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Finally we were ready to go on our fishing trip to the north. Friday, June 27th 2003,  SAS delivered us at the airport of Tromsø. Roald the owner of the camp picked us up. When the car was loaded with all of our luggage, a beautiful trip was bound to begin and we awared the amazing surroundings of the north. During our trip Roald told us some nice stories. Before our departure by ferry to our destination we had to do some shoppings first. That was alot of fun – four guys in a supermarket, so the cart was loaded with hotdogs, beer, beer and beer again. When we arrived at the island of Vannøy the fever started. It looked amazing. The weather forecasts were good for this week so that promissed alot. When we arrived at the camp we immediately arranged our fishing gear and we were ready to go!
                                  

The same night we were able to pick the high tide. There were four of us so we had decided to rent two boats.  For time saving we already had entered some locations in the GPS. The first night started rather good. Beginning at the first fishing location (76 meters top) we landed our first cods mixed up with some nice species 6,7, 9 and 11 kg (we quickly filled up a box) After fishing for a couple of hours we went back to the camp. We did not sleep for 24 hours and decided after finishing an uncounted number of Mack øl (beer) to goto sleep. The next tide was waiting for us and we did not like to miss one single high tide this week. After some rest for a couple of hours and some additions in the GPS we were ready to try some other locations. What we got was limited. Some little cods, pollack and catfish. In general there was alot of fish but the big boys had a day off. The weather was perfect. The sun was up for 24 hours a day, which is rare, but Roald told us for fishing this weather type was not perfect at all. He adviced us to stay near, rather then to go up too far and he was right.

The next days were fantastic but exhausting. In general 2 hours sleep or no sleeping at all. At some places we were able to catch hundreds of cods but less than 1 kg. In the meantime Mano asked Roald for information for a day open sea fishing. The regular skippers known by Roald were not available but he knew another skipper. The same night we called skipper Audun and decided to board the next day if the weather was good. The wind came from the North West and usually that is not a big deal. Henk and Nico decided not to go.They've already had some bad experiences with little boats fighting the big waves. (Yes indeed, they threw up!) That day we stayed home to be in perfect shape and to prepair our exciting day with Audun. The next morning skipper Audun was exactly in time to transport us with his 4WD to the harbour. On the way some raindeers showed up. Audun asked us what we liked to catch. We told him in a mixture of languages that we would like to catch big granny cods. He agreed and told us to show his secret locations. After we arrived in the harbour we put our gear aboard, fuelled up and were ready to go. We did not regret our choice. The skipper was in possesion of a very fast vessel (350 hp). With this vessel we could reach places in half a day rather than other boats that would need twice the time. The equipment aboard (giant display fishfinders etc) was perfect.

After 20 minutes Audun told us to get ready for fishing. He noticed alot of fish on his screen (big tv) and indeed our pilkers did not even reach the surface of the sea bottom. We caught alot of cods, loom, haddock, pollack and catfish. We enjoyed  the fishing very much but Audun told us that it could become much better. After a “nice” cup of  norwegian coffee we decided to go up north. According to the skipper there were fatter cods, halibuts and other not defined creatures at the more north fishing grounds. After a sailing period of about an hour it was time again to show our pilkers the way to the depth. Because the tide was increasing we decided to use heavier weight pilkers. Usually we use 350 g pilkers in the fjord but at open sea on average 500-800 g. Soon we got the reward for our patience.... after a couple of minutes cods over 10 kg  and more were landed. Our rods were doing overtime and with temperatures of over 22 degrees C it was a hell of a job. It was getting time now for a real cod. I mean 20 kg or more. Everything seemed to be possible here. After each bite it was like to be stucked but soon you could feel the thumbing at the rod which ment a big fish. After some time I noticed alot of groaning. That looked pretty good, Romano’s rod was in a deep bow and shouted: "Willem, this is were we came for". The rod made funny noises, the brake of the reel made alot of noise too and Romano was out of his mind. After 10 minutes and alot of sweat drops a beautiful cod showed up at the surface. Due to the very clear water we were able to watch the fish from a distance – an amazing spectacle. With Audun’s help the fish was landed and it appeared that Romano broke his personal record. The weight of this beauty was 14 kg.

 

In less than 5 minutes I thought I was stuck. Audun came to size up the situation and said: “be careful friend I first want to make sure if you are really stucked, there hide very heavy monsters in the deep which are difficult to move” He grabbed the line with his glove and increased the pressure. There was a big grin on his face and said: “No Willem you are not stucked, it is a fish!” My body was filled up with adrealin and I thought “fucking shit”. The first few minutes there was almost no change but after a little while there was alot of movement in the deep. Romano decided to get out his line and enjoyed my groaning. This was out of proportions. My arms and back did not like it but that fish had to come! After 20 minutes this biggy was still fooling my pilker and decided not to move. According Audun this had to be a big specie halibut and I was not equipped right. Unfortunately the braided line gave up when we tried to lift the fish. ( Of course I was dissapointed for a while) Bur not for a long time because after a short while there was another bite again. A bit easier this time but heavy again! After some 10 minutes a beautiful specie of 17 kg was landed.

 

We moved alot of times during the day and caught alot of fish. We were very satisfied but according to the skipper it could have been better. Our mission was successful in spite of we did not land the 20+ kg cods, we had the day of our life. Because our skipper was so skillful and motivated we made an appointment to meet him next year again. After an exhausting day we arrived at the camp at 7 pm. Nico and Henk were waiting for us. When we showed them the results of the day they decided to choose for open sea as well for the next year. (weather or no weather) After shooting some pictures it was time to go fishing again.

In fact it is crazy after such a day, but we decided to fish in the fjord a bit more. After a couple of hours we had alot of fish to fillet. After that (in the middle of the night) enjoying the sun, a nice glass of beer, looking over the fjord and watching the dolphins and sea otters. In fact we never wanted to leave, when we experienced a grey whale in the fjord who liked it to swim underneath the boat the next day. We are so excited about this area so that we will come back for the next years. Not just for fishing but also the area and hospitality from the camp owner Roald and his wife Helene made this location unique.