| Viking-size Salmon |
 |
 | The Alta, Norway |
Land of salmon
|
Nineteenth-century English aristocrats once piloted their yachts across the North Sea to fish for salmon in Norway. The lakselordane (salmon lords) were the first outsiders to discover what the natives have known for centuries: Monster salmon swim in Norway's bountiful rivers. Overfishing, pollution, and loss of spawning grounds have decimated many Atlantic salmon fisheries. But Norway remains an incredible exception to the rule, especially in the north. For far above the Arctic Circle flows the mighty Alta, arguably the finest Atlantic salmon river on the planet. Alta salmon average more than 25 pounds, and whoppers topping 50 pounds are regularly taken.
Besides the matchless fishing, Norway boasts some of the most eye-popping scenery on earth—scenery directly responsible for the superb fishing. Glaciers high atop mountains feed bottle-green rivers that roar down narrow valleys before pouring into fjords. Violent forces of unimaginable power shaped Norway's rugged beauty, as if Thor himself blasted the landscape into being with his thunderous hammer. It's a trip you'll never forget, but don't spend too much time taking in the breathtaking scenery or a Viking-size salmon may rip the rod right out of your hands.
Editor's Choice: Fishing Trips
| From Russia with Lox |
|
| Kola Peninsula, Russia |
During the Cold War, the Kola peninsula bristled with submarines, ships, bombers, and nukes. But what was once the single most heavily militarized place on earth is now famous for a far more commendable reason: outstanding salmon fishing. The Kola, which juts out into the Barents and White Seas, shares the upper arctic reaches of Europe with northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Rivers like the Umba, Zolotya, and the muscular Ponoi pour through this landscape of forest, marsh, and tundra.
Thanks to the Iron Curtain that sealed off the region from westerners for decades, these salmon have probably seen fewer flies than any others on earth. This is what Atlantic salmon fishing used to be everywhere else, before civilization, pollution, and angling pressure changed everything. Salmon fishermen are gluttons for punishment, people who are used to getting—and actually expect to get—skunked on a regular basis. A single fish is cause for celebration. But double-digit hauls of big salmon are common on Kola rivers like the Ponoi. It's almost enough to make you thank Marx.
Editor's Choice: Fishing Trips
| Leaping Steelhead |
|
| British Columbia, Canada |
Primo Steelhead water
|
If you want to know what a salmon-size trout feels like on the end of your line, there's only one fish to turn to: the strapping steelhead. And if you want to go steelheading, nowhere else even comes close to British Columbia. This gorgeous western Canadian province qualifies as an angler's paradise even without steelheads. But the hundreds of rivers that flow through British Columbia on their way to the sea offer unparalleled opportunities to hook up with one of these silvery brutes.
Steelheads—anadromous rainbow trout and technically members of the salmon family—hatch in rivers, mature in the sea, and return home to spawn. Unlike Pacific salmon, hardy steelheads live to spawn a second and sometimes even a third time. An average steelhead is some 20 to 30 inches long, and a good ten pounds, but juggernauts upwards of 35 pounds have been hooked. And regardless of their size, they all fight like pit bulls, jumping time after time before making screaming runs upstream and downstream. By the time you land one, you'll have earned your Molson.
Editor's Choice: Fishing Trips
More on Canada Fishing Guide
Find Canada Destinations
Return to 
Top
Powered by Trip.com
