The thing with Salmon is truly a madman’s game — the water levels need to be just right for the fish to run upstream and spawn, so everyone rushes out at the same time, more or less, because if you book your week and the levels are low, you can forget about it and sit around playing cards and drinking whisky — and that’s expensive just to play cards. Or conditions are perfect and you lose your mind entirely. Since you’re fishing in the far North, you can fish for 10 hours straight… And if the fish isn’t hungry or doesn’t strike your fly on reflex, you get nothing. Either way, this is a sport for addicts in the truest sense of the word — you go completely mad, nothing else matters, you’re obsessed, and even if you catch plenty during your trip, it’s never enough… (not to mention there’s a good chance you’ll wreck your shoulder if you haven’t been putting in a few hours a week at the gym…).
But here’s where it gets really spicy — when you tell yourself, “right, I’m going to catch salmon on dry fly!” That takes things to a whole other level. The hunt is nothing like before, your mindset shifts completely, you go full-on “hunter mode” and the fishing becomes genuinely playful! Just look at Vebjørn and Christer with their Chernobyls and their Cicadas, like a couple of kids buzzing with excitement! Pure joy, really — because at the end of the day, fishing is about having fun, it’s no longer about survival! Right then — off to Norway! And bring a thick jumper, it looks freezing out there!
“In this episode, join Vebjørn and Christer on a unique expedition with one goal: capturing Atlantic salmon taking dry flies in slow motion. Experience world-class fly fishing in one of Norway’s most remote and pristine rivers, far up north in Finnmark, where few anglers ever set foot. Many of the clips are filmed by Christer Nannestad (@Christer_Nannestad), please go and subscribe to his channel. is time for a true Slow Rise episode, Enjoy!”