furoyfishingcamp norway april 2011

finally getting round to getting the report up . but with over 50 pics to resize it has taken a while.
back in autumn 2010 i got the offer for a spot on a trip to norway and it was a great price at only roughly £600 for the week including all flights, transfers, accomodation and boats. needless to say i jumped at the offer and the planning began in earnest. danny m off the site sent me up some great terminal tackle to get me started (cheers danny, greatly appreciated man), and i got bits and pieces for the trip bit by bit over the coming months. i decided to take my ron thompson hardcore boat rod 20lb to 30lb class with me as a back up matched up with a heavy duty trolling reel and purchased a bison multi tip travel boat/spin rod off ebay for £30 as my main rod and loaded a penn slammer 760 with micro fine 50lb braid i got off ebay for £30 for a 1000 meter spool. bargin or what . in the end i did'nt use the ron thompson as the bison was great for the boat and with the addition of the extra section it was a decent spinning rod for the end of the jetty in front of the camp too. after a flight from dublin to oslo and then onto bardofuss we were only a 30min drive from the fishing camp and were there for around 9pm. it was too late to head out in the boats as it was getting dark. so i put the bison togeather as a spinning rod and had a few casts of the jetty with a herring type lure. it was great, 15 casts resulted in 4 codling with the biggest just under 4lb. great fun with the spinning gear. the girl who runs the camp came down for a nosey to see what i was getting and i was proud as punch with the 4lb cod so i asked her what sort of size do you usually get them from the end of the jetty. she said she did'nt get excited until they got to around the 5 kilo mark and this was from the jetty!!

FRIDAY 15TH APRIL.
this was our first day out in the boats and it was choppy enough to say the least. the snow was constant and it felt pretty cold after a while even with all the proper clothing. we decided not to venture too far from the camp and spent the day drifting over grounds on the far side of the fjord. we had a decent day with me hitting 2 of my targets getting an 11lb cod and a 6lb 9oz torsk. as the day went on the seas calmed a bit and we headed up to a spot near a factory where the lads had some good fishing last year. stevie on our boat had a nice haddock of around 4lb and then the weather picked up again so we headed back in for a feed of fresh breaded cod

SATURDAY 16TH APRIL
we awoke to see the camp heavily blanketed in snow and rough seas in the fjord the girl who runs the camp (vicky) came dow to give us an updated weather forecast and it was looking pretty grim. between torrential rain and snow showers and rough seas it was looking like the day would be a write off. a few of us braved the elements for an hour or so when things calmed down sticking close to the camp in our boats. a few small cod were caught before it kicked up again and we headed in as we were soggy, frozen and well, honestly dejected. i was messing around with the spinning gear on the end of the jetty and dan was having a bit of craic with the sea scorpions under the filleting area. some of which were monsters reaching 2lb. but it was better than nothing.

SUNDAY 17TH APRIL
the weather was still pretty grim with snow and rain showers popping up in 30min intervils. but we decided to stick it out no matter what as we were here to fish and fish we would . we were fishing drifts on the far side of the fjord again as a group of russian lads from the camp were having success over there. torsk and codling started coming in with the odd coalie showing up too. we were just glad to be catching again and i even mangeled a poor herring on a 600g norwegian chrome banana pirk. the poor thing got impaled on the 10/0 treble hook and was in bits. but waste not want not. he went back on as bait on a 8/0 running ledger. but sadly i snagged the bloody thing on the first drop down . so that was an end to that. then stevies phone rang with vicky telling us to get back to the camp as alan had caught something worth looking at we were only a 15min cruise from the camp so we went in to see what all the fuss was about. we went up to the filleting area to see the lads on the other boat had faired a lot better than us with cod to 10lb, 7lb coalies and a monster cod for alan at 44lb 10ozs !! this thing was a beast with a head on it like a friggin cow . spurred on with the sight so such a nice fish we headed back out and began fishing hard. sadly by the end of the day we did'nt manage anything bigger than alan's catch but some more nice cod and torsk had bee taken. added to that while the lads in the other boat were having a break stevie went down to the end of the jetty to muck around with a bright orange jelly worn and caught a halibut just under 3lb! jammy sod. he watched it chase his lure across the sea bed a few times before he hooked it. at this point it's worth mentioning that the end of the jetty was only 30 feet from the shore but was over 60 feet deep and crystal clear. a 30 yard cast from there had you into over 100 feet of water, serious stuff.

MONDAY 18TH APRIL
we got up to be greated with what can only be described as blanket snow, gales and rough seas but we were all determined to get out at some point in the day as the weather was so bloody changeable. what looked like impossible conditions suddenly changed and mabey gave yo a 50 min window where you could get out for a bit. so we decided to just take what we could. dan, alan and myself all headed out in a boat and were no more than 30mins fishing when the mother of all snow storms came in and dumped down rich tea biscuit sized flakes of snow on us. it was really surreal. one minute we were sitting in the middle of the fjord with large mountains all around us and then snow fell so heavily you could'nt see 5 feet in front of you. for a good 5 mins there was a feeling of total isolation as if we were in our own wee bubble it was like something outta the twilight zone. it felt well creepy. but we knew we were safe enough as we were not too far from the camp which is based up the end of the fjord. so all we had to do to find our way back was to head for the shore (keeping an eye on the sonar) then go right until the camp jetty appeard out of the snow. a weird experience all the same. the other boat came in not long after us and they had better luck with some nice coalies and a few nice cod.we spent the rest of the day boozing in the camp while only stevie and roy braved the conditions drifting up and down just 100 yards off the end of the camp. sadly they blanked and dan had a bit of fun making a snowman at the front door. he even dressed him up with a viking hat and it looked the part and gave us all a good laugh and became the camps unofficial mascot

TUESDAY19TH APRIL
finally some good weather graced us and we got out of our beds to see flat calm seas and bright blue skies!!!. it was like a scene from a postcard with massive snow covered mountains reflecting off the flat calm water all round us and not so much as a breath of wind to talk of . only today and tomorrow left to fish and for once the weather was on our side. we all quickly decided on who was in what boats and headed off for a good 11 hour session. we took a vote and decided to head off furthur out to the seaward side of the fjord and high tailed it outta there. all out gear was put to the test today as we were fishing in 500 feet of water at the deeper parts of the fjord. i was well impressed with the bison rod and penn 760 slammer as both were up to the task and then some. fishing was slow but another boat full of english lads from another camp passed us and we all stopped for a chat. they told us of a big bridge on up the fjord they had some success at earlier in the day with double figure torsk, coalies, cod and a few wolfish. so we decided to give it a go and made the 1 hour steam to the mark. now, what they did'nt happen to mention was the icebergs that were floating about in the water. as we neared the bridge i saw this white long shape in the water a few hunded yards in front of us. my heart sank as the first thing that crossed my mind was that it looked like the hull of one of the boats from our camp as they were white too:!: . thankfully it turned out to be an iceberg and not an upturned boat. but i still would'nt have fancied thumping into one at speed. as we got to the bridge from the first drop to the last the fishing was pretty constant with cod and coalies to double figures coming for us all. both soupy the 2 stevies and myself had a great day with fish after fish coming in. as they day drew to a close we headed back to the camp with a full box of lovely eating size fish to get tucked into.as we got about half way back in our outboard made a splutter and cut out. there were a few squeaky bums on board but a quick lift of the fuel tank confirmed that we'd used up the main fuel. thankfully all the boats have a gallon in reserve, so we quickly topped up and continued on our journey to the camp. we passed the rest of our group on the other boat on the way back in and sadly they had a nightmare day with everyone only getting a few small cod. but not wanting to hang about we made it back to the camp with about a litre to spare. a great end to a great day

WEDNESDAY 20TH APRIL
with a 6am flight tomorrow morning this was gonna be our last chance to get some serious fishing in. conditions were excellent as it was even more settled than yesterday. we all decided on heading straight for the bridge today as it was brilliant yesterday. unfortunately the fish had other ideas. both boats arrived to the bridge and over 5 hours all we had to show was a single 8lb cod we were baffled as we were fishing the same spot on the same tides and the fish just did'nt seem to be there at all. only 24 hours ago stevie could'nt even get through the coalies to get at the cod, and now the place seemed to be a fishless wasteland. we took a vote and decided to try some nice looking drop offs on the sounder i spotted on the way in. this paid off as stevie had a few nice torsk and cod and i had a funny incident where a cod that was no more than a pound in weight decided he was having my 400g norwegian pirk for tea. this wee fella was almost the same size as the pirk and gobbled the 10/0 treble fair and square in the chops . now if that was'nt a case of your eyes being bigger than your belly, i don't know what is. but it goes to show that even a codling of only a pound can get hooked with something that looks like an anchor for a small boat . the other lads had much the same results and that was it,the trip was over.

SUMMARY
unfortunately we had a lot of things stacked against us from the get go. the reason we had planned the trip for the start of april was that this is normally the prime time to get big cod moving up the fjord chasing the herring shoals. but sadly when we planned the trip 8 months in advance we could'nt have predicted such a hard winter. from talking to vicky they had as harsh a winter as we did. normally the weather would be a lot more settled for the middle of april and the ammount of snow we saw was really uncommon. so much so that vicky sent the pics of the snow and snowman we had taken to her partner eric who owns the camp as proof of how severe it was. the weather caused us to loose about 2 and a half days valueable fishing time and big shoals of big cod and bait fish were still to arrive into the fjords yet . but it was a good first experience of what norway had to offer if you were fishing on a budget. i would say that all in the trip cost no more than £700. that was for flights, accomodation, boats, fuel and food. our group was there the year before, but booked during july when there were more species available in massivly more abundant numbers. at one point the lads were pulling in 5lb haddock 4 at a time. there was also a lot more coalies and redfish and big whiting about.
i was more than impressed with how my rod and reel stood up. i know a lot of anglers have serious predjuice regarding the use of fixed spool reels on boats. but the penn 760 slammer was more than up to the task. the heaviest thing it had to land was a double shot of 5lb torsk, 9lb cod and a 5lb rock with a stalk of kelp attached to the 600g pirk. all brought up from over 240 feet below the boat without a problem. even fishing at 500 foot there was still braid to spare on the spool. the most sucessfull terminal set up was a set of giant hokkis with a norewgian banana pirk (400g or 600g) attached. the smaller stuff below 10lb would readily take the hokkis and the bigger fish had eyes for the pirk. oddly the monster shads never got a sniff the whole trip.

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2012
we were impressed enough that i'm planning a trip back to the camp for july 2012 when the weather will be better with 22 hours daylight and settled summer weather. and jordan will be able to make it too this time. for what was paid,it was an amazing trip as i'd spend £700 for a week in kerry of donegal shore angling during july. and that would be me being carefull watching the pennies. so real value for money in my oppinion

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

loads of pics to come

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

still loads to come

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

yet more pics

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

still coming

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

same about the weather but still a trip to remember im sure,
if you fancy going back in the summer next year, give me a shout as its just me and me da at the minute and are looking to added numbers to the group to bring the price down.

here come the start of the fish pics

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

hold off with the replies for 10 mins lads, still loads of pics and a video to add to the report yet

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

still loads to come

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

WAHEY!! its up....ive been waiting for that report ...been itching to see the pictures of the camp were going to next july!! some great pics there al...just one question...wheres the FISH??...AH THERE THEY ARE!!

still coming!! i can only upload 5 pics at a time!!

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

still 13 pics to come!!

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

more pics coming!!

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

just 4 more pics and a video to go

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

here's the vid with dan giving it the big "oh my god!" bit

http://youtu.be/9Rp1fiNyfZE

Great Report, pictures and video Al ( Cant beat those OH MY GOD moments )

one minute we were sitting in the middle of the fjord with large mountains all around us and then snow fell so heavily you could'nt see 5 feet in front of you. for a good 5 mins there was a feeling of total isolation as if we were in our own wee bubble it was like something outta the twilight zone

That is some feeling alright !! some craic trying to navigate in it!


Your hooked now, surely it will become an annual trip.

Danny.

WAHEY!! its up....ive been waiting for that report ...been itching to see the pictures of the camp were going to next july!! some great pics there al...just one question...wheres the FISH??...AH THERE THEY ARE!!

lol. patients is a virtue noel have you started putting bits away for our july 2012 trip then man

same about the weather but still a trip to remember im sure,
if you fancy going back in the summer next year, give me a shout as its just me and me da at the minute and are looking to added numbers to the group to bring the price down.

sorry man. our trip is already planned with the camp. 6 of us going this time. doggie3131, goldwing, mark, jordan, myself and possibly dawsey. where abouts are you and your dad thinking of heading to?

Great Report, pictures and video Al ( Cant beat those OH MY GOD moments )

one minute we were sitting in the middle of the fjord with large mountains all around us and then snow fell so heavily you could'nt see 5 feet in front of you. for a good 5 mins there was a feeling of total isolation as if we were in our own wee bubble it was like something outta the twilight zone

That is some feeling alright !! some craic trying to navigate in it!


Your hooked now, surely it will become an annual trip.

Danny.

sure are danny for what we paid it was a great trip. but it will be even better in july . many thanks again for the pirks man. that norwegian 600g pirk was the buisness man. a lot of the other lads had them too. that's what alan's big cod in the vid tried to chomp

absolute class,,love them reports on norway trips,,,,have to do this myself sometime,,the size of them monsters

Fantastic report and wonderful fishing. Well done. Think I'll have to plan a trip to Norway in the future!!

great report al its a pity the weather didn't play ball ,still some belters of fish all the same and well
worth the trip