With a quarter of Norway's coastline at your disposal, nearly 14,000km (8,680 miles), you obviously have plenty of opportunities for sea fishing.
Norway has long been famous for its salmon and trout fishing, with more than 100 salmon rivers flowing into its fjords. The best months for salmon are June, July, and sometimes August. Sea-trout fishing takes place from June to September and is best in August. The brown-trout season varies with altitude.
Fishing in the ocean is free. To fish in lakes, rivers, or streams, anyone over 16 must have a fishing license. The cost of a license to fish in a lake begins at 95NOK ($15/£7.80); it costs 190NOK ($29/£16) to fish in a river. National fishing licenses can be purchased at local post offices. For more information, contact the Bergen Angling Association, Fosswinckelsgate 37, M-5004 Bergen (tel. 55-32-11-64).
A U.S.-based company that can arrange fishing (as well as hunting) excursions anywhere within Norway and the rest of Scandinavia is Five Stars of Scandinavia, 13104 Thomas Rd., KPN, Gig Harbor, WA 98329 (tel. 800/722-4126; www.5stars-of-scandinavia.com). For a truly unusual fishing experience, consider renting one of their old-fashioned fishermen's cottages in the isolated Lofoten Islands. The rustic-looking, fully renovated cottages each lie adjacent to the sea and evoke 19th-century isolation. Five Stars will rent you a cottage for as short a period as 1 night, but we recommend a minimum stay of 3 nights to appreciate this offbeat adventure.
One of the most qualified fishing outfitters in Bergen spends part of its time delivering food, tools, and spare parts to the thousands of fishermen who make their living in boats and isolated fjords along the western coast of Norway. Camperlen, P.O. Box 11, Strandkaien 2, N-5083 Bergen (tel. 55-32-34-72), and its president and founder, Captain Dag Varlo, will take between two and four passengers on deep-sea fishing excursions in the teeming seas off the country's western coast. Although his boats go out in all seasons, midsummer is the most appealing because of the extended daylight hours. Most avidly pursued are codfish, valued as a "good-eating" fish, and a local species known as saet, prized for its fighting properties as a game fish. (They weigh 3-22 lb. each.) A 4-hour fishing excursion, with all equipment included for up to six passengers, costs 5,000NOK ($770/£411). In midsummer, full-day excursions depart from Bergen's harbor and are usually scheduled from 9am to around 5pm.
The best salmon-fishing tours take place in central Norway, especially along the Guala River, one of the country's best-known salmon-fishing rivers. Ursus Major (tel. 99-22-49-60; www.ursus-major.no) offers weeklong fishing tours in Trondheim, which cost from 1,500NOK to 24,900NOK ($231-$3,835/£123-£2,047) per person, including meals and accommodations.
The River Gudbrandsdalslågen, running through a beautiful valley and Hafjell Hunderfossen, is one of the best fishing rivers of Europe, set against a backdrop of the Øyer mountains, with its many fishing lakes and rivers. The main types of fish caught are burbot, trout, char, and grayling. Many lakes in the mountains have rowboats for free use, and permits are easily obtainable at gas stations, grocery stores, hotels, or inns. For more information, contact the Øyer Tourist Office at tel. 61-27-70-00.
