Harling for Trophy salmon.

Harling simply put is salmon fishing from a riverboat. This is some thing I’ve never attempted and when the offer came I jumped at the chance to land my first Bjøra salmon from a traditional riverboat. I was fortunate to be guided and rowed by the best. Bo Olsson has long held a reputation as the best and this year he took the first salmon of the season. So you can imagine I was like a kid in a candy store when he rang and offered me a day on the river.

Arvid ready to rock and roll!

Ill photo (Atle Skjelde), Here is a classic example of what you can catch.

The man! Bo Olsson

Here we are on one of the world great rivers.photo (Atle Skjelde)

Harling simply put is salmon fishing from a riverboat. This is some thing I’ve never attempted and when the offer came I jumped at the chance to land my first Bjøra salmon from a traditional riverboat. I was fortunate to be guided and rowed by the best. Bo Olsson has long held a reputation as the best and this year he took the first salmon of the season. So you can imagine I was like a kid in a candy store when he rang and offered me a day on the river.

Bo and I hit it off with in a short time and we were ready to try our hand at giving the boss the style of photo he loves. Now the moment we rounded the first bend I knew I had landed in a river of dreams. Not only are the fish monstrous in the early season but also words could not describe what I was greeted by. No road noise, no hydro power stations and no farmed salmon destroying the ecology. For a west coast salmon fisherman this was Mecca. As the day unfolded Bo opened up and began to put in plain words some of the facts about his river. For example he averages a salmon a day and in the early season (May) the average weight is over 10 kilograms. He also mentioned that some of his customers have caught their first salmon while on his boat. This must be a thrill for both rower and client!

How is it you harl?

Harling is a very interesting method in which to fish salmon. Not only are you in the river but also all you need to do is sit and enjoy the view. You see it’s the rower that does the work. After all they have the local knowledge. During the first half of the season most anglers prefer to follow the local tradition of harling, two or three rods are used from a boat, rowed by a localy experienced fishing-guide.
Unlike normal trolling were the lures are towed behind the boat. Harling boats are kept effectively stationary and the river current works the wobbler or lure. The boat is rowed from bank to bank so as to slowly fish down stream. Using this method the rower can cover every fishable zone in his beat. Generally boat owners will supply the rods. The preferred set up is a short but sensitive rod with abu-garcia styled drum reels.

Harling has a long history both here and Scotland you see in the days of the Salmon lords it was a popular practice. During the 1800’s the flood of English fishermen introduced harling to their northern counterparts and now it has become are regular feature on many rivers. Norway had boats in rivers such rivers as Vosso, Namsen and Bjøra. Unfortunally this is no longer a nation wide practise. Currently Tana, Målsenelva, Vefsna, Bjøra and Nideelven are popular rivers for harling. So if you are in the area then try your hand at this form of fishing.

Bo and I floated down and upstream for what seemed days. You see the relaxed manner in which your fish seems to rob you of a sense of time and the cares and pressures of everyday life vanish. Towards the end our session I didn’t seem to care weather or not we caught a fish. That must be a first. As it turned out the only fish I landed was a colt (salmon that has spent the winter in the river). Of course the skinny colt was realised so as it could find it’s way to its ocean feeding grounds.

It must be a first that I enjoyed a days fishing with out catching a fish. Yet I know that Bo is up there with the best. You see a week after I returned back to Bergen I heard the Bo had guided the king to a sweet 13-kilo fish. All I can say is well done mate!

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