So there we are, a new fly fishing season at mighty river Glomma. This year the Eidsfossen zone is past history: it has merged into the Kvennan Fly Fishing zone. Only one zone, one license, one set of rules & regulations - nice and simple. Right now fly fishing conditions are not that good, the water level is a bit high, air temp is rather low and water temp is still really low. Windy most of the times. Oh, and it might snow from time to time....

Well, the grayling don't give a shit, when there is something to rise for they will rise, and during rainy afternoons I already observed Baetis hatches. Best time to fish might be in the middle of the afternoon, select a fast flowing stretch with a lot of vegetation in the river and fish the eddies just below. Use a size 14 to 18 Baetis imitation, a parachute or a CDC - it will do the trick just fine. I've made a video impression of how things look over here in the North - see below ...

Fly fishing is only just possible with the water level we have today - 588,51 (meters above sea level). The weather is not helping much, the local newspaper reported the coldest spring weather since 1996.
The water temperature remains quite low, so be careful with wading - you don't want to go swimming right now, hypothermia might kick in quickly. For the grayling the low water temperature doesn't seem to be an issue, they are feeding well and I noticed they are in good shape - fit and fat.

This weekend I fished with Marius. We had a few nice grayling up to 44 cm on nymphs, and there were grayling rising for small insects: Baetis and midges. I didn't see many stoneflies yet, but I'm sure they will show up in the next days.

The fishing conditions are improving. Stoneflies are active and every day I see more and more mayflies.
Hakan from Sweden reported good dry fly fishing on Baetis patterns, he landed grayling up to 45 cm yesterday. I finished a fly tying video today, have a look - it shows how to tie the Glomma Stonefly.

Last Sunday I guided a group of French fly fisherman: Xavier, Matthieu, David, Joel and Christian. We started in the Labyrinth - the lower part of the FF zone - but there were only a few rising fish. For the afternoon session I took them to a very good stretch in the upper FF zone, and the fishing was much better with quite a few grayling on dries and nymphs, up to 40+ cm. There were hatches of small Baetis and from time to time a lot of rising fish. However, the fishing was not that easy.

Wading can still be a little tricky, and I really recommend to bring wading shoes with felt soles. Even high quality Vibram soles can be slippery on Glomma's stones. Consider to add studs. The water level is falling, and rather normal for the time of year, but if you want to fish the upper part of the fly fishing zone the current is quite strong and water pressure on your legs high when wading.

Bring a wading staff ! (or Sissy stick, as some of my German friends call them 🙂 )

The fly fishing conditions right now are not yet as good as they should be. It is cold, windy and the water temperature is to low for really good hatches. The water level is normal for the time of the year

Today I met Jonas and Anders from Sweden at Telneset bridge, they reported good dry fly fishing using the Glomma Stonefly pattern I showed in the previous report. Until now Conny from Sweden was less lucky, but his sun Niklas landed two beautiful 45 cm grayling and his girlfriend Maria lost a good fish. Easy come, easy go ... 

We've had a few nice days with a little bit of sun and the fishing is picking up. The water level is still quite high for the time of the year, the water is still a bit cold. Not a lot of hatches yet. I get mixed reports from the fly fishermen who are in the river now - some have a great time, others are struggling a bit to find good fish. If the grayling are not really rising (if there are not many insects on the water) I like to fish a nymph for the few rises I see, and try to catch those fish. Gives me valuable information how I can fish my nymphs the most effective if there is no fish rising at all: dead drift or rising nymph, which pattern, size, etc. You get the idea.

The photo show Edwin from Holland, a fly fishing friend & EFFA instructor. I guided him to river Rena last week, and although the river was high and the water very cold, we managed to get some good sized grayling and a few nice trout on nymphs and streamers.

The pics below show Bernard from France, I showed him and his friend Jean Luc some good places, and a few Glomma presentation techniques for dry fly, nymph and streamer.

What's hot & what's not : Try midge imitations on the slower parts of the river, in the lower end of the fly fishing zone. Try greenish mayfly imitations size 14 - 16 in the faster flowing sections upstream of Telneset bridge in the afternoon, especially if it rains. (Baetis rhodani might hatch). Try Glomma Stonefly. Try ants - they work almost always. I haven't seen any caddis yet. However, there are Alderflies ( family Sialinae) active and they look a hell of a lot like caddis, so you could try a size 10 dark grey caddis pattern. I think the river fishes best in the afternoons right now.

Still lousy weather in the Glomma valley, but the forecast is looking good. The weekend and next week we might have nice summer days. And the fly fishing just might be very good ...

Last week I guided my fly fishing friend JP to a small river nearby Kvennan Fly Fishing. I took him to this pool I know which many times holds some good fish, and I made a little video of what happened next...

Anders from Sweden mailed me a little report and a few pics:

"Hello, my name is Anders and I fished on the fly fishing zone last Sunday until Thursday, last week with my friend Jonas !! We had a really great fishing on mostly your stonefly pattern size 12-14 hooks, we caught 79 graylings between 40-47 cm, 3 on 47cm and one trout on 35 cm and around 50 graylings between 35-40 !!  These were one of the best days in Glomma and I have fished there for 15 years !! And one observation I have made is that the average size is increasing every year !! Thank you from Anders. "

Summer has arrived at Glomma and we have some nice and warm days. The water level is falling and the water temperature rising, and several species of caddis are hatching. The fly fishing can be great, but it will never be really simple. The presentation of your fly is always important, and of course it helps if you know the hot spots in the river. That's what makes fly fishing so much fun, it shouldn't be too easy !

Above and below some photo's of Bernd Ziesche and Marina from Germany, I guided them last week for some hours and took them to a nice place in the Tolga Tynset area. Bernd writes for sexyloops.com , here is (a part of) his report ...

 "During the past week Marina, Kurt, Tristan, Dieter, Frank and I spent some more outstanding days fly fishing the famous Glomma river in Norway. Everyone caught a lot of fish (grayling, brown trout and  pike). Simply a fantastic trip for everyone! Besides teaching fly fishing and fly casting to the group Marina and I got the fine opportunity to be guided half a day by our mate Hein van Aar. Hein works as the (Glomma) river keeper for the Fly Fishing zone along the Kvennan area. And it’s fair to say he did and does a hell of a job. Since he started the Fly Fishing program (fair bag limit included) the amount and especially the average size of fish to be caught didn’t yet stop to increase year by year. No need to tell Hein is a fantastic guide for nymph, dry fly and streamer fishing on grayling and trout. Besides the Glomma he knows probably every water in the area. And there are many great fishing waters. You may find a perfect overview about the best waters on fishspot.no . Gudmund Nygaard runs this fine website. A fantastic site full with exactly the information one needs to fly fish in one of the best areas for fly fishing in Norway! So if you ever go to Norway make sure to check this site as well as the Kvennan Fly Fishing website (providing all information about fly fishing the Glomma)."    More about Bernd and his fly fishing on www.first-cast.de

The pictures below show Jaco from Holland. I took him to this great spot I know around the river Glomma watershed, and we had a few big grayling up to 51 cm and 1.5 kg.

 I am getting reports from several fishermen that pike fishing on streamers in the Hodalen lakes is rather good right now, and it can't be very long before the Vulgata hatch will start in the lakes. Exiting times for us fly fishermen !!

Warm days with max temp up to 26 degrees made an end to the low water temperature in river Glomma at Kvennan Fly Fishing. In the afternoons the water is about 17 degrees Celsius, in the mornings about 13 degrees. I guess this will change in the coming week, cold and rainy weather is predicted. While the water level is falling right now, this might change also. But it might be for the better, because all these changes during last week in temp and level are not necessarily good for the fishing.

Yesterday I met Andreas and Fredrik from Sweden at the river, they report "the best ever" fishing they had in Glomma. Lots of nice grayling between 35 and 40 cm on dry fly. However, I heard of some German fishermen catching almost nothing. The water is too high. The water is too low. Its is much to cold. No, it is too warm. It is too windy. Too still, we need more wind. The moon phase is wrong. Barometric pressure is too high. Barometric pressure is too low. There are many reasons why your fishing can be lousy, but when you are fishing at Kvennan Fly Fishing and you catch (almost) nothing, chances are you really are doing something wrong. It just might be a good idea to book a guide...

At KFF we have two guides: Marius and Hein. We can show you all the good fishing spots, we know the right flies in almost all conditions, we can help you with your dry fly technique, the presentation of your fly and improving your casting. We also know a thing or two about nymphing and streamer fishing ... Marius is Norwegian and speaks fluent English. He knows the river like the back of his hand, and can guide you during the weekends. Hein comes from Holland and speaks fluent English, enough German, a bit French, a tiny bit Norwegian, and of course Dutch. KFF river keeper, and has been guiding for 20 years. Available for fly fishing 24/7. Mail to kff@kvennan.com for more info. 

I guided Bertrand from France for a few days. The pics give a small impression of his results. The fishing was not always great or easy, but Bertrand landed a lot of nice grayling up to 45 cm and a few nice trout, all on dry flies, and we had a great time fishing.

What's hot: caddis in several sizes and colors, emergers # 12-16, midge imitations, ants, small nymphs, minnow imitations. What's not: larger stoneflies, large nymphs.

Nikolaj from Norway mailed me this report:

" Hi! Just wanted to pass a report from last Saturday. Went fishing in the fly fishing zone at Kvennan, just downstream from “......” (censored 🙂 ). Very good fishing with superpuppa and caddis, fished dry with no drag. Sizes 14-16. No real hatch during day time, but the fish seemed eager. Biggest catch a grayling 43 cm and lost a 50 + grayling. About 10 fish caught and 15-20 lost (was too slow !!). Really good fishing this weekend. "

The chart below shows the relation between air - and water temperature. Today the water temp has fallen from 17 degrees Celsius on Sunday to 10 degrees this morning. That's a lot. So the weather right now is lousy, it is cold and wet, and I think these extreme conditions are not good for the fishing. The water level is not that bad, and falling over here at KFF, while more to the south Glomma is still rising. The weather forecast for the weekend is much better, and I think the fishing will improve the next days.

Jonny from Sweden mailed me this report: " Hi Hein, Just come back to reality after visiting KFF between 1/7 – 6/7. Raining when we came and left, otherwise really hot weather. Good fishing nearly every day with at least 15 good grayling (35 - 45+) each every day. Fished different stretches every day and they were about the same. Flies were goldheads, mayflies (size 16 – 19) sedge (size 10 – 18), superpuppa (size 10 – 16) and some ugly ones and they all worked well. Hope to see you in September. "

Ideal fly fishing conditions in my book are such night- and day air temperatures that the water temp in the morning is about 12-13 degrees, warming up to about 14-15 degrees in late afternoon. Maybe ad some light rain if sunshine is too much to ask, but please, not too much wind ...  Looks like this weekend these humble wishes will be fulfilled !

Patrick from France mailed me this message:
" Hi Hein, I've found a pipe near a parking for fishermen at Glomma. I don't smoke but I suppose that this object has sentimental value for the owner. Maybe, you can write a message on the KFF website and if the owner reads it, he'll just has just to contact me at : " .... " (censored) and I'll send it to him with pleasure when I'm back in France. Patrick. ps : yesterday was really a great day for fishing. "  Contact me at kff@kvennan.com if you are the owner of the pipe or know the owner.

The last days the fishing has been good at KFF, Jurgen from Sweden reported massive hatches of tiny caddis (# 18-20) and lots of Baetis may flies - both Rhodani (Large dark olive) and Niger (Iron blue dun). He landed several 50+ cm grayling using tiny dry flies. Larger patterns also work quite well, try supperpupa in several sizes, caddis size 14 and 16, of course midge imitations, ants and daddy long legs will work almost always. The water level is quite stable and the water temperature is kind of normal.
The weather forecast is not that nice for holiday makers, but I guess for us fly fishermen it is not bad at all: not too warm, not too windy and a bit of rain. I think the fishing will be very good this week and next week.

 I took today's pictures last weekend, we had beautiful weather and Marius and me decided to check out some nice places we know. Great scenery and decent fishing - it was good fun. Kvennan Fly Fishing can be a perfect base for nice trips in the Fishspot area !

Some really good fish for me the last days. From top to bottom: grayling (55 cm - 1,6 kg) lady trout (48 cm - 1,5 kg) and male trout (ca 50 cm - 1,7 kg). The grayling took my black ant - dry fly with gusto after a long day feeding on Aurivilli may flies. Maybe he thought my ant would make a nice dessert ...

The two trout where standing in the same pool, close to each other, rising for several species of smaller and larger may flies. I could not persuade them to take my dry fly, but they couldn't resist my #12 Pheasant Tale nymph. Great fight on my light #4 Sage rod, especially the male trout jumped several times and it wasn't so easy to land them. Pity I was fishing alone, so no "happy fisherman with big fish" photo's ...

The water level in Glomma is quite stable this summer. A bit high, but that's not a big problem at Kvennan Fly Fishing, because wading is easy. The water temperature is a bit low in the mornings, but rises during the day - if the wind comes from the south - with nice hatches of smaller and medium sizes may flies. We also have days with strong wind from the north. These are really lousy, wet, cold and miserable days. Nice days for fly tying or reading a book next to a wood stove.

What's hot & what's not : Use tiny may fly imitations (#18/20) on the riffles in the afternoon when there is a Baetis hatch, try ant imitations on the slower water, or daddy long legs, caddis imitations will work, supperpupa, and if a fish refuses your fly, try to change your position towards the fish - cast from a different angle - this will make the fish rise to your fly again ...
Sometimes.

What's not: streamer fishing, Glomma dog (always works but not now ??).

Jean and Christine from France asked me to guide them a few days, here are some pictures of the fishing. Jean had the best results with a nymph, while Christine preferred to fish a dry fly.

The weather is still the same, so no nice summer days, but the fishing is good enough. There are hatches of small may flies in the afternoon, in the evening caddis is active, in between fish with terrestrials such as ants, DLL, midge imitations (zebra #18) etc. Don't forget to try a large (#12) thin black Klinkhamer - this fly always works for me this time of summer.

Hakan from Sweden emailed this little report: " Hello Hein, Thanks for another wonderful week !! Despite quite lousy weather with some rain, wind from the north, cold temp in both air and water, we hooked and released a LOT of 45+ cm grayling !! All on dry flies, with size 14 ant pattern as a favorite. See you soon again !! Best regards, Håkan from Sweden "

The pic below shows me, I had a lot of fun last weekend with some huge grayling.

Martin and Piet from Holland report nice fishing using small CDC patterns, caddis patterns and ants, the nymphs they liked the most were small brown gold head patterns. They both landed a few grayling measuring about 45 cm.

No changes in fishing conditions or weather. The water level in the upper Glomma is also quite stable - a bit high for the time of the year, but many good spots in the fly fishing zone can be fished. From time to time there are small hatches of caddis, and it pays off to have a good look around at different stretches of the river. My favorite time of day for fishing right now is still the afternoon, of course many of the may fly species hatch during the warmest time of the day.

Yesterday I fished with my good friend Bernd Ziesche from Germany, we had superb dry fly fishing with ants, green CDC emergers and green Klinkhamers. Several huge grayling up to 55 cm / 1,8 kg were very interested in our flies, and we had great fun around Glomma watershed !

No changes in fly fishing conditions or water level. The water temperature is also very stable, and quite low for the time of the year. Fishing can be very good, a group of Swiss fly fishermen reported great dry fly fishing in the upper parts of the fly fishing zone. Favorite fly was a green size 14 may fly imitation. They landed grayling up to 48 cm, and were very satisfied with their results. They also reported good streamer fishing for pike in the Hodalen lakes.

The long term weather forecast for the Tolga area looks very nice, with temperatures around 20 degrees - the best weather we've had in weeks. I guess the fishing will remain rather good with this nice weather.

After a night of local rain the water in the fly fishing zone is dirty and brown. Right now at 09.00 fish upstream of Tolga bridge, try the Os zone (different license), or go to river Tunna at Tynset (on the KFF license). The reason for this dirtiness: making new fields in the Tolga area. I guess it will clear up within a day - if the rain stops. UPDATE : at 14.30 water just upstream of Eidsfossen is almost clear again ...

For the first time this summer, the water level in the upper regions of river Glomma is almost normal. this means that a lot of nice fishing spots can be reached - also for the first time this summer - and very good fishing can be had. However, the exact water level is far less important for good fishing than a stable water level ...
Last weekend I met Stephane from France at the river, he reported good fishing on the lower section of the fly fishing zone, and he was very satisfied with his results on Saturday - 17 grayling + 1 trout on dry fly (small zebra).

The long term weather forecast looks nice, they promise us dry days with not too much wind, so the fly fishing conditions are not bad at all. Flies that work right now are caddis patterns (#14-16), black ants, daddy long leg imitations and mosquito imitations (for instance zebra).

We have beautiful summer days at last, low water level and almost ideal water temperature during the day: in the early morning about 12 degrees, rising to 15 in the late afternoon. At some point in this temperature range there will be nice hatches. I suggest fishing the upper part of the fly fishing zone, the fast flower stretches. Martin from Switzerland reported difficult fishing yesterday because of strong wind, but he landed a 48 cm grayling anyway. He also made a trip to river Grimsa and landed a 52 cm grayling there. Great results !

Flies that work right now in the faster flower stretches in Glomma: black parachute emerger (#10-12), black foam ant or parachute ant (#12-14), daddy long leg, etc. Nothing new, really.

I edited a promotion video for Kvennan Fly Fishing, starring Peter from Holland, Jurgen from Sweden and Bernd from Germany - have a look, you might like it ...

The warm weather is still here, and while it's great to be in the river, it can be a bit too windy at times. Fly fishing is not really good right now, but there are always some grayling in the riffles looking for food. Present them a Daddy Long Legs - it will work. Today I'll show you a little film I made for Fishspot, it's about river Grimsa.

Still no changes in weather, the water level in Glomma is falling slowly, fly fishing conditions are not really good because of the bright sun light whole day. However, the weather is going to change in a few days, a bit of rain is predicted, and the fishing will improve, I think. Something about wading : I noticed that the stones in Glomma are quite slippery right now. I recommend felt soles with studs.

The video shows how I like to tie my Glomma parachute ant, using black flexi body to form the body. This fly works best for me in the riffles. On slow flowing water I prefer to use a simple foam ant.

On the photo below my fishing buddy Jon from Oslo with a huge grayling - 56 cm and 1,8 kg - that took a daddy long legs #10. Great fish on his brand new and beautiful built Italian (Massimo Tirocchi) cane rod ...

It is not totally clear at this moment what exactly the water level is, the "source of data" is offline for a few days already. So I estimated the level for you. The rain of the last days brought the level up to about normal, but fly fishing conditions can be tricky right now because there is a lot of algae in the river - and it is letting loose and taken down stream by the current. You will get "vegetables" on your fly, and our precious grayling don't like veggies too much. This situation will typically last a few days.

It is not normal, this amount of algae - I guess it is caused by the warm weather the last weeks in combination with eutrophication as a result of agriculture activities. ("Eutrophication or more precisely hypertrophication, is the ecosystem's response to the addition of artificial or natural substances, mainly phosphates, through detergents, fertilizers, or sewage, to an aquatic system. One example is the "bloom" or great increase of phytoplankton in a water body as a response to increased levels of nutrients" - thanks to wikipedia)

The last two days I guided Florent from France, the photo's give an impression of the places we fished. The fishing was not very good, but in the end we had quite a few nice fish between us with grayling up to 45 cm on dry flies and nymphs. Some of the pictures were taken at river Tunna - of course you can fish this nice little river with the Kvennan Fly Fishing license.

Jan and Piet Jan from Holland reported good dry fly fishing using small caddis patterns, grayling up to 48 cm, while their neighbor at the campsite claimed a 55 cm grayling on a nymph...

Another fly tying video: this time the Black Parachute Emerger. Nothing special of course, it's basically a Klinkhamer, but tied on a emerger hook, and I like to use flexi body to built the fly. It gives a nice segmented look to the fly, and more important, the grayling just love this fly in high - and late summer.

Today's water level is estimated again - there seems to be a problem with the measuring point at Hummelvoll. However, I have a nice view over the river from where I live, and the level is stable again. Perfect conditions for fly fishing now at Kvennan Fly Fishing, while more to the south the rivers are high and the fishing is much more difficult there.

Last week some fly fishing friends from Holland visited KFF, and as a special service for fellow FF club members I showed them around a bit, and gave some tips about presentation techniques. Both Niek and his father Marcel were quick students : they landed their first Glomma grayling within 10 minutes using small caddis patterns. Bart joined them for a few days, and he had good fishing too. Piet Jan had a 52 cm grayling, and Jan a 49 cm trout, both on dry fly.

I edited a new version of the Zebra - tying video, this fly in size 16 and 18 is a good choice now, just as small caddis, Griffith's Gnat #17-19, Dynamite Harry and so on. These weeks might give the best fly fishing of the whole summer, so if you have nothing better to do - get your a.. over here !  

Fine weather, good water level, sunny afternoons and no wind: perfect conditions right now at Kvennan Fly fishing. And the grayling are hungry too, so these beautiful autumn days I am in the river as much as I can. Yesterday I fished a few hours with Øivind from Oslo. First we tried some slow flowing sections upstream of Telneset bridge where only a few fish were rising, so we changed to some faster water with good results, we had about 20 grayling up to 43 cm between us on small CDC caddis and Griffith's Gnat.

Today's tying video shows how I like to tie a Griffith's Gnat - this fly is really hot right now !

The pic below was send to me by Sead from Sweden. I met him some time ago in the fly fishing zone, and he asked my permission to kidnap some small grayling for this big fish tank in his living room back home. He promised to return my precious little grayling when grown up - so how could I refuse ?

Just imagine that - sitting with a good malt during a cold winter night in front of the tank, staring at these beautiful little creatures feeding on midge larva, and dreaming about another fly fishing trip to Glomma, next summer, up here in the North ... 

The (estimated) water level is still low and stable, here at Kvennan Fly Fishing. There is predicted some  rain, but not so much in the Røros and Tolga region, so I think the water level will be perfect in the weekend. It can be windy at times, making good presentation difficult.

Two more tying video's: the nymph is really very easy to make, so easy in fact that I hesitate to place the video. But this B&S nymph has been successful for me for more then 20 years in river Glomma, but also in Canada, USA, NZ and several European rivers. It's just an essential nymph pattern, I think ... Tie it in small sizes for autumn grayling. The other video shows hoe I like to tie an Iron Blue Dun.

Some pictures of two nice trout Marius and me landed last weekend, they both took a nymph. Good dry fly patterns for Glomma right now are small caddis imitations on the riffles and Griffith's Gnat on the slow flowing sections. Or use a Iron Blue Dun imitation, there are several species of Baetis hatching every afternoon.   

There was not much rain yesterday in our area, and the water level has not really changed. More to the south they had a lot of rain and the rivers are high and difficult. Very good fly fishing conditions now at Kvennan Fly Fishing, nice hatches of small Baetis may flies, beautiful autumn colors. It still can pay off to try a Daddy Long Leg pattern.

Sead sent me a little film he made: "The little ones are doing just fine! They seems to be constantly hungry. The latest on their feed list is "dry meet" They seems to love it. For now I still have 4 grayling and one trout in the tank. However I'm considering to release the trout as sometimes he can get very angry and attack grayling with his sharp teeth. Although, most of the time they seem to find a good balance in the tank. Grayling are getting more and more active even for surface food. Oh, one interesting remark on these youngsters is that their fins seems to have very good self recovery system. From damage to recovery ~ within 2 weeks ... "