The season of 2020 has come to an end, or well it actually did in september. But as for the fishing guides it most likely will continue until the winter comes.
The season of 2020 will not go down in history as one with a lot of guests that came to visit, and catch a bunch of fish during the stay. No, this year has proven to be somewhat difficult when it comes to traveling to say the least. But afterall we had some guests during the summer, when the rules for traveling to other countries allowed it.
As for the fishing, well… let´s just say it was good and leave it with that. We don´t want to rub salt in the wounds, so to speak. Especially for all of you that could not come this year. On the other hand, it would not be much of a season summary if we diden´t tell you about the fishing ! The fishing started for real in April with big numbers of large spawning cod ( Skrei ). They where in a small area just outside our «home fjord», which made it easy to fish even when the wind was a bit to strong to fish on the outside. We had some fantastic fishing during a few weeks. The size of the fish was crazy, with most of them weighing over 15 kgs and a lot of fish around 25 + kgs.
After that the cod moved offshore, and so did we. Things started to normalize ( at least fishingwise ) and before we knew it, the summer was here. That ment some really fun fishing was close by. In other words, big coalfish on light tackle. In June and July we had some awesome fishing with both a lot and big coalfish. I think the biggest one was just under 16 kgs. The average size of the coalfish was stunning, with almost no fish under 7 kgs and most of them around 10 kgs. During the summer we also made the effort to catch Wolffish. Something we did with good results. Biggest fish was 15 kgs ! We found that the Halibut had two periods that produced more bites and that was in the later part of spring and in the end of the season. The biggest one this year was a real woppper that measured 210 cm, and had the girth of a whale. To be honest, it was fat. I don´t think that it is an undestatement to say that it was around 150 kgs. We also had our fair share of «small» halibuts where the average fish was 15 – 20 kgs.
In the summer months the fjord was full of life. Plenty of baitfish such as sandeel and small herring that made it a fantastic dinnertable for both birds and fish. We even had puffins all the way in to the harbour. It was just as much ( actually way more ) baitfish offshore so on almost every occasion we where out there fishing or just cruising, we saw minkie whales.
In July and August some of the big coalfish came in to the fjord. This was a really fun bonus and ment that you didn´t have to go very far to come in contact with fish weighing 7 – 12 kgs. Best baits/lures during the year has changed somewhat depending on the season. So to make a long story short, targeting big fish like halibut and bigger cod = natural bait did the job. Baits such small coalfish or herring if you where able to get a hold of some. Fishing for cod, coalfish and haddock = small or medium size shads. Any type of soft plastic that looked a bit like a sandeel was right on the money. If the fish where down deep the classic perks with a dropper or two was by far the best potion. There was as usual loads of big mackerel, both in the fjord and offshore during the end of summer, starting in the end of July but mainly in August and September.
The season of 2020 was filled with a bit of each, good and bad weather, strong winds and flat calm seas. Big fish and small fish and a rich animal life that made it even better to be out with the boats. The one thing that we where missing this year was our guests. And we really feel for all of you that where stuck at home or not able to travel up here. Let´s hope for a turnaround before the season of 2021 starts. Otherwise we have to catch all of the fish by ourselves 😉 . So until next time stay safe and as always, tight lines !
Best wishes from the staff at Lauklines.