Håvard Vistnes: Lives by one of the most beautiful and unique salmon rivers in Northern Norway: The Kongsfjord River found in the Finnmark region… People in Norway also call the Kongsfjord River the river at the end of the World.
The river runs through beautiful rugged nature and multiple pools and gin-clear water gives the dry fly angler the perfect set-up.
Mr. Vistnes has written us about his salmon fishing in the Kongsfjord River
Take a look at Hårvads fantastic river here: Kongsfjordelva.no
Læs historien på Norsk
My salmon dry fly fishing in Kongsfjord River
During the past 8-10 seasons I have increasingly experimenting with surface flies for salmon. Sins childhood I have enjoyed fishing with floating line – even though fellow angler would catch more fish with their sinking lines and deeply fished flies it never really triggered me like when seeing salmon chasing a top-water fly
Riffling hitch flies was my gateway to top-water fishing for Atlantic salmon – and it didn’t take long before I mastered the technique and was “hooked” on this visually dramatic and efficient way of fishing salmon.
One can almost become a top-water addicted just looking at those salmon chasing the riffling hitch fly
Although one might get very frustrated seeing a salmon come more than 10 times to the surface-fly – without taking it !… Well ! it will be those same precious moments you will remember when the season ends and the long cold winter is upon us.
Over time I have come to use salmon-dry flies more and more. I often use Bombers fished at dead-drift on my local river – and it has proven to work excellent when you find those right spots to fish.
I have learned that fishing dead-drift is a bit more demanding than trailing riffling hitch flies in the surface. Keeping the fly afloat is in itself a technical challenge, but fishing for salmon with dry-fly is in my view the greatest form of fishing – and it isn’t just grills that hit the dry-fly in Kongsfjord River – my personal best from 2007 was a 93 centimeter (37 inch ) male salmon but even bigger fish has been up to sniff at the dry-flies
Salmon season 2013 at the Kongsfjord River
Just in time for the start of season 2013 I received my selection of tube dry-flies from you – They were tied perfect and float great – I have had the greatest success with light-colored Bombers and the Monster Tube Caddis.
During the season I often saw how salmon would rise to the Monster Tube Caddis multiple times…without breaking the surface… I then trimmed the tail of the fly – with success in form of a solid hook-up
One morning in late July, I arrived at a pool that almost always holds salmon. The pool has a fast narrow inlet with fast water extending further down into the pool. Here I have found that the procedure is to add the dry fly to the edge of the current and let it run down – on both sides.
Picture showing a big 86 centimeter (34 inches) male salmon caught on a Tube Bomber late in the season – But that’s another story – Picture with kind permission of Håvard Vistnes
This morning I started at the bottom on the east side casting upstream along the edge´s. The previous day I had had salmon up for the Monster Tube Caddis. Already on the third cast I had a salmon up for the fly – I hooked it. Some minutes later she was safely unhooked and returned to the river. A female salmon of 76 cm (30 inches) .
I had a coffee break in the sunshine but more fish was showing so I was soon fishing again – First the eastern side with no results, then the mid-current of the pool. Still fruitless I waded across to the west-bank to be able to fish the fly somewhat slower – A few cast later I had hooked yet another female salmon. This one at 85 centimeters and also safely returned. A perfect and wonderful morning up the river at the end of the world.
This season also gave me the opportunity to fish with friends and seeing one of them catching his first ever dry-fly salmon – What great days this summer…catching salmon in the very north of Norway
I ‘m looking forward to next season with more dry fly fishing for wild Atlantic salmon – Lots of greetings to Jesper and Per at Fishmadman !
Best Regards Håvard Vistnes
Photos with kind permission of Mr. Håvard Vistnes
