• ERFALIK 2025

Erfalik Season Report 2025 – Part 1

Having run fly fishing camps in Greenland since 2007, you might think we’ve seen it all – and while there’s some truth to that, each season brings new challenges that teach us more about our rivers, the Arctic char, and their behavior – and that’s the beauty of what we do.

After an unusual amount of rain ahead of the opening week at Erfalik, conditions were not ideal for our first group of guests. The river was high and carried some color, and although chrome-bright Arctic char were caught every day, the numbers weren’t what we’re used to. It seemed as if that big early run of fish – the one we normally see in the beginning of July – hadn’t shown up.

We were pretty certain the main run had been postponed and the fish were waiting for conditions to change. Yet, during the following week, the Erfalik River proved us wrong. As the river cleared and dropped heavily, we experienced incredible fishing.

It sounds too good to be true, but we had days where guests wouldn’t switch fly a single time: leaving the lodge with a freshly tied foam fly in the morning and bringing it back later looking like it had been to war – still tied to the end of the leader, obviously.

In the middle of the week, on a sunny, quiet afternoon, we passed by “The Beach” in Lake Two after a day on the main river. Up until then, the guests had mostly been joking about setting up a mini-bar, sipping piña coladas, and throwing down towels, because it looked perfect for a swim and a tan.

By now, it was clear just how much – and how quickly – the water level had dropped, which meant we had the possibility of fishing our flies on the drop-off while wading the shallows. We couldn’t resist giving it a try – and what a way to end the day! Guests hooked and landed the biggest chromers of the week, and suddenly “The Beach” took on a whole new meaning amongst the group, far beyond piña coladas and relaxation.

While we had red-hot foam fly fishing in the river and afternoon sessions with big fresh chromers at “The Beach,” Erfalik still had some unspoken business left for us to discover at the start of week three.

We brought father and son, Thorsten and Lukas, on the main river to give them a crash course in foam fly fishing, and within the first 30 minutes – with more than a handful of beautiful char in hand, Lukas hooked and lost a big fresh chromer in Reindeer Pool. Lukas kept at it, and during the last few casts at the inlet of Lake 1, a big, colorful male took the fly and shot off like a rocket, ripping 25 meters of backing from the reel in an instant. Seven or eight minutes of shaky legs, a proper rod bend, and grinding all day paid off! Well done, young man!

It seemed as if Lukas’ fish had broken the ice for the colored fish, and soon guests were finding them throughout the whole system – an unusually early occurrence of char, with olive-green backs and bright red bellies. In theory, the run might have started earlier than usual this year, which would explain the higher number of colored fish being caught. Camp Manager Aurelien grew curious: perhaps fish had already made it to Paradise Valley, a place we normally go much later in the season? If so, it would strongly support the idea of an early run.

Our American guest John was more than happy to join the hike. He’d already had a quick look up there earlier in the week, without even bringing his fly rod – if there were fish, he didn’t want to spoil it for the other guests, since the water hadn’t been touched yet. He just found a patch of grass and sat down, letting the moment sink in while enjoying what he described as one of the best lunches of his life, with a view of the gorgeous valley and sunlight dancing across the peaks and ridges.

Safe to say John deserved some good action. The hike was full of anticipation, making it feel shorter than expected. As we entered the valley, we were all in awe of the view that met us – caribou everywhere! We stood in silence, watching them run up the hillside. What a sight.

Eventually, the fishing fever grabbed our attention once again and we got back to our original purpose of the long hike: were there fish up here already?

John tied on a foam fly and gave it a shot on a slower, wider pool that narrows and continues into the gorge. Immediately, we almost forgot about the gorgeous views and caribou, as three fish charged the foam all at once. And that was the theme of the day – endless action from Paradise Valley, all the way down through the gorge, where fish were stacked up in every pool and pocket. A mix of colored and fresh ones, indicating an early run!

Erfalik Season Report 2025 – Part 2

We left the previous Erfalik season report on the note of an early run, with an unusually high number of bigger, colored fish. The more colorful they were, the tougher they could be to trick – at least, that was how the first couple of days of the fourth week played out. Yet, the more you tease the bull, the angrier it will get…

Thomas Søbirk, who attended the week, reports: the weather was really good, though with a bit too much bright sunshine for the river’s big fish to be truly cooperative. The week before had offered excellent fishing, but it took a few days before our own fishing really picked up.

The Middle Section fished best, and from Long Pool and upstream, the guests began to get into some solid action. Big Pool – one of last year’s top pools – wasn’t as productive as usual, but Corner Pool, Reindeer Pool, and Dream Pool held plenty of fish.

Based on reports from the previous group, we made several longer trips to Paradise Valley. We found fish in several spots up there, but in terms of catches, only The Aquarium offered truly spectacular fishing.

We also started fishing The Canyon on the way back down from Paradise. It’s a demanding stretch of river that requires caution because of the massive boulders – but the small pockets in between the fast water held some big fish…

As in Part 1, we have a heartwarming father & son story. Mitch & Mike were dreaming of a colored char for their annual Christmas card, so spirits were high when Mitch hooked a beauty in Dream Pool. But the week’s biggest fishing adventure for Mitch & Mike came when we hiked into Fishing Point hoping for some good action. We got more than we bargained for. The fishing was on fire with smaller streamers – Mitch caught his desired colored fish, and Mike landed a bulky Erfalik-warrior.

Another father & son joined us this week – as seen above – Jamie Sr. and Jr., who traded last year’s Camp North trip for Erfalik this season. Jamie Jr. tends to go his own way and challenge the idea that our trusted Fly Selection includes all the best flies in the box. This year, it was some small, unweighted salmon flies from a previous trip to Iceland that, on several occasions, was super successful on the lower stretches of the river. We learn something new every year!

Guest Scott has fished – and caught – just about everything, so for him, it was just as much the encounter with Greenland’s magnificent nature that made the trip. That said, he quickly developed a taste for surface action with foam flies and caught most of his fish on top

Enough char action for now, because what happened the following week shocked us all. As the newly arrived group settled into the lodge, rigging up rods and getting ready for a week of fishing, German guest Christian asked camp assistant Frederik Nørbæk how his 10-weight rod would do for cod in front of the lodge. Frederik politely replied, “Well, we usually use 6-7 weights, or 8 at most, but sure – why not?” To their surprise, the fish he landed while on his little cod outing later in the week would probably have been “the one that got away” if it hadn’t been for his 10-weight.

After a few days of char action in the river, german Florian and friends Chrisian and Alkuin planned a mixed fishing day during the daily fishing briefing with camp manager Aurélien over breakfast. They wanted to start out focusing on cod in front of the lodge, and then take the afternoon boat across the lake to do some char fishing

As they fished their way around the lodge, they reached our usual mussel-picking spot, where we’ve never really spent much time fishing since it’s very shallow, especially at low tide. Yet, one of the guys, fishing a big chartreuse flash fly, made a long cast across the sandbank. In the crystal-clear water, as he stripped the fly, a wide shadow rose behind it, standing in sharp contrast to the sand in only a meter of water. And then it inhaled the fly. After an intense fight, during which the fish went into backing multiple times, they finally got it close enough to realize they would need a rope to land it.

And now you’re probably wondering what happened during the rest of the season? Well – aside from eating halibut. For the most part, we had really good weather, which allowed us to continue with smaller streamers – and thanks to that, the tricky days were a lot less tricky. More and more caribou started showing up and, to our surprise, we also spotted quite a few muskox. Now, if a cocktail of freshly caught halibut, sightings of reindeer and muskox, and catching strong fire-bellied char isn’t a proper way to end the season, we don’t know what is.

It’s about time we thank everyone who was a part of our Erfalik 2025 season! Some of you have already rebooked for next year, and we couldn’t be more excited to plan another unforgettable season of Flyfish Greenland.