Welcome back guys!

Opening day at Kvennan Fly Fishing. Today I haven't been fishing, to cold, to windy, to busy with a small video I made for you to see what spring in the Osterdalen valley is all about.So have a look at the vid by clicking the pic to the right, it will show Eidsfossen in spring flood, a road trip into the mountains and spawning pike in the Hodalen lakes  I'll be back soon with a Glomma fly fishing update. 

Water - level in Glomma is a bit high for the time of year but has a tendency to fall now. It seems that most of the snow in the mountains has melted, and the water temperature is rising. Every day there are hatches of Baetis rhodani and grayling can be seen rising for them. Stoneflies in several sizes are active too, bring imitations from size 10 to 20 in dark colours.

One fly fisherman reported a large trout in the fly fishing zone - sadly he wasn't able to land the fish - it got away.

So now the level starts falling again. Several groups fly fishermen are now out in the river, and they report quite good fishing - as long as they can reach the fish. Yesterday I received this e-mail : "We are a couple of guys from Sweden and we want to thank you for the incredible fishing in Glomma river. We were there from 7-10/6. We fished only on a dry fly and we caught nice grayling. Sends an image of the fine Glomma grayling." The fly they used was a size 16 dark stonefly imitation.

The weather forecast (link) for the next week is pretty lousy, they say there will be rain, but on the positive side: it will be warmer also. As soon as the water temperature reaches about 12 to 13 degrees Celsius a dry fly party will start, with rising fish all over. In the mean time use those stonefly imitations, and don't forget to bring a few rhodani patterns. Nymphing can be done all day, with good chances for nice results.

After Wednesday night's rain the river came up again. Nether the less I had nice fly fishing yesterday using a size 17 parachute pattern, in about half an hour I landed 6 grayling and one little trout. 

Another video report today. It's about rising grayling, stone flies and it shows me doing some fly fishing in Glomma.
The weather forecast is not very optimistic, the next 24 hours a minimum of 8 mm and a maximum of 42 mm rain is predicted. Stay tuned, I'll keep you posted.

The rain that was predicted really messed up the fly fishing in the Glomma valley. Yesterday the river was unfishable, in Tolga the highest point was reached in the late afternoon. Right now it is clearing up again, I think tomorrow evening the level will be low enough to fish at a few places in the Eidsfossen zone & fly fishing zone .If you want to follow the water level on a daily basis, see the GLB website . 

Water level is back to 588,53 and the river is fishable - just. Let's hope for a few more dry days so the level will come down more. Fishing can be good if you can reach some fish. Try dry flies such as stone fly, Baetis rhodani and niger, and small may fly imitations.

The picture shows Bernd fishing the Eidsfossen zone. We used yesterday afternoon to shoot a little film. Soon in this theater.

This morning the river has fallen to 588,42 . the level is going down, but slowly. So fly fishing conditions are not perfect, not at all, but good fly fishing can be had nevertheless.

Conditions are improving. The water level in Glomma is falling, and there are hatches of several small mayflies such as Baetis, and the first caddis hatches have started. I saw also many crane flies (Daddy long legs).

 I guided Jaco from Holland and in beautiful scenery we had some fun with Hodalen pike on streamers and Glomma grayling on small dry flies.

Monday I'll post the next report, together with the Bernd Ziesche - Glomma film.

So here is the little film I made starring Bernd Ziesche from Germany. Thanks a lot Bernd for a nice fly fishing afternoon & good fishing ! Conditions in Glomma are improving day by day. Yesterday I fished with two friends for a few hours, and we had rather good dry fly fishing using CDC emerger (#14) patterns and about 60 fish among the three of us.

Just for the fun of it a few pics of my friends Daan and JP fishing.

As mentioned, we used that CDC emerger in size 14, I also fished a nymph in the fastest runs I could find. Shallow water, upstream fishing, dead drift was not very successful, but lifting the nymph to the surface was ! Very difficult but quite rewarding fishing. Every day more fishing spots can be reached, the water is warming up, fly fishing is getting quite good now.

The water level is more or less stable right now, and fishing is good. Flies that work: Emerger patterns, Klinkhamer, Super Puppa, all kind of sedge imitations from small to large sizes, daddy long legs, ant patterns.
The pic shows Joakim and Joacim from Sweden with two fine "sik" (mountain whitefish) from the fly fishing zone: 1,95 and 1,75 kg. Nice and big fish...More big fish reports: Jeff from Belgium had a 50+ cm grayling on nymph in the FF zone, Steven from Holland landed a 52 cm grayling, and then there were several stories of really big fish lost , both trout and grayling.

After a few beautiful summer days last week, with terrific dry fly fishing, the rain has returned to this part of Norway, and the forecast is it will stay shitty for a week. The water level is stable, and fly fishing is rather good most of the time. I had good results with big (#10) CDC caddis, but all the normal patterns work quite well these days. Daan reported a day with about 30 grayling on dry flies, 20 of them measuring between 40 and 45 cm. Edwin landed a big grayling after a thrilling fight - two times the fish was deep in the backing - with an estimated length of between 55 and 60 cm.

Some pictures today showing Edwin and a big grayling. For the first time this fishing season the water level in Glomma is below 588,00 (meters above sea level) and fly fishing conditions are good. No changes in fly choice, all flies mentioned below work well. Patrick from France reported a 51 cm grayling, while his friend landed a 56 cm grayling, both on dry flies.

A few more photo's from the same session, here Daan shows a big and fat 51 cm grayling. Beautiful fish, and a strong fighter!
The heavy rain that was predicted for last night and this morning didn't fall, so the river level is still going down - very good fly fishing conditions right now!

To finish this little photo report of a great fishing session I have to show you my grayling: 58 cm long, very fat and heavy - estimated weight about 2,2 kg. This must be my grayling of a life time ... yoohoo !!!

 It took quite a long time before I could land the fish, I tried to beach her but she didn't like that at all, I was using my T&T #3 rod and tippet 16/10, and I was really afraid I would loose this beauty!

Fly fishing conditions in Glomma are still quite good. There are reports of good catches on caddis puppa, others have good results with midge patterns such as "zebra" or terrestrials: ants and daddy long legs. The water level is slowly falling, if the long term weather forecast is correct (...) we might see the river fall to a normal level for the first time this season.

So now the water level is just fine to wade and fish, at last. Fishermen report good catches: Magnus from Sweden landed 3 grayling between 45 and 50 cm on a size 14 ant pattern, Rolf from Germany had great fun and a lot of nice sized grayling when he was fishing a Rhyacophila pattern (green inch worm). Yesterday I fished some stretches of the fly fishing zone with an imitation of a minnow and landed some really good sized trout. Nice fishing now, indeed!

Perfect conditions now for fly fishing. The water in Glomma is clear and the water level is just fine. The weather forecast promises us some fine days now, and I think the fishing will be quite good. Flies that work : daddy long legs, ant imitations, CDC emergers #14, caddis imitations in all sizes, small black nymphs, Rhyacophila patterns.

Two of my fly fishing buddies showing big grayling (54 cm with 1.9 kg and 55 cm with 2 kg) caught last week somewhere around the Glomma river watershed. Huge fish, very big and fat. Where ? No, sorry, cannot be more specific, it took me exactly 20 years to find these fish spots.

A few days ago I fished river Grimsa with my two Dutch friends Jan and Piet-Jan. We tried the upper section of the fly fishing zone. It was hard work to reach some good pools in this beautiful and fast flowing little river, but the fly fishing was rewarding with grayling up to 50 cm on dry fly. Grimsa fly fishing zone, highly recommended !

In the mean time fishing at Kvennan Fly Fishing is as it should be - quite good. Because of the high water level and relatively low water temperature this summer there is good caddis activity and dry fly fishing can be very good. Arnt from Norway reported a 52 cm grayling from the fly fishing zone.

Heavy rain showers on Saturday made the river come up on Sunday, right now the level is falling again. In day time there is good caddis activity, try size #12 and #14  patterns. Ole Anton from Norway reported good dry fly fishing for grayling using caddis imitations, he landed several fish between 45 and 50 cm. The pic shows Jan from Holland fishing Grimsa, a few days ago.

Peter from Holland playing a nice grayling in the Fly Fishing zone. This morning the water level has come up to 588,09. The last few days fly fishing was not that good because of the rising water level, it seems that the grayling almost stop feeding in these conditions. The weather forecast is not so positive for the next days. However, this summer the weather forecast has been wrong all the time, and you can only be sure about one thing : if you don't go fishing, you'll catch nothing, for sure!

The heavy rain that was predicted didn't fall, so the river is going down again.
Good conditions for fly fishing, and nice reports about grayling measuring between 45 and 50 cm on dry fly are coming in.

The unstable weather has a bad impact on dry fly fishing now, and the conditions are not that good. However, fast water nymph fishing can be quite rewarding using black (gold head)nymph patterns. At the slower parts of the river Pheasant tale nymphs seem to be more effective now, for instance the nice trout on the picture took a size 18 Baetis nymph. Yesterday I fished with Piet-Jan and we had fish up to 43 cm using dries and nymphs, but most important, we had a lot of fun.

If the weather gods are with us, we might have sunshine and real summer days this weekend and next week. Right now the river is a bit high, but the water is clear, and the level will drop to normal in the next days. Not many insects are hatching, but a well presented daddy long legs will bring the fish up. Ant pattern and other terrestrial patterns might work just fine, you might consider small streamer patterns imitating grayling fry.

At last we have some summer days with nice and warm weather. For some the fishing is very good, others have more problems to land a few good fish. On the pic Marius shows another great fish (55 cm) that took a size 14 mayfly imitation. Good dry flies for the moment are still caddis patterns size 12 and 14, daddy long legs, etc. Sometimes only nymphs will do the trick, fish them deep and dead drift.

The beautiful summer days don't necessarily make the fly fishing more easy. During a guiding session yesterday between 14.00 and 18.00 I noticed only a few rising fish. We tried the fast water in the Eidsfossen zone, because fast water will have more oxygen compared to the slower parts of the river. I measured the water temperature at about 17.00 , it was 18 degrees Celsius. Only the last hour we spotted some rising fish, and we could land a few grayling using a size 18 Zebra dry fly. For better fishing in these conditions I think you should try the mornings and evenings.

The days with nice and relatively warm weather are behind us and the rain has returned. Yesterday the fishing in the Eidsfossen zone was interesting, I had good results fishing a caddis dry fly pattern (# 12-14) in the fast water. I also noticed many "Yellow Sally" around, sizes 14-18. The photo shows my friend Jan with another really big grayling (56 cm, 1,75 kg) he caught during his stay at Kvennan Fly Fishing, a few weeks ago.

As the diagram shows. the water level in Glomma is changing daily. Rising water level means most of the time difficult and lousy fishing. In the middle of the day small Baetis species are hatching, use a size 18 imitation of Baetis Niger, Iron blue dun. Today's picture shows Edwin with a 57 cm and 2 kg grayling from "somewhere around the Glomma river watershed". We fished this spot last Friday and we had superb dry fly fishing using a caddis imitation.

The first signs of autumn are here, the trees slowly change colour, in the mornings the river valley is filled with fog, and when the conditions are right there are nice hatches of Baetis niger - Iron blue dun. The small stoneflies are active also, try a tiny needle fly imitation in the faster water. Griffith Gnat can be very good in the slow water, just as a Zebra in size 18-20. Caddis patterns still produce good results, another good fly right now is a klinkhamer size 12 with a very thin black body. Edwin reported interesting streamer fishing for good sized grayling.

We had a few nice sunny days, and the fishing has been kind of interesting. Most of the time the best dry fly fishing can be had when very small imitations are used, but there are also reports about decent results with larger caddis patterns, super pupa, daddy long legs and wasp imitations. Changing flies all the time may be necessary, needless to say your presentation needs to be perfect. Best nymph at this moment is the small Black & silver.

Let me show you a little video impression I made last week. The fishing was - for one reason or another - very difficult that day, and Edwin and I landed only a few fish. But the scenery was nice and the light beautiful for filming, so I used the last half hour of the session to shoot some video. Fly fishermen staying at the Telstad lodge report good dry fly and nymph fishing right now with al lot of good sized grayling (40 + cm) and two fish measuring almost 50 cm.

Another little movie today. Summer is really over now in these northern parts of Glomma, with a little bit of luck (?) one can see fresh snow in the mountains in the mornings. But the good thing for us fly fishermen is that this time is Baetis time ! Quite massive hatches of tiny little may flies, and all the grayling are feeding on them. Don't think the fishing is easy - that would be a mistake - but it's great to stand in the river with all these rising fish around you. Have a look at the video - I shot it yesterday.

No changes in the fly fishing conditions. Every afternoon there are nice Baetis hatches - most of them second generation Baetis Rhodani. Ty them on a size 18 or 20 hook. Baetis Niger is also hatching, but in smaller numbers. Yesterday it seemed that emerger patterns worked best: # 18 or 20 hook, short tail, very thin olive body and thorax made of a few fibers dark olive CDC dubbed on the hook. Simple and effective. Next week I'll show you a small video I made with Jörgen from Sweden, fishing a nice stretch in the Eidsfossen zone and tying his favourite pattern: "Dynamite Harry".

This week one of the last reports of this year - and a little film I made last week, starring Jörgen from Sweden. First he ties the "Dynamite Harry" , a tiny dry fly that works very well in Glomma, in the second part of the film Jörgen fishes a nice part of the Eidsfossen zone. 

The water level has come up again now, and as usual, the grayling will not come up to take dries as long as the level hasn't stabilized. This will take one or two days, in the weekend the fishing just might be very nice again. But you have to know what you're looking for: the rise forms grayling show in this time of year are quite difficult to see. Sometimes you only see a bubble, or the tip of the tail breaking the surface. If you manage to find a pod of feeding grayling, the next challenge is to hook one. Use #18 - 20 imitations, no-hackle patterns work best for me. If it all works out one can have most wonderful fly fishing exactly in this time of year, me thinks.

The weather forecast for the weekend is quite nice, sunshine and a good temperature. Water level is good, the water is cold and clear, and most important the Baetis hatch is still going on, not as strong as two weeks ago, but in the afternoon, let's say between 14.00 and 17.00, one can have really great fly fishing. Bring your smallest may fly patterns, you'll need them. Small caddis and needle flies are also active.