Bocktjärnen

Character of the water

Bocktjärnen lies in central Sweden — a humic brown forest lake. The tea-stained, humic water hides the bottom within an arm's length. In summer a thermocline settles around 5 m and splits the lake into two worlds.

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

Permits & rules

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

• Zander: minimum size 45 cm · protected during the spawn (Apr–May).
• Pike: keep at most one over 75 cm per day.
• Handheld tackle only. Respect the protected zones at the inlets and outlets.

Fishing Bocktjärnen

The species list of Bocktjärnen runs to 6. The predators — perch, pike and zander — hunt where the baitfish gather, and on a water this size you soon learn where it holds its fish.

Every session at Bocktjärnen 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.
• Nutrient-rich lakes hold plenty of baitfish but often murky water.