Week 32 Last cast always matters
Last week we had Leif, Juho, Björn, Pyry, Marko & Niko fishing at Kengis Bruk. What a pleasure to gather guests from all over Europe to chase the baltic dream. For this week we can definitely say that the last cast always matter. Pyry will tell you more about that later.
Björn kicked off the week with a good fish from Erkkinskuoppa, zone 3. That pool has really delivered the last three weeks. Later on in the week most of the action was seen at zone 1, as we normally see it this time of the year.
Björn send us a small update from the week and we will give him the word; “Great fishing in beautiful surroundings, very nice accommodation, really good ghillie service from Tyler, nice fireplaces and shelters in all 3 zones! Never saw something like this before in other places, almost fresh fish to catch even in late season & very good average size of fish.
Well overall I have to say if somebody really wants to come down or finds back to himself while having some great fly fishing than this is the place you want be! It‘s not the number that counts it is the quality of the hole adventure!
And Kengis Bruk or northern Sweden is definitely the place I‘ll come back every year from now on cause that really caught my heart and soul!
Great job you guys are doing here”
Then Juho cracked the code with the Baltic salmon and ended the week with two landed fish from zone 1. What a week for him. We look forward to welcome you back next year.
Leif visited us earlier in the season to fish the north bank of Kengis Bruk, but the heat wave made it difficult to hook into the salmon, so this week it was time for a revenge. And Leif got a real revenge. He landed a good sized fish at zone 1 all by himself and the other guests could cheer for him from the north side! Good job Leif.
And then we will give the word to our new Finnish friends Pyry, Marko & Niko. They have written a resume from their week at Kengis Bruk and they are real baltic fishermen. Enjoy; “We had taken a two-day sneak start from the upper course of the river, so we arrived in Kengis on Sunday after eleven. Tyler met us, we got to know each other and the lodge, and exchanged a word about the morning's fishing at Zone 3.
Salmon fever had hit me and Niko so hard that we woke up well before the bell rang, Marko didn't really like this..
To our delight, we encountered several surface visits of salmon already on the first day. However, it quickly became clear that getting them to the end of the line would be very difficult.”
“During the first days, the weather was rainy and zone 3, especially Erkkiskuoppa, seemed like the best place. Fish could be seen within casting distance, but our flies were not interested in them.
During the week, the fish seemed to move from zone 1 and sometimes the pool was literally boiling with salmon. We got hope for our own efforts when another Finnish guest, Juho, managed to catch 2 nice salmon from that pool. Juho must have been an incredibly skilled fisherman, because we didn't even manage to get a bite...
As the week went on, we started to focus more on the early mornings, because the days were empty and the evenings also started to seem the quietest. On Friday, we were already at zone 1 at 6 a’clock, and Marko's rod bent on the first run!
Niko and I hadn't even had time to start fishing yet! The take felt incredible! I hadn't even woken up properly yet, and there was fish on!
Marko did a good job with the fish and managed to land the fish in a couple of minutes. After the fight there was an 80 cm and 5 kg semi-clear female salmon at the bottom of the net.”
“After many empty days, catching a salomon felt great! This also gave me and Niko faith for the rest of the week.
The rest of the day and evening seemed to be quiet again, so we decided to be on the river early on next morning. The early bird didn't catch a fish this time. We decided after six to try the north side of the river. From there we could witness Leif's fight with the salmon on the opposite bank. He managed to land the fish all by himself!
After the afternoon session, Niko and I started to be sure that on this trip we would be without a catch. After a good meal and a nap, we were lucky to be able to fish the hottest pool of the week. The thought started to fade in my mind that I would still have a chance to catch salmon on a very last evening.. Like in a fairy tale.”
“We saw several salmon jumping but we didn't manage to fool them. It was getting close to ten when I started my last run. I had heard from Tyler that if the sky turns orange at sunset, you should put something with hot orange end of your leader. So Ormu was found at the end of my line.
I made the whole run without takes, and was already reeling in the lines. However, in honor of the last run, I decided to take an extra 5 steps and cast one more time. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw big splashes in the surface on the neck while my line tightened. At the same time, I realized that I was fighting a really big salmon.
I scream like an animal, the boys certainly didn't miss what was happening below. Marko, Niko, Tyler and Björn runs to help me.”
“At first the fish was heading towards the Big als pool, but luckily I was able to turn it into a milder current quite quickly. I had a lot of space in the field to work with the fish and after a couple of fishing sessions, Marko was able to catch the fish in the net. I was almost in shock, a whole week without a bite and with the last cast I caught the biggest salmon of my life. (So far ;)
It probably goes without saying that the feeling was absolutely incredible…
It was good to end our trip here and feel the successes with the boys and go through the roller coaster of emotions.”
“Salomon fishing. We love you” - Pyry Kekarainen
We are now looking at the last weeks of the season and that is always special. Will it end like we hope? Will the fish stop at Kengis Bruk? We cross fingers for a good season ending and look forward to the last weeks.
Tight lines!
Oscar, Tyler & Aslak
Photos; Marko, Leif, Juho, Björn, Tyler & Pyry
