Fish – Photos from Northern Norway: A photo blog

Pictures from a day out fishing during a polar day in Northern Norway

Coast, Fish, Fishing, Fjord, Landscape, Mountain, Nature, Norway, Norway Norwegen Norge, Scenery, Sea Ocean, Sky, Winter / By Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Apple iPhone 5 camera 19th December 2013. Click image for larger view.

For the first time I have gone out fishing on the sea during the polar night period in Northern Norway. And what an experience that is. Even though we got no sunlight the light can be absolutely beautiful with different colors everywhere as you can see in these photos.

Above you can see how the sky looks in the middle of the day, and below you can see when the sky starts to get darker.
The mountain in the picture is called Drangen and is located on the island Rolla. It is a very picturesque mountain.

Taken with Apple iPhone 5 camera 19th December 2013. Click image for larger view.

But the main reason I went out on the sea was to fish. I was able to catch some nice Christmas cod and even had an Atlantic halibut circling a small cod on my hook. The halibut circled for about 10 rounds before snatching the cod off my hook and then it went back into the cold, dark deep. It was a pity I was not able to catch it, but what an amazing experience!

Taken with Apple iPhone 5 camera 19th December 2013. Click image for larger view.

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Information about the pictures:
Camera: Apple iPhone 5
Location: At the sea by Laupstad (AndÃ¸rja) towards Rolla, Troms in Northern Norway

Picture of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) fish caught in Northern Norway

Fish, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge / By Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Olympus EPL-1 digital camera September 4th 2011. Click image for larger view.

Here is have photographed a couple of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) that I caught in a net when I was visiting Northern Norway in September this year. The herring is one of the most important types of fish on the coast of Norway. We mostly use to catch herring in the fall when schools of the fish come into the fjords. We use the herring both as food and as bait to catch other fish like the Atlantic halibut. If the herring is used for food it is usually fried whole or salted for later use.
Personally I prefer to use herring as bait as I’m not the biggest fan of the special taste from this oily fish.

Check out my other fish pictures here.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus EPL-1 digital camera
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 20 mm
ISO Speed 200
Location: Laupstad (AndÃ¸rja), Troms in Northern Norway

Picture of angler fish (Lophius piscatorius) caught in herring net – also known as fishing-frog, frog-fish and sea-devil

4 Comments / Fish, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge / By Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Apple iPhone 3GS camera August 11th 2010. Click image for larger view.
Here is a picture of a fish called angler fish (Lophius piscatorius) that I caught in a herring net this summer. It was not a big fish, but the angler was a pleasant surprise as I have never caught one of these before either with a fishing rod or in in my fishing nets. It was also a new experience to fillet the fish as it had a pretty tough skin.

The angler fish is also known as fishing-frog, frog-fish and sea-devil. This is a predatory fish that live on the seabed along the coast of Norway. There it lives of prey that the fish attracts with a “rod” on its head. Anglerfish live mainly of other fish, but it can even catch diving birds.
The specimen I received in the herring net was not big, but anglerfish can weigh up to 100 kg with a world record at 99.4 kg caught near Bergen in Norway.

Note: This picture was taken with an Apple iPhone 3GS so it is not the best quality.
Please check out my other pictures of fish on this page.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Apple iPhone 3GS
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/167)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 3.9 mm
ISO Speed: 70
Location: Laupstad (AndÃ¸rja), Troms in Northern Norway

Pictures of a 24 kg (53 lb) big cod fished in Northern Norway

41 Comments / Fish, Fishing, Norway Norwegen Norge, Spring / By Thomas Laupstad

A couple of weeks ago I caught a 24 kg (53 lb) heavy cod on a bottom-longline. This is the biggest fish I have caught in years so I was very excited when I dragged the huge fish up from the depth of the ocean.
The head was so big that it alone completely filled a 10 liter (2.5 gallon) bucket.
Here is a close up picture of the cod. If you click the image you can look at the picture in a bigger size.

As I mentioned I used a bottom-longline to catch the cod. A bottom-longline is a long line filled with many hooks that are baited. I used some herring that I caught last year as bait since herring seems to be loved by larger fish. The longline is placed on the bottom of the ocean over night and is dragged with a lot of excitement as you never know what you might catch. I also caught a nice Atlantic halibut and some smaller cods along with the 24 kg cod.
Here is a picture of me, the proud fisherman with orange fishing-trousers, holding the big cod:

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22mm F2.8-3.5
Location: Laupstad (AndÃ¸rja), Troms in northern Norway

Picture of half eaten Rattail (Roundnose grenadier, Coryphaenoides rupestris) deep sea fish

10 Comments / Fish, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge / By Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera February 28th 2008. Click image for larger view.
I found this half eaten Rattail fish (probably a Roundnose grenadier, Coryphaenoides rupestris) laying in the middle of a field. I suspect that a sea eagle found the fish washed up on a beach nearby (there was sand all over the fish), but due to it size the eagle lost the fish while flying over this field.
I’ve never seen this type of fish before so I had to do a lot of research to figure out the specie. I was tipped of that it is of a family called rattail, also known as grenadier, and more specific a Roundnose grenadier (Coryphaenoides rupestris). This is a deep sea fish living on depths between 100 – 2000 meters and that explains the enormous eyes on this fish.

Check out this picture of my favorite fish the Atlantic halibut.

Information about the picture:
Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22mm F2.8-3.5
Location: Laupstad (AndÃ¸rja), Troms in Northern Norway