We welcomed the first guests at Camp North at the beginning of July. Unlike last year, when the river was at a record high, the water level this season was normal and ideal for the group to connect with the fresh runs of Arctic Char that came in with each high tide. At the start of July, the fishing was good throughout the day, but especially when a fresh batch of fish arrived. Not only are the newly arrived Char eager to chase down a streamer, but they also disturb the stationary fish, making them keen to have a go at our flies.

The Main River, from the lake down to the delta where the river splits in two, offered great fishing as the pools began to fill up during the week. The Junction Pool, where the tributary flows into the Main River, is one of the best spots in the system throughout the entire season. However, in the opening weeks, you can experience “red letter days” with strong Arctic Char fresh from the sea.

At the beginning of the season, we also began to visit the fjord more frequently. In the past, we only made a few trips to the Arctic Char’s feeding grounds in the sea. Perhaps because the fjord is so large, we didn’t think it was possible to consistently find schools of feeding Char. However, we could not have been more wrong.

Last year, we had fantastic fishing in the fjord, and this year, the trend continued. The guests had insane fishing with skated foam flies—so much so that many stopped counting the number of fish they landed. And when the Char didn’t want to rise to the surface, they couldn’t resist a colorful weighted streamer. The fjord is now considered a prime spot in the early season.

Meanwhile, the fish were running up the tributary in great numbers, and the Million Dollar Pool was starting to get hot! The guests willing to hike up to this magical pool had some incredible fishing, with big fish hitting the 75 cm mark. Downstream from the Million Dollar Pool is a long stretch of whitewater with only a few small pools and pockets for the fish to rest in. This is why so many fish rest in the Million Dollar Pool before making their way upstream, and also why it is considered one of the best pools in the river.

Not long after, some guests embarked on the first expedition with the boat to the Upper River this season. It is always exciting to visit this part of the river early in the season to check if the fish have arrived. Usually, the fish stack up from the Waterfall Pool, and this year was no exception. The first group of anglers to fish this wonderful stretch of the river experienced one Char after another, eager to hit their flies.

Streamer Alley and Chair Pool, further downstream, were also holding a good number of fish. From the middle of July, the Cut Bank Corner and the Stone Pool started to hold more fish, and the guests enjoyed some exciting but challenging fishing in the strong currents between the rocks.

At the end of July, unusually high temperatures hit Camp North, much higher than we had ever experienced before. This caused the river to warm up, making fishing more challenging and forcing the guests to try different techniques to crack the code. Small streamers and nymphs fished deep right in front of the fish turned out to be the most effective way to get a bite.

The weather was stable during the first week of August, with consistently bright, sunny days. This made fishing tricky, and the big fish, in particular, seemed to be put off by the sunny weather. Luckily, we hosted a returning group from Norway who soon cracked the code despite the challenging conditions. It turned out that small, heavy nymphs could trigger a take from the otherwise moody fish. However, not even a small nymph would tempt one of the really big trophy fish this week.

The following week, however, things changed as more clouds and unstable weather rolled into the valley. The variation in the weather led to excellent fishing throughout the system, with several fish over 70 cm being caught—the largest reaching 75 cm. The best fishing varied from day to day. When fresh fish came in, the Main River was the prime spot, while on other days, the tributary and the Upper River outperformed the rest of the system.

One day, the camp manager – this case Getaway’s Thomas Søbirk – persuaded some of the guests to venture up to the first lake on the tributary, where we had experienced great fishing before. At the inlet of Lake One, they found a large school of fish holding. These fish weren’t moody at all, and the group experienced crazy fishing, with strong fish that several times went into the backing. The fish had an impressive average size and were unusually colored for Camp North—probably because they had been in the system for a long time.

Meanwhile, the Upper River was on fire. One of our first-timer visitors, Jerry, wanted to try skating a foam fly for the first time. Our camp assistant, Max, instructed Jerry on how to skate the foam fly most effectively, and he quickly caught a couple of fish. Once Jerry had mastered the technique, Max sat down on the bank to have some lunch when Jerry suddenly yelled, “I think it’s a good one!” A big fish had engulfed the foam fly right in front of him and was now heading downstream fast. Luckily, it turned around before reaching the fast water. But the fight was far from over, as the fish made several runs up and down the river before it was finally ready to be landed. However, the net seemed quite small when the fish came close to the bank, so they decided to land it by hand—a topwater gem measuring 74 cm, making for one hell of a debut with the foam fly.

By mid-August, the river was low, but the water temperature had started to drop significantly compared to late July and early August. This meant that fishing with small, sparsely dressed streamers and nymphs was no longer the most effective. The fish exhibited more aggressive behavior when a large streamer was stripped across the current disturbing their territory.

Not only were the resident fish striking more aggressively at streamers, but so were the fresh runs of fish arriving daily during this period. In the last couple of years, we’ve learned that the fresh run of fish stretches much further into the season than we previously thought. While the largest run of fresh fish still occurs in July, we have now observed silver fish entering the river around September 1, two years in a row. While the average size and density of fresh fish are greater in July than in August, large fish still enter the river in late August.

By the end of the season, the Upper River and the tributary were filled with fish, though fishing could sometimes be tricky. Even though guests could see many fish stacked up in the pools, they still had to experiment with different flies to succeed. The most consistent fishing was in the Main River, especially around the delta and the Junction Pool. One thing they all had in common was the striking periods—the fishing seemed to be significantly better in the first part of the day.

By late August, the fishing in Lake One and on the tributary remained good. The fish were pickier than they had been when the first group of anglers ventured up a few weeks before. However, the reward for those willing to take the hike and patiently experiment with different streamers was beyond belief. The big fish were still there, and the red hue on some of the fish had deepened. In the last few days, several trophy red char reaching the 70 cm mark were caught—what a way to end the season!