2024 season is over!

First fish of the season

Now we can lean back and look at three months of intense fishing. Every year we get proud of how many hours our guests spend by the river swinging flies, telling stories and creating memories. 

Just the way we want it. To catch a Baltic salmon you need to have your fly in the water. And we can say that our guests understand that. 

Over this season we have lifted some topics around the Baltic salmon and we hope you are following our journey towards better fishing. 

If you are interested in only fishing jump a little longer or keep on reading to get to know more about some of the topics from this season. 

That one fish the makes you smile 

The baltic sea: 

It is no secret that the Baltic sea is not doing good. And in our region and for our interest it shows on the number of rising fish. 

So why are there not the same numbers rising as previous years? We have to remember that numbers can vary from year to year, but the big dream is to have an average of 100.000 fish rising pr. year. It's a good number, but in our opinion, not unrealistic.

Art by Marko

At the moment the talk is mainly about the lack of herring in the Baltic sea. But it is a big circle of life. 

Less herring means less food for the salmon going to sea, the young salmon do not get the food they need to grow and might end up as food themselves.

Overall good conditions on the fish this year 

Then we have the way we look at the salmon. Is it food or a resource? From our perspective it can be both, but we have to look at the fact that a fish caught by a tourist in our area has a high value when it is released back in the river. 

There must be a way that we all can benefit from the thing we all love, the Baltic salmon. But how? In our eyes it is quite simple. All that love the Baltic salmon has to take their own responsibility. And be a part of the long term decisions. Yes, maybe we will have a few years where we can’t catch as many as we once did, but that is the name of the game when we are trying to be a part of nature. We simply have to give back to nature. And we all have to do that. In the rivers, at the sea and at the tables where decisions are made. 

The nights we dream about 

Rising fish: 

This year around 24.000 fish passed the counter. More than last year, but not in any way a number we can be happy with. 

In a strange way it was good that we did not have a “good” year this year, so we in a magical way forgot about 2023 as it never happened, but it's not the number we want at Kengis Bruk. With this year's low number the politicians have to make wise and brave decisions for the future and think about the same questions we asked; How do we look at the salmon? 

What would it take to have 100.000 fish in average pr. year? That is a question we will try to answer during the off season. 

Hard work pays off

How many fish do we dream about catching at Kenigs? 

The number one question we get is; “How many fish will I land?” We cannot answer. That is the truth. 

But what do we dream about? 1 fish pr. 1000 fish passed to the counter on our Fly fishing lodge. 

This year we landed 30 with 24.000 fish passed, so we are a little ahead of our goal, but not at the numbers we dream about. An average catch rate of 100 fish per. season would be great. 

But, remember we are fishing big rivers, huge pools and long systems. It is not comparable to many other places. 10 fish in a pool might be enough in some rivers, but in our river it's still like finding the needle. It can be frustrating, but the rewards are priceless. 

Kengis feeling 

The farmed salmon: 

A huge topic these days and something we have mentioned in our blogs earlier. 

The reason why it's a part of this blog is the reality that the herring caught in the baltic sea are mostly used to produce fish flour, then made into food for farmed salmon in open net cages in other countries. 

Yes, we are taking away one natural resource to feed an unnatural food source that most of us fly fishermen know that we should not eat. 

How is that possible? 

Remember to look around for the good things

In 2024 where you can buy lab produced food that gives you the vitamins you need and we have not found a way to produce such food for an industry that should not exist. 

And remember that the consumers quite often don't know they should not eat farmed salmon. It's everywhere; in the shops, on TV and in the magazines. So spread the word and tell them that it is not good to eat.

Oscar with another Kengis salmon

The good stories: 

Back to the positive thoughts again. :) 

We are really proud to be the destination of a huge family. It seems like people come together at Kengis Bruk. Find each other and bond over borders, cultures and all with the same thing in mind to catch a Baltic salmon. 

That is special to us. 

This year we had many families visiting Kengis Bruk and it is an honor to be a part of trips like these where families share experiences that will be remembered. 

Jacob with his first on fly

Late season magic 

Karl & Erik making family memories 

All the good fires, coffee, good food and the long nights by the river all gives us a smile on our face when we think back on that. 

We have first on fly experiences, some close to and some that had some wild fights with a strong Baltic salmon. 

It all makes 2024 another special year. 

Teamwork - our fish

Fishing: 

As we mentioned earlier we landed 30 fish on fly this season and lost some also. Overall it has been a year with decent conditions, but still to the warm side. 

We are lucky that most guests return to Kengis and in this season we have talked about the fact that previous years were colder. Looking at pictures where we were wearing puffy jackets and beanies. 

Erik with another good sized Kengis salmon

The early season was different this year. Not as many first runners as we are used to seeing. We really hope they return next year. Mid season was okay, until it got too warm. Then a few slow weeks and then August was okay again. 

A perfect season is hard to find fishing for three months straight, so we have to be happy with the season we get. Even though we always want our guests to experience the power of a Baltic salmon, that is the only part we can’t control. 

Tommy with this season biggest fish. 102cm 

Frantz with the last fish of the season 

Now we are looking forward to 2025 and another season chasing dreams about big Baltic salmon. 

A huge thank you to all guests from the 2024 season, a huge thank you to all that supports us and to all of you following our Kengis feeling. 

Tight lines! 

Aslak Lund - Lodge manager