norway fishing in march

**lobsterkid** · 04-01-2006, 19:10

been reading your postings with great interest.Me and my mates have been
visiting norway once a year for the past three years and have yet to meet anyone from britain over there. Glad to hear there are some more adventurous anglers out there.We normally go over about the end of may but this time we are taking a gamble and are trying middle march to see if there are any bigger fish on the go. We normally book up with ove out at hellesoy which is right on the end of the oygarden penninsula.The boats are terrific and more importantly very reliable,
having inboard diesel engines. I know that march can be a dodgy month back home for any kind of fishing so i was wondering if anyone had any info about the fishing in march.One thing i would say to the guys going to radoy is get yourself a good sea chart. The one i ive used over there is a statens kartverk chart and it has loads of info on it.

**bigads** · 04-01-2006, 20:02

Rumour has it lobster that march april can be the time when the bigger cod are around. My mate is off to lyngen fijord in april....to try and hook himself a monster cod.

He's already had 2 110lb halibut..........which I'm fed up hearing about

Cause I'm JEALOUS........

**keving** · 05-01-2006, 13:53

Hi Lobsterkid,

I have lived and worked in Bergen for the past 9 years and have some experiance fishing out there in Øygarden. My boat (a 27ft Viksund sjark with room for 4 anglers) usually lies in Rognesund which is the largest bridge you cross over on your way to Hellsøy once your out on the Islands to the west of Bergen. In the winter she lies in Bildøy where I take her Ling bashing under the Sotra bridge among other spots.

Jan-Feb are the two most likely months when you can hook up with big Ling in Bergen, bigger than the cod your likely to get down here at least. Bergen produces 60lb Ling each season. Long-line fishers usually take a Ling or two around 60-80lbs in the fjords in Bergen each winter. Cod that size are NEVER taken down here. With respect to the Ling, on rod and line you would classify a 20lber as a nice fish, a 30lber as a good fish and a 40lber or larger as a great fish. My brother does not even fish in UK yet his best (whilst fishing from my boat in Bergen) has been taken at 44.5lbs. I won the Bergen annual Ling fishing championships in 2005 with 47.5kg of Ling in 5 hours fishing on rod and line with maximum 3 hooks. The biggest three fish in the compeition that day were all in the 30lb category. I took a high double and high 20 on the same drop.

By middle March the Ling action has started to tail off, by easter its totally dead on that front, and the cod are increasing in numbers after they finish spawning. However, middle March is probably close to the end of the cods spawning time in Bergen, meaning that you might struggle with getting things to happen on that front (Spawning cod = tough going). In bergen the cod competition for the local sea club is usually held in the very end of march or early part of April, when hungry spawned out cod going on a feeding spree. I dont know what your boat expeiances are with the cod in May in the area north of Hellesøy, but its probably dropped somewhat off from the action seen a little earlier. Still, cod fishing at this latitude is a bit hit and miss, and really, its the Ling fishing in late Jan and Feb. which is what bergen has to offer (in addition to coalfish in late summer early autumn and haddock and some cod most of the year around). My best cod in bergen (I am not really a cod fan) is 34.5lbs and that was actually taken in easter south of Hellesøy, however, its the Ling in the winter months that offer the best odds for taking large fish.

May is generally not such a good month to go fishing in Bergen unless you consider trolling for escaped rainbow trout as fun (which I do). Still, cod and wolffish are caught in some numbers on the coast at this time if you find the right spots.

If you need any help or advice then feel free to contact me. I have an available 2 bedroomed apartment in Bergen and I specialise in Ling fishing and have access to stock piles of frozen mackrel in my freezers.

Best regards,

Kevin

kevin.glover@imr.no

**twisty** · 05-01-2006, 14:22

have you any more information on radoy? i went over with a bunch of people last year to avik brygge to fish a competition and the fishing was very poor .. some people have talked about radoy, but i can't find much information on the net, accomodation, tackle etc.

**keving** · 05-01-2006, 15:01

Hi Twisty,

I guess your part of the group of 10 from here who is going over to Radøy in July this year or perhaps not? They also were dissapointed with the south of Norway where the fishing is at best "ok" and most likely much worse than than ok.

Anyway, I live very close to Radøy, (5 minute drive in car) and am familiar with the area although my boat is usually moored in Øygarden which is longer drive in my car. The end of radøy faces Fedje which is known as the best fishing area in Bergen (well not entrirely true but its known as that anyhow). These areas are weather dependant marks (well at least west of Fedje is).

As I said to the others wanting to shore-fish on Radøy, its difficult to get access to the sea in Norway due to the lack of paths and steep landscape. For cod the best places are those facing west, where you have access to the sea where there are more of them. There are fewer cod in the fjords here, well at least at this latitude. Boat fishing from Radøy will be good, if you drive out towards Fedje and west of the Islands of Øygarden. Fishing within the fjords tends to be best in the winter months, with that I am thinking coalies in autumn and Ling in Jan-Feb.

I dont know about specific places on Radøy, but I can put you on good fishing at the rigt time if your interested in Øygarden/Bergen which is more or less the same geographic region. One thing is for sure is that people should not come to Bergen if they want large cod. If they want to really get into those fish you see in the mags they need to fork out and go the whole hog up to the north, preferably Søroya. Whilst 40lb cod are caught each year around Bergen, dont expect the boat to get filled up with them.

I have a spot on the west of Øygarden that has one some days in July produced so much Haddock and tusk in the 2-8lb category that people forget whay they were ever interested in fishing for cod. Haddock are harder fighting and masters of unhooking themselfs. Maybe as much as 500lbs of fish between 4 "good" anglers on a good days fishing intense for 8 hours would be possible on this spot, although my brother and myself took around 225-250lbs there one day last year between 2 rods and fishing for just 5 hours. I have had groups of totally inexperianced anglers with me on that spot and taking 30 fishin just 3.5 hours fishing with a moderate swell making life difficult.

If you would like some more information on fishing in Bergen or what I can offer then feel free to contact me via mail. Its not always I read this site. Certainly, bergens easy and cheap flight access via Aberdeen, Stanstead or Gatwick, makes a weekend trip here economically viable, unllike most of the northern destinations in Norway where one would have to book a weeks trip to make the trip worthwhile. Its not always people have time to do that (or to put it another way its not always the wife allows us to do such things!).

Best regards,

Kevin

**twisty** · 05-01-2006, 17:07

thanks kevin, it's hard to find information on the net ... was thinking of coming over in august with a small group but am interested in the information you have given. will pass it on and get back to you.

**lobsterkid** · 06-01-2006, 00:25

hey twisty.Havent fished radoy as such but like you say i know a man who did.We met some german guys when we were over there who had fished there in 2004.
He said that he stayed at a place called straume which is on the north side of radoy.From what he said i dont think they were to impressed with it.I saw the kit they were using and it was the best of gear so i dont think they were casual anglers out for a bit of fun.What he did say was they caught a lot of lumbfish
(like a giant tadpole with teeth).im not sure if thats your quarry or not.They wer there at the beginning of june so wether or not it improves later on im not so sure.Like keving says they had to motor out towards fedje to find decent fishing so its quite a bit of motoring by boat either way.I dont know how experienced you are in boat handling if its self drive or are you chartering.

**keving** · 06-01-2006, 16:45

Hi,

The North west side of Radøy is as close to Fedje as Hellesøy is, so not nessasarily a very long way to steam in the boat, it just depends where on Radøy you stay. Radøy is a realtively large Island to put it like that. Straume is towards the north of Radøy, and is an entrace to the fjord Lurefjorden. This area is definatly not a good area for fishing, and one needs to go west from this location to get access to the delights of the sea.

There is a lot of small Torsk/tusk (brosme in Norwegian) in the sea around these areas, and it is generally considered a "pest" as they average maybe just 1-2lbs or so, although fish over 30lbs have been caught in this area also (bigger ones are usually taken at 150-300m deep). They are fantastic eating by the way, but thats another story.

That these Germans were displeased with the area at Straume I can understand, without the right time of year and right locations in the area the fishing is not nessasarily "exceptional". Mind you, even in the North of Norway you need the right locations, although there is generally speaking a lot more cod and coalfish so the tolerance for not getting on the right mark is not so high. But as I have stated in other posts, with carefull planning, a bit of luck (which one always needs no matter the location), and fishing at the right time with the right people/locations, you can experiance fantastic fishing in Bergen and surrounding areas. However, if people look in the magazines and see whats caught on the very best trips in the North of Norway, and expect to catch similar on an average day down here, then they are definatly going to go home displeased. Its simply NOT a case of dropping a 300g pirk off the side of the boat and just haul up cod thats for sure. Still, its a matter of economics and time.

For those that actually like fly fishing in the sea (as I do), Bergen can offer some really fun destinations. My personal best catch on the fly rod was taken in a brackish water fjord close to the senter of Bergen. In 5 hours intense fishing I took around (exact number is starting to fade) 40 pollack up to 8lbs or so and 5 small cod up to 5lbs or so and a handfull of mackerel. I have also fly fished rainbows up to 10lbs in the sea (trolled them up to 15.5lbs) and had a 20lb+ cod attack the fly right as I was taking it out of the water. Sea fishing is not only about heavy leads and dumping half a mackerel off the bottom of the sea-bed, although thats also something I do a lot of.

Anyway, have a nice weekend folks.

Kevin

**lobsterkid** · 09-01-2006, 20:35

so whats the ling fishin like in march kev. do you think you could put us on some if we booked your boat for the day.

**keving** · 12-01-2006, 08:16

Hi,

In March the Ling action is dying off from its peak in Feb, how rapidly/pronounced depends on factors out of our controll. Early to middle March could stand a good chance of getting into some Ling, although it would be more touch and go compared to Feb. Late march is not a time I would "reccomend" going for Ling, but there of course other things to go for, especially if the weather permits fishing offshore where the cod are and there ares me haddock spots producing great action on the right day.

However, if the focuss is full out ling then Feb. is the month.

Kevin