Week 34 The intern & his new family

Ahmed and Nicklas improving the casting

In week 34 we had the chance to welcome an intern from Forshaga Akademin. Ahmed had the opportunity to join us at Kengis for his internship. Listen to what he has to say about Kengis Bruk. 

Hello there my fellow salmon fisher friends.

My name is Ahmed and I'm a student at Forshaga Akademin. I have just started my education at Forshaga as of 14th of August.

How did I end up in Lapland at Kengis bruk? Well I simply contacted Aslak and asked, because I did get some recommendations from friends and the school. I haven't actually heard about Kengis before. So with the recommendations I got curious and decided to head up north.

On Friday the 18th I started my journey in my caddy (My lovely fishing car). The day before my car gave me a nice headache. I could not get the key out but I could still start the car, so I thought I'll try anyway and prayed that nothing more would happen. It's a 15h drive from my city to Kengis Bruk. 

Luckily my car survived and when I arrived at Kengis I saw some really beautiful scenery. The sun is just starting to set, the light peeks through the trees and reflects on the splashing waters, you can see that the fall is getting closer with the nice yellow colors on some of the trees. 

I make a call to tell them that I have arrived. After 2 minutes I meet Tyler and he welcomes me and directs me to where I'm going to stay, a big yellow house all for myself. I brought my bags into the house and went out again to take some nice pictures of the environment around me, and man I got some nice pictures of mother earth.

The next day (Monday). The guests from the south parts of Sweden arrive at the lodge, me and Tyler went over to welcome them and mingle. After the welcome Tyler shows me the different zones and tells me how to fish them.

All in all my first days at Kengis Bruk was a very good start and I felt that this was going to be a great internship.

Our guests started to fish right away and as the previous week's fishing was difficult, new guests meant new energy and everyone was ready for the challenge. 

This group is regular guests and they know all about our concept, so it was nice to welcome a small fishing family to the lodge. 

I spent some time with Nicklas since he needed little casting instructions and that was a good way for me to practice my teaching skills. It is great to see how much you can improve in one week if you just keep on working hard. 

Many good campfires, some beers, good food, stories and big smiles later Michael was out of nothing yelling FISH. 

First cast Wednesday morning at zone 1 and he hooked into a good sized fish. It was a surprise for us, but what a good one. A small and slim banana fly did the job and after a good fight we could net the fish. Michael was on his way to be this week’s king of salmon. The guys in the group have a small intern competition.

The group had some fun at zone 2, with big campfires and pike fishing. The christmas fly got eaten up by several river pikes and they caught a lot in our pike pool. 

Friday it was time for adventure and we drove north to try some new spots in another river. Once again Michael was moving closer to the title and got himself his second fish of the week. A male grilse salmon took his fly and after a few jumps and a good fight we could release him again. Great day for the group and fantastic day for Michael. 

Back at Kengis Bruk, Michael had a memorable round at Zone 1 once again. In between the other fishermen a good sized heavy august fish striked his fly and he got to test his backing. The fish went around a stone and he needed to use all his experience to land the fish. Now there was no doubt; He would be this week's king of salmon.

After the traditional last dinner with fantastic shepherd's pie the group was ready to travel south again. Thank you for coming back to us and thank you for taking such good care of me. 

See you again next year Daniel, Michael, Jonathan, Anders & Nicklas.

My first week of my internship came to an end and I realized that fishing is more than just fishing. Good food, laughs, a lot of new knowledge and a very inclusive group gave me a fantastic start for my internship. 

All of a sudden three months went by and we are at the last days of the season. That is special and we are looking forward to welcoming the last guests in the 2023 season. 

Tight lines! 

Ahmed, Tyler & Aslak 

Photos: Ahmed & Michael