TR: Trip to Ransaran Creek part I

(If you don't feel like clicking on all the links for the pictures just go
to the website below and click on TR:s for the web version)

Trip to Ransaran Creek part I
It has been an eventful summer to say the least. Having had the privilege to
live from a parachute agreement, and having just about as much spare time as
a man can have at the age of 37, I've been prioritizing fly-fishing.
Normally fishing locally as much as I can and spending one week in or near
the mountains changed to fishing a little less in the waters close to home
and spending six weeks in the mountain area. This in turn resulting in the
fact that I have six half written TRs with pictures in my computer. Here
comes the first that I've managed to finalize.
It was two weeks before midsummer when my friend Andreas called me with a,
to say the least, fantastic story. There was no mistaking that there might
just be some substance to what he was telling me, at least judging by his
enthusiasm. He wanted us to get up at 3 am Monday next week in order to be
on our way to Saxnas Village in the municipality of Vilhelmina about 450
kilometers (279 miles) west to fish Ransaran creek for a day and a night and
then return back home. It sounded a really crazy idea but his enthusiastic
story about a trip that he had made a week earlier tore down any resistance
I had and I agreed to join him on the next trip.
Most of the tiredness that I'd been feeling that morning was washed away by
an early breakfast in a cafe´ in the small town of Vilhelmina about 150
kilometers east of our destination. A quick stop at a local tackle shop for
some refilling of, ... ehh ... well I didn't really need anything but have
yet to visit a tackle shop without buying at least something, and we were on
our way to Saxnas. Saxnas village will, by the way, host the world
fly-fishing championships 2004, which will be the second time in three years
that this event will be held in northern Sweden.
Ransaran creek is a long mountain creek famous for its large Arctic char and
its trout. We were to fish the trophy stretch located high up the lower part
of the creek, a stretch that is under quota restrictions allowing 8 persons
to fish every 24 hours. Andreas had called Saxnasgarden Mountain resort a
week ahead to book our fishing permits, which this early in the season are
fairly easy to get.
Upon arrival at Saxnasgarden we had lunch in their restaurant enjoying the
fabulous scenery through large panorama windows while eating.
Looking out over the lake below we realized that weather conditions weren't
perhaps the best we could've wished for. Although there was no rain and some
sunshine coming through the clouds it was somewhat windy, but we reasoned
that in the creek valley it might not be that bad. Picking up our permits at
the newly opened fishing center in the same building as the resort I learnt
that the bag limit was one fish and the minimum size 45 cm (18 inches).
Hell, I thought they were joking since I had only caught one Arctic char
that big before and know of just about one place where you can find that
many that you might have a chance at catching one, and this wasn't it.

http://biphome.spray.se/bo_lindfors/...n_creek_1d.jpg

Once we arrived at the creek it was to our dismay a bit too windy to be
good, it did calm down during the night though. We were going to fish the
two calmer stretches at the top of the lower stretch, the quotation
stretches. I tackled my ten foot three piece six weight Sage RPL+ with a
heavy caddis nymph, I call it the **** rod, not because it is all that
****ty to throw with, quite the opposite, but it is ****ty to fish with.

http://biphome.spray.se/bo_lindfors/...n_creek_1a.jpg

The water of this creek has what is the characteristically crystal clear
water of the mountains, this in turn cause the fish to be vary of any motion
along the shoreline.
The calmer stretches that we fished were about 40 - 80 meters wide, this
says very little about the creek's normal size at about 15 meters wide but
knowing this gives you a hint on how very slow flowing this stretch is. Fish
were taking heavy nymphs and nothing else, I reckon it was the weather that
made it impossible to catch fish on anything other than these nymphs, and we
did catch fish =).

http://biphome.spray.se/bo_lindfors/...n_creek_1g.jpg

Two larger Arctic char and one nice brown trout were caught and released,
the biggest weighing almost 3kg (lb6).
It is a bit special to go fishing this far north and so close to midsummer
with the 24 hour daylight and to cut the story short we kind of forgot time.
What happened was that when we finally got home it was 4 am 25 hours later.
I decided there and then that I would not drive up there again unless I
could bring my tent. I did go there again and had the fishing of a lifetime
but I will save that story and those pictures for another TR, namely part
two.

http://biphome.spray.se/bo_lindfors/...n_creek_1e.jpg

Viewing the pictures you will find that there was still snow on the mountain
sides, but what really surprised me was that when we returned 4 weeks later,
in the beginning of July the snow was still present. I'm sorry to say that I
only remembered to take pictures of the surroundings once it got dark,
uhmm.... well it was midnight anyway.

http://biphome.spray.se/bo_lindfors/...n_creek_1i.jpg
http://biphome.spray.se/bo_lindfors/...n_creek_1c.jpg
http://biphome.spray.se/bo_lindfors/...n_creek_1f.jpg

--
/ Roger
Daytime engineer
Lifetime flyfisherman
If you feel like it, visit http://biphome.spray.se/angler/ for info on
flyfishing in northern Sweden, Lapland

On Sun, 5 Oct 2003, Roger Ohlund wrote:

He wanted us to get up at 3 am Monday next week in order to be
on our way to Saxnas Village in the municipality of Vilhelmina about 450
kilometers (279 miles) west to fish Ransaran creek for a day and a night and
then return back home. It sounded a really crazy idea but his enthusiastic
story about a trip that he had made a week earlier tore down any resistance
I had and I agreed to join him on the next trip.

Last Saturday I awoke at 2 AM a drove 7 hours to reach the mountains of
central California. Fishing was OK. That's the price southern
Californians have to pay in order to reach trout water.

only remembered to take pictures of the surroundings once it got dark,
uhmm.... well it was midnight anyway.


Very nice pics & TR. Thanks.

Mu