Introducing Lasse Bøe
We are proud to share with you our new PRO-Team member Lasse Bøe, Lasse loves the chase of big fish!
This is Lasse Bøe
My name is Lasse Bøe, 33 years old from Karmøy in the west coast of Norway. I make my living in health care, dealing with drug addicts and psychiatric patients. I am a writer for the Norwegian website www.fiskeavisen.no, as well as a consultant for the Norwegian bait making company Attraqua.
Fishing has been something that has defined me, starting with sitting on dad’s knee by the creek fishing for small trout. I never leave anything up to chance, and by designing rigs, collecting baits, studying maps, doing a lot of field testing and always being curious to try other ways – I refine my fishing and specialize in what I love the most – specimen angling from the shore. My goal is to catch big fish from the shore, and prove to everyone that a boat is not always the best way to catch big fish. It is off course the easiest way to catch them from the boat, but where is the fun in that? I have always believed that if you make it right, it is possible to catch huge specimens from the shore.
My fishing
I enjoy fishing for Congers, mostly because finding Conger venues around here is really hard, and I want to find my own places – based on skills, knowledge and pure passion. Every Conger is hard work, and puts the fishing gear through some mean trouble. Last year I caught seven of them, my best season so far. I had three over 40lb, and the rest between 15 and 30lb.
For the last 15 years I have spent countless hours trying to catch big flatfish from the shore. This has been an obsession, and still is. There is nothing more satisfying than catching that big Plaice, after finding the spot and made it my home. I have also spent a lot of time chasing several other flatfish species from the shore, and Megrim, Plaice, Brill, Dab, Turbot, Flounder, Witch flounder, Lemon sole, Sole, Topknot, Long rough Dab and off course Halibut. Regarding they all are shore caught, I am quite pleased with this list. At my knowledge, only a handful has caught the Witch flounder from the shore. It was through aimed fishing a couple of nights, proving that location and passion for it is really important.
Halibut fishing is absolutely breathtaking and by far my favorite kind of fishing. To this day I have landed over 100 of them from the shore, biggest shy of 50lb. One of my biggest moments is to net my dads biggest Halibut from the shore, just 3lb shy of the 100lb mark. A massive achievement, and it was a remarkable moment the release it to the water again.
Through the years I have found great fun in fishing for Thornback rays, and I have caught quite a lot of them. If I can count correctly, I have landed over 300 of them, and I never seem to get tired of them.
Achievements as a shore angler
Below I have listed some of my life achievements as a shore angler. They are not ranged from top to bottom, but a fairly mix of some of my proudest moments.
Plaice, 63cm / 3,140kg (6lb 9oz)
Specimen Plaice is one of the toughest tasks I have ever taken upon me, and has kind of been a curse for a long time. This summer this beauty finally found my Sandeel baited hook, and after hundreds of Plaice up to 1,92kg (4lb 2oz) I could lower my shoulders and send a mighty roar over the horizon.
Conger, 194cm – 21,1kg (46lb 5oz)
In my area the Congers are hard to find, and after countless of hours scrolling through maps and reading depth charts, I came up with a few new spots. On the first trip on one of the places I marked out, something heavy picked up my whole Mackerel bait. After a thrilling fight, the sea serpent came to sight, and I netted my new personal best. Later that night, I caught a smaller one – weighing around the 30-35lb mark.
Cod, 129cm – 19,46kg (43lb)
I have caught tons of Cod when chasing after Halibut, but never any big one. I have had one fish to 20lb, and lost a few big ones. When using a 3lb Coalfish for bait, I hoped for Halibut, but when this monster Cod made my day after all. Finally a big Cod!
Thornback Ray, 7,150kg (15lb 7 oz)
I have caught tons of Thornbacks, and some areas have been producing bigger specimens. In two sessions I caught 4 Thornbacks, weighing 12lb 5oz, 12lb 8oz, 14lb oz and this bad boy – finally reaching my goal of exceeding 15lb on this species. In the years after, I have caught 3 rays over 15lb from this spot.
Brill, 2,540kg (5lb 6oz)
Brill from the shore has always been one of my favorites. Long traces and Sandeel as bait are what the doctor ordered when this one took a bite. On this moment, this Brill was just 5oz from being the Norwegian record. After over 40 shore caught Brills, this is my biggest. So far.
Halibut, 21,600kg (47lb 6oz)
Halibut is the queen of my heart, and nothing beats the run from a big ‘but. After a lot of Halibuts between 20 and 40lbs, I finally got my PB. Just minutes prior to my catch, my dad caught a monster shore caught Halibut, weighing almost 100lb!
Wolffish, 6,100kg (13lb 4oz)
I have caught plenty of Wolffish, even bigger that the one on the picture – but this is one of the specimens I am most proud of. All tough the Wolffish is a protected species in Saltstraumen, I am proud to get a decent specimen on what I do – shore fishing using big baits and reading the currents right.
Turbot, 58cm / 4,220kg (9lb 2oz)
There is nothing that makes my heart beating faster than big Turbots. During a couple of years aiming for Turbot, I lost two really big ones – biggest exceeding 15lb at least. When I finally brought one to shore, it was caught during Flounder fishing. One of my greatest catches!
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