In fact when looking at how many times I'd been down to the rivers in Dorset, I've managed the grand sum of 5 trips this year due to the rivers being high and coloured. My family are known to organise our holidays around a fishing theme, and everywhere we've been this year, the rivers have been high and the story's the same. And so it was when we found ourselves in Swedish Lapland to fish for their large Grayling, the locals were muttering that it was the wettest June on record for a 100 years - not a good omen for the trip but par for our course.

We headed north from Stockholm to Västerbotten County in Europe's largest nature reserve, the wild expanse of Vindelfjällen. Running through this vista is the Vindelälven, all 270 miles of pure unfettered water, and it makes any of the great Scottish rivers pale into insignificance. Besides superb fishing and Reindeer, unless your family is into nature, long hikes and biking, there's not a lot to keep non-fishing partners engrossed. Mining and Logging rule up here, and the young local women tend to run south to get away from the 6 months of darkness in winter and explore the delights of cosmopolitan shopping. This presents a problem if you're a young male lumberjack in search of breeding material; you've got to go south and start up the mating rituals before you can persuade them to return north. Hence some enterprising chap has started arranging an annual matchmaking fair in the north and bringing in busloads of Siberian Russian 'Hot Totty' to keep Cupid's job down to the basics.

With a river the size of the Vindelälven, driven by snowmelt, late July and August are the best times for fishing. By then the levels have dropped and in this mineral rich area, the sand sparkles through the pure water as the sun catches the small particles of copper, gold, zinc and silver. In fact the water's so clean, stopping off for lunch, drinking water is scooped straight from the river. If you prefer smaller intimate rivers or stillwater fishing for huge Grayling, Arctic Char or Browns then there's enormous choice to be had in this area - so much so, it can be daunting. This is where the local fishing clubs and Tourist Information come up trumps; they will advise you, arrange guides and sell permits for a number of waters in the district.

The local clubs are proud of their waters and fishing huts are dotted along the river for you to cook in and rest. We were fishing around the hamlets of Sorcele and Malå, where the local club M.A.S.K., with the aid of EU grants have rented additional waters and now market their permits and guiding service world-wide via the Internet. It was on one of their lakes that I caught my first Arctic Char. We only stopped to take a peer at the place on the way back to the hotel, and stumbled across the rare occurrence of these deep dwelling fish feeding ravenously on the surface. No dipping in seine nets or squinty-eyed inspection needed here to determine which insect they were feeding on; these Swedish sedges were the size of super-tankers and their bow waves were driving these beautiful fish into a frenzied repast. Trembling fingers tied on the largest fly in the box and even then I thought it looked more like a dinghy than a super-tanker. Still, out it went with all my hopes and 15 minutes later I'd had three of these all too elusive fish. The fly - a size 8 emerging caddis fished static. In these northern climes fish live longer, grow slower and bigger with their record Grayling at 6¼lb whilst the Brown Trout record clocks in at a hefty 37½lb. Fly-fishing for Pike is very popular and a summer cruise around the lake margins in a float-tube or boat will bring some explosive sport on big deer hair or chicken feather flies.

Talking of flies, open a northern Swedes fly box and you'll find row upon row of caddis patterns, imitating every stage of their life. They do have some large Vulgata's and other assorted foodstuffs but you can never have enough caddis patterns. To my uneducated ear the names are unpronounceable, with such mouthfuls as Skörven and Sorsele Skräcken but what's this, a name that I recognise - the Superpuppan. This is a pattern par-excellence and catches fish the world over on rivers and lakes. It has a palmered stiff hackle but the top and underside is trimmed flush with the fly and I think that this is the secret of its success. Its Swedish originator, Lennart Bergqvist, was fishing for Grayling in Norway with some friends on the Rena where the fish were rising but very few were taking their winged flies. On further inspection they discovered caddis pupae struggling in or just under the surface film, "swimming" with their pair of long legs. The instructions below are a general dressing to imitate the 'swimming' pupa where size and body colour should be changed to suit. Hook: Mustad 94833 #12 to 18 - Thread: Brown - Hackle: Brown - Abdomen: Yellow (Flyrite No 9) - Thorax: Dark Brown (Flyrite No 6). Take the thread down just past the bend and tie in the hackle at the rear. Dub the abdomen along 2/3 of the hook shank. Dub and wind the thorax up to the eye. Wind the hackle palmered style, and tie off. Cut the hackle flush to the body, above and below. Simple to tie and well worth knocking some out ready for the next Grayling trip. Other colour variations could be cream, olive or grey for the abdomen or a blue dun hackle.

Planning a Trip

Despite the native Sami people's now defunct habit of throwing the aged and infirm off high cliffs, the Northern Swedes are a very friendly bunch and will go out of their way to make your stay a successful one and language isn't a barrier, as many speak perfect English. Options for accommodation varies from hotels to small log cabins to camping. Some of the cabins can be very basic but when it comes to camping, the Swedes have a 'right to roam' policy. In essence, you can pitch your tent / van anywhere that isn't used for farming or near somebody's house i.e. disturbs his or her privacy. All they ask is that you're not loud, take away any litter, respect wildlife and make sure that fires are put out on leaving.

Some good rivers to try in this area, in addition to the Vindel, are the Juktån, Gargån, Olsbäcken, Malån, Skäpträskån and the Lais. Too many stillwater opportunities to mention here but good sport can be had on Stentrasket, Stora Harrträsket, Ljustjärn and Stentjärn.

Accommodation, permits and guides can be arranged through Tourist Information at Sorsele (www.vindelalven.se) or through Malå Sportsfiskeklubb at Malå (www.mask.nu). If you'd like someone to organise the trip fro you, then we highly recommend Greger Jonsson at Barracuda Travel (http://home.bip.net/barracuda.travel) - he speaks excellent English, fishes, knows the area well and will sort you out with guides, accommodation etc. Compared to America, guide prices are much lower and it wont mean taking out a second bank loan for a guide to show you around for a day. When it comes to flying internally from Stockholm then I'd suggest you fly into Umeå or Lycksele then hire car from there on. Summer is low season in Lapland so when it comes to accommodation, you'll find prices refreshingly low. If you plan to spend a couple of days in Stockholm then why not hire a pedal bike, it's easy to get around and gives you some exercise. There are a few sightseeing opportunities nearby - the Arctic Zoo in Lycksele, the Underground Church down a mine in Kristineburg, a mountain village at Ammarnäs known for its Lapland culture and the worlds longest ropeway, where you can take a long ride over 13km of lakes and forest near Örträsk. If you do take the ropeway, pack some food and drink, as there is no hopping off halfway for a rest.

© Budget Angler 2000