30th april we left a cold, wet and grey west and headed for a beautiful sunny north. Destination was
Lauklines Kystferie based on Kvaløya near Tromsø.
We were picked up at the airport and made a stop at the supermarket to pick up supplies for the stay. I recommend that if you visit then be thorough with the shopping and buy plenty fresh fruit n' veg, cooking oil, butter, salt n' pepper and something to eat that isn't fish! The drive to camp was an eyeopener... real epic scenery out this way!!! Once we arrived My first impression of the camp and surrounding area was just wow!
Lauklines shop, office and conference building:
Happy chappy on holiday:
The harbour and boats:
The cabins:
The weather was lovely and we settled into our well equipped and spacious cabin and made some dinner. some time later we visited the tackle shop to pick up some gear, have a chat about the various fishing grounds and had a briefing on the use of the boat and safety equipment etc. and rented some rods, GPS and flosuits before tucking in for the night. I can't say enough good things about our host and staff there, They are very service minded and offer a fantastic vacation destination and range of activities and services.
Sunset from the cabin:
Next morning... afternoon we woke up and prepared some gear and headed out in the boat.
View of the cabins from the sea:
Some way out to sea (rather a long way) I realised that i had left the map on land... oops! another lesson learned... never leave without a map!!!! I had the handheld GPS with me so I felt confident about getting back but the GPS doesn't have maps, only coordinates so courses are in straight lines. We steamed halfway to the polar ice caps with wide eyes and open mouths... this place is breathtaking! so much so that I used a whole tank of gas in the shortest time ever
Some scenery from the area:
After our magical mystery tour of the artic we decided to wet a line:
After a short while with no bites I got the urge to get my bearings and head back for the map.
Easier said than done on your first day out here:
Luckilly we had ended up in a nice straight line ride home but the GPS was trying to take us the scenic route via the mountains :lol: I went on instinct and went the right way. Looking at pictures it all seems so familiar now but I strongly recommend use of a map and better still a guide on the first day out there.
We got back to Camp and got the map and decided to try for a toothy critter at a spot some russians had some luck with wolffish.
roughly here:
yep, definately here:
Mr toothy wasn't home, so after an hours drifting in baking hot weather with no wind in a flosuit had me drained we headed home for dinner.
All in all, our first afternoon was 90% exploring and 10% fishing... something you should factor into your holiday time up there, there is so much to see.
After dinner we headed out with fishing in mind... I wasn't gonna blank on my birthday! We drifted over grounds thet sloped 100-120 metres deep. I fished a whole herring and the Mrs. fished an octopus jig.
Lovely nights out here:
The centre of the world:
The mrs. drew first blood with her first ling:
I got nuisance bites as the sun headed towards the horizon so i switched to an octopus jig too.
Sun hiding behind an island:
With a beautiful sunset and porpoises all around the boat I got my first take...
Small brosme(tusk):
Fish were quickly gutted and we had some fun with our feathered following:
I soon got a second take which was a bettering of the last brosme...
Better one:
This was gutted and the gulls went nuts again but none would touch the head. Some time later they gathered around the head making some noise before a massive white tail Eagle swooped down from over our heads and snatched the brosme head! the magic of this place was working.
Around 11 pm We went a short distance to a Halibut spot as recommended by a guide.
Just over here:
This resulted in small Cod and Haddock and we headed home for the night.
Day 2 was overcast but warm. I had another crack at the halibut spot and caught more small cod... don't think I have the patience on such a short stay so we headed not too far from the other nights fishing but stayed clear of deep water so as not to kill any Ling or Brosme unnecessarily as we had plenty of food and wanted to return fish. Ground from 40-60 metres started producing cod in numbers.
heading out:
Fish on:
Loads of cod around this size:
After a while we decided to try a sound between two nearby Islands
Roughly here:
we began in around 20 metres mixed ground.
I always thought of this as a micro species but as I was using a pimped 400 gram sølvpilk I was beginning to change my mind...
My first Ulke(hornhead Sculpin):
There was a lot of activity with Gulls and Porpoise across the sound and after a short steam across the finder showed massive clouds in 40-60 metres
A quick drop beneath the schoals of Brisling (sprat)produced instant and constant Cod takes of generally better size than earlier.
Cod:
Safely back in the drink:
Unless one of these guys gets him:
Or one of these guys:
Every drop was siezed upon:
Eventually after catching enough Cod to sink the boat a ceramic guide on the hire rod bust and a welcome break from the Cod workout and a trip to camp was in order just in time for the tackle shop opening at 9pm.
Another beautiful night:
Battle weary but undefeated:
To Be continued...
