The last hope – Bridge Pool

As is well known, when salmon fishing, you can sometimes have to wait a very long time before you make contact with a fish – and perhaps even land it. In such situations, anglers often wonder if they’re doing something wrong. Is their technique inappropriate, or are the flies they’re using the wrong ones? The spell is broken by the bite, usually at a time when the angler has long since lost faith in their chances, is simply going through the motions of casting – and then, completely unexpectedly and with unbridled power, the bite comes out of nowhere. This is the magic of salmon fishing and what fascinates so many.

Over the many decades that I’ve accompanied numerous experienced, even world-famous, anglers to the water, I’ve repeatedly encountered situations where, after a prolonged period of no luck, the unsuccessful angler is relentlessly plagued by fundamental doubts.

In our new short film, we’d like to show you some everyday examples of such situations from the world of salmon fly fishing, where often just a short trip to Bridge Pool meant the end of a long wait for the coveted salmon bite. The protagonists featured in this film had all fished unsuccessfully for extended periods on other stretches of water not belonging to the IFC before these shots were filmed at our Bridge Pool, and had certainly reached the limits of their patience. However, all salmon landed in this film were carefully released, contributing to the conservation of wild salmon in the Gaula River.

We’ll soon be uploading a series of new short films to YouTube. If you don’t want to miss them, be sure to subscribe to our channel, give us a “like”and have a look at some of our films: https://youtube.com/@manfredraguse

Mortan Carlsen from the Faroese Islands, had fished unsuccessfully for eight days on another well-known private stretch of the Gaula. Even for an experienced angler like Mortan, this is a tough test, and the relief is immense when, in the end, the salmon dispels all doubts. This happened on the Bridge Pool just eight minutes after Mortan started to fish! Mortan was a very close friend of the late world famous salmon conservationist Orri Vigfusson and has signed the contracts with the commercial fishermen on the Faroese Islands, securing for decades that salmon are not killed in nets at sea around the Faroese Islands. Both visited Manfred 1994 the first time on the Gaula.
Mortan fished at Bridge Pool for a few more days in June 2023 and caught more salmon, the largest being a fish weighing 12.6 kg and measuring 106 cm in length.

Sebastian Letelier, a well-known artist and guide from Chile who worked as a guide for us a few years ago, spent about five weeks in May/June unsuccessfully trying to land a salmon in the major salmon rivers of northern Sweden. He had announced his intention to pass through the Gaula River and only had a few hours to fish at Bridge Pool. Despite heavy rain for most of his time, he managed to catch a beautiful salmon weighing approximately 10 kg in a short period.

Gunter Diefenbach, an extremely experienced salmon fly fisherman and friend since his first visits to our stretches of the river in the late 1980s, had a run of about five weeks in 2023 on another well-known stretch of the Gaula River where he couldn’t land a single salmon. When the day of his return home arrived, and Gunter, who had been successful for over 30 years, was about to head back the next day without having caught a single salmon, I invited him, practically at the last minute, to come to Bridge Pool.

With virtually no fuss, Gunter landed two salmon, measuring 84 cm and 88 cm, on his own fly design that evening at Bridge Pool. Very happy and relieved, Gunter was able to begin his journey home…

Andy Bowman, a writer for the important English fishing magazine “Trout and Salmon,” had spent a week fishing the Orkla River in 2025 at the invitation of a top lodge, and the following week he was invited by another top lodge to fish the Gaula River. Unfortunately, he didn’t land any salmon during these two weeks. Towards the end of his stay, he heard that Mikael Frödin, the well-known Swedish salmon expert, was fishing at Bridge Pool and asked if he could come by. At Bridge Pool, he asked if he could make a few casts. I selected a fly for him and suggested a good place. After a few minutes, the first salmon took his fly. Unfortunately, Andy lost the fish after a short fight. A few minutes later, another salmon took the fly. This one was successfully played and landed. The fish was 85 cm long. This saved Andy’s article for “Trout and Salmon,” and Andy announced that he wanted to fish Bridge Pool “privately” the following season.

It’s much more difficult for an absolute beginner to fly fish for salmon than for an experienced angler who uses the current technique and a fly on the leader with which he has often caught salmon. As such, Hubert Leineweber tried salmon fishing for the first time in 2024. After not having a single bite the entire previous week on a top salmon stretch of the Gaula, he came to Bridge Pool for three days. He received a good introduction to the secrets of Bridge Pool, and it wasn’t long before a huge salmon took his fly. …Unfortunately, it was lost after a tough fight. Hubert tried again the following year. Unfortunately, the first week on the top stretch was also unsuccessful, and Hubert had three more days at Bridge Pool. On the very first full day, he landed a male salmon weighing 14.9 kg (33 lbs) and a length of 113 cm.

If you are still looking for a fly fishing trip for salmon on the Gaula River for the upcoming season and find the cost sharing (from Euro 700 per rod, per week), acceptable, please contact us as soon as possible. Single days are also possible.

Attention: We have just received word that two rods have become available on the great NFC’s rotating stretches for the start of the season in week 23 (June 1-7, 2026). This is a great opportunity to catch the large, early-running, bright silver salmon. If interested, please contact us as soon as possible.

To secure your place, please contact us at info@internationalflyfishersclub.com  or call +49-1724266036.