How was last season and what can we expect for the 2026 season on the Gaula?
The extreme weather conditions, with high water levels and wet, cold temperatures in the first weeks of the 2025 season, followed seamlessly by periods of extreme heat, seemed to make a good season impossible. Nevertheless, the salmon run was quite good, as confirmed by the research nets in the outer Trondheim Fjord and the end of season statistic. Medium-sized salmon and numerous grilse in particular characterised this year’s salmon run.
Alexander Barsikow with his impressive June salmon measuring 108 cm, caught in the Granøya Pool of the Norwegian Flyfishers Club (NFC).
The catch statistics for the Gaula at the end of the season shows impressive results. A total of 4,034 salmon weighing 17,359 kg/ 38,277 lbs with an average weight of 4.3 kg /9 ½ lbs, as well as 879 sea trout weighing 1,241 kg / 2,736 lbs and with an average weight of 1.4 kg/ 3.1 lbs, were caught. A total of 1,886 grilse weighing between 0 and 3 kg/ 6 ½ lbs, 1,376 medium-sized salmon weighing between 3kg / 6 ½ lbs and 7 kg / 15 ½ lbs, and 772 large salmon weighing 7 kg/ 15 ½ lbs and heavier were caught.
The average weight of the five largest salmon caught this season was 17.9 kg/ 39 ½ lbs. A total of 2,457 salmon were caught using flies (60.9%). A further 782 salmon (19.4%) were caught on worms, 348 salmon (8.6%) caught using spinners, 297 salmon (7.4%) caught with spoons, 80 salmon (2.0%) caught on dup and flies and 68 (1.7%) with wobblers.
Stefan Holst with a dream fish measuring 109 cm, caught in the NFC’s Langøya Pool in June 2025.
Looking more closely at weekly productivity, the late season proved to be particularly productive, as three of the five best weeks of the entire season are in August! The most productive weeks of the season in terms of numbers were week 31 (end of July/beginning of August) with 695 salmon; week 34 with 569 salmon, week 27 (470 salmon), week 28 (427 salmon) and week 35, the last week of the season, with 417 salmon. This is particularly interesting because the cost of fishing at many beats in August is significantly lower than in June and July. Roughly speaking, fishing in August costs only about half of what it costs in June and July.
The differently structured stretches of the Gaula resulted in very different catch results at the various beats over the course of last season. The lower fishing pressure due to the very late green light by the environment agency for a normal length of the last season, combined with the new strict restrictions that only allowed the limited killing of salmon under 65 cm, led to the release of a very large number of fish.
The Gaula beats with the best catches certainly included the beautiful stretches of the NFC. Almost 100 fish were caught here in the first half of the season, and the second half of the season was even better. In August, anglers experienced many memorable moments on the NFC stretches, and compared to other beats, the season’s result was excellent, with over 200 salmon caught.
Under the rainbow…
While fish that have already started to change colour are usually caught in August, the proportion of fresh run fish of all sizes, often with sea lice, was very encouraging. As is often the case when the weather turns cooler after a prolonged period of hot weather and rain causes the water level to rise again, the activity of salmon and sea trout improved very quickly.
Numerous large salmon were caught on NFC’s water. Especially in the New Pool and the Langøya Pool – both known as holding pools for large salmon – impressive specimens were caught and gently released back into the water. It was no wonder that the participating anglers eagerly anticipated the sessions at these pools and fished particularly intensively.
Daniel Stephan with his 113 cm long August big salmon, caught in the New Pool (A1) of the NFC.
In the last week of the season, Thies Reimers caught the largest salmon of the season from the NFC stretches in the lower part of NFC*s Pool A1 (New Pool) using a fly approximately 6 cm long. The large cock fish measured 118 cm in length and had the autumnal colours typical of male salmon at the end of August, it was a truly magnificent specimen of the Salmo Salar species. Thies reported that he lost another fish of similar size after a long fight.
Thies Reimers with his large cock fish caught in NFC*s New Pool, measuring 118 cm.
What can be expected for the 2026 season?
The high proportion of grilse, both in the catch results (46.8% of the total catch) and in catch of the research nets, is an indicator that there will be a particularly large number of medium-sized salmon weighing between 3 kg/ 6 ½ lbs and 7 kg/ 15 ½ lbs in the coming season. These are the amazing powerful silver barren, that are highly prized by all salmon fishermen. This age class was also very numerous last season, accounting for 34.1% of the total catch. The high survival rate of this age class is an indicator that a large number of large salmon weighing over 7 kg / 15 ½ lbs are expected to run next season. Unfortunately, the run of sea trout, which are already completely protected, is likely to be very low in the coming season due to an infection.
The upper part of one of the new NFC beats at the lower Gaula.
The NFC has expanded its stretches on the lower Gaula with two beautiful beats on the left side of the river below Lundamo. This will be particularly advantageous early in the season.
Reservations can now also be made for our small IFC private stretch Bridge Pool Beat, with the famous Bridge Pool at its centre and the newly added 1.1 km long Sanctuary Beat (private conservation area), plus Lower Spencerhølen on the upper Gaula.
Therefore, if you are interested in fishing on the well known NFC beats, you should contact us immediately to secure your place for the coming season and request the price list. The best way to do this is to send an email to info@internationalflyfishersclub.com or call (+49)-172-4266036. It is also possible to visit us at our Hamburg office outside of the salmon season by appointment to discuss all the details of your planned fly fishing trip in person. A short detour of approx. 3 km from the motorway from Hamburg to Kiel/Flensburg/Denmark can clear up any uncertainties and also offers the opportunity to complete your fly fishing tackle and other equipment.
You are very welcome.
