Summer holidays, August 2008
In 2005 I toured South West Norway on the motorbike. It was beautifull and I had some good fishing sessions so I planned to return by car. With more fishing gear and better protection against the possibly mediocre weather. To be flexible I did not book anything and chose to just decide what to do when I was actually there. That was a good thing as I wanted a change after a few days already. The fishing spots at Mandal and Randaberg where I had planned to surprise the fish were not accessible anymore. Bad luck but always a risk if you don't have access to local knowledge. The Karmoy peninsula was nice, I stayed in Skudeneshavn at the south of Karmoy. I did have some enjoyable fishing sessions at Haugesund, but did not catch any real noteworthy specimen. The weather was coolish but not bad. On Karmoy I did spot a linkslike golfcourse so I payed that a visit as well.
After a few days I travelled north of Bergen to try some fishing in the very deep fjords there. And hopefully to hook some monster fish there. I found a promising spot near Einestrand. A dutch campervan joined me there as well. About a 130 yards out it was approximately 100 yards deep, unreal! I caught some weird fish that lurk in the deep and hooked a truly big one that got away. That keeps fishing interesting. Less interesting were the millions of midges there that appeared at night. They absolutely devoured me. It made me change my itinerary in a hurry and I left for Sweden. Passing through the width of Norway there truly are stunning sceneries. Mountains, rocks, fjords, highlands, lakes, snow, heather, moss, glaciers, you name it and it is there. Fantastic.
In Sweden I stopped at a very very basic Youth Hostel near Heestrand for a few days. Too basic but a good starting point for visits to the coast and with golfcourses nearby. I visited the Saab Museum at Trollhattan to buy a good friend a birthday present (I am way too cheap too buy him a car ;-)) and to visit the impressive locks. When the weather changed for the worse and the forecasts remained bad I cut the trip short.
The rest of my holidays I spent at home. As the Bejing Olympics were on I watched some of that and successfully tried some bass-fishing mainly in the Rotterdam Europoort region. Not all fish were sizeable but there were some 5-6 lbs bass that made a career move to bouillabaisse and other culinary destinations. So the summer holidays didn't go as planned, but who cares, I had a great break.
