Lilla Jälken

Character of the water

Lilla Jälken 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 8 m and splits the lake into two worlds.

The surroundings

The lake lies remote, ringed by forest and bog far from any road. Few find their way here — the water is untouched and the stock undisturbed.

A small but surprisingly deep pocket (18 m) with steep drops straight down from shore — the bottom falls away fast.

Permits & rules

Fishing permit required — Lilla Jälken FVOF. Day permit ~60 kr · annual permit ~300 kr.

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

Fishing Lilla Jälken

The species list of Lilla Jälken runs to 4. 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 Lilla Jälken 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.
• Stratified, oxygen-poor lakes push the fish up above the thermocline in summer.