The ultimate big fish venue…

Kvænangen Fjord In North Troms

We feel this area in North Troms offers the finest sea fishing in Norway - which means just about the best fishing anywhere! Being surrounded by high mountains its reasonably sheltered (about as good as it gets), the only difficult winds are from the North West, but these are not too common and generally do not last long.

Arnoy just a 2 hour fast ferry from Tromso is the perfect place to stay to access the fantastic fishing on offer here. The island of Arnoy offers sheltered fishing in the fjords and the opportunity to venture out into the mounth of the Fjord where huge cod, coalfish and halibut abound on the numerous underwater reffs and structures. Great fishing can be experienced from as early ar mid March right into late September. The popular nearby port of Skjervoy is just a short trip away by boat.

Lauksletta House and Apartments:

Really well run family accommodation offering a choice of all meals and self catering. Their are three apartments in the main house. They offer comfortable accommodation for 2, 3 and 4 persons. The property can therefore cater for groups of up to  10 comfortably. Lauksletta has an excellent reuptation for fine food and a friendly service. The dining room is availably to all guests and one can choose a self catering option or all meals. Guests have use of a large hot tub. The harbour is a 300 metre walk and that's where guests can hire an aluminium 18 foot boat with 50 hp outboard or an Arvor 215 deisel.

Sample prices:

7 nights,                 Standard boat         Arvor Boat

5 sharing                                             £356pp

4 sharing                 £349pp                  £428pp 

3 sharing                 £427pp                  £532pp

2 sharing.                £640pp                  £798pp

Full board add on £72 pp per day.

Getting There:

Take the first SAS flight from Heathrow (0720) to Tromso via Oslo. This connects with the fast ferry from Tromso to Arnoy at 1600 hours taking just 2 hours. Alternatively clients taking later flights can use the Hurtigruten cruise ship to Skjervoy and take a taxi/ferry transfer to Arnoy where they will be collected by Lauksletta house.

Fishing

This area is all about fishing the drift over underwater reefs and features. Average depths of these are around 30 to 70 metres down. This is where the bait fish congregate and there the bigger predators are to be found. You must be prepared to move around, just as the big shoals do, more so in spring when fish are more concentrated. In summer as the fjord water warms fish are more numerous and spread out, but the method is the same.

You really never know quite what you might hook into, it could be a 10 pound or a 50 pounder, a big haddock or a wolf fish. Coalfish are common in the 2 to 8 pound class in early summer, then the double figure coalies move in during mid and late summer. Halibut are around all through the season and you could hook into one at any time - any depth. The months of August to November are best for targeting the huge halibut can show up any month.

Fishing close to shore for sea trout is also an option here.

Drifting

The idea is to find your feature and drift it, fishing off bottom. It could be 2-3 turns of the reel or 10 all depends where the bait fish are. Shads work well throughout the season but are extremely effective early and late when the water temperature is colder and predators less active. Pirking is the most effective method in summer.

Pirking

Pirks in the 150 to 250 gram range are good for haddock, small cod and coalfish with a light drift. For the bigger cod and halibut you need big trebles (10/0 and 12/0 ideal). We find green/chrome, blue/chrome and chrome/silver to be the best colours as a rule. Depending on speed of drift (usually the wind that dictates as tides here are not too severe) you will be using 250 to 400 grams. If it's a really fast drift then you are better off finding a spot out of the wind!

Shads

Large shads in the 8 to 10 ounce range are perfect for halibut. They also produce big cod particularly in the cooler water months of spring and autumn when a slower presentation is required.

Rods ..We prefer the Shimano travel rod range or tailor made SRS rods) in the 20lb class. Really heavy class rods of 30lb plus invariably cause problems with hooks pulling out, particular with the big cod that have soft mouths.

Line ..40-50lb class is fine, for the big halibut hunters you may step up to 80lb. Hooks we have covered.

Leaders ..We use a 70lb leader for everything except big halibut when you want to step up to 120lb. Either use a short 3 foot

Strong terminal tackle is essential, you could hook into a 5pound fish or a 50 pounder plus.