Grällstjärnen

Character of the water

Grällstjärnen 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 — Grällstjärnen 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 Grällstjärnen

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

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 Grällstjärnen 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.
• Stratified, oxygen-poor lakes push the fish up above the thermocline in summer.
• Nutrient-rich lakes hold plenty of baitfish but often murky water.