How to Land a 42 Pound Atlantic Salmon

While Norway holds a special place in the Atlantic Salmon fishing community, northern Norway’s Finnmark region stands out for its incredible density of larger Salmon. Lakselva literally means “Salmon River” – a not so subtle hint for fly anglers and fishing enthusiasts that its worth its while. I was lucky enough to be sharing a rotation with my good friend Tom Leslie from Fin&Game (IG: @finandgame) in Scotland last August. The two of us were the guests of the fairly new Oldero Lodge neatly located on a somewhat “private” island in the middle of the river. Since it’s existence, Oldero has lived up to its reputation of operating on the banks of arguably one of the best Atlantic Salmon fisheries in the world. The incredible level of service and the amenities can turn a blank day of fishing into a culinary experience that is on the same level as any fine dining and lodging on the globe.

Quite frankly, our week was done by day number 1 with one fish each, biggest one tipping the scale at 12 kilograms. A head start. It would only prepare us for what days number 3 and 4 held for us. The initial high water did not settle all the way but the water level was slowly decreasing. We were back at the spot that had produced the magnificent hen fish for us on day 1, so we fished it overly confident the same way we did before. Midway into the run, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the speed and size of my fly. The water may have dropped only a few centimeters, enough though to justify some extra commotion on the presentation or to downsize the actual size of the fly. I found a small temple-dog-style US bottle tube fly that I had snatched from a good friend on a previous trip. I decided to fish it on a sink tip and a long tapered leader in a slow swing. I am not a big fan of multi-tip scandi lines usually, but the LOOP SDS prototype performed exceptionally well considering that it has yet another dreaded connection in-between. Well, it didn’t “hinge” like so many other multi-tip lines – a big bonus. The little fly would blend in perfectly with the backdrop – exactly what I like in small and fairly clear waters. A simple underhand cast would cover the width of the river easily – a good 70-degree downstream cast sailed over the pool and delivered the fly just right over the current line on the far bank. About 1-2 meters into the swing, a big fish moved a lot of water and the line came tight. Nothing better than a take on a long line really. My attempts to close the gap between me and the fish resulted in a deep tug-o-war with the unseen force on the other end of the line. Tom and I agreed that it be the best to get both net and camera, just in case. I got a little too excited fighting the 12kg fish on day number 1 and had overestimated by a fair bit. And, I wasn’t going to rush into overestimations again time on this trip…not before we could get our hands on this fish. After a little back and forth, the fish came close to my own bank and revealed itself as a huge thick hen Atlantic Salmon. On first sight, I knew she was going to shatter my personal best by a fair bit and potentially the 20 kg barrier. In an instant, my mouth went dry. Tom was still on the run for the net and no one else was around to witness this…so I called the Fly Fishing Nation HQ for Paulo, who had to listen to the struggle on the other end of the line. Listen to me swearing after a 200-meter run downstream while I tried to get all the line back. Nothing better than a comforting voice of reason while you are struggling with a potential once in a lifetime opportunity. I was very aware of that; and, to be honest, in case of failure, I would have blamed him at least for 80% of the disaster! It’s good to have a scapegoat.