In northern Norway, just north of the Arctic Circle, lies  the beautiful island   of Senja. Deep fjords  drive inland from the sea flanked by snow capped mountain ranges, their green tree  covered slopes rising steeply from the sea. This is the land of continuous summer  daylight where the midnight sun only briefly embraces the horizon before immediately  climbing upwards to begin another new day.

Get a group of anglers talking  about Norway  and the prime topic of conversation will be the big cod that lurk these deep,  cold waters. There are huge cod here and the quality of the cod fishing is  exceptional, but these waters hold much more than just cod and the  opportunities to the thinking angler are immense.

Barney Wright, Editor of Total Sea  Fishing, and I were scheduled to team up with Ian   Peacock, The UK representative for Din Tur, a Norwegian  company specialising in Norwegian holidays for anglers. Din Tur were  established in 1990 and have representatives in Norway, Poland, Germany,  Sweden, and now in the UK. They are the biggest angling tour operator in Norway with  access to some 180 specialised fishing centres scattered throughout the country,  with opportunities for sea angling, trout, salmon and char fishing, as well as  general freshwater fishing and ice fishing.

Also part of our six man team would  be Volker Dapoz, a top German angling journalist and halibut expert, Dieter  Borchet, a German tour operator working with Din Tur, and Geordie angler Terry Barnes.  

Meeting up with Ian and Terry at Tromso Airport,  we had a three hour drive in the midnight sun through some breathtaking  scenery. Our destination was Senja Havfiskesenter at Medby, a purpose built  series of Norwegian cabins situated on the waterfront on the northern flank of  Veimannsfjorden.

Still knackered from travelling,  after brief introductions, we had a quick look at the charts as this was new  ground for most of us. We elected to split in to two groups of three and attack  different ground to get a feel for the place come morning.

POWER PIRKING
We started drift fishing with a  variety of pirks on ground called Kvengr. Instantly our pirks were snatched by  cod in the 4lb to 10lb range, with small ling as well as torsk getting in on  the act.

The torsk were a new species for  Barney and me, but they aren’t the best fighters and come up like a brick. In  fact the torsk are so thick on this ground that Ian christened them “tw*t fish”  and henceforth for the remaining duration of our stay that’s how we referred to  them.

 

I switched to a Jumper rig with a  shad on and working the lure up from the seabed for the first 40-metres started  hitting good haddock, cod and the odd torsk. The haddock were quality fish  between 3 and 6lbs.

Keen to try new marks were went  looking for drop-offs. The pirks instantly found cod, haddock, ling and torsk,  but I stuck with the shad and bagged my very first redfish, a species that  favours deep drop-off rock ledges in water over 100-metres. This fish went 2lbs  8ozs, but I later got one close to 3lbs. 

The second and third days we spent  exploring the fjords to the south and we accounted for good cod, haddock,  redfish, coalfish and torsk. Barney getting a torsk just in to double figures.

Volker, Dieter and Terry went further west  with Volker taking a cracking cod of 33lbs and Terry lifting another fish  around the 30lbs mark on a pirk. Volker’s fish caught on one of his own  Seawaver lures he has designed to take both big cod and halibut.

The weather was hot and calm, with  minimal breeze and we were working along the edges of Sifjorden just south of  our home fjord. It was after 9pm and the sun still shone from low in the sky.  Suddenly the surface water erupted as huge numbers of small coalies smashed  baitfish at the surface.

We knew there would be much bigger coalies  deep down underneath them, and even in 130-metres of water we were pirking at  between 30 and 70-metres. Ian was first in as a big coalie savaged his pirk and  crash dived vertically for the seabed. Barney and I were quick to follow with  the best coalies landed touching 15lbs.

I’d fancied getting a big coalie on  the fly and already had fly gear set up. My first few casts in to the frenzy  and fast stripping saw coalies to 2lbs hooked up. This got me thinking and I  set about formulating a plan to attack the deeper down coalies with the fly  gear.

The following day we found an  unmarked bump of ground south of Oerja   Island. The top of the  bump was in just 29-metres, but it dropped off slowly in to deeper water. The  cod were on the downside and Barney and Ian took some cracking fish up to 17lbs  on dead coalfish baits fished on pennel rigs, or just attached to the top  dropper hook on the pirk. I worked shads and pirks and took cod to 8lbs.

FLY BY NIGHT!
The next day we spent to the north  inside Senja Havf and Torskfjorden taking big haddock to 7lbs on the pirks,  cod, torsk, and also enjoyed fly fishing around surface breaking rocks catching  small coalies.

We knew the big coalies would push  the smaller coalfish and fry to the surface as the plankton rose in the  evening. Volker had now left due to other commitments, but Dieter and Terry  were fishing tight under the north side of the fjord and phoned us to say the coalies  were going berserk on the surface all around them.

When we got there it was an incredible  sight with various parts of the sea whipped to a white foam by feeding fish.  The guys got stuck in to coalies in the 10lb to 12lb range using pirks, but I  opted for the fly gear.

I’d made up some special flies  using tiny weighted jig heads and muppet legs, plus a couple of flies with twin  leaded eyes to get the fly down deeper quicker. I was using a 10-weight SALT  fly rod, Partridge large arbour reel and a special experimental hi-density  ultra fast sink line from Shakespeare. My tippet was 12lb SALT Fluoro carbon  about 6ft long.

Conditions were perfect, no wind,  minimal drift and flat calm. I made a short cast to get some line out, then  started feeding line off the reel slowly to gain depth. The fly line gone I  continued feeding backing out too, to maximise my depth. The first few drops  produced nothing. I began by stripping the line in fast, then realised that  with so much line laying loose on deck I was asking for a major tangle should a  fish crash dive. I changed my retrieve system using the rod to sink and draw  the fly, but retrieving line back on to the reel as the rod dropped back  towards the sea.

The next drop down I’d retrieved maybe  20-metres when I felt a gentle weight on the rod tip. Keeping the lure on the  move I held the line tightly in my left hand and let the fish pull the rod over  in to full compression to fully set the hook. The fish was heavy and fought  hard taking a little line, but this was no coalie and I was confused as to what  it was. It went round in a short circle, tried to dive, but would just hold  steady against the rod. Steady pressure and pumping to gain line the fish  started to tire.

Still unsure as to what I’d hooked  we saw colour down below. I was gob smacked when a haddock weighing 4lbs 11ozs  broke the surface with the fly fair and square in the top lip. I personally  haven’t heard of haddock being caught on the fly rod before, but I ended up  with three of them that night, so it was no fluke. I associate haddock with  deep depths, but here in the far north they lift in the water to near surface  if feed is available.

Still targeting the coalfish, I put  a good cast out, then let line off the reel going a good 30-yards or more in to  the backing, and the fly line is 130-feet long, so I was around 60-metres down.

Retrieving as fast as I could,  sweeping the rod to full arm height, I concentrated on the feel of the fly far  below. I’d retrieved maybe 20-metres of line when something whacked the fly,  pressure came on the rod tip and I set the hook by holding the line tight in my  left hand, then let go. Line screamed off the reel as the fish crash dived  taking more than 25-yards of liner with it. It hung there for a second, then  went again taking more line. Such was the speed of the dive that I burnt the  tips of my fingers on the rim of the revolving spool as I tried to add a little  more drag to slow the fish.

The fish was deep and the rod bent  double, but using all the rod I gently pumped the fish upwards. It was a case  of me making a few yards of line on the reel, then the fish taking it back.  This stalemate went on for several minutes before I felt the fish tire.

My right forearm was killing me  holding the fish with the rod constantly in full compression, but I was  winning. Ian and Barney shouted they could see colour way down, then slowly the  fish grew bigger from the depths. As it broke surface I could see the coalie  went better than 7lbs. I swung the tired fish across the surface to me and  lifted it by the hook shank in my left hand. Ian weighed the fish at just under  8lbs before returning it. Mission  accomplished!

I wanted to try for a bigger one,  but the fish had disappeared. The next few nights the weather was not so good  and the opportunity to improve on the 8lber was gone, but I aim to go back to  northern Norway  and try for a fish over 12lbs on the fly.

SUMMING UP
Our last days produced more cod,  torsk, big haddock, redfish and Ian bagged a cracking angler fish around 8 to  10lbs that took a whole dead coalfish bait worked off a pirk. This was the  first angler fish any of us had seen and what an awesome creature it is with a  massive mouth full of teeth and an eye that alternates between green and orange  in the sunlight.

Senja had turned up trumps for us.  Barney and I got our first torsk and redfish, Barney got a personal best coalie  around 14lbs, Ian bagged his first angler fish, and I got my first torsk and  redfish, plus haddock and big coalie on the fly. To sum up Norway, I’d say  “Anything is possible”.

It was an unbelievable experience  taking your own boat out in to these fish rich waters and although cod will  always be king here, don’t forget there are so many other species to target.

The people are very friendly and speak  good English, the food is good, you’re sheltered from the worst of the weather  by the fjords so can fish pretty much every day, and during the summer you have  24 hours of daylight to play with. It’s an amazing package and well worth  saving up for.

WHERE TO FISH
The fact is that you can catch huge  cod just at the mouth of the home fjord without travelling more than a half  mile, but there is key ground out to the west and clearly marked on the chart.  We chose to look at Soegr (South Ground) which comes up from 169-metres to  34-metres, Kvengr rising from 252-metres to 61-metres, and Nordgr (North  Ground) lifting up to 54-metres from 211-metres.

All around the island of Oerja  and Hoimenvaer there are good drifts, and north of the island is unmarked  ground rising from 209-metres to 70-metres. Also look to the west of these  small islands where there is good drift ground we didn’t get the chance to try.

Use the sounder while running  alongside the edges of the mountain slopes and look for the steep drop-offs  that fall sheer in to the depths. Such feature is everywhere here and the fish  tend to be down towards the base of the feature during the main day.

SEASONS
Cod and haddock can be caught in  numbers 12 months of the year, but most anglers visit the area between April  and early October. The best time for halibut is May, though again they show all  year, as will the redfish, torsk, coalfish, ling and catfish. Angler fish are  caught too, mostly in the May to September period, but again these can show at  any time. There are also plaice, dabs and the odd ray caught off the sand  through the summer and autumn period.

Herring show both in April and May,  then again in late August to September. This is often when the biggest cod are  caught as they move in tight to shore to feed on the herring.

The biggest cod verified from these  local Senja camp waters is a cod of  23-kilo’s, that’s over 50lbs, coalies top 15-kilo’s, catfish reach 10-kilo’s,  with ling to 10-kilo’s. From what we saw you’ve an excellent chance of getting  a 30lb cod during a week’s stay.

TACKLE TO TAKE
I’d suggest taking a 3oz spinning  rod and fixed spool reel loaded with 15lb line, braid or mono, for some fun  fishing and working light 100gr pirks. A 30lb braid rod with a stiffish action  for working bigger pirks, this rod to be at least 7ft 6in in length to give you  maximum pirk lift movement, and if you want to target the halibut, then chuck  in a 50lb class rod and reel, though I’d think carefully about this as a good  angler with the 30lb class would be fine on halibut up to 100lbs.

Take some spare braid, plenty of  strong links, some swivels, beads and spare mono for snoods, a few hooks from  size 2 or 1 for the flatfish, some 4/0’s for adding to shads and jelly worms,  and some bigger 6/0’s. 8/0’s and 10/’s, should you need them for pennel rigs  when fishing whole coalfish baits.

Tide flow is not that bad, so a few  pirks in sizes 200, 300, 400 and 500grm will be ideal. Chrome works well, as  does lumo, but black is also excellent. I fished a full week and lost no gear  whatsoever. Certainly ten pirks or so would see you through the week here.

Calcutta shads in Pink Ice and the Red  Head, both 4-inch and 5-inch sizes, caught me a lot of fish worked off a short  jumper rig. I also had fish on Hokkai’s and jellyworms.

The locals do well on Gummymac’s  which are the old type tube sandeel we used to use here 30-years ago.

The centre will hire rods and reels  out for a small fee, and surprisingly you can take their pirks with you and you  only pay if you lose them, which is an excellent service.

THE BOATS
The hire boats are superb Hansvik  18fters powered by 30hp 4-stroke Yamaha’s and moored on the pontoon 20-yards in  front of the houses. These are open craft, but exceptionally seaworthy and  absolutely stable with three fishing all down the same side.

The boats are fitted with a variety  of sounders, ours being a Lowrance, plus a GPS unit. Check you have HOME listed  as your first mark on the GPS so you can find your way back.

There is an instruction book  supplied with the sounder, so you can have a brief read before using the unit.  They are easy enough and some of the fishing centres even have a base unit set  up so you can practice on this before heading to sea.

DAY TO DAY LIVING
It’s a misconception that Norway is  ridiculously expensive. Certainly beer in bars is full whack and we chose to  buy a few beers from the supermarket and drink back at the cabin. This works  out much cheaper. Food in restaurants is also pricey, but cooking back at the  cabin is easy enough and we ate fresh fish we’d caught several nights which is  unbeatable and free.

You can buy staple foods like  bacon, eggs, beans, bread, milk etc from the local shops. One is just a 10  minute walk away and other a 15 minute drive, this latter one having pretty  much everything you can think of.

Remember to take a European plug  adapter with you to charge your mobile. You get a good signal pretty much  everywhere here too.

ACCOMADATION
The cabins are traditional  Norwegian log cabins, very snug and warm, and fitted out with all mod cons  including dish washer, microwave, fridge, freezer and TV. They can house six  people comfortably.

You can clean the house out  yourself at the end of the trip, or pay a small fee, about £40 between you to  have the house cleaned for you after you leave.

HOW TO GET THERE
Barney and I flew from Stansted to Oslo, flight time 1 hour and 40minutes on average, then  took a second flight from Oslo  to Tromso which takes about an hour and 45 minutes. You can then either hire a  car yourself or the fishing centre will pick you up and return you for your  return flight in a mini bus.

As a guide on prices flying from  London Stansted to Oslo with Norwegian Airlines Wednesday to Wednesday costs  £102 and £110 for the connect flight from Oslo to Tromso. Saturday to Saturday  prices are Stansted to Oslo for £160 and Oslo to Tromso for £102.

You can also fly SAS, KLM and  Widroe from Manchester, Newcastle and Teeside airports.

Baggage allowance with Norwegian is  2 bags weighing 20-kilo’s each, but book these in when you book the flight. You  can also carry an additional 20-kilo’s with the other airlines, but again book  this with your flight, and they may charge you a very small fee for the second  bag. Your fishing rods in a tube should go free.

PACKAGES & CONTACTS
Packages are available from as  little as £295 per person in to some southern Norway camps and include ferry, sea  view cabin house, and your self drive boat.

In to mid Norway packages begin at £449 per person and  includes flights, airport transfers, house and boat, and northern Norway  begins at £549 per person again including flights, airport transfers, house and  boat. All prices are for four persons sharing for 7 days.

You pay separately for the boat  fuel you use over the weeks fishing.

For full package information and  alternative fishing centre options, contact Ian   Peacock (UK), Din Tur Booking Office, North East Tackle  Supplies, 309 Ryhope Road, Sunderland, SR2 9SS. Tel: 0191-5654970 Mob:  07763576995, or by E-mail at Peacock@dintur.co.uk,  and also check out their website via www.dintur.co.uk .

On a final note Ian Peacock has  personal experience of most of the centres Din Tur offer for sea angling in Norway.  What’s more he fished with us all week and is a real angler absolutely nuts  about fishing, so any questions you have he can answer factually from both a  company and fishing viewpoint.