# Large brown trout fishing > Fishing for large brown trout in Norway: the Hunder trout of Lågen and Mjøsa, why smelt make trout big, which heavy spoons get down in the current, the 50 cm minimum size and when the spawning run is closed. Source: https://finnfisk.no/en/stororretfiske Language: en Alternate: https://finnfisk.no/stororretfiske (nb-NO) --- Species guide Salmo trutta Brown trout that grow up in a large lake and switch to eating fish. The same species as the little stream trout, ten times the weight. - **Size**: Spawning fish in the Hunder stock average around 5 kg, and the largest individuals can reach around 20 kg. The young fish leave the river at about 25 cm. That the minimum size for trout in Mjøsa is 50 cm tells you most of what you need to know about this fish. - **Where it lives**: Large, deep lakes with enough forage fish and a spawning river to run up. Mjøsa with Gudbrandsdalslågen and Gausa is the best known, and Tyrifjorden, Randsfjorden and Snåsavatnet have stocks of their own. A few mountain lakes, such as Tesse and Espedalsvatnet, hold their own large-trout stocks on a smaller scale. - **Best time**: June to August, in the river where the season is open and on the troll and otter board in the lake. ## How to tell it apart The same fish as any other brown trout, only far bigger and brighter. Lake trout living on smelt are silver with few, scattered spots, and are easily mistaken for salmon. The tail is square or slightly notched against the salmon’s clearly forked one, and the wrist is thick enough to take hold of. Fish that have been in the river a while turn dark and brownish, and the male develops a hooked lower jaw. ## Where it holds Two waters in one life. The young fish holds in the river for several years and moves out into the lake at about 25 centimetres. In the lake it follows the forage fish, often far from shore and in open water, which is why trolling and the otter board dominate there. Mature fish run back up the river in autumn, and there you find them in deep pools, along current seams and below falls and sills. ## The season ### Ice-out to May The fish holds shallow and close to shore for a few weeks after the ice goes, and is reachable from the bank. Then it moves out. Trolling in Mjøsa is banned until 30 April, so this is a period for casting from land. ### May to June The lake season. Trolling and otter board over the shallows and along the edges, where the fish follows the smelt. The river season in Lågen opens in most places only on 1 June. ### July to August The main river season. The fish holds in pools and current seams, and the whole problem is getting down to it: heavy, compact spoons that cut through the current instead of being carried by it. ### September into winter Spawning time, and closed season. In the rivers and streams where the Mjøsa trout spawns, all fishing is banned from 1 September to 30 April. This is the time of year when the biggest fish are most accessible, and exactly why they are protected. [See the season month by month](https://finnfisk.no/fiskesesong) for every species, in the lowlands and in the mountains. ## Gear Spinning ### Rod 15-40 g A rod casting up to 40 grams is not overkill, it is the tool for the compact spoons that get down where the big fish holds in current. Reel 3000-4000, line that takes several kilos of fish in a fierce seam, and a drag you set before the first cast, not during the fight. [Lure guide](https://finnfisk.no/slukguide) Fly ### Class 7-9 Big streamers and a sinking line. You are fishing for a fish-eater, so the fly should look like a smelt or a vendace, not a mayfly. A heavy leader: the fish is big, and the current is on its side. [Fly guide](https://finnfisk.no/flueguide) ## Baits and lures - **Narrow herring spoon 18-27 g**: Narrow and heavy. Cuts through the current and stays down, where wide, light spoons get lifted and skate across the surface above the fish. - **Buch Salmon around 18 g**: A river spoon that holds its depth, and a classic on big Hunder trout. - **Otter board with a silver spoon**: Covers big, deep lakes efficiently. Check the rules first: the otter board is banned in Gausa and on several regulated stretches. - **Plug 9-13 cm**: For trolling the lake. Smelt and whitefish patterns, silver and blue in clear water. - **Large streamer 8-12 cm**: Fly fishing. A smelt imitation on a sinking line, fished deeper than you think you need to. [Pick a colour for the light and water](https://finnfisk.no/fargeguide) ## Spawning and diet ### Spawning In autumn, in the gravel of running water, like any other brown trout. The Hunder trout spawns every other year, not every year. Hydropower took much of the spawning ground: Harpefossen is now an absolute barrier to migration, and at Hunderfossen the fish only got through again once a fish ladder was built in 1966, two years after the power station was finished. ### Diet The switch to a fish diet is the whole explanation for the size. In Mjøsa it lives on smelt, vendace and whitefish, and smelt matters most. The young fish in the river eat insects like any other trout, so it is the forage fish in the lake that turns a trout into a large trout. ## Rules Applies to all inland fish - There is no longer a national minimum size for inland fish. Minimum and maximum sizes, daily bag limits and closed seasons are set locally, and two waters in the same municipality can have different rules. - You need a fishing card from the rights holder wherever one is sold. The card is an agreement with the landowner, not a state fee. - Children under 16 fish free with rod and hand line from 1 January to 20 August, except in watercourses with anadromous salmonids. This follows from section 18 of the Norwegian salmon and inland fish act. - The state fishing fee does not apply to inland fish. It covers only salmon, sea trout and sea char. - Releasing fish or moving live fish between waters is prohibited. Spreading species to new watercourses is one of the biggest threats to Norwegian fish stocks. Specific to large brown trout - Large trout are trout, and fall under the ordinary inland rules. The local ones are simply far stricter: the minimum size for trout in Mjøsa is 50 centimetres, against no national limit at all. - In the rivers and streams where the Mjøsa trout spawns, all fishing is banned from 1 September to 30 April. The autumn run holds the biggest fish in the watercourse, and that is why it is protected. - When trolling in Mjøsa you may use at most four lures per boat, and trolling is banned from 1 January to 30 April and through September, except for vendace. - Several large-trout watercourses have a minimum size, a maximum size and a season quota, and the otter board is banned on several stretches. Lågen is split into nine zones with their own rules each, so read your zone, not the watercourse. - The stocks are small, and the spawning fish are what the stock lives on. Consider releasing big fish whatever the quota allows, and use a large net, wet hands and short handling. All of the above is advisory. The rules are set locally and do change, so always confirm with the rights holder or an official source before you fish. ## Waters holding large brown trout [Gudbrandsdalslågen, Sone 1](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/lagen-sone-1)[Gudbrandsdalslågen, Sone 2 (Øyer)](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/lagen-sone-2)[Gudbrandsdalslågen, Sone 4 (Fron)](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/lagen-sone-4)[Gudbrandsdalslågen, Sone 5 (Sel)](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/lagen-sone-5)[Gausa, Sone 9 (Gausdal)](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/lagen-sone-9)[Jørstadelva (Snåsa)](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/jorstadelva)[Espedalsvatnet (Espedalen)](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/espedalsvatnet)[Aursunden (Røros)](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/aursunden)[Tesse (Lom)](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplass/tesse) Municipalities [Lillehammer](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/lillehammer)[Øyer](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/oyer)[Sør-Fron](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/sor-fron)[Nord-Fron](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/nord-fron)[Sel](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/sel)[Gausdal](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/gausdal)[Snåsa](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/snasa)[Røros](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/roros)[Lom](https://finnfisk.no/fiske/lom) ## Common questions ### What is the difference between brown trout and large brown trout? - A way of life, not a species. Two trout hatched in the same gravel can end up as a stream fish of two hundred grams and as a lake fish of several kilos, and what separates them is whether the fish drops down into a big lake with baitfish in it. For an angler that means different waters, different lure weights and a different season, which is why the two have separate guides here.[The full brown trout guide](https://finnfisk.no/orretfiske) ### How big does the Hunder trout get? - Reckon on three to five kilos for a good fish, and on ten kilos being a fish most anglers never get. The road there is long: several years as a juvenile in the river, then several years in the lake on a fish diet before it matures. That is why one big female you release matters more to the watercourse than she does in the freezer.[Releasing fish so they live](https://finnfisk.no/gjenutsetting) ### Which lure do you use for large trout in current? - Narrow and heavy. Herring spoons and river spoons from 18 to 27 grams cut through the current and stay down where the fish holds, while wide, light spoons get carried up and skate along the surface above it. Buch Salmon around 18 grams is a classic on big Hunder trout. You need a rod casting up to 40 grams to fish them properly.[Spoon guide: weight and retrieve](https://finnfisk.no/skjeguide) ### Is there a minimum size for trout in Mjøsa? - Yes, 50 centimetres, measured from the snout to the tip of the tail. Any trout under that must be released at once, alive or dead. This follows from the Mjøsa fishing regulation, and stands in sharp contrast to there being no national minimum size for inland fish at all. When trolling, you may use at most four lures per boat. ### Can you fish for large trout during the autumn spawning run? - Mostly no, and the closure is the whole point: running fish are both the largest and the easiest to catch, and the stocks are small. You find the dates in the regulation for the watercourse and in the zone rules on your card, and they are not the same in every zone. The season you can plan around lies in the summer half of the year.[The zones in Lågen](https://finnfisk.no/fiskeplasser) Sources - [Store norske leksikon: hunderørret](https://snl.no/hunderørret) - [Lovdata: forskrift om fiske i Mjøsa](https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/2006-03-24-361) - [NINA-rapport 1498: Storørret i Norge](https://brage.nina.no/nina-xmlui/handle/11250/2577092)