Rickard Gustafsson | Saturday, 3 May 2025
This weekend, I was a bit north of Gothenburg. The main reason was Truttan Open—Truttan as in Salmo trutta. It’s an event hosted every year by Öringsakademien, an association working to improve living conditions for trout in the Tanum municipality.
The main attraction of the day is the fishing. A fishing competition is held, and—say what you want about that—it brings in money for the other activities. Very nice measuring mats were provided: durable plastic with printed measurements, big enough to handle any trout that could possibly be caught. On top of that, the competition is always held at a time of day that somehow coincides with low water—neither rising nor falling. And for some reason, it always seems to land on a beautiful spring day with no wind and lots of sun. So, the fish are usually very safe. Each year I’ve attended, the competition has been won by a single fish. Only fish that meet the legal size limit—45 cm—are counted.
Throughout the day, there are other activities going on: fly tying, a lecture about seatrout from a conservation perspective, and I hosted a casting demo. The lecture was very interesting, and I actually learned a few new things—though, unfortunately, most of it was about how we humans are the problem. Our impact on the ecosystem happens from both the top and the bottom. At the top, we overtax predators. At the bottom, we contribute to eutrophication. Both factors create conditions that strongly benefit phytoplankton.
But not everything is completely bad. Over the weekend, I saw a lot of blue mussels in the ocean. I haven’t seen many live ones in a very long time. This time, they were at the same level as when I was a kid and used them for crab bait. Back then, you just picked one up when you needed it—they were always there. So, hopefully, something good is happening and they’re making a real comeback.
We’re planning to arrange something together again in the future—at a time when fishing isn’t happening—so more people can focus on learning about fly casting.
Cheers, Rickard
PoD: Me during the demo. The text on my t-shirt says “The Perfect Cast”—an association I’m trying to get going, with the goal of being something like the BFCC.