Lake Mjøsa’s Giant Trout

By ThorNews on August 19, 2013 • ( 0 )

Catch and release: July 5, the angler Steinar caught this giant trout on rod and bait: Length 89.5cm, girth 59.5cm, – weight estimated to 11 kg/ 24.1 lbs (See Fish Weight Calculator).

Lake Mjøsa is known by Norwegian anglers for its large trout, and there are many recorded catches of more than 10 kilos.

The lake is Norway’s Largest, as well as one of the deepest in Norway and Europe. It is located in Southern Norway, about 100 km north of Oslo. Its main tributary in the north is Gudbrandsdalslågen, and the only tributary in the south is Vorma. Mjøsa covers an area of 362 km²; the average depth is 155 meters with a max depth of 449 meters.

Mjøsa has one of Europe’s biggest trout populations – the Hunder trout. It spawns in Gudbrandsdalslågen and lives in Mjøsa from it is 2-8 years old. The Hunder trout has got a special position due to its size and the relatively large population.

The largest trout caught on a rod in Norway is a Hunder trout caught in 1981 by Robert Torp weighing 15.3 kg. In 1905, it is said that a trout weighing over 23 kg was caught at Hunderfossen. It was weighed at the Hunder railway station, but this can not be documented today.

Eyewitnesses described it as so large “that it was longer than a traditional four-wheeled goods trolley”, which at the time was common to use at Norwegian railway stations. The eye witness Jacob Løken (born in 1896) told his grandson Stein Onshus that he believed the angler was English.