Illbäckstjärnarna

Character of the water

Illbäckstjärnarna 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 13 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.

A small but surprisingly deep pocket (30 m) with steep drops straight down from shore — the bottom falls away fast.

Permits & rules

Fishing permit required — Illbäckstjärnarna 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 Illbäckstjärnarna

The species list of Illbäckstjärnarna runs to 3. The predators — perch and pike — hunt where the baitfish gather, and on a water this size you soon learn where it holds its fish.

Every session at Illbäckstjärnarna 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.
• In deep, oxygenated lakes the predators seek cool depth in summer, shallower in spring and autumn.