Fishing Life

It's spring and winter and the conditions for perch fishing are at their best. Martin and Emilie have gone to Abborrträsk outside Arvidsjaur to fish for perch and char. Emilie, who has been pregnant during the entire Fiskeliv season, now has her newborn baby with her. Emilie's mother Anna-Lena Björkman is also there. She is a Swedish championship winner in perch fishing, something that Martin hopes to take advantage of. Emilie shows her top char tips, and together with Sonny Holmberg she visits one of the many small lakes in the area.

Martin goes to Öresund to experience one of the few places in Sweden where you can fish for cod and plaice with a clear conscience. Since trawling was banned in the thirties, fish stocks have recovered. Today, 120 different species live here, most of them in viable stocks. Martin goes out on one of the tour boats to fish for plaice, where he meets several die-hard sea fishermen who all have experiences to share. He also goes out on a smaller boat with Timmie Wallin and Anders Nicander to fish for cod. The fresh autumn winds offer high seas and unforeseen surprises.

Interest in pike fishing has increased significantly in Sweden in recent years. Perhaps it is the hunt for the really big fish that attracts, those over ten kilos. Both Martin and Emilie dream of catching that real big one. To succeed, you need both solid knowledge of the water in question and the biology of the fish. Martin and Emilie have arranged a meeting with Mathias Holgersson and Rickard Linderot, two of Sweden's top pike fishermen. Together they fish in a secret lake somewhere in Västerbotten.

Martin goes to Hökensås to experience one of Sweden's oldest put and take areas. There are around thirty lakes here with stocked trout, char and rainbow trout. This time rainbow trout is on the agenda. Martin has arranged a meeting with Johan Klingberg, one of Sweden's leading fly fishermen, and Maria Johansson, who is the female fisherman in Sweden who has caught the most big fish.

Härjedalen offers unique fishing in many ways. Here mountains and forests meet. Typical mountain fish live here, side by side with perch and pike that we normally find in nutrient-rich lakes. Martin and Emilie hope to catch one of the really big fish, the area is known for both fine grayling and perch. Martin tests different spinning methods together with Lubbe Pytel - one of Sweden's leading perch fishermen, and Emilie fishes together with Sivan Jansson who is a great inspiration in fly fishing. The windy weather makes it difficult for Emilie and the fishing is slow, but a surprise awaits and frustration is unexpectedly exchanged for joy.

Emilie goes to Miekak in the Lapland mountains to try her hand at a Norrland grand slam. Over two days, she will try to catch a grayling, a trout and a char. She has Emil Sundberg, a guide in the area, and Marie Lagerkvist, a European Championship medalist in fly fishing, to help her. Together they experience impressive mountain views and fish in both the famous Pieskeströmmen stream and small mountain lakes.

Martin visits Emilie to fish in her home waters in Dalarna. We get to experience sneak fishing in Lungsjöån together with Emilie's partner Stefan Ågren and fly fishing in a classic put and take lake together with Rolf Nylinder. In Dalarna, large parts of the waterways are exploited. This involves rafting routes, power plants and dams that have destroyed play waters and hiking trails. Now interest organizations and others are working actively to restore the waterways and reintroduce the fish to their natural environment.

Emilie travels to the west coast to fish in Martin's home waters. The location is Käringön, an idyllic fishing village from the 17th century. Here, Emilie gets to try her hand at rock gilt fishing from steep Bohus cliffs and sea trout fishing from a kayak together with Martin's son Johan Falklind. Martin heads out to sea to fish for mackerel with Jonas Nordigårds, a fishery that offers another happy surprise in addition to mackerel.

We get to go city fishing in Stockholm. Few capital cities have as good fishing as our capital. Guides Jean Jältsten and Peter Berggren take the hosts Emilie Björkman and Martin Falklind on a concrete fishing trip they will never forget! Outside Gröna Lund, both pike and perch are biting. Martin and Jean find old boat wrecks that have created new hiding places for the fish. In Stockholm's waters, you also have a chance to catch pike-perch! Later in the afternoon, the gang heads to Stockholm's stream, where the city of Stockholm stocks between 20-30,000 trout each year. Salmon are also stocked to maintain the good fishing in the city. When dusk falls, the fishermen remain in the stream, surrounded by the castle on one side and the pulse of the city on the other. When night falls, the neon signs in the water shine, a very different fishing experience!

Emilie Björkman and Martin Falklind dream of experiencing fishing in Tjuonajokk, between Kiruna and Gällivare, far from civilization. Beautifully located nestled between mountain peaks, right next to the Kaitumälven River, it is one of our last untouched rivers. The area is known all over the world for its fantastic grayling fishing, but here you can also catch nice pike and trout. For a few days here, Emilie and Martin's dream comes true in spades. The grayling are willing to bite and they get to cast at pikes that appear right at the boat. To help them, they have guides Robert Hansson and Marie Luise Salis Samaden who share their best fly fishing tips for luring the pike and grayling onto the hook.

In the middle of Lake Vänern lies a small island called Lurö. Martin Falklind has come here to find the really big pike. He has Per Ola Johannesson to help him. PO has fished all over the world, but has recently focused entirely on pike, especially in Lake Vänern where the chance of catching the really big fish is good. But the wind and high waves are causing problems and forcing them to change their fishing strategy. Instead of fishing in the shallows, they have to look for so-called "kelp forests", areas with vegetation where the pike like to stay. Bait maker Lasse "Modemgurka" Sjöblom shows off his homemade lures, with a little luck maybe one of them will help in the hunt for the old pike?

Emilie Björkman has been invited to Saxnäs to experience something called "Prime time". It is the fishing guide Guhuru Milta who has found a place where the fish are not normally found, but where they come at a certain time of day to eat. Emilie has brought her fishing buddy Kristian Matsson from Dalarna. Kristian is not primarily known for his fishing, but more for his music which has been a big hit both in Sweden and internationally. Then under the artist name "The tallest man on earth". There will be a lot of fly fishing talk, when Guhuru shows his lifelike flies and self-made split-cane rods.

Emilie Björkman goes to Kengi's mill outside Pajala to try to catch one of the first migrating salmon in the spring. The dream of the big shiny salmon drives salmon fishermen to cast around the clock, a stubborn job that requires a steel forehead. There is certainly something special about experiencing the Torne River, one of our last untouched rivers, and seeing the midnight sun turn on the horizon. Emilie fishes together with her mentor Lars Munch, the Dane who fell in love with the wild river and has become one of Sweden's top salmon fishermen. Martin Falklind is of course involved remotely and tries to bring fishing luck in his own way.

Martin Falklind and Emilie Björkman head to Värmland to visit the Forshaga Academy, one of Sweden's few hunting and fishing schools. There they meet, among others, student Mia Bagger and fishing guide and former student Jonas Asplund. Together they will try to get a "Predator Grand Slam", i.e. a pike perch, a perch and a pike. But the weather is against it and the heavy rain makes it all a real fishing adventure. But despite the hardships, there is always time for memorable laughs.

Martin Falklind goes to Norrbotten to experience the "Rautas premiere". For a few weeks a year, fishing is allowed on Lake Rautasjaure outside Kiruna, and the premiere weekend itself attracts hundreds of visitors eager to fish. Most stay for a few days on the lake and live in so-called "arks", specially built tents adapted for the purpose. Martin meets Eva-Lisa and Jim Eriksson, among others, who have been at the premiere for decades. But despite their experience, the fishing is slow and the temperature sometimes drops to minus 20 degrees, but that does not stop the most dedicated fishermen.

Martin Falklind and Emilie Björkman go to Gotland in search of the silver of the sea - the sea trout. It is spring and the sea trout are moving into shallower waters, this is when there is a chance to catch the really big and shiny fish. But fishing is a test of patience and requires many hours of wading in the cold water. The coast is 800 kilometers long and in addition to finding the fish, you also have to get it to bite. To help them, the program hosts have one of Sweden's leading sea trout fishermen Nicka Hellenberg and musician Pernilla Andersson, a dedicated fisherman who is trying sea trout fishing for the first time.