Saltwater Ice Fishing in Norway’s Fjords

With Norway’s abundance of freshwater lakes, salt water fjords and a magnificent coastline it’s not surprising that fishing is very popular. These Vikings, with fishing in their blood, are guaranteed to find something to suit their taste – believe me: Everyone can enjoy a fishing holiday in Norway whether a novice or expert. Coarse fishing, game fishing, deep sea fishing; whatever your favoured sport then Norway can oblige in the most spectacular way possible! With a coastline the length of Norway, it’s no wonder that the Norwegians are known for their love of fish – my regular readers know that defiantly includes me ; -)
You also know my saying; there is no such as bad weather, only bad clothes – meaning; winter, snow and ice is no reason to sit indoors! Once the ice has set, Norwegian ice fishing enthusiasts hit the ice (click pics to bigify & enjoy):

At Eidanger Fjord, 2 hours drive south of Oslo along the Oslo Fjord.

Last weekend, while attending our yearly family Rakfisk feast, we had fabulous sunny winter weather. On Sunday afternoon, after stuffing ourselves with “fermented fish” delicacies, and drinking a bit of Aquavit my sister suggested a walk on the fjord to freshen us up a bit. A great way to get some sunshine, experience the beautiful nature and recover from a late night of overindulgence. Since I always have my Nokia mobile handy to shoot some photos, I hope you’ll enjoy coming along for a taste of ice fishing:

Sunny weather, crisp fresh air and beautiful scenery: that’s what I call recreational!

If you are patient and dressed warmly, a day of ice fishing can be an experience in a class of its own. Nature, tranquillity and the excitement of not knowing what you will catch are important elements. When passing some of these ice fishing enthusiasts, we stopped and chatted with them about the days catch and they were nice enough to pose for us to share in Blogsphere and more than willing to let us in on some of their “secrets”:

Temp of -10C (14F) is no problem if you dress correctly!

This type of fishing, is of course carried out close to the shore, and normally brings a variety of species. Most of them used mackerel as bait and normal catches were Cod, Herring, Haddock, Coalfish, Ling, Pollock and sometimes more Mackerel. Here are some examples:

Left: Pollock – Right: Cod and Blue whiting

If you have not become clear over this from the catches, this is of course frozen ocean water. The fjords are long fingers from the sea which reach into the country and bring us salt water delicacies to fish and enjoy. These same fjords are used for sailing and fishing in the summer and have lovely beaches along the edges. We were standing on 90 meters deep, just so you know, but as the ice was 30 – 60 centimetres frozen solid and more than enough to hold us all, plus skaters, skiers, dog walkers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Above you see some of the detail of the frozen ice crystals forming on the snow. The beauty is fascinating up close, and at a distance. Another experience you can only have in a land with all four seasons!