Flyfish
Greenland
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Did you know... ...that though almost 80 percent of Greenland’s land mass is covered by an ice cap and glaciers, the ice-free area has some truly amazing rivers and offers some of the world’s most prolific fly fishing for arctic char? For the past eight seasons we have been exploring the best rivers and worked with Greenland’s Tourism and Business Council on how to run a sustainable sport fishing operation in a fragile environment. After having fulfilled the wildest fly fishing dreams of hundreds of Scandinavians and continously improving our fishing program we are now ready to open our camps for an international audience. Come fly fish Greenland with us. The coolest fly fishing there is.
Greenland is a great place... ...to go fly fishing – but only in summer! The arctic char starts running the rivers in late June so our fishing season opens in early July. It’s a rather short season, from early July til late August. Come September and the fish starts to prepare for spawning and is better left alone. There is no other fish than the arctic char running the rivers in Greenland. Though you will find the species in most bigger rivers in Greenland, those rivers that offers great fly fishing for bigger chars of 2-5 kilos (5-11 lbs) or more are pretty few and far between. As with other salmonoids we do some times see a tendency that the biggest fish enter the rivers as some of the first but we catch a pretty even number of big fish in every week throughout the season.
Clear water and big fish There are hundreds of rivers in Greenland. Most of then are not really worth fishing. They are either too small, too colored from glacial water, the fish are too small or too few...or all of those put together. Through years of research we have found the few rivers that, in our opinion, are the ones worth traveling for. They are clear water rivers that makes fly fishing for the chars much more fun – and they are far enough from civilization that the average size has not been netted down to a few pounds during generations but is still of a size that will heat up your drag system ad put serious a bend in our fly rod.
Skating foam flies... ...on the surface is by far our favorite method. The chars can be really aggressive and will often follow the fly and hit it several times before being hooked. Pound for pound the Greenland chars fight harder than any other salmonoids we have encountered so we always tie our flies on heavy wire hooks and use strong tippets. This is no place for four weight rods and light tippets!
Go the extra mile If you want to taste the full potential of the rivers we are fishing you need to be able to walk. A lot. There are no jet boats on the rivers, no buses, taxis or ATV along the river and no helicopter to take you to the upper river. Most of the way you have to walk. We do have boats on the bigger lakes to save you some long walks along those but if you want us to show you all the great places we can fish you should be able to walk for an hour or more on some days. The terrain is pretty easy so it’s not exactly demanding hiking but we still want you to know in advance. We will help you catch the fish but you still have to carry your own weight.
The camps At one of our camps there is a small hut to rest in and for eating dinner, plus a primitive toilet shack. At the other camp we are not allowed to set up a fixed camp, so we have a tent to stay in and for eating dinner together. At both camps guests sleep in their own tent. At both camps the river runs through lakes, where we have a boat anchored. The boat is used for group transport to the upper river. For logistic and legal reasons we have to run simpler camp setups than you would find in other wilderness camps. We still have a chef in camp and try to make it is comfortable as possible for our guests but expect the fishing to be far better than the comfort of our camps.
The tools We only fish floating lines and single handed rods. A six weight rod would be our first choice a powerful five weight – or a light seven weight – will work equally well. When we’re not skating foam flies we are swinging streamers or fishing small nymphs.
The itinerary It is usually necessary to arrive in Copenhagen, Denmark the night before departure. Day 1
Departure from Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Domestic flight to Sisimiut. Hotel accommodation, afternoon sightseeing.
Day 2
Boat transfer to the camp. Fishing in the afternoon and/or evening.
Day 3-8 Six full days (and nights!) of fishing. Day 9
Boat transfer back to Sisimiut. Hotel accommodation, farewell dinner.
Day 10 Morning flight back to Copenhagen via Kangerlussuaq. Arrival on the same day.
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