Fishmaster Trip Report - Gaula Flyfishing Season 2006

Season 2006 (1.6-31.8)

The season 2006 started with cold weather and cold water temperatures but despite that the first salmon of our Gaula Flyfishing beat was caught already on the 3 rd of June. This big salmon weighed 12,5 kg. From middle of June and onwards we had a good run of big salmon and from the last week of June all sizes of salmon run into the Gaula river and our pools.

July and August were warm months and only some occasional rain showers rised the water level a bit but during the whole summer the water level was between low and medium water. The water temperature was couple degrees more than normally this time of season and varied between 14 and 20 degrees.

Despite the lack of rain and low/medium water conditions we had a record season: Total of 240 salmon and 7 seatrout were caught by our fly fishing guests. This is over 100 salmon more than previous season. The biggest salmon of the season 2006 of the whole Gaula river was caught at our Bruahölen pool. This monster salmon weighed 20,8 kg and took Silver & Black tube fly. This record salmon was caught by Mr Jarkko Juutila. Mr Stenberg caught biggest seatrout of our beat this season. This big fish took his Green butt fly at Sanden pool and weighed 4 kg.

Jouni Rauha

31.8.2006 (Week 26-31.8)

Challenging and nice fishing period with low water conditions. Total catch of the week 35 was 5 salmon and 2 seatrout. Mr Mauri Seppänen caught tvo big salmon of 8,2 kg and 6,5 kg. He caught both those fish at Bruahölen pool with Black and Green tube fly. Petteri Juvakka caught nice 5,5 kg salmon from Svingen pool. Mr Tuomo Turunen caught 2 nice seatrout at Sanden pool. The last salmon of the season was caught by Mr Petri Varis. This big salmon weighed 9,5 kg.

The weather was mixed and warm. The water level varied between 20 and 15 cubics per second. The water temperature dropped from 17 to 15 degrees.

26.8.2006 (Week 19-26.8)

Quite difficult fishing week with low and warm water conditions on the Gaula. Total catch of the week 34 at our Gaula Flyfishing beat was 6 salmon. The biggest salmon of the week was caught by frenchman Xavier Martocq at Bruahölen pool. This good sized salmon was caught at Bruahölen with Yellow & Grey fly and weighed 6,2 kg. Mr Juuso Karikoski caught nice 4,2 kg salmon at Sanden pool and also 2 kg grilse at Svingen pool. Mr Martocq caught 3,6 kg salmon at Bruahölen with Black Shadow fly.

At the beginning of the week the weather was cloudy and we had some rain showers but last part of the week was again very warm and sunny. In the middle of the week the water flood raised to 33 cubics and then dropped slowly back to 17 cubics per second. The water temperature was around 17 degrees.

19.8.2006 (Week 12-19.8)

Pretty good fishing week with variable weather and conditions on the Gaula river. Total catch of the week 33 was 14 salmon and 1 seatrout. The biggest salmon of the week was caught by french Paul Vangerdine from Bruahölen pool. This big salmon weighed 8.6 kg. He also caught 4,2 kg salmon and one grilse. The second biggest salmon of the week was caught by Mr Ilkka Lehtinen. His personal record is now 7.6 kg and this salmon took his Green Sheep tube at Bruahölen pool. Mr Rajala caught and released 7 kilos cockfish. Mr Pekka Huhtela caught his first ever fly salmon. This sealiced beauty weighed 4.7 kg and took Green Butt tube at Sanden pool. He also caught 2 grilse and 1 seatrout.

The weather was mixed and warm. In the middle of the week there was some rain in the valley and upper river that caused some nice water rise about 60 cm. The water flood varied between 20 and 55 cubics per second and the water temperature was round 16 degrees.

12.8.2006 (Week 5.8-12.8)

Nice fishing week with low water conditions on the river. Total catch of our Gaula beat was 12 salmon. The biggest salmon of the week was caught by Mr Penttinen. He caught 5,0 kg salmon from Bruahölen pool. Also Mr Aaltonen caught nice salmon of 4,7 kg with Green Highlander fly at Svingen pool. Both these nice salmon were the first ever fly caught salmon for these fishermen. That proves that our beat can produce well salmon for the first timers also.

The weather was varied between scattered rain showers and sunny skies and the water level was low all the week warying between 20 and 35 cubics per second. The water was clear and the temperature dropped from 20 degrees to more reasonable 15 degrees.

5.8.2006 (Week 29.7-5.8)

Nice fishing week with variable conditions on the river. Total catch of our Gaula Flyfishing beat was 12 salmon. The amount of salmon was less than previous weeks but caught salmon were bigger this week. So far we have now caught over 200 salmon total for this fine season. The biggest salmon of the week was caught from Gyllsaga pool with Garry fly by Mr Frimodig. This beautiful salmon weighed 10,3 kg. Mr Karvinen caught nice 7,7 kg salmon with Black Sheep fly at Sanden pool. During the week several grilse ang medium-sized salmon between 3 and 5 kg were also caught.

The beginning of the week was cloudy and rainy and the water flood raised to medium water level - 100 cubics per second and then dropped slowly to low water level - 25 cubics towards the end of the week. The last part of the week was sunny and very warm. The water temperature raised from 17 degrees to 20 degrees.

29.7.2006 (Week 22-29.7)

Good fishing week again despite wery low and warm water, also difficult conditions. The great total catch of the week was 35 salmon and 3 seatrout. Most caught salmon of the week were grilse but also some medium sized salmon between 3 and 5 kilos were caught. The biggest salmon of the week was caught by Mr Mäkelä and Mr Peltoniemi. They both caught 4,5 kg salmon.

The water level continued dropping from 20 cubics to 10 cubics per second and can described as extremely low. The weather was sunny and warm all week and water temperature raised from 15 degrees to 19 degrees. At the end of the week there was some rain in the upper walley and water started to rise Friday evening. Saturday morning the water flood was 75 cubics per second and the water had some brownish colour.

22.7.2006 (Week 15-22.7)

Good fishing week despite the low water and somewhat difficult conditions on the river. The fishermen of the week were skillful and the total catch of our Gaula Flyfishing beat was 34 salmon. The biggest salmon of the week was caught by Lars Järvesjö and this nice salmon weighed 6,5 kg.

During the week 29 the water level dropped steadily from 60 cubics to 20 cubics per second and the weather at the beginninig of the week was cloudy and chilly and the last part of the week the weather was sunny and warm. The water temperature was approximately 14-15 degrees.

15.7.2006 (Week 8-15.7)

Excellent fishing continued at our Gaula Flyfishing beat. Total record catch of the week was 46 salmon and one seatrout. The highlights of this magnificent fishing week were the monster salmon of 20,8 kg caught by Jarkko Juutila, 10,5 kg salmon caught by Mauri Honkanen, 9,5 kg salmon caught by Jarno Laitinen and seatrout of 4,0 kg caught by Mr Stenberg. A lot of grilse and medium sized salmon was caught this week. The best personal catch of the week was done by Mr Laitinen who caught 7 salmon.

The water level varied between low and medium water, the flood was between 50 and 120 cubics/second. During the week we had some rain and mixed weather, well suitable for fishing. The water temperature varied between 13 and 15 degrees.

10.7.2006. 20,8 kg salmon has been caught at our Gaula Flyfishing beat

Last night a finnish fisherman Jarkko Juutila caught a monster salmon of 20,8 kg at Bruahölen pool with Silver and Black tube fly.

This salmon was 125 cm long and is new record of our Gaula Flyfishing beat and also so far the biggest salmon of the whole Gaula river this season. The battle with this big salmon took about half an hour.

8.7.2006 (Week 1.7-8.7)

Excellent fishing week despite low water conditions on Gaula river. The water level was round 50 cubics/second almost entire week but thunder with rain raised the water level a bit in the middle of the week. The water level started to rise towards the end of the week. The weather was mixed and water temperature round 15 degrees.

Best fishing week so far this season. Total catch of our beats was 37 salmon, divided into 17 grilse weighing from 1,3 to 2,3 kg and 20 salmon weighing from 3,7 to 7,3 kg. The biggest salmon of this week was caught by Niels Hougaard from Bruahölen pool.

1.7.2006 (Week 24.6-1.7)

Very good fishing week with good conditions. The water level was at the beginning of the week a bit under 100 cubics/second but rainy weather on Sunday raisesd the water level for almost 300 cubics for the short period. That gave a good boost for the fishing and rest of the week we enjoyed good fishing with slowly dropping water. The water temperature varied between 12 and 14 degrees and the weather was mixed.

Total catch of the week was 23 salmon, divided into 7 grilse weighing 1,5-2,5 kg and 16 salmon weighing 4-8,2 kg. The biggest salmon of this week weighed 8,2 kg and was caught by Mr Makkonen from Sanden pool with Green Highlander tube fly.

24.6.2006 (Week 17-24.6)

Very nice fishing week with good conditions. The water level stayed whole week at medium level, about 100-150 cubics/second. Thunder rain raised the water level a bit more in the middle of the week but soon the water dropped to medium level again. The water temperature was approx 12 degrees for a whole week and weather was fine and varied, excellent for fishing.

Total catch of the week was 13 salmon, divided into 3 grilse between 2-3 kg and 10 salmon between 4,5 and 12,5 kg. Best fly of this week was Greenlander tube and best pools for this week were Gyllsaga and Sanden.

18.6.2006

The fishing conditions at Gaula are very good at the moment. The water temperature has risen to moderate 12-13 degrees and water level is now medium. The water level rises a bit during night time and is dropping day time. Day time air temperatures have varied between 15 and 20 degrees and night time temperatures round 10 degrees Celsius.

During the last days the fishing has become better at our Gaula beat. We have landed 5.2, 7.4 and 12.5 kg salmon. The flies that has been succesful has been Greenlander and Black Sheep tube flies. We have also seen several running fish every day.

13.6.2006

The conditions are very good on Gaula. During the last week the water temperature has risen from 7 degrees to 10-11 degrees and water level has been medium-high. After couple very warm days the water level rised to a high level but is dropping fast again as daytime temperatures dropped for 28 to a more reasonable 20 degrees.

Despite the good conditions the fishing has been very slow so far at our beat, only one salmon caught and couple others lost. We have seen only a very few salmon running. During the last week the fishing has been somewhat slow at lower Gaula beats as well.

3.6.2006

The first salmon of this season has been landed from our Gaula Flyfishing beat. This big salmon of 12,5 kg was caught by our Norwegian guest Trond Taraldsen. The salmon took a Greenlander tube fly in Gyllsaga pool.

Due to a rain in Gaula valley yesterday the water level has raised about half meter from yesterday and the temperature of water is now 7 degrees. Today the weather is cloudy and colder again. The air temperature is only round 10 degrees.

2.6.2006

The fishing season has started on Gaula river in Norway. During the two last days the water level has dropped from 200 cubics to 140 cubics/second and water temperature has raised from 6 to 8 degrees. So the fishing conditions are fine. The weather has been varied and a bit chilly. Day time max temperatures have been between 10 and 15 degrees and night time temperatures round 5 degrees.

During the first day of the season about 50 salmon has been reported to Stören Natursenter catch statistics. Most salmon has been caught from lower river but some nice salmon seems to have entered to the middle river as well.

Jouni Rauha