Fishing Tips and Advice : by Matt Hayes

 

Fishing the Gaula River

While the Gaula is undoubtedly one of the most prolific salmon rivers in the world it is a challenging river to fish, especially during the first part of the season when high water predominates. It is famous as a fly fishing river because it comprises long sections of river that are perfect for the technique.

The Gaula is made up of fast shallow glides interspersed with long pools. Typically, the pools are long, consisting of a shallow head (broken white water), long, even paced belly (often several hundred metres long) and the tail (where the water shelves up before giving way to the next pool). Salmon can often be caught throughout the full length of the pool and most of the best pools contain several holding areas or lies, making it possible to wade and fish effectively over considerable distances. Of course, running fish can be caught outside recognised lies. The length of its ‘fishable’ areas is one of the qualities that make Gaula such an exceptional fly-fishing river.

Access to the pools is generally very good with gently sloping banks made up of either round stones, boulders or sand. Wading is good –depth changes are generally gradual rather than sudden in the wading zones. Like many Scandinavian rivers, the Gaula also has a good proportion of pools that offer ample space behind the angler (making overhead and single-handed rod fishing possible in many areas, especially in high summer and late season).

Nonetheless, Gaula is a big, powerful and rugged river, fuelled by mountain water and running through boulder-strewn banks. The typical width of the river is around forty to fifty metres and long-casting dramatically increases the chance of catching fish. In some areas, there is very little back cast making double-handed rod fishing the predominant style. The weather can vary dramatically from day to day and, on occasions from hour to hour. Good protective clothing is a must to keep the elements at bay and anglers must carry a range of flies and lines to meet the changing conditions found on the river.

Equipment Needed

• Double hand rods, weights 8 to 11, depending on height, but #10/11 and #9/10 being the most popular. Single hand, weights eight and nine are also used in low water by some anglers.
• Reels loaded with up to two hundred metres of backing
• Lines from floating through sink-tip and intermediate to medium and fast sink
• Leaders – tippets typically between twenty-two and thirty six pounds
• Flies – mixture of big templedog tubes, sunray shadows, pot-belly pig, doubles from sizes five to eleven and small trebles, Francis, mini-tubes for low water.
• Chest Waders
• Wading Stick
• Mosquito Repellent
• Layered, warm clothing
• Wading jacket

Common Mistakes

Here is a list of common mistakes that we like our guests to avoid making:

• Not being able to cast far enough
• Failing to book casting lessons if their technique is lacking
• Fishing with floating or sink tip lines in all conditions
• Not fishing with the correct flies
• Failing to book a guide (inexperienced anglers and newcomers)