Norwegian record Atlantic salmon: 32.5 kg

About Atlantic salmon

The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is the most prized fish a Norwegian angler can land. It hatches in rivers, migrates to the ocean to feed and returns to its home river to spawn. Fresh-run fish are silver with a steel-blue back and only a few small black spots, almost none below the lateral line. Compared with sea trout, salmon are slimmer, with a narrow, long tail wrist and a clearly forked tail. Close to spawning they darken and develop red and black spots, and big males grow a hooked lower jaw. Norway has spawning stocks in about 450 rivers along the whole coast. Spawning takes place on gravel in autumn. Males can reach about 1.5 m and over 40 kg, but most catches weigh from a couple of kilos to over ten. River fishing takes place in summer with fly, spoons, plugs and worm; each river has its own rules. Norwegian Red List 2021: Near Threatened (NT).

Sources: Artsdatabanken, Store norske leksikon, Wikipedia

• Habitat: Ferskvann
• Best month: Juli
• Red list status: NT (2021)

See the species guide

Biggest Atlantic salmon in FishComp

19 kg (58 % of the record) by Frode Lothe. See the catch

How to register a Norwegian record

1. Norwegian sport-fishing records are registered with Villmarksliv, not with FishComp. Read the rules before you do anything else with the fish.
2. Records are based on weight and approved by a jury. You give the weight and length, where it was caught, the gear you used and any witnesses.
3. Keep your photos and notes from the catch. Logging it in FishComp does not register a record.