Feel the heat? Head for the high country!
When the heat is on, a smart move on the map is upwards. In the alpine wilderness around Sylan and in the Snåsa mountains, the water often cool, the fish keep feeding — and one licence covers more lakes than you could fish in a lifetime.
As we wrote earlier this week, the valley rivers are still fishing well if you pick your hours — early mornings, late evenings, moving water. But there is another answer to tropical nights and 30-degree afternoons: get above the tree line. Up there, the lakes hold their temperature, the fish feed through the day, and the nights are bright enough to fish whenever you please.
Under Sylan: char country
The Tydal mountains rise from the villages at Stugudal all the way to the top of Sylan at 1,762 metres, and the common Tydal licence covers fishing across the whole municipality — hundreds of lakes in every size and shape. Most of them hold mixed populations of trout and char, and the higher you climb, the more the char takes over. That is good news in a summer like this one: the char is a cold-water fish, and the deep, clear lakes under Sylan are exactly where it thrives when the lowlands swelter.
The locals talk about lonely mountain lakes with fat, first-class fish for those willing to walk. Boats can be rented on several of the bigger lakes, and children under 16 fish for free. Fishing licenses for Tydal are available on Inatur.
Snåsa: two thousand lakes on one licence
Further north, the Snåsa mountains offer the same medicine in an even bigger dose. A single licence from the Snåsa Mountain Board opens more than 2,000 lakes on the public commons between Lake Snåsavatnet, Lierne and the Swedish border, including the waters of Blåfjella–Skjækerfjella National Park.
Trout is the main course here, with char and burbot in some waters, and the rule of thumb is simple: the higher you go, the better the average size. Trout of 5–6 kilos have been taken in some of the largest mountain lakes. A local tip is to seek out the small, nameless tarns — many of them were stocked with trout over the years, and some hide real surprises. If you want a base camp, the mountain board rents out a dozen well-kept cabins, most with a boat on the doorstep. Fishing licenses for Snåsa are available on Inatur.
Travel light, fish cool
The warm-water advice from earlier this week still applies wherever you fish — land fish quickly, keep them wet, release with care. But up in the high country, the water does most of that work for you. Pack light, walk far, and bring a head net just in case. The mountains are at their most generous right now.
Deeper into the wilderness
If the Snåsa mountains tempt you, there is some homework worth doing before you lace up the boots. The Snåsa Mountain Board has put together an extensive fishing guide to their waters, and we have published it lake by lake on the Inatur blog: where the big char-eating trout patrol Langvatnet, how to fish Grøningen and Snaufjellvannet, which cabins put a boat and a good trout lake on your doorstep. The articles are in Norwegian, but the local knowledge translates just fine. You will find the whole collection under the Snåsa tag on the Inatur blog.
