WFS 419 – Norway Fly Fishing with John Bond -Brown Trout, Montana, Swinging Flies

Show Notes:  wetflyswing.com/419

Presented by:  Mavrk, Zag, Country, Drifthook

Sponsors:  wetflyswing.com/sponsors

Have you ever had to uproot your entire life and go halfway across the globe to chase a dream? That’s precisely what John Bond, the owner of Rena Fish Camp, did!  We are digging into Norway Fly Fishing today on the Swing!

John Bond is here with us today to take us fishing in Norway and to talk about how he moved his drift boat, gear, and life from Montana to Norway amid COVID. We also find out how streamer fishing changed the game for him. Learn tips and tricks from the Umpqua signature Dragon tier himself as John takes us through the art of swinging for brown trout in Norway.

Norway Fly Fishing Show Notes with John Bond

3:47 –  John’s interest in fly fishing began early, having spent countless weekends traveling to fishing sites throughout the East Coast with his family.

05:20 – John worked as a butcher and part-time fly fishing guide in Vermont, but his ultimate goal was to move to Montana, a place his parents often talked about.

06:42 – He sold an old rod on Craigslist and made friends with the buyer’s two sons, who offered him an apartment in Bozeman. 

09:45 – In 2010, during his first streamer fishing trip in Missouri, John was amazed by how fish reacted to his Sculpzilla fly. This experience changed the fly fishing game for him.

11:25 – Just three months after moving to Montana, he invested $5,000 in a boat worth more than his Jeep Cherokee.

14:33 –  In 2013, he caught a 28-inch female brown trout on the Yellowstone River, and the experience changed his fishing game.

15:17 – John is an Umpqua signature tier for the Dragon, previously known as the Beefcake.

17:24 – We delve into John’s fly fishing techniques and how he applies them to streamer and nymph fishing. He uses a Scientific Angler Sink Tip fly line. 

22:00 – John breaks down the differences between the brown trouts in Montana versus the browns in Norway.  

23:41 – A spin fisherman caught a 20-pound brown trout six years ago. John and his friend Christopher got a 25-inch brown on his third day in Norway.

25:05 – John talked about the Yellowstone Angler and James Anderson and how he opened the door to his guiding life back in Montana. 

26:05 – John went to Norway with his wife in 2017. They visited Rena Fiskecamp in Norway, where the owners mentioned the camp might be up for sale. John jokingly suggested he would buy it and move to Norway, despite having no plans to leave Montana then.

27:32 – In 2019, John and his wife made the decision to move to Norway after she became pregnant with their second child.

30:37 – John and his friends went salmon fishing on the Orkla River in Norway, which is well-known for its fantastic Atlantic salmon fishing. After that, he went to Matt Haye’s Winsnes Fly Fishing Lodge, where he had a brush with death.

35:39 – John tells us more about the Rena Fish Camp. The Rena River is one of the only rivers open to the public by buying a fishing license.

40:08 – We hear the story of how John moved his family, his gears, his brand new Adipose drift boat, and even his dog from Montana to Norway in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

46:44 – John has been an ambassador with G. Loomis for several years through Yellowstone Angler. He is also an advisor with the Scientific Angler.

48:15 – We get a picture of life in Norway and the differences from life in the U.S.

58:24 – John talks more about his family’s lodge and his guiding business on the Rena River. In summer, they have the midnight sun, and people can fish all night during those days.    

1:03:00 – Norwegians traditionally have a culture of catching and keeping fish. The practice of catch and release has been steadily gaining popularity over the last 10 to 15 years.

1:04:43 – We hear the best time to visit their fish camp. People come from all over the world to catch Arctic Norwegian grayling. 

1:13:45 – John tells the story of how he nearly died while salmon fishing using his brand new G. Loomis Asquith on the Gaula River.

1:17:25 – John ties a variety of flies. Wade Fellen had some luck fishing with the Dragon. 

1:17:25 – John ties a variety of flies. Wade Fellen of the Big Hole Lodge had some luck fishing with the Dragon. We also did another episode about Norway with Erlend Nilssen.

Show Notes:  wetflyswing.com/419