If you agree that predator fly fishing doesn’t get much better than pike on topwater flies, imagine a place where you can experience heart stopping topwater takes and big fish on nearly every cast. Such a place exists in Europe. The marshes of Abborrträsk in Arctic Sweden are topwater pike heaven. Jeroen Schoondergang tells us more.
Dragging boats over land isn’t exactly a posh way to arrive at a fishing venue. “But it is our way”, Rob and I say, as we are hauling a dinghy over woodland area and bogs with treacherous ‘black holes’, that ‘swallow you whole’. Packs of mosquitoes make the workout even less comfortable, but we know that all will be forgotten once a new lake emerges, filled with fishing stories in the making. We are in northern Sweden, a stone’s throw away from the Lapland town of Arvidsjaur, as guests of Sonny and Karin who run Abborrträsk Natursafari.
Our lake for the day is a fishing hole that doesn’t get a lot of fishing attention. Figures, as the only way to get there is by crossing another lake and dragging your means of water transport over land. We don’t know the name of the lake and it might not have one. But it looks perfect: large fields of reed, extending well into the water and our favourite: acres of snake grass or horsetail. These prehistoric plants provide excellent cover for ambush predators and are easy on our flies, as they break off at the first touch.
A thousand lakes.
Sweden is called the land of a thousand lakes. That is quite an understatement, as in the remote piece of Sweden where Sonny runs his outfit, he figures he could fish a different lake every day for the rest of his life. Lakes like the one I described are plentiful. Access isn’t always easy, but with the help of Sonny you’ll always get there and be ready to fish.
As we have launched our little vessel, we have started fishing at the first reed bed we encounter. The pike aren’t very eager yet, but four jacks have shown interest in our Dahlberg divers. Time to move on. We have been in this area long enough to know we can do better than that. And we have also found that most lakes have that ‘pot of gold’ hidden somewhere, often in a shadowy corner with plenty of sticks just below or just sticking out of the surface.
That honey hole on this lake is a vast field of snake grass. As we cautiously move our boat into the area, Rob makes a short cast right onto a very shallow spot near the shore. With the first strip three massive fish lazily move out of the way. But one wake turns and follows the popping diver. The subsequent seconds contain everything - every reason- why topwater fishing is so addictive: a huge head breaks the surface, followed by a broad body. The fish attacks the diver but misses, turns, swims in front of the fly and engulfs it with a giant splash in the water. Even if the fish won’t be landed, this moment is complete. But Rob professionally finishes the job. He pulls his six weight in a serious bend and fights a maniac pike that jumps several times. Once in hand the fish isn’t as massive as we expected. A few inches shy of the magic metre, but a lasting memory for sure.
Go North!
A memory like the one described can make a fishing holiday. But for us it was just one of so many. I recall the 90 something pike that jumped over the slider to then very gently sip it up. Or our night on the swamp when, with the mist on the water, every cast was turned into a hookup of a solid pike that treated us to aerial acrobatics against the magic light of a never setting sun.
Some lakes we had to drag boats to, to reach them. But others have a decent boat conveniently docked for fishermen to use. All of them have pike, masses of them. And giant perch, although our June trip was timed too early to find them in numbers. The warmer months are considered perch months.
The trip to Abborträsk is long but doable. By car, a ferry ride to Gothenburg and then a day’s driving up north will be the best option. Flying is the easiest way to get there. There are good connections from Stockholm to Arvidsjaur, from where Sonny will pick you up and set you up in one of his appartments in the village.
Besides the incredible pike fishing, Sonny also has some lakes that hold world class arctic char and grayling. Then there are the rivers, again with pike, but also with some classic dry fly fishing for brown trout and grayling. Salmon fishers will do well in the Byske that flows through the area. For me, all these fisheries, tempting as they were, were temporarily put on hold for some of the best fly fishing moments in my life battling greenbacks on topwaters.
Want to go there? Contact Sonny through www.natursafari.se or https://www.facebook.com/natursafari.se?fref=ts