Swedish trout at Hökensås
Author: Morten Clevin
I was first introduced to troutfishing when I was 12 years old. After spending our holidays in Denmark, my parents decided that we should try Sweden. They had found a place called Hökensås, with several lakes, stocked with rainbow trout.
The fishing is split in 3 categories. A: flyfishing only. B: Spinning rods also allowed. C :Also bait fishing allowed.
We started baitfishing since it was what we knew. But we quickly found out, that spinning a fly with a bobblefloater, was more fun. But one the highlights, was when we some evening made a trip to one of the flyfishing only lakes. I could sit there for hours just watching these wizards casting a fly the “ right “ way. I made my self a promise, that some day, it would be me standing there, making the same incredible casts.
4 years later I bought my first flyrod, and got my first rainbow, the very first evening I went fishing.
Since I started flyfishing I have kept coming back every year, not only to enjoy the fishing, but also the beautiful nature in the area. If you are lucky you will see Elk, deer and osprey.
This year we could not find a weekend, that was perfect for any of us, so I decided to go on my own, the first weekend in June.
I arrived at the tackle shop, at 18.00, and bought a license . The weather was very nice, and the temperature was about 22´C. I thought it was a bit too warm, and did not expect any active fish before sunset. I decided to head for two small lakes, with a small and shallow channel connecting them. They are called “Prinsasjöerne” witch means lakes of princes. They are two small a pretty shallow lakes, with a max depth of 3-4 meters. They have a rich insect life, with a lot of different species of ephemera and caddis and also damselfly. Although you always will be able to catch fish on pattern like Zonkers and colorful flies, you will increase your catches, by using different nymphs and dryflies in brown, grey and green nuances. After parking the car, I took a view over the lake, and to my surprise I saw fish feeding on the surface everywhere.
I quickly tied on my favorite dryfly on, a Klinkhammer in size 16, and walked to a spot where the activity was good. Since most of the lake is very shallow, the fish sometimes feed in 50 cm of water, so you can find feeding fish almost on the bank sometimes. I spent 5 minutes watching the feeding fish, and decided to wade out, on a sandbar, to get rid of trees when casting. About 50 feet out, at least two fish was feeding on the surface, and I threw the fly at them. It did not take long, before one of them took the fly very carefully, and I tried to set the hook. But I failed, and had to wait for my next chance. It came after few minutes, and again I could not set the hook. Frustrated I tried to tie on a bigger fly, hoping that it would help. But after half an hour, I gave up, and walked through the woods, to the other lake, hoping to catch something there on a dryfly.
But here there was almost no activity at all. But fishing these lakes for years, I knew that it was normal. This lake has the shape as a pair of glasses, and I walked out on a sandbar, at the nose of the glases. Since there was no activity on the surface, I tied on a nymph in size 12. Since the nature here is very beautiful here, and birds are singing and the woodpecker was very active hammering trees, I was quickly standing in my own thoughts. But I was soon disturbed by a had pull in the line. Off cause I did not hook the fish, and I swore a bit. I fished for 15 minutes more, but decided to head back to the other lake. As I returned, the fish was still active, and I found a new spot, where I get deeper at the bank. As I stripped line off the reel, a fish took something on the surface, and I threw my nymph at it. I hit the fly instantly and the fight was on. These rainbows are not big, but they are beautiful hard fighting fish, with no wounds on the tail. After a good fight I landed a nice rainbow at about 1kg. The activity was still high, so I quickly started fishing again. After 10 minutes another rainbow hit the nymph, and after A fight with a lot of jumping, I landed another nice rainbow.
Aften a short while, the activity decreased to almost zero, and I stopped fishing. I found out that I had lost feeling in some of my fingers. I always suffer from bad blood circulation in my fingers, but as I got the car started, and put on the heater, I saw that the temperature had dropped from 22´C to only 6´C , and I am sure that it was under 0´C during the night.
The next day, I decided to try my luck in one of the larger lakes called Enesjön. The wind had picked up a bit, so I headed for the far end of the lake, to find a calmer spot. I waded out on a spot where I gets deep pretty fast, but it if you continue wading the you can wade about 30 meters more. From this spot I have caught a lot of fish, through the years, and I was sure this day was no different. A few fish was feeding right in the middle of the lake, witch is 70-80 yards out. After a couple of hours of fishing, I had not felt anything, and the fish was still in the middle. So I decided to walk to the car, to get something to eat. I decided to bring the food to a spot, from where I could observe if fish was feeding in a certain spot. But after half an hour, I had not seen anything, and decided to move to where I was yesterday. Also here the activity was very low, but at least those fish you see, is more likely at casting distance.
I decided to start in the eastern lake, in a nice spot, from where I usually have success. Also here the only fish I saw, was in the middle, but suddenly I hooked up a nice rainbow. It took a quick rush towards the middle of the lake. After a nice fight, I landed a beautiful rainbow about 1,5 kg.
Since the activity was very low, possibly because the temperature was over 20`C, I got bored and moved to the other lake. Here I fished for a couple of hours before another rainbow decided to have mercy, and took the fly hard. It was another nice fish about 1,5 kg.
The wind was still blowing pretty hard, but I hoped it would slow down in early evening. At 20.00 the wind was still pretty hard, and the activity was still low. So with low chance of a nice evening with dryfly fishing, I packed my gear, and headed back home.
All in all it was a nice trip. The fishing is better in April and May, but I was satisfied. I would highly recommend this place, to all kind of flyfishing people. You can easily bring the family and rent a nice cabin. Camping at the lakes is not allowed, but there is a nice camping site, where you can rent the cabins. The area also has some very beautiful golf courses if you like that.