In just about a month’s time, the 2016 season will be underway. All signs point toward 2016 being a “big fish“ year. Due to the high number of medium-sized fish we saw last year in the river, we’re expecting many of the returning fish will be larger than average size. That’s exciting as always, but even a bit more this year, because big fish on the Gaula mean really big Atlantic salmon running upriver, possibly some over 13 kilos (30lbs)!
Like everywhere in Northern Europe this year, spring is a bit later than usual. In the Gaula valley our snowpack is about normal for this time of year. It is still a bit too early to make a more specific forecast on how the situation will be for the start of the season, but it’s looking good.
At the NFC Beats on the Gaula water levels don’t affect us too much, because we have perfect fly water above and below the Gaulfossen rapids. This is a great advantage compared with fisheries which have water only above Gaulfossen. This variety of water gives our guests the best chance of catching Atlantics right from the season start through to the end in August. High water or low, we have water which fishes well in all situations.
For this year, we have added two more beats (double bank) below the Gaulfossen to our rotation fishery, Beats E6&E7 just above the Kvålsbridge, called the Fornes Øyen Beat. In June, these lower river beats will be a great early season option for a chance to catch one of the big, fresh fish we’re expecting to see this year.
As always, we continue to upgrade our beat quality with the addition of the fantastic Granøyen Pool now as a double bank beat in the rotation! We always had the steep left bank, but we’ve added the right bank, the “gravel bank” side, as well. Easier to wade, it is readily accessible from the Lodge. We’re confident these new Beats will be a major upgrade for the quality of our fishery.
For 2016 we are well booked in many weeks, with some weeks are totally sold, but there are still rods available. If you are an inexperienced spey caster, the June weeks can be a bit challenging with big water, but there are plenty of opportunities later in the season when the water levels drop in July and August. With a year of big salmon expected and a lot of new water below the Gaulfossen (just in case fish are not coming up we are safe!), it’s more than ever a good reason to fish with us this season. We think this could be the best fishing season in years, so contact us if you want to fish the Gaula!
We’ll make our first casts of the 2016 season in less than 5 weeks. Don’t get left out! To all our old friends and new, come see all the changes we’ve made at the Norwegian Flyfishers Club. It’s better than ever.
Sincerely,
your team of the
Norwegian Flyfishers Club