Bastutjärnen

Character of the water

Bastutjärnen lies in central Sweden — a humic brown forest lake. The tea-stained, humic water hides the bottom within an arm's length.

The surroundings

The lake sits close to town with a road right up to it — easy to reach, but hard-fished and exposed to nutrient runoff from the buildings and fields all around.

Moderately deep (12 m) — shallow bays, the odd reef and a deeper channel through the middle.

Permits & rules

Fishing permit required — Bastutjärnen FVOF. Day permit ~140 kr · annual permit ~700 kr.

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

Fishing Bastutjärnen

The species list of Bastutjärnen runs to 2. The predators — perch and pike — hunt where the baitfish gather, and on a water this size you soon learn where it holds its fish.

The fishing here follows the water's own rhythm: dawn and dusk have their windows, fronts close and open them, and the season moves the fish. No two sessions at Bastutjärnen are alike.

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.