Os river the king is back

In the twelfth century the Lyseklosteret owned the fishing rights at Oselva (river). After the reformation the river then became the property of the king. Finally in 1878 the rights ended up in the hands of the of the local farmers, since then this river has had its dark days but its on its way back…

Thor with one of many small fish taken in 2001

ONE OF THE BETTER RUNS

A late season salmon

The best pool to fish

Thor Svendsen from Os has fished this river since 1949 when he was an energetic14 years old. With a cheeky grin he admitted to “taking the odd fish” during thewar years! Over the years Thor has seen this river change a great deal. He has witnessed both the size and the total numbers of fish taken dramatically reduce.

The official figures have proven him correct.In the last few years there has been a slight increase in the numbers of fish caught, but the big fish are no longer as common as they should be. This is evident in the 2000 catch report: 507 small salmon, 79 medium salmon and only 4large fish. This weighed in at a total of 1321 kilos. The average weight was tiny 2.2 kg and 18% of these fish were escaped farm fish. If we travel back intime to 1997 only 272kg of salmon were caught and again a large percent of thesefish were farmed trash. As for the sea- tout their figures have varied of thelast decade but the have a good average weight of 900gr.

Local river managers have had problems that are not uncommon with rivers surrounded by fish farms. For example escaped fish, furunkulose and vibriose.Lucky for us the government has secured a gene bank in the Eidfjord hatchery. Tohelp combat the reduced fish numbers they have enforced a two kilometre zonefrom the river mouth that is forbidden to fish with in but I have yet to seewhere the area starts or ends as it is so badly marked

Despite all of this Os River is one of the best sports fishing rivers in theBergen district and has alwaysbeen a cheap river to fish. Two local clubs havethe right to sell cards on this river.The first club: Bergen Sportsfiskere rent pools 2, 3 and 4. This is on aone-year tender and as a result every year you can expect a price rise. Thisyear the price has been raised so much that the club has offered a one-yeartrail period. If club membership is reduced or current members complain then Ibelieve that the club will find another river.Os jakt og fiskelag controls the lower half of the river, from the fjord untilLundehølen. This stretch cost a little less than that controlled by the otherclub. Those members that volunteer to help with river protection programs arerewarded with the first choice for the best dates. The remanding cards are soldto the public.I believe this is the perfect method to help people get involved in their localriver but on this river all I’ve seen are clubs working hard and greedylandowners raising prices. This only leads to a river for the rich and the localclubs with nothing to show for their hard work.


I hope this West Country pearldoesn’t go down this road.Os River is known for its early running fish. Fish have been spotted as early asApril. The season starts the 15 of June. At the beginning of the season when thewater level is at its highest I would recommend pools 0,1,2,3 and 4. Both flyand worm fishing are permitted. They say that the two best flies are Hairy Maryand Heggeli in the lower half of this river.Zone 5 proved to be the best in 2000. The reason for this is it is a restingpool but this is no easy stretch to fish it has a tackle-eating minefield ofsmall waterfalls and fast runs. When the river is flowing well that is the best time to try luck.The season ends the 24th of September. It is near the end of the season that thesea-trout and escaped farm fish start their run. If only they would extend theseason so as people could remove the pest farm fish. This would generate moremoney for the landowner and give people the chance to do their bit for theenvironment. The last thing this river need is farmed fish mixing with the puregenetic stock. I have written some bad press about this river in the past. It istrue it is not the river it once was but I have fished here for some years andI’m certain I will continue!!!!!