Ortjärnarna

Character of the water

Ortjärnarna 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 (7 m) — shallow bays, the odd reef and a deeper channel through the middle.

Permits & rules

Fishing permit required — Ortjärnarna FVOF. Day permit ~100 kr · annual permit ~500 kr.

• Pike: keep at most one over 75 cm per day.
• Trout & Arctic char: protected during the autumn spawn · catch-and-release on certain stretches.
• Handheld tackle only. Respect the protected zones at the inlets and outlets.

Fishing Ortjärnarna

Ortjärnarna holds 7 species, with perch, pike and grayling at the top of the chain and regnbåge and whitefish schooling beneath them. The modest depth keeps most of the fishing within reach of the bank.

Every session at Ortjärnarna 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.