By Allan Nørskov Johansen

“Hooked” on River Karup.

It’s not because I’ve travelled a lot! But my love for angling, has had an influence on my travel destinations. Together with good friends, I have chased for large silvery coastal sea trout along the Swedish Baltic coast. The graylings and trout of Lapland, have seen my dryflies on more than one occasion. As backpacker with the bag full of the adventurous of youth, the travel to the Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia was unequalled in beauty, and the fishing down there was great… no doubt!

But even after taking all of the above into consideration, I must admit, that the yearly trophy hunt in River Karup still is the ultimate “love” of my flyfishing life!

I have to admit it… I’m totally” hooked” on River Karup 🙂

Hunting experiences by the river, instead of just fish!

So, is it just the big fish that draws one to the river…?

No!

Of course it’s about catching one of the big trout in the river. And each summer and autumn, I spent as much time by the river as possible. I fish both night and day, but I do prefer fishing at night. Despite the unique size of the fish in the river, this is just one part of the total “Package”. Because it really is a combination of several things, together with the big fish, that has made me lose my angling heart completely to River Karup.

The beautiful river valley in the twilight. A perfect time for taking pictures and fishing.

As a person generally interested in nature, the river valley with its rich animal life, is in itself a unique place to explore. Wandering the natural and untouched river valley, means a lot to me. The river flows uncontrollable and free, through a landscape of moor, forests and beautiful river countryside.

River Karup by ”Torp”. Here the river runs wild and beautiful, and it sure is a great place for a cup of coffee before the fishing starts.

In general, the fishing is very easy accessible to anyone. If you dream of fishing River Karup, it only requires a state fishing license, and purchase of a day permit or a membership of one of the local angler associations.

Being a longtime member of several angler associations myself, I’ve had the pleasure to meet up with like-minded river enthusiasts. Thereby, making many new friendships during the years, with the fishing in the river as shared interest. It’s always pleasant to meet up riverside with some good friends, and fish together for a couple of hours. This social element of sharing your river adventures with others, is something I also really value.

Karup River, an “outstanding natural beauty” to the photographer.  

If you’re also interested in photography, the river valley is a great place. Being an avid night angler, I’m often present in the river valley in the twilight during sunset or sunrise. There’s great opportunity to take beautiful pictures of the river, just when morning rises, or nighttime falls. So besides hunting large fish in the river, I’m always also looking for a nice motive for a picture. Getting a real nice shot with your camera, is almost as good as catching one of the beautiful fish in the river.

When the last daylight is fading in Vormstrup, the big fish begin to move. A fishing trip on a night like this, is pure therapy for the soul.

I never go to the river “just” to catch a fish. I “hunt” for experiences instead. And they appear in many different forms, whether it being cozy socializing with fishing buddies by the river, exploring nature and watching the rich animal life up close, taking fantastic photos, or of course, catching a good fish.

Therefore, I can highly recommend that you go to the river chasing experiences, rather than just fish. In that way, you’ll never return empty handed 🙂

Here below are a couple of good examples from my season of 2016.

Wonderful nights in June by River Karup.

The wake fly is ready! And you can’t get a lovelier introduction to a nights fishing, than a sunset mirroring the river surface like this.

There have been many nice experiences by the river lately, and the river valley does look “oh so pretty” here in the mild mood of June. I’ve tried to capture this in the picture above.

The visits along the river is also about catching a nice fish, and lately I’ve had a couple of contacts to the fly, and lost a good fish after a short battle… but that’s all part of the game.

Male on 9 pounds (4.5 kg) and 71.5 centimeters.

This night in June I finally caught this year’s first river fish. After a nice fight on my onehand fly rod, I landed this male on 9 pounds (4.5 kg) and 71.5 centimeters.   

It was also nice to share the experience of catching the fish with a fellow angler, who watched the fight in the dark and had the time to chat for a long time afterwards. He was also kind enough to take a picture of the fish and me, which is always nice to have.

My faithful wake fly ”Blæksprutten”, got me the first fish of the season.

The first fish of the year from River Karup, is always a great experience.

We are now heading toward “prime time” at the river. So “tight lines” to you all along the river in the forthcoming period 🙂 

Moonlight in August, and fresh fish running upstream.

The moon hangs low, reflecting itself in the river.

I had to see if the 2 big fish I rose to the fly the other day, would do something more than just push the fly out of their territory this time. But it was not to be! Both fish were still there, and they both came after the fly like they were shot from a canon… but they still just wouldn’t take the fly!

So,  again I had to settle with the experience of big waves on the river, followed by a big swirl on the surface, when the fishes escorted the fly out of their territories… but it was, as always, a very cool experience in itself, and it did give me a nice adrenalin rush 🙂

The dark of the night crawled over the river valley, and the full moon really lit up the surroundings. A cold fog was slowly covering the river valley, giving it a dreamlike appearance in the moonlight. I carried on fishing slowly downstream, while I contemplated which fly and method I was going to try the next time I would have some time to visit the 2 previously mentioned “residents” on this stretch of the river.

” Blæksprutten”. Here in a moonlight version.

My thoughts were interrupted, as the fly entered a deep channel in the entrance of a riverbend.

A thump to the fly and a good wave on the blank river surface, clearly indicated the presence of yet another territorial fish.

I gave it a short break, served the fly again, and this time the fish reacted with a powerful take!

Moonlight and fresh silver.

The fight was on, and the moon lit up the foggy river valley surroundings in the most beautiful way, so all the details of the fight could be enjoyed without the artificial gleam form my headlamp.

A beautiful and shiny August fish, weighing just under 6 pounds (2.9 kg), was brought home from the river, and it will undoubtedly bring much joy in the little home later on, when served as dinner.

Here in August, moonlit fog by the river isn’t so bad after all 🙂

Shiny sides and loose scales. In River Karup, the run of fresh fish is constant throughout summer.

I will look forward to next time I have the possibility to pay a visit to the other “residents” on this stretch of water. Perhaps I can cheat them next time, if the moon shines a bit less and the cold fog keeps away from the river valley…?

Serious K-factor on a September night.

Once again I went to the river, paying one of the many beautiful stretches in Vormstrup a visit. The time was 10 pm. The sky had cleared, and the fog slowly crept over the river valley as the temperature dropped. I was hoping the chilly fog wouldn’t gain too much of a presence along the river this night, seeing as this often has a negative influence on the fishing in the autumn period. But I had checked the weather forecast. The forecast promised some clouds again, right before midnight. And along with the clouds, a small rise in air temperature usually follows as well. The fish often react very positive to that.

The beatiful area of “Vormstrup”.

As a quick bolt lightning, a fish hit my fly hard. It was a fine fish weighing around 4 pounds (2.0 kg). It took my fly mid river, in a violent turn right under the surface. I enjoyed the battle with the fish, but I wanted to release it back to the river again, if possible. When the landing drew close, I stepped on a small area of water plants, right beside the riverbank.

In doing so, I created a little “shelf” on which the fish can lay on top of a soft “waterbed” of water plants, while still being partially submerged in the water, while unhooking it. Thereby ensuring the fish always has its gills under water. The fish doesn’t go in a net, it doesn’t go on dry land, and it isn’t touched by dry hands. If it wriggles, then it does it on the “shelf” of water plants and water. Utilizing this landing method when practicing Catch and Release, ensures that the fish isn’t hurt during the procedure.

When the fish lay calm in the water in front of me, I turned it in on the little riverside shelf. Positioned here, it lay calmly in the waterline, and I held its tail cautiously. As expected, by how the fish had taken the fly in the middle of the river, it was hooked lightly right in the junction of its jaws. After quickly unhooking the fish, I turned the fish out into the river again. As soon as the fresh current hit its snout, it swam away immediately.

First fish of the trip. You can see the release of the fish, in the YouTube clip below.

The trip was already a success in spite of fog and clear skies, and it was nice doing Catch and Release on such a delightful fish. In the horizon, I saw the clouds slowly approaching. I therefore continued fishing with a smile on my face.

Not long after this, I had another contact with a good-sized fish, but when attacking, it missed the fly in the dark. I did also move the fly rather quickly across the river 😉 I tried presenting the fly to the fish again, but it showed no further interest. The clouds were passing overhead now, and it was easy to feel the rise in temperature that came with the cloud cover. A big fish jumped clear of the river, somewhere nearby in the dark. It reentered the river with a large splash, and this was yet another good sign that the fishes activity in the river was on a rise.

Only 10 meters further downstream, my fly “Blæksprutten” was removed from the surface of the river again. It was quickly evident, that I was into a very good fish. The fish delivered violent runs up and down the river, and jumped free out the water numerous times. Even though it was very dark along the river under the clouds, I could clearly see its silhouette against the blank river surface, when it jumped free out of the water. It was a very broad-shouldered fish, and I had to push it hard all the way to the end, to get it within reach.

This fantastic September fish had packed 12 pounds (6.0 kg) in only 73 centimeters.

Right in front of me lay a true “sea trout dream” from River Karup. After putting the fish out of its misery, I laid it on a nearby bench and enjoyed the mere sight of it, taking some video and photos of this beautiful creature. It was extremely fat, and weight 12 pounds (6.0 kg) in only 73 centimeters of length. This resulted in a very high K-factor on 1.54!!!

Beautiful details on a beautiful fish.

I grabbed the fish, and started the walk back toward my car. I did just pause where I earlier had a good contact, to try this fish again with just a couple of casts. The big one wasn’t interested, but there was a smaller fish just around 2 pounds (1.0 kg) that hit the fly instead. I did a quick Catch and Release on that one as well, before finally returning to my car. The fishing was at an end, and the riverside coffee by the car tasted great this evening in Vormstrup 🙂

Catching 3 sea trout in a couple of hours in River Karup, and with one of the fish being so well-proportioned, is simply a fantastic experience. It doesn’t happen every day, so it’s quite memorable when it does.

You can see all 3 fish caught on this trip, in the YouTube clip right here:

“Tight lines” by the river.

Allan Nørskov Johansen