Greenland - Artic Char
Camp Char
Atlantik Travel's popular fishing camp, the well established "Camp Char" is available exclusively through us. 2010 will be the camps seventh season on the banks of the beautiful, crystal clear River Ilua, a water that is renown for its huge run of strong, hard fighting artic char.
All Atlantik's tour leaders have visited the camp previously and possess a thorough knowledge of the area, the river, and the most succesful techniques. This is your guarantee of a great trip.
The River
The River Ilua flows into the sea roughly 30km from Narsarsuaq, which translates to a two hour boat trip along Erik Fjord from the airport. The Ilua is a clear flowing river which meanders through what is, considering it is Greenland, a surprinsingly lush, green valley, surrounded by high mountains. The river offers both several beautiful sections of fast flowing water and deeper gin-clear pools.
From the mouth of the Ilua, there is an approximately 100m long stretch of river that runs out of a long, narrow lake. This section of the Ilua offers very good spin fishing, with many fishing running through it to the lake on the high tide. The lake itself is roughly 100m and 2-3km long before the main river runs into it.
The best fishing in the lake is to be had around the in and outflows, here the char rest before swimming on upstream. It take around an hour to walk along the north side of the lake to get to the main river, so it is therefore expected that visiting anglers have the fitness, and also the desire, to do a fair ammount of walking every day. Luckily there is no need here to carry a heavy rucksack when out fishing.
The main river is around 4-5km long and it is here you can find everything from fast flowing, rocky sections to deep crystal clear pools. The Ilua offers something for everyone, where all from the complete rookie to the most experienced of fly-fishermen will find the fishing of your dreams.
The fishable part of the river ends at the foot of a beautiful, which is 50m wide and falls over 50m down the hillside over what likes a giant staircase.
It is possible to fish with both spin and fly in the both the faster runs and the many pools, where artic char averaging around 1 -3 kg are waiting. We could tell how many fish we usually catch, but if we did you simply wouldn't believe it anyway!
The Pools
Tradition demands we name the best places to fish the river:
The Home Pool
Situated just a hundred metres from the camp is the Home Pool. All ascending fish must pass through this pool and the following beat. The pool consists of some small stretches of fast water close to the lake and a deep pool nearer the fjord. The best time to fish this pool is on a rising tide in the evening, when, besides char it is also possible to catch saltwater fish such as cod, and sculpin....!
The lake pools
The lake lies immediately upstream of the Home Pool, and in the lake there are two pools where the Ilua joins it. These pools are often crowded with fish (often in the hundreds!). Even so you must adopt a cautious approach and cast from outside the fishes field of view. It can be a good idea to delay fishing these pools until the evening; this way you will only have to carry your catch a short distance back to camp when it is your turn to provide fish for dinner.
The Canyon
300m upstream of the Lake pools you can find a longer beat (approx. 1000m long), which consists of a long ravine through which the Ilua flows - this is the Canyon Beat. Here one pool comes on after another, and one characteristic they all share is that they all hold many fish. As a rule of thumb it is in the deepest pools that you can find the biggest fish. It is paradise for spin fishers, and a real challenge for the fly fisherman, who should use sink tip lines and gold head nymphs.
The Secret
This pool is found around 300m upstream of the Canyon Beat. It is easily recognised by the huge boulder, the size of a small building, that can be seen on the right bank of the river as you look downstream. The pool itself starts with a section of fast water flowing over evenly sized stones with a deep pool just downstream. Again the pool tends to hold a multitude of fish. The fish should be fished with spinning gear or by casting your fly upstream.
The Ninety
300 metres downstream of the water fall, the river makes a marked ninety degree turn where it runs directly into a rock wall. Here you can find a very deep pool containing fish in the hundreds. Again it can be fished with both spin and fly, but fly anglers will need to add a fast sinking leader to the end of their flyline. The spin fisherman should fish upstream.
The Waterfall
Wher the waterfall stops any further movement of the char upstream, you can find the pool holding the most fish of all. The most demanding here is to constantly unhook the fish you catch. It is most enjoyable to fish here with the dry fly, but spin fishing should be avoided because of the danger of foul hooking fish is too great.
The Ilua's unnamed stretches
The Ilua yields fish more or less throughout its whole length (approx. 4 km). In addition to the named pools the char can be found everywhere. Generally it is important to fish stealthily, avoiding entering the fishes field of view, and not casting shadows over the water.
It is best to use barbless hooks and to bring along a pair of forceps or another good tool for removing hooks.
Our rule for the Ilua is catch and release, except for the fish you bring to the table. Before fishing each day the group will agree on who brings home fish that day, and how many! Remember that everything in Greenland, including the artic char, grows very slowly.
Fishing Methods and Tackle Reccomendations
Fly Fishing
Recently, when fish the dry fly, we have achieved our best results with small blowfly imitations. Choose flies that are designed to partially break through the surface film. Nymphs, especially gold heads can give excellent results when fished upstream. This does, however, demand that you have full control over your fly as it drifts back towards you.
Wet flies and streamers fished across and down is the simplest option, but you still need to stalk the fish carefully; these fish are easily spooked in the crystal clear water.
Flies in sizes 8 - 12 give the best results, and the emphasis should be on smaller flies.
When the river is in flood, and in the deeper pools it is advisable to use sink tip lines.
We recommend you bring two outfits with you a class #6-7 and a class #4 -5. Artic Char are a surprisingly strong fish, but it is most fun to use lighter tackle when you have got the hang of the fishing here.
Spin Fishing
Spinning is the most effective method in the river's deepest pools. One lure we find works particularly well are ABU's red, 8g, reflex spinners. These have a highly provoking effect on the beautifuly coloured and territorial fish that are preparing to breed.
Small wobblers fished after an extra casting way enable you to fish downstream the deepest pools, which is where the largest fish are often to be found.
South Greenland
Narsarsuaq can be translated as "the great plain". It is therefore no surprise that the main airport serving southern Greenland can be found here. Further travel on from the airport is either by ship or helicopter. In Narsarsuaq you can find hotels, hostels, shops, a cafe and a health post. The settlement is surrounded by mountains that reach heights of upto 1,000m.
Here, the inland ice sheet is only around 9km away, and can be reached after a 3 -4 hour walk through the surprisingly lush "Valley of Flowers".
The climate of southern Greenland is mild and in the summer temperatures in the valley bottoms can reach 20 degrees centigrade. The fjords however are filled with icebergs.
From Narsarsuaq there is a beautiful view of the sheep-herding district around the vilage of Qassiarsuk on the other side of Erik Fjord. The green fields and mountain slopes here help to explain why Erik the Red named this largely ice covered island Greenland. He arrived here with his family in 982AD and named his settlement Brattahlid. Today the ruins of houses from the viking period are still a common sight. Reconstructions of his farmstead and Tjodhildes Church have also been built near the village.
Quassiarsuk is a 15 minute boat journey from Narsarsuaq. The 50 inhabitants live mainly form sheep farming, and the village can boast a school, a church and a shop.
East of Narsarsuaq you can find the Qooqqut glacier, which calves around 200,000 tons of ice per day into the Qooqut ice fjord. The Qooqut ice fjord is an offshoot of Erik Fjord, and here it is possible to sail between icebergs of many different shapes, colours and sizes.
As the group sails back from camp, there will be the oppertunity to sail into the Qooqut fjord to take a closer look at the ice sheet and icebergs of all sizes in the crystal blue water.
Itinerary
Day one: We meet at Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport from where we will fly to Narsarsuaq. Here we will meet our local partner and make our way to the harbour. An approximately two hour boat trip takes us to camp, and gives us our fist oppertunity to see icebergs.
Days two to six: Fishing and relaxing in camp.
Day seven: We sail back to Narsarsuaq via the Qooqut ice fjord. In Narsarsuaq we will spend our last night in greenland in a local hostel. In the evening our farewell dinner will be in the Hotel Narsarsuaq!
Day eight: We will be transferred to the airport for our flight back to Copenhagen.
Included in the price:
- Return flight Copenhagen - Narsarsuaq
- Boat transfer to camp on a licensed passenger vessel
- Five full days fishing
- Tented accommodation in camp, in individual tents
- All meals in camp (guests are expected to help cooking)
- One night bed and breakfast in local hostel
- Dinner in Narsarsuaq
- English speaking tour leader
- Airport taxes
- Fishing licenses
Not included in the price:
- Flights UK - Copenhagen
- Hotel accommodation in Copenhagen (if desired)
Price per person: €1,870-
2010 Departures:
Camp 1: week 29 17th - 24th July Rods available: Open for booking
Camp 2 Week 30 24th - 31st July FEW Rods available: Open for booking
Camp 3 Week 31 31st July - 07th Aug. Rods available: Open for booking
Camp 4 Week 32 07th - 14th Aug. Rods available: Open for booking
Camp 5 Week 33 14th - 21st Aug. Rods available: Open for booking
For further information please contact Atlantik Travel: tel. ++45 70 20 38 86
or email atlantik@atlantik.dk if you wish to secure a rod in this popular camp.
Or you can book now by filling out the form below: