DESOLATE NATURE TWO HOURS FROM MALMÖ
With a mere two hour drive from Malmö SWEDFISHING is situated in the southern part of Småland in a landscape where hundreds of lakes, streams and rivers are framed by a seemingly never ending combination of woodlands and forests.
A fishing enthusiast will immediately notice the brown coffee-like water. This color comes from organic matter run-of from forests and it often triggers some incredible color-patterns on fish living in it. In particular northern pikes (Esox Lucius) and carp (Cyprinus Carpio) attain absolutely amazing dark colors.
The fishing for predatory fish like pike, zander and perch is magnificent here. Many lakes were stocked with zander some 50 years back resulting in large populations of this toothy fish. While the 1-2.5 kg specimens are plenty (and tasty) the bigger 5kg + ones are more elusive, and a really cool and popular challenge for the fishing geeks. Vertical jigging for them has become very popular over the last decade and numerous massive specimens have been above waters only be returned to their brown dwellings again. Its hard to find a better way of spending a quiet summer evening than trolling for zander around sunset. And it's often very rewarding in terms of fish.
There are pikes in all lakes, streams and rivers here with no exceptions. There are monsters of 14 kg and bigger caught every year and fish between 5-8 kg are fairly common. Especially spring and fall fishing in some of the smaller venues can offer some really action packed casting. Summer mornings on some of the bigger venues offers a chance to get some really big fish. I love slow trolling in the late fall with big rubber lures or even deadbait.
The perch fishing has been somewhat underrated for years but is now becoming increasingly popular and we are discovering that some of our local zander and pike venues are hidden perch fishing gems.
Stenbrohult and Råshult in particular was also home to famed 18th century botanist, zoologist and doctor Carl von Linne. The memorial cultural reserve in his memory offers guided tours and a cafe.
This area is also full of history. The area has had a relatively dense population since 4000 B.C. probably due to migration from the coast along the valleys formed by Helge å and Lagan. This is exemplified in the high frequency of stone settings (hällkistar) relative to the rest of Sweden. There is also a fairly high frequency of rune-stones in the area.
This area was also important in the Danish - Swedish wars of the 17th century which shows in remnant fortifications hidden in the woodlands and martial artefacts found in the area. An example being the mighty 16th century two-handed sword found at Local lake Möckeln; a lake that holds 668 islands from which many a local anecdote have arisen.
