Ötjärnen

Character of the water

Ötjärnen lies in central Sweden — a acidified brown forest lake. The tea-stained, humic water hides the bottom within an arm's length. Acidification has thinned life down to the hardiest few.

The surroundings

The lake lies half-remote, a fair way from the nearest road, tucked into woodland.

Moderately deep (9 m) — shallow bays, the odd reef and a deeper channel through the middle.

Permits & rules

Fishing permit required — Ötjärnen FVOF. Day permit ~120 kr · annual permit ~600 kr.

• Pike: keep at most one over 75 cm per day.
• Handheld tackle only. Respect the protected zones at the inlets and outlets.

Fishing Ötjärnen

Ötjärnen holds 5 species, with perch, pike and burbot at the top of the chain and bream and roach schooling beneath them. The modest depth keeps most of the fishing within reach of the bank.

Every session at Ötjärnen is fished in whatever conditions hold right then — the same pressure, wind and light as over the real water. What bites today isn't what bit the day before, and those who return learn the water for real.

General rules of thumb for this kind of water

• Brown, humic water dampens the light — fishing can be good even in the middle of the day.
• Acidified water yields few, hardy species.