Where to plan your fall fishing trip?
Fall is certainly not the time to pack away your fly fishing gear. That's what winter is for. Here we give some good tips on where you can extend your season.
Luckily there is no shortage of excellent places to cast your fly rod as the leaves turn orange and red. It is also still possible to catch grayling on the dry once the leaves have all fallen.
The only problem might be that there is too many places to choose between in Fishspot-land. The big rivers Rena, Glomma and Trysilelva are an obvious choice. The grayling fishing in these rivers is excellent through late in the fall, and big trout move close into the banks in the evenings. As long as the caddis pupa are active Rena can deliver your dream catch for those willing to fish in the dark.
Glomma with Kvennan Fly Fishing is an excellent destination to visit any time in the fall. It is possible the one place where you are guaranteed to catch fish. And for the dry fly pursit: even if the grayling aren’t rising consistently, they will still rise to a dry fly. Kvennan Fly Fishing was one of the first areas in Norway who began with a maximum size limit. This has shown very good results, and there are consistently grayling of over 50 cm caught here. There are also trout of serious caliber.
Grayling are hungry this time of year, and are easily targeted with both wet and dry flies. In addition there are always individual trout which won’t spawn this season and have a good appetite (but double check the regulations. Some watersheds close for trout fishing even though targeting grayling is allowed).
On Gudbrandsdalslågen there are several stretches of river which are consistently good throughout the fall months. On zone 7 at Lesja you can fish up until the 9th of September, but the season is extended until the 20th of september in the upper fly fishing only zone. At Sel on zone 5 you can fish all year round. This includes the 5 km long fly fishing zone, with the exception of a 150m long stretch which is closed from the 15th of September to the 1st of November.
The smaller rivers in Østerdalen, including Unsetåa, Hola, Vangrøfta and Grimsa can also be very good. All of them have grayling, with the exception of Vangrøfta above the falls. This year, with a relatively late spring, we can at least hope that the fall fishing will last for a while.
Don’t forget about the big trout river Tokkeåi. With a bit of luck and the right conditions you can catch the trout of a lifetime. In Tokke the fishing is open until the 20th of September.
We can’t forget to recommend a proper hike as long as the temperatures are still summer like. In Skjåk you can fish year round, even if you might need your ice drill. The same goes for Tydalsfjellene and Snåsa, both of which are home to trophy trout and arctic char.
If you manage to time a warm period during the coming weeks you should try fishing with a bibio, mosquito and crane fly imitations. In in Femunden you can also stretch out the season as far as you can handle, with good grayling fishing until the end of fall.
Tight lines!
