Stjørdalselva - A river of big salmons in the “shadow” of its bigger neighbors.

Stjørdalselva has a long and rich history of fly fishing that is filled with markings of salmons weighing over 20 kilograms. Today the waters of the salmon lords are available for everyone. We tested the remarkable pools of Hembre Gård.

Trondheim area has several rivers known for their ability to produce a big and strong salmon population. Gaula, Orkla and Namsen are known worldwide, but for some reason Stjørdalselva has beenleft in the shadow of its bigger neighbors, at least to the Finnish fly fisherman. That has happened despite of the fact that the river runs next to Vaernas Airport, which is the starting point for fishing trips to those other, more famous rivers.

This does not make any sense as Stjørdalselva is a perfect river for fly fishing, it has a strong population of big salmons and it offers affordable fishing to everyone. The total length of the fishing area is 48 kilometers of which approximately 1/3 of it is public water managed by the local fishing club SJFF. The river is also known for its many private stretches where fishing has started over 150 years ago. Last summer we were introduced to one of these old salmon lord areas: Hembre Gård.

Stjørdalselva is in many ways an ideal river for fly fishing. The lower part of the river runs calmly and there are very few rapids or bigger falls. Current drags fly line evenly and the fly swims nicely. Walking to the fishing beats does not require big efforts. Wading is easy on the gravel bottom and in fact not much wading is even needed. It is quite often possible to cast across the river from the bank with a double hand rod.

A salmon weighing 40 kilos?

The biggest fish known to live in Stjørdalselva is not found in the catch books. It was found dead by the river bank of Hembre Gård in October 1942. The length of the salmon was 131,5 cm. It weighed 31 kilograms and wild guesses are that it might have weighed over 40 kilos when it arrived in to the river in its full strength. The figure of this mighty fish can be seen on the wall of Hembre Gårds “Stabbur”, a parlor where fishing guests gather to relax and talk about the days fishing.

According to Norges Beste Lakseelver -book the official salmon record is 24,5 kg and it is from 1933. Hembre Gårds own fishing trophy has been lately won with 15-20 kg salmon. So, basically it should not be impossible to break that old record, especially now when salmon populations and runs are again getting better after conservation work and net buy-outs in the Trondheim Fjord.

Stjørdalselva used to be a famous sea trout river, but at the moment sea trout is protected and the population is under supervision. Still, quite a lot of sea trout is caught along with the salmon fishing, so the population is not in total danger.

Read the old fishing story from 1961.

Water like Norwegian cognac

The width of the river on it´s lower parts is as broadest approximately 40 meters. It narrows to a half when travelled to the upper parts, where the river runs through canyons. In these more wilderness like areas you can fish well with a single hand rod.

Stjørdalselva is slightly coloured by humus, the colour is like Norwegian cognac – something all fishermen know. Although if it starts to rain, the colour can quickly turn to Cafe Latte. There are dams that control the water level in the main river, but for example tributary river Forra flushes everything down from the mountains when the rain gets heavy and it affects the colour of the main stream too.

All the flies with orange and yellow work well in the slightly brown water. I found an old book from Hembres Stabbur, an English fishing journal from 1913. It recommends tying some of the following patterns to the end of your leader: Jock Scott, Durham Ranger or Thunder and Lightning. Other popular fly patterns are Willie Gunn, Allys Shrimp, General Practitioner, Black & Silver and Banana Fly. And naturally Sunray Shadow works here, as everywhere.

Not just for the early season

Finnish fishermen have often chosen the Trondheim´s area´s rivers for the early season, and from mid-July the focus has turned to north, Finnmark. But now the potential of these rivers has also been seen for the late season. Summers can be tricky nowadays and old rules do not apply anymore. It might be terribly hot with a low water level in the middle of summer and a good water level and great conditions for fishing in late August. Like in Summer 2018, when in both Stjørdalselva and Orkla fishing was extremely successful in the last weeks of the season.

And not all the private waters are that expensive in Stjørdalselva. Where you have to pay 5000 € in Gaula, here the price tag very seldom exceeds 1500 €. But getting your booking has more or less turned into a problem. That is because the river has loyal regular guests, and once you have got your week, you do not give it away.

-That is true, says Aksel Hembre, who runs Hembre Gård together with his wife Beate. – Our most loyal guest is here this year for the 45th time.

Loyalty like that proves that fishing must be good here. Nobody would return year after year otherwise, even though the Hembre Gård itself is extremely pleasant and the host pair the most welcoming one I have met in my various fishing trips. (My Norwegian fishing friend Erik Lier says that the nicest people in Norway live in the Stjørdal-valley. I can agree…).

A unique salmon fishing experience - fish two famous salmon rivers during your week in Norway.

Plenty of river to fish

Hembre Gård has a total of 2,1 kilometers stretch of fishing. I am ready to lift at least three beats out of nine from Hembre Gård´s beats to my list of the world class salmon fishing places. As my test fishing period last summer was in the middle of the worst heat wave and difficult conditions, I can´t even judge the full potential of the Hembre pools.

One of the best pools is called Fuldseth. If you look upstreams, it is a place where a long and deep run meet whitewater. And this is the place where salmon tend to rest before going up again. When new fishes come to the pool, there is always action. In the upper part of the pool fishing is easy, classic 45-degrees casting, but the lower part is trickier. The current makes a swirl and it is best fished with a francis in free drift.

Bjørngård is an example as classic as it gets of traditional salmon pool. It has a sandy bank with plenty of room for back casts. The pool has couple of nice salmon lies and the current ends to a neck, which is always a good spot to hook a fish.

Third hot spot is under the bridge that crosses river at Hegra, just by Hembre Gård. This place is called Trekanten and it is a natural place for salmon to rest after a tiring run through rapids.

Always enough flow

As all who visited Norway in summer 2018 know, water levels in most rivers were historically low and temperatures high both in air and water - and also in your waders. In mid-July Stjørdalselva reached the alarming temperature of 20 C°. Thanks to good water flow, Stjørdalselva was not forced to close down, but C&R -fishing was banned. All responsible fisherman should though understand themselves, when it is time to stop fishing in order to protect fishes.

Luckily low water level is a very seldom reason to ban fishing in Stjørdalselva, as happened in Gaula last summer. - There are hydroelectric power plant dams in the upper parts of the river. We have an agreement with a power company that they maintain minimum flow of 10 cm3/s, Aksel Hembre tells.

With that flow fishing is still quite good, and being at the first time in the river, I didn’t even notice the water problem in most of the pools. For example, the Fuldseth looked perfect to me. But at Trekanten the situation was already different. The flow did not drag the line properly and I waded easily in the middle of the river, on the ruins of an old bridge. I assume in high water, you don’t get there even with a boat…

Cold water pulse refreshes river

- We are lucky to have many different beats in our fishing area. In many of them fishing goes well in all water levels, says Aksel and continues: - Sometimes the power company agrees to give a coldwater pulse, if the temperature of the water threatens to rise too much.

This kind of cold pulse was released the day I arrived to Stjørdalselva. Sudden rise of the water level and temperature decrease caused immediate results. In that day a total of 97 salmons were written down in the catch books, when earlier the amount had only been a dozen per day in average.

One of those salmons that the cold pulse had brought into the river took to a small yellow winged tube fly, that my guide Mattias “Hajas” Andersson was casting. The fish was 89 cm long male with sea lice in its tail. The ten kilometers journey from the sea to this pool must have gone fast.

Visit to upper parts

Hembre Gård is situated by the Hegra village, that provides all the services a fisherman needs: good supermarket and a gas station. And the town of Stjørdal is only 10 kilometers away, if you need to go to a tackle shop or want to dine in a restaurant for a change (Hembre is a self-catering lodge in general).

The nearest pools of Hembre Gård are in walking distance, but for visiting the most remote ones you need a car. Furthest away is Sørneshølen, approximately 20 km upwards the river valley. On my way I read names of the famous fishing places from the road signs: Trøite, Einang, Ersgaard, Florholmen, Fornes, Midtkil, Østkil… And there runs the 13 kilometers long tributary Forra. It also offers good fishing.

At Sørneshølen I parked my car and walked down to the river, where I found probably the smallest gapahuk of whole Norway. But because every gapahuk is built in front of a good fishing spot, I calmly sat down. I didn’t have to wait long before I saw the first salmon showing in the surface. Unfortunately, very low water level and + 27 C° temperature weren´t the perfect conditions for fishing here. Even though I spotted many fishes, none of them showed any interest in my flies in the middle of the day and bright sun shine. I instead started to feel ill in my hot waders, probably suffering of dehydration. It was time to drive back and have a lunch break.

After lunch I recovered so much that I decided to visit Bjørngård-pool and try if salmons would be interested in dry flies. Another crazy idea.

I assumed that local salmon had never seen a “Surf board”, famous Finnish dry fly used in the rivers of Finnmark with great success. And what you know, soon the first salmon rose from its deep hole to drive away my fly. And note – drive away, not to bite. The fish was clearly more disturbed than willing to take. I fished the pool four times and with every run-down I managed to get contact with a fish. Even though none of them was hooked, the experience was encouraging.

And finally - efforts are rewarded

My three days fishing trip was turning to its end, and still I hadn’t land any fish. I drove to the best of the pools: Fuldseth. It was evening, but the midsummer sun was still shining from the high sky. The previous group, bunch of British gentlemen were leaving the pool and explaining how they just lost a big fish. Arms waved vigorously in the air when they pointed me where the fish took. I thanked them for the advice and waded into the river. After a deep bowl I reached a stone reef and started to cast over the narrow but strong current. I had tied a size 12 Black Sheep on my leader. I made my line a bit longer with every cast and then, on the fourth cast, the line stopped in the middle of the current. Fish on!

The line run out from the reel with such a speed that I was sure, I had hooked a bigger fish. Then fish jumped and I saw that it was only a grilse. But what a grilse: strong and aggressive. At the same time, I remembered that the water temperature is so high that C&R is not recommended any more. As I love to eat gravad lax, I got a bit nervous to land this strong fish which took such a small fly, tied to thin leader. Luckily, I got the salmon out of the strong current and towed it on the stone reef. The fish was 64 cm and 2,5 kg. It still had sea lice on its tail. And as the rules of the river say, when you kill a fish, your fishing day is over. So, I packed my gear and drove back to Hembre Gård where I met other fishermen getting ready for the night shift on the river. They were all very happy to see that despite of the difficult weather, there was fresh fish coming up. According to the house tradition, we took some photos with Aksel and placed my salmon on the shelf of Hembre´s Salmon Cellar to rest before I would “grav” it. That´s the secret of even greater taste…

Flyfishing at Hembre Gård.

The other option: 40 pools of the SJFF

As said, Hembre Gård has many regular guests and it can be difficult to get your booking for a certain week. Best chances to get your week is in August. But every year some new places come available and when you get a hold on one, you will be offered that next year. Or option to change it to a more suitable one, if they come available. The fact is that there will be more and more fishermen fighting for the good fishing places. Because salmon rivers are like land. They don’t make new anymore. So, if you get a good week, hold tight on to it…

In addition to Hembre Gård, there are many other traditional private fisheries along the Stjørdalselva. where you can ask for weeks fishing package. Greatest is Renå up in the Meråker. Other famous ones are for example Flornes, Austkil and Midtkil.

And you can always fish some of the 40 pools managed by the local fishing club SJFF. Almost one third of all the fishes in the river are caught in these pools. Licenses are not limited and therefore there is also no need to reserve them (at least in 2018). You can buy your cards from the SJFF headquarters in Midtkill Camping or from Best Fishing in Stjørdal or Best Gas Station in Hegra. The price of a day card in 2018 was about 40 euros (390 NOK). I fished a few pools and they were not crowded. Actually, I was told that people in Stjørdalselva don´t get up very early, so if you are in the river by the sunrise, you might be there alone. This of course doesn’t count other tourists… If you want to fish the SJFF pools you can ask accommodation from Hembre Camping, which is also managed by Aksel and Beate. There are nice cabins and places for mobile homes just by the river.

For more info visit www.hembregard.no . SJFF web page www.njff.no/fylkeslag/nord-trondelag/lokallag/stjordal gives you info about public waters, and more of the river in general you can read here https://lakseelver.no/nb/elver/stjordalselva .

Hembre Gård in a nut shell

The concept of Hembre Gård includes guided fishing in first two days and the rest of the week you fish on your own. There is no real rotation, only the best pool Fuldseth is divided in two-men-slots. But there is plenty of water to fish and in addition to Hembre Gårds 2,1 km water there are few cards for the SJFF pools.

Self-regulated rotation seems to work well. And the reason is that when all the 12 fishermen live in the farm`s premises, everyone get to know each other and things are easy to settle.

- In many places the guide is with the guests for the whole week, but we prefer it like this. It keeps the price of the week also more affordable to everyone. Of course, we can provide guiding and even catering for all week if you book the whole place, but most of our guests want to have their own schedules and prepare their own food, tells Beate Hembre.

The weekly price at Hembre Gård starts from 11 000 NOK, that is about 1100 Eur. It gives you access to truly good fishing and high quality accommodation.

- We have nine double rooms with own kitchenette. And then we can offer accommodation for maximum eight persons in the old house, says Beate.

The old house is really old, over 100 hundred years. The old main building has unfortunately burned, but this Flaas-house offers old world grandeur with modern comforts. It is recently renovated, as all the double rooms too.

All guests have access to “Stabbur”, which is sort of an old barn decorated with fishing memories and offering comfortable place to sit and chat.

According to tradition all new guests enjoy their welcome coffee at the Stabbur. Salmon shaped woffles, cream and homemade jam are served with coffee. And not to forget the brown Norwegian goat cheese. It sounds peculiar, but when you load all that together, it tastes heavenly.

Hembre Gård is a relaxed and peaceful place - and also very family friendly. Youth under 18 can fish for free at the home pool below the bridge, if one of the parents have the full fishing card. So, Hembre Gård is an excellent place to teach fly fishing to your kids, by yourself or in private lessons given by Hajas Andersson. Hembre Gård also wants to promote women’s fly fishing and has a special ladies´ week every August.

Summary season 2019.

Pool map Hembre Gård.

THANKS ANTTI FOR YOUR VISIT AND YOUR KIND WORDS PROMOTING BOTH HEMBRE AND STJØRDAL RIVER IN ITS RIGHT WAY - THE RIVER IN THE CENTER OF NORWAY!

Contact us for prices and offer flyfishing Stjørdal and Hembre Gård.

Tight Lines!

This article was published first in the Pohjolan Perhokalastaja - Nordic Flyfisherman Magazine.

Text by Antti Einiö