Trout Fishing in Dalarna

Sweden:

BY Stefan Larsson // Images by Stefan Larsson and Morten Valeur

When it comes to my home water, Österdaläven, it’s mostly known for its large population of grayling, which, as we all know, isa great fish to chase with the fly rod. Also, they are quite willing torise to a well-presented dry fly, which most fly fishers appreciate.The excellent grayling fishing has pushed the trout a bit in thebackground. The trout population has been under pressure by abig dam and timber rafting. They have survived and the populationhas grown strong and offers high-quality fishing.

Österdalälven is a wide, shallow river, mainly with gravel and rockson the bottom. This makes it very easy to wade, but even so, youmust of course respect the water and wade carefully. Castingshadows that spook the trout is another reason to wade withcaution. If you want to succeed catching a trout in Österdalälven,time is the keyword. It takes a good measure of patience, planningand caution. It’s so tempting to walk right out as soon as you spota rise, but if you do, most often it’s over before it even began.

Instead, it’s a waiting game - observe one more rise and thenanother one. Stalk softly as you approach the fish - sneak up on it.Maybe wading isn’t even necessary. If you avoid spooking the trout,it might move so you can reach it from the bank.

Careless wading drastically reduces your chances of good fishing.Too often I see fly fishers wade out in the middle of the river to aspot that looks good, seen from the bank. I can guarantee thatevery single trout within 100 meters is spooked and gone beforethe fly fisher even sees it.

I live by and guide on the river, so I have more hours on the riverthan most, but I’m also convinced that most make more caststhan I do. I cast only when I know what I’m casting to.

As on most waters, upstream casting is the golden rule. Trout always have their heads against the current, and if you approach from downstream and wade carefully, you can get quite close to a feeding trout. The fewer casts you need, the less risk of spooking the fish with a bad cast.

The river has a rich insect fauna, yet it’s dominated by the smallerspecies. Apart from the Yellow May Dun hatch (size 12-14) I rarelyfish anything larger than a size 16. There’s also a caddis that is bestimitated in size 12-14 hooks, and that can be the right fly on certaindays. However, the smaller mayflies dominate the insect fauna inthe river. Small flies mean thin and long leaders, especially whentargeting these spooky trout. 11-12’ leaders with 0,12 and 0,14mmtippet.

The river is rich with both mayflies and caddis and that meansthat season and time of day play an important role in when weshould choose to fish. During the early summer, the table is set welland trout are far from selective eating almost anything that comesby. In June, almost all species hatch at the same time and thatsometimes complicates the choice of fly, but then again, no oneever said it would be easy.

Even though day fishing in June can be good, my recommendationis to concentrate your efforts on mornings and evenings. In themorning, the trout are sometimes surprisingly close to shore inshallow water, carefully sipping on the early hatches or spinnersfrom the night before. On these occasions, the trout can benotoriously difficult, so it’s imperative to stay calm and take a closelook at what they are feeding on.

Sometimes just casting the wrong fly is enough to spook a trout. Their behaviour can be much the same during the evening, but the caddis hatch that often occurs here makes them a little easier to catch. Caddis present a proper mouthful for a trout, and sometimes they forget how spooky they really are.

July is the hottest month of the year and fly fishers should simply sleep in and relax during the day. More than ever it’s evident thattrout simply do what they can to avoid the sunlight in the clearwater.

But what about streamers - can you catch the bigger trout in theriver on a streamer? Of course, but it takes an effort to find thelarge “meat eaters”. The right time to tie on a streamer is usuallywhen the sun sets behind the forest. Yet sometimes you have tofish all the way into the middle of the night before the trout startfeeding. They are less spooky in the dark and when feeding theycan cover quite large areas. And sometimes they will enter quiteshallow water. Make sure your boots are tied well, because you canexpect to stumble every now and then in the dark.

Just to the north of Älvdalen, the smaller Rotälven branches offwith its swift currents. This forest river has its spring several smilesfurther up the mountains and then tumbles down through cliffs andgorges before entering the valley.

Cliffs, rocks, and gravel provide a fitting summary of a long stretchof this little river. There are plenty of trout, but they are smaller thanthose in Österdalälven. This is not the river to visit for trophy trout,but for the exquisite, beautiful wilderness, where you becomeaware of how small a part of the bigger machinery you really are.The beautiful surroundings often take my attention off the fishing.

Rotälven flows fast through the valley. The river is shallow and runsover patches of gravel and often there’s only room for one fly fisher.If two venture up, the best practice is to take turns on the fish.Taking turns is a great way of fishing. You can learn from watchingothers. And sharing the experience with your best friend makes fora perfect day.

The fishing requires many, short casts in the fast current and severaleager anglers have missed the first 15 strikes in these waters. Thefishing demands your full attention and losing your attention for justa second will result in missed fish. The trout in these fast mountainwaters are used to reacting in a flash. They must in order to standeven the slightest chance of catching their prey. This often resultsin the angler striking way too fast trying to hook the fish.

The best tactic is to take it easy. As the trout turns on the surfaceafter grabbing the fly, it’s almost upside down already and turnsimmediately toward the bottom again. This means that, as the fishreturns to its lie, 3 out of 4 will hook themselves so long as the flyfisher keeps contact with the fly. Usually, it’s enough to slowly raisethe rod tip to tighten the line. If you pull back as fast as the troutturns, the result will be a missed fish.

As in Österdalälven the small flies should be fished on thintippets, but you rarely need a particularly long leader. A long leadercan “hang” in the swirls and be counterproductive in terms of presenting a drag-free drift in the small, fast currents. I recommenda 9’ leader instead. A handful or two of CDC ’n’ Elk, some smallBaetis-imitations in sizes 18-24 and a small handful of Yellow MayDuns is fine for the season.

There are other waters in the area around Älvdalen too. If you driveout the gravel road to the west of the small village and carry onfor a while, you reach Vanån and Tennån. These small rivers aredifferent to the ones on the north side of the valley. Small and slow,these rivers work their way through ancient, deep forests and bogareas and glides with swift water quickly change to slow water with small pools.

Vanån and Tennån are even smaller than Rotälven and hold a good population of trout. Although generally smaller, every now and then a real trophy trout is caught. Because the rivers are slow, and because of the landscape they pass through, there are parts with sandy bottom and here, the big mayfly, the Danica, thrive. The Danica is completely absent in the other rivers and streams.

Apart from the Danica, which hatches for a couple of weeks in the middle of June, the insect fauna is the same as on the other rivers and streams. The caddis tend to be bigger and darker in colour, though.

Trout fishing in these areas is difficult and demanding on the fly fisher. I’m not referring to Iron Man stamina or extreme distance casting skills. No, common sense and a good deal of patience is what’s required. Jumping about and casting here and there leads to nothing. Observe the trout and learn from their behaviour. Have a chat with them and learn about their life in the river.

If you can sit down and have a chat with a trout for an hour or two, without taking a cast, you can make your approach and figure out how to catch it. Difficult? No, not always. Now and then the fishing is just as simple and straight forward as you sometimes hope for. So why not consider visiting us already this summer? I can promise that we’ll take good care of you.

Älvdalens Fiskecenter, fly shop and guide service is situated inthe small town of Älvdalen, on the river Österdalälven in centralSweden and specialize in fly fishing for trout and grayling. The mainseason is from May – September.Website: www.alvdalenfiske.seE-mail: info@alvdalenfiske.se