Fishing, ice fishing and king crab trips from Tromsø

Fishing from Tromsø in winter comes in three kinds. Boats leave the city quays for the fjords, and you fish with a rod from the deck. A few boats go out to haul king crab pots. And from January, guided ice fishing trips drive out to frozen fjords and lakes, where you fish through a hole in the ice. Most of the boat trips start in the city centre and serve something from the sea on board.

Picking the right trip

The boat trips fit most easily into a short stay. They last between two and five hours, and the meeting points are in the centre: the operator offices on Killengreens gate and Storgata, or the quays by Stortorget. A half-day trip on the water leaves the evening free for a northern lights tour.

King crab trips take three to four and a half hours, and the crab is served as lunch. Ice fishing takes most of a day. The ice trips below last between four and six hours including the drive, they run in late winter, and the operators set a minimum age and, on some trips, a level of fitness. One asks for normal fitness and a minimum age of 10, another for moderate fitness, and the private lake trip for a medium to high level because of up to two hours of walking without a path.

Fishing in the fjord

On the fishing sea safari, a skipper and a fishing guide take you out, and the operator describes the trip as beginner-friendly. It lasts three and a half hours. Fishing gear and a warm floatation suit are included, and fish soup is served on board. The operator calls its approach "weather-smart": instead of cancelling, it usually adapts the route or timing.

A fjord cruise from the quay at Killengreens gate comes in two versions. Fishing, fish soup and a thermal suit are only part of the all-inclusive option. The classic option is a cruise without fishing, so check which one you are booking. The same family company runs a shorter fishing trip of two to three hours from its office there, with insulated suits, one rod per person and hotel pickup. Lunch is cooked on board from the catch, which the operator notes is not guaranteed.

Hermes II is a wooden boat built in 1917, according to Visit Tromsø. Its fishing cruise leaves from pier 12 on the seaward side of Kystens Hus at Stortorget and takes about four and a half hours. You can borrow a rod or bring your own; up to five rods are in use at a time, so a larger group takes turns. Thermal suits, blankets and heated saloons below deck help on a cold day. A fish cake is served on board, and when there is a catch of the day, fresh fish comes with flatbread and butter.

What you catch depends on the day. Visit Tromsø says that in winter cod is the most common catch around Tromsø, and that coalfish, pollack, haddock and halibut are also possible. None of the trips can promise a fish, which is why the lunch on some of them comes with a note that it depends on the catch.

For fjord trips without the rods, see tromsofjordcruises.com.

Skrei, the winter cod

Between January and April the coast of northern Norway gets its best-known fish. Skrei are cod from the Norwegian-Arctic stock that leave the Barents Sea to spawn, and the Norwegian Seafood Council says they swim about 1,000 kilometres to reach the coast. Most of them spawn off Lofoten and Vesterålen. They are fished from the Finnmark coast down to those spawning grounds, and Visit Norway names Lofoten, Senja and Vesterålen as the places where they are most abundant.

The Lofoten fishery, lofotfisket, is the best-known part of the season. Visit Norway writes that thousands of fishermen from all over Norway used to gather in Lofoten for it. Tromsø is not among the places where skrei are most abundant, so a winter trip from the city is a cod trip rather than a skrei hunt. Cod is the usual winter catch here, but there is no way to tell in advance which fish will take the hook.

The easier way to meet skrei is on a plate. Fresh skrei is in season from January to April, and the Seafood Council advises looking for the Seafood from Norway logo when you buy it. Most stockfish is made from skrei hung on racks to dry in the open air, and Visit Norway notes that stockfish has been on the menu at Vertshuset Skarven in Tromsø for many years. Its skrei page also recommends fried cod tongue. Our page on food and drink in Tromsø covers more of the local dishes.

King crab trips

King crab is not native to the Norwegian coast. According to the Institute of Marine Research (Havforskningsinstituttet), Russian scientists released the crab in the Murmansk fjord in the 1960s to establish a new fishery. Norwegian king crab is caught with pots, mainly in the fjords and coastal waters of East Finnmark. The institute names two management goals: to keep a long-term fishery inside a limited area of East Finnmark, and to limit the spread of the crab outside it. Outside the quota area, fishing is open and there is no minimum size.

That is why king crab safaris are far more common in the east. Visit Norway's king crab safari page is set off Kirkenes in Southern Varanger, one of the main ports for king crab from the Barents Sea. It describes safaris all year round, and in winter many of them ride by snowmobile onto the frozen fjord, where the traps sit under the ice. From Tromsø the choice is small, and the trips below go out by boat to pots in the fjord.

One of them runs on MS Tromsø: you come aboard at 09:30, the boat sails at 10:00, and after hauling the pots lunch is a redfish soup with crab legs. The trip takes four and a half hours and includes a visit to the wheelhouse. Another is a three-hour trip for a small group, with thermal floatation suits, gloves and hats provided and a king crab dish prepared on board.

If you would rather eat king crab than catch it, restaurants in town also serve it, usually with melted butter and chives.

Ice fishing on fjords and lakes

The ice fishing trips run in late winter. The operator of the fjord trip below runs it from 5 January to 31 March, and another ice fishing trip listed by Visit Tromsø runs from January to April.

On the fjord trip, a group of up to eight is picked up in the centre at 10:00, drives out of town and walks down onto the frozen fjord. The product page names Ullsfjord and the view of the Lyngen Alps. After the fishing, everyone cooks at a barbecue hut, and if the fish do not bite, a fish meal is served anyway. Warm outer clothing and fishing gear are provided, winter shoes only on request, and you bring your own mittens, hat and wool underwear. The trip ends around 15:00, and the minimum age is 10.

A second trip goes to the ice near Sjursnes. It takes about six hours, starts at the Best Arctic desk by the Radisson Blu hotel and is for small groups with moderate fitness; the operator advises against it for people with heart problems or other serious medical conditions. Visit Tromsø describes an ice fishing day from the same Best Arctic office: about an hour by minibus each way to a frozen lake facing the Lyngen Alps, around two hours of fishing while sitting on reindeer skins, and a lake with Arctic char and trout, though a catch is not guaranteed.

Closer to town, a four-hour trip crosses the frozen Ramfjord in a sled pulled by a snowmobile. The day combines ice fishing with Sámi storytelling, hot drinks and lunch, with a choice of bidos or fish. A thermal suit and winter boots are provided, and you meet at the Quality Hotel Grand.

For your own group there is also a private day that combines ice fishing on a frozen lake with snowshoeing, lunch by the lake and up to two hours of walking without a path. Boots, a thermal suit, snowshoes and fishing gear are provided.

Do not try this on your own without local knowledge. Visit Tromsø advises never to assume that the ice is safe and to check local information before walking on frozen water.

For snowshoe trips without the fishing, see tromsosnowshoe.com.

Light, cold and clothing

Visit Tromsø advises preparing for temperatures between −25 °C and +5 °C on activities outside the city, and warns that the weather in the region can change considerably within a few hours. On the ice you spend a long time standing or sitting by the hole; on one lake trip the fishing alone takes about two hours. One ice fishing operator listed by Visit Tromsø warns that it can get down to −20 °C and does not allow trainers or jeans on its trips.

Dress in layers: wool next to the skin, then warm, dry sweaters and a jacket. Bring gloves, a scarf and a hat, and shoes large enough for an extra pair of wool socks. Hand warmers in gloves and boots help on long trips. Most of the fishing and crab trips add a thermal or floatation suit on top. Our page on what to wear in Tromsø goes into more detail.

Between late November and mid-January the sun does not rise, so a morning fjord trip in December runs in twilight. From mid-January the light returns, although the mountains hide the sun from the centre until later in the month. The ice fishing season starts just as the days get longer.

Fishing on your own

You do not need a licence to fish in the sea in Norway, from a boat or from the shore, according to Visit Norway. The Directorate of Fisheries (Fiskeridirektoratet) sets a few rules for anglers: use handheld tackle only, follow the minimum sizes, and do not sell your catch. Its seasonal ban on cod from 1 January to 30 April applies in 14 defined areas between Lindesnes and the Swedish border.

Taking fish home is regulated by Norwegian Customs. For fish from a registered tourist fishing business, the export quota in 2026 is 15 kg per person over the age of 12, up to twice per calendar year. From 1 January 2027 it falls to 10 kg. The day trips on this page usually cook the catch on board, so check the Customs page before you pack any fish.

Freshwater is a different matter, and Visit Norway notes that you need a licence for it. To fish for salmon, sea trout or sea-run Arctic char in rivers, anglers over 18 pay the state fishing fee and buy a fishing card from the landowner for that area, according to the Norwegian Environment Agency (Miljødirektoratet).