The Mountains Of Northern Sweden

It was that time of the year, when the battle starts again!

Father-in-law the Spin-fisherman VS  Son-in-law the Fly-fisherman.

Last year we were in northern Finland and northern Norway. The trip was great and we experienced a lot of new places to fish. Fortunately, the fly took care that we had lot of fish to eat ;)

Here is some 'black & white' memories from the trip:

- Norway 2010 -
Canon D10

Now we missed the silence of the mountains and completely new places and views.

So we decided to go to northern Sweden and hike to the mountains.
The plan was to be four nights in the mountains.
One fly-fisher and two spin-fishermans on the trip.
The backpack packing went nice for all of us, as you can on see the picture, right? ;)

Jouko

Joni

Juhani

So the trip began!

The car sounds diminished and the amount of mosquitoes increased. Soon full silence took place.
Trip to the river supposed to last three hours, supposed. If we hadn't strayed from the path.
The trip took five hours and the terrain was really heavy to walk, especially when my backpack weighted almost 50 kg! I really felt like dying many times!
I pit my teeth together and I forced myself to continue.. Now I have to say that the fishing and the hiking doesn't fit together! The only thing that got me continuing was the dream about big graylings and a big trouts..

This hike was too much for some ones!
Canon 5D MK II, 24-70mm f/2.8L

Somehow we were able to misguide Juhani and we couldn't find him anywhere!
At last when we found the river we were exhausted.
It was already evening and we knew that we couldn't find Juhani during that day..
The evening was really beautiful and the water was completely still. The water was crystal clear and it tasted good. We started to sit and admire the rising fishes.
In this stage the "fishing fever" increased to the next level..!

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/4.5, 1/320s, Iso 200
We arrived to the mountains

I found a boat from the forest and we decided to borrow it for a while.
We started to row upstream while we shouted for Juhani ..without success.
We didn't find him!
In the evening we returned the boat and we started to put our camp up. We were extremely tired.
We ate some food, but mostly drank and then we went to sleep..

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/6.3, 1/40s, Iso 200
Our camp!

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/7.1, 1/40s, Iso 200
..towards to the next morning

The following morning was a early wake-up call.
Quick out of the tent and to see what the weather was like.. The weather looked good and we ate a quick breakfast and ran to the river :)
I was very excited about my new rod which I just got before the trip.
C.F Burkheimer 690-4 DeepActionLoad.
I threw a few test casts and I hooked a nice Grayling! Not a bad start for the fishing, ha? :)

Canon 5D MK II, 70mm, f/5, 1/250s, Iso 200

Grayling vs Muddler

Canon 5D MK II, 35mm, f/6.3, 1/200s, Iso 200
First fish for the new rod!

My new rod was perfect! The color is matt white and it really looks great!  It's also suitable soft, but it has lot of power to cast far.. Just perfect for me :)

During the day I also found my father-in-law. He spend the first night by himself because we lost him. We noticed soon that the river was full of fish. Almost on every throw I had a fish on!
Grayling's, Trout's and even a Arctic char.. All of the Graylings was a some kind of turbo models.
The size was really big and they had a lot of power! I mean a LOT! AWESOME FISHING! =D

Canon 5D MK II, 70mm, f/4.5, 1/500s, Iso 200
Juhani & a Arctic char

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/10, 1/200s, Iso 200
..the hot spot!

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/7.1, 1/250s, Iso 200
Me & Trout

Canon 5D MK II, 54mm, f/5, 1/400s, Iso 200

Canon 5D MK II, 38mm, f/5.6, 1/250s, Iso 200
Me & Grayling

Canon 5D MK II, 38mm, f/5.6, 1/320s, Iso 200

We also met a nice friend, Arne. He helped us to find Juhani and he made lot of effort for us.
He also gave a lot of information about the location and history.
Thank you Arne!

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/5, 1/80s, Iso 200
Arne the man

So far the trip was great! The weather and the fishing almost incredible..
It was my first trip ever to the mountains. I knew immediately that I have to come back here again.
The silence, pure nature, crystal clear water and good fishing, could it be better?


Then it was time to the last fishing night. This last night was only warm night during the trip, so I knew that it would be good for fishing.
Juhani and Jouko went to sleep already at eleven a clock.
It was last and best fishing night and they went to sleep?! ..Well I didn't.

- C.F "special" Burkheimer's - 

I took two rods and I started to walk to the "hot spot".
I fished by my self all night about four hours. I will remember this night my whole life because it was so incredible.. When I found the right fly I had continually fish on!

Five straight cast's and I got five beautiful graylings in the net. The smallest was forty-fife centimeter!
During the night I catch over twenty fish, Graylings and Trouts.

The photographing was really difficult because I was alone at night!
I edit my pictures 'black & white style' because they was so dark and ugly!
So here they are, some action picts from the last night :

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/3.2, 1/100s, Iso 1600
..photographing the fish by myself at night!

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/3.2, 1/100s, Iso 1600

Turbo Graylings..

Canon 5D MK II, 24mm, f/3.2, 1/40s, Iso 1600
Trout

Our journey to mountain's was ending..
During the next day we started to walk to the car.
The trip was heavy but it was worth it. We get lot of nice memories and photos from the trip.
The best thing was the last night, when the fishing was almost perfect, it was so great!
Four nights passed quickly and we started to plan a new trip to next summer =)

Fortunately, I have one week vacation left and we (Ville & Alexandra) will go to north Sweden!

..STAY TUNED

SINCERELY

- J. Inkinen -