Stortjärn, Lillpite Fiske

A lake built for fishing

Stortjärn is one of five lakes plus two stretches of the Lillpite River cared for by a small members' association of about fifty local volunteers. The water is managed as a put-and-take fishery, which means it is regularly restocked — around 3,000 to 4,000 fish a season, raised in the club's own hatchery — so there is no waiting for the spring "fishing premiere" and no empty nets. Rainbow trout, brown trout and Arctic char are released every two weeks from May well into October, and the native populations add pike and perch to the mix.↗↗

The lake itself is easy and pleasant to fish: you can simply walk the whole shoreline, casting from the bank, the jetty or the broad wooden platform, with no boat required. Beyond Stortjärn, the association also looks after nearby Pithoursträsket and Södra Sågbergstjärnen, and the Lillpiteälven river below is prized for its Arctic char, brown trout and crayfish, running as a sequence of long, stony rapids between a few hundred metres and a kilometre in length. It adds up to a full few days of waters to explore from a single base.↗↗↗

Staying the night by the water

The heart of a visit is the uthyrningsstuga — a well-kept rental cabin right at the lake with six sleeping places. Locals warn that it is very popular, so it is worth booking early rather than hoping for a gap. The cabin can be paired with the on-site wood-fired sauna, available to hire, which is exactly the kind of reward you want after a cold evening on the water. Around the lake you will also find a handful of bivouac shelters (bivacker) and fire places for a more rustic stay.↗↗

Travellers arriving by road can pitch up instead: there are dedicated caravan and motorhome spots nearby, complete with grill areas, firewood and a dry toilet, so a self-contained trip is just as easy as a cabin weekend. Whether you stay in the stuga, the van or simply roll in for a long fishing day, the whole site is set up to let you leave only footprints — the association prides itself on running things as ecologically sustainably as possible, packing out rubbish and treating the lake as their guest rather than the other way around.↗↗

Open to everyone

A standout feature of Stortjärn is its accessibility. The association has invested heavily in making the water usable for visitors with limited mobility: an accessible ramp runs from both the car park and the cabin down to a roughly 20-square-metre fishing platform on the lake, part of a 65-metre barrier-free route to the water, and an adapted toilet sits by the caravan area. There is a wheelchair-accessible entrance and parking on site, making this a rare fishing destination where anglers of all abilities can comfortably cast a line side by side.↗↗

Before you cast off

A fishing card is required and the rules are simple and strictly kept: a maximum of four fish per day per card, two rods per person, and sport fishing with a rod from the land only — fishing from boats, rafts or float tubes is not permitted, and any rod left unattended may be removed by the association. As always with a managed Swedish fishery, a short pause in fishing can occasionally be announced, so it is worth a quick check before you set out.↗↗