Salmon Fishing in Norway

Salmon fishing is often thought of a sport reserved for some privileged people. However, splendid salmon fishing in Norway does not have to be expensive or exclusive. In the Bjerkreim river, Rogaland county’s longest watercourse, you have good chances of getting fish at a reasonable cost. Read more about salmon fishing in Norway.

Norway has also the reputation being an expensive country and for this reason many sport fishermen see salmon fishing in Norway as an impossible dream. Even many Norwegians don’t realize how privileged they are with regards to fishing.

Related: Scandinavian Salmon

There are many big salmon rivers in Norway, but the salmon season is relatively short. On the other side, the cultural outlook is different than in many other salmon fishing countries where there are now more fish released than taken. Like other game, salmon in Norway are seen as a resource that can be harvested, and Norwegian rivers are classified on the number of fish that are killed.

For fly fishermen, Bjerkreim river is perhaps Southern Norway’s finest river with affordable prices and unlimited sales of fishing licenses. In addition, it is an incredibly beautiful river, which makes up for the fact that the size of the salmon is moderate. However, the number compensates for the size.

Related: Positive Trend for Norwegian Salmon

The season is mainly from June through July, but locals are fishing here almost through September.

The most interesting period, however is between 10th of July until end of August.  The Bjerkreim River has got its name of the village Bjerkreim which it is passing before reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Egersund. The quickest and easiest way to arrive here is by flight to Stavanger in combination with a rental car. By car from Stavanger on highway E39 it takes less than an hour.

Owners of parts of the river offer cabins and apartments for rent. Fishing in Norwegian rivers is always private, but the owners have been organized in order to offer longer stretches of the river and often at both sides. This explains the owners’ engagement for protection and improvement of the salmon population in the Bjerkreim River.

There are few other rivers in Norway that have the same objection to wild salmon as the Bjerkreim River. Fish counts show that 14,000 salmon swam up the watercourse. In 2020, 4,000 of these were caught on rods. The average weight of the salmon was a little over two kilos, and eight percent of the fish was released again.

Related: A Norwegian Eldorado for Anglers

Do not forget to perform a disinfection of all equipment and waders after arrival. You get all needed equipment as well as necessary information at the fishing shop “Fiskekroken Bjerkreim”.

For further information, here’s the link to the Bjerkreim River’s official website.

Another useful link for those who might want to travel to Norway for salmon fishing is the official site for Norwegian salmon rivers (in Norwegian only).

Salmon Fishing in Norway, written by Tor Kjolberg

Feature image (on top) © Gaspar Manuel Zaldo / Unsplash