A PACKRAFT ADVENTURE INTO THE SWEDISH WILDERNESS!
FISHING, PADDLING, CAMPING AND EXPLORING WITH MARTIN FROM VILDMARK.CO.UK!
Now, imagine this. You're woken in your hammock at 4:30 in the morning by the distant sounds of Wolves howling, and the near calls of the loons. You lift your eye mask (as its pretty much light all night to across this beautiful lake you're camping on), light a fire, brew a coffee and think about where and what you are doing that day.
You’ve pitched your hammock next to one of these amazing huts that are available in this national park which offer you the possibility of sleeping there, there’s a fire pit for cooking, a full wood shed and a drop box toilet.
You’re in Glaskogen National Park in Varmland, Sweden. Getting to this park which has 28,000 hectares of forest, trails and lakes is fairly easy from the UK. Utilising a cheap air fare and flying into Oslo airport, it's only 2.5 hours drive to the tourist information centre.
Arriving at Oslo and hiring a car is the best and easiest way to get to Glaskogen. It's an easy drive and it takes you right past a massive shopping centre where you can stock up on all the food you need for your trip. I’d recommend 10 days for this to really cover loads of areas and it gives you plenty of time to fish many different lakes.
Personally, I think the best way to attack Glaskogen is by packraft. This is a really lightweight boat that is durable, portable and can carry a weeks worth of gear. They can be deflated and attached to your bag when you’ve got a long walk to another lake, and they're also great for fishing.
Where to start
Once you arrive at the tourist information centre, you need to buy your map and camping / fishing cards. The camping cards allows you to use the huts dotted around the park on the map, use the wood for the fire places and the toilets. The staff are a fountain of knowledge when it comes to the best fishing methods and places, but we will discuss this later. You can also buy small amounts of fishing gear, and i'd definitely recommend a box of worms.
Now, where do you start in an area of 28,000 hectares? There are many trails and literally right next-door to the centre is the canoe hire, and access into the two biggest lakes Stora Glå and Övre Glå. These lakes are huge and offer some massive trout, pike, burbot, perch and your usual silver fish.
These lakes are deep too, so look to fish the reeds on the edges or rocky outcrops. You can spend a whole week paddling around these two lakes, or access some of the smaller lakes nearby (when I say smaller they are still huge.) This is where the packrafts come in handy! You just deflate them, roll them up and off you go. It is still possible to push your canoe along the trails though as they come with wheels, and it is relatively straightforward to do so.
Fishing gear for packrafting
I’d recommend the X5 adventure by Rigged and Ready. It’s perfect as it offers you the possibility of fixed spool fishing with large lures for big pike, small spinners for perch and the possibility of casting a dry fly for rising trout.
I've found over the years of fishing these lakes that spinners are the best lure to use. It’s also worth to taking some small crankbaits, softbaits and float gear too. Rigged and Ready's compact folding net is also massively beneficial, especially if you're fishing out of a packraft or canoe. Click here for a full video on my packraft fishing set-up.
Packrafting is an amazing sport, it really opens the doors to adventure, whether its adapting your daily dog walk into a micro adventure locally, a trip through the Scottish Highlands or a week of fishing in these amazing lakes in Sweden.
Paddling down one of the Scottish sea lochs, taking your gear off the packraft and setting up for a few days fishing is an amazing trip and one that I’d really recommend too. Rigged and Ready rods are perfect for adventures of any kind due to their packability and multi-functionality. Plus, there's a model for nearly every kind of fishing! Even sea fishing is easy to do with the S Max: Click here to watch a Scottish sea loch fishing adventure!
So load up with a compact rod, a box of tackle and set off on your next fishing adventure and make some memories that will last a lifetime. Whether it's a day out on a new stretch of river or an adventure into the wild, make sure you're prepared to Go Anywhere and Fish Everywhere with Rigged and Ready!
Martin is an avid adventurer keen on fishing, packrafting, wild camping and bushcraft, His exploits can be followed on his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@Vildmark and website: www.vildmark.co.uk
