees. The river water temperature also soared to 19 degrees, so any fish caught would hardly need to be cooked before eating!
Surprisingly, a grilse was caught in completely slack water at the bottom of Muren. I had seen what appeared to be a resident fish jumping there several times and the fisherman did well to entice it. Another fish was seen dead in the water towards the top of Muren and our two anglers managed to foul hook the fish out of the water with the aid of a spoon rod and tackle. At 8.5 kgs it would have been a fine fish but had some red markings on its skin. There is a salmon disease that is plaguing other rivers where the red markings are very pronounced and it is killing quite a few fish. This fish was frozen and sent off for analysis by scientists who I understand said that one can expect a number of salmon to die for a variety of reasons and that this one appeared to be of natural causes rather than the plague.
The hot conditions and glorious sunshine continued; a sea trout was the only other fish to be caught in what was otherwise a very frustrating week from a fishing perspective.
27 July to 5 August. I would usually return to UK on around 30 July but this year I had a 3 day family reunion to attend in Røros which is near the Swedish border. Either side of this event I was able to do some fishing. In the early part of this period the river remained low and despite some determined fishing, I only took one grilse in Skjaerer and a sea trout in Åmot. On 30 July the hot weather broke with a series of thunderstorms, which produced such heavy localised rain that several landslides closed the road on both sides of the Jølster Lake, the route I was planning to take to Røros. On return from Røros, I heard that the river had swelled to 140 cms before falling to 110 cms and this was accompanied by a large run of salmon through the ladder. I took the opportunity to fish on the evening of 4 and morning of 5 August. The river which had appeared dead the previous week was now alive with fish. In Holmen, I made contact with something solid, and in Åmot I landed a sea trout of 1 kg. I went down Gamlegjerdet and had 5 fish on, two of a reasonable size. I then took my mother harling in Rekevik where she lost a salmon. The following morning on the home bank of Åmot I had a salmon on for about 15 minutes before it slipped off. The water was still too warm and the fish were loose mouthed but it was a delight to find the fish responding to ones fly again, something that had not happened for the previous 3 weeks.
It was important to me to experience these improved conditions. I say that because last year fishing in July was poor and this year has not been good. Both years suffered from the fact that by July there was little snow left in the mountains. (There was 3 metres of snow on the Gaulafjell roadside in mid June 2015). We are thus reliant on rainfall to liven up the fishing; it was therefore reassuring to know that the salmon, which ran late this year, did arrive in greater numbers at the end of July and it was with even more pleasure that I experienced the return of better fishing conditions in early August.
Summary. The tally for June and July is 84 fish which as I predicted at the beginning of the season is below average. The highlights of the year included some bigger fish including one of 14.4 kgs. The number of fish though the counter by the end of July was 980 which again is below average, but is hopefully on an improving path with the good run of salmon in early August. Broadly, whilst we had some difficult fishing periods, the health of the river is good and salmon continue to return to the River Gaula.
