Warriors of the North in Kratlan

Like hvileløst
og fritt
som menneskets tanker
vandrer reinen...*

*Neúnavně a svobodně, jak lidské myšlenky, toulá se sob... from "Villmark og mennesker møtes" by Terje Mathisen

When Mr. Louka and I saw Litle Vonsjøen in september 2022, we immediately liked the lake and the area around. We fished two hours in its crystal clear water, did not catch anything and decided to come back in winter to fish arctic char. I contacted Bente from Haugen gård later in 2023 and tried to book a little cabin next to the lake but it has been  fully booked. However, she offered me another cabin that is relatively nearby - Grøtådalsætra. I did not hesitate, booked a week in March 2024 and hoped, that Mr. Louka and other Warriors would join me. And indeed, Louka agreed to come, even though he didn't catch a fish during our last (and his only) ice-fishing trip. Later also Vlado said yes, so we were 3 men ready to go. 

Finally, March is here and on a rainy Friday afternoon I am picking up the equipment in Nittedal's BUA (3 x fjellski, 1 x pulk, 2 x fjellsko). At the same moment, I am getting SMS from Bente that it is not possible to drive snowscooter  from Haugen gård till Elgå, where we were supposed to meet. There is a lot of water on the ice on Femund lake....Cancelling the trip is not an option, because the boys are already in the air. We agreed that we might give it a try after the weekend, if the conditions improve. 

It's time to improvise. We booked a small cabin in Isterfossen Camp & Fritid till Monday, hoping for colder weather. On Saturday we skied 8 km on Isteren lake, fished on several places without a single bite. Highlight of the day =  grilled reindeer. 

On Sunday we skied to Krokåtsjøen (7 km one way), following a snowscooter track. There was a lot of water on the ice, but we managed to drill some holes and catch a few smaller arctic char for dinner. Louka's first! 

In the evening we agreed with Bente, that she will pick up us on Monday at Femundshytta, because the conditions are better there and the route across the lake is much shorter then driving to Elgå. This was great news! Also the weather forecast improved a lot - it should be sunny and cold in next few days, so we are ready to go. 

Monday

Quick shopping in Drevsjø, slippery driving to Femundshytta and at 10:15 we meet Bente, her father and their two scooters. They are not sure how long it would take to drive to the cabin, as there is lot of snow, that might be soft on some places. "It could take an hour or whole day". 

Snowscooter route from Femundshytta till Grøtådalsætra is circa 17 km long. Crossing Femund and other lakes was OK, but soft deep snow in the valley was an issue. 

3 km to the cabin. It is time to unpack the skis, as we are too heavy for the scooters. Actually it was really nice to ski the last part of the route. 

Grøtådalsætra is an old farming/fishing place (with one cabin dated back to 18th centrury). 

After quick lunch (fried arctic char) we decided to explore the route to Kratland and drill some holes. Kratlan* is a system of 7 smaller lakes  under the mountain Kratlvola, with good population of arctic char, trout and perch. We skied 2,5 km to the first lake (Storsjøen) and fished little bit without a bite. At least we made a good track for skis. 

*update fromO. Riseth fra facebook: there is nothing called Kratland (nor Krattland, Krattvola, Krasla or other creative variants that are still in use in many people's travelogues). The place name is Kratlan and it has absolutely nothing to do with either scrub (kratt) or land. It is, however, an abbreviation of Kratltjønnan. "Kratl" means rugged, tortuous, rocky landscape, while "-an" is the most common plural ending in the area.

Tuesday

The plan is to explore some other lakes in Kratland. We fished in Djuptjønna and Langtjønna and got big perch and very nice blank røya. 

On the way back to the cabin - it seems that we will see sun tomorrow

Louka had an amazing idea - instead of challenging skiing in the valley, he found a perfect route along the ridge. Since then we skied only there and called it "Louka's ridge". 

Wednesday
The plan is to reach Litle Vonsjøen (9 km), fish whole day and get a lot of røya. 

Early lovely morning, frozen trees and blue sky above the foggy valley. 

It was truly magical morning trip...

Last part of the route (from Store Vonsjøen till Litle Vonsjøen) goes through this boulder field. It looks almost impossible to cross on skis, but it was surprisingly nice. 

After 2 hours we finally see the lake. Where to fish? I did my homework and studied satellite images to find places with interesting depth profile, so without hesitation we skied to one of such place. Of course it was on the opposite side of the lake. We drilled the first hole, I put down the line just to check the depth, the line went crazy and I got a big røya (ca 800g). After 20 minutes, another big røya on the hook, but we did not manage to take it up through the hole, because it was hooked by the fin. And another nice røya on the ice. What a start! But it was also the end. Obviously, the fish were active in the morning. 

Evening and it is time to ski back

and eat some great fish!

Thursday

Another sunny day! We did a morning topptur to Sylfjellet (1335m). Louka reached the top, me and Vlado stayed little bellow. Fantastic views and skiing. What a morning!

on the way up

up

up

and up.

We came back to the cabin around 13:00, so we still had time to go to Kratlan and try some late afternoon fishing. 

First we fished on Grunnkratslane, but after a couple of hours without a bite we moved to Titjønna. Here we fished a while in deep part of the lake (5-6 m) and Louka got his big røya (1 kg) and big perch as well. What an evening! I was so happy for him. 

Friday - last day in paradise

The plan is to reach Litle Vonsjøen early, fish there in the morning and on the way back fish in Kratlan in the evening. We started to ski at 6 and already at 8 we fished on the same place as last time. 

Another magical morning trip. I really enjoyed skiing in this unique landscape. 

And fish were very active in the morning as predicted. 

On the way back to Kratlan Louka suggested an alternative route, so we did a round trip and reach Kratland from west. We fished little bit in the evening, fish were biting, but we did not manage to pull any on the ice. But we were happy and tired. What a trip!

Summary

We skied a lot, we fished a lot, we had great weather, we ate fish every day. The cabin was perfect, thanks to Bente and her family for all! All at all, it was amazing time with my friends! A few pictures from Louka are here. 

This map shows where we skied. In total almost 100 km. 

And most of fish we got. 13 røya (average size around 500g) and 2 big perch. In Kratlan, we had success in deeper waters, using røyablink combined with mormyschka, on Litle Vonsjøen the fish were biting in 2-3 meters and red light + røyablink was the best. Early mornings and also evenings were best parts of the day to fish.