Your Fishing Guide – Markus Ersbjörs

A sport fisherman since childhood, where I was introduced to many different types of fishing already in my early years. At that time, the second half of the 90s, it was mostly coarse fishing and pike fishing in the summer, as well as ice fishing in the winter.

Over the years, I have won, among a few other things, the Swedish Championship in match fishing for younger juniors. At the age of 12, I was introduced to fly fishing, which ever since has held the warmest place in my heart. During the winter, I have been engaged in ice fishing, both hunting for large perch and catching the "thousands" in ice fishing competitions.

At 15 years old, I won my first Swedish Championship gold in fly fishing, which gave me a taste for it, and I was supposed to represent Sweden in the upcoming European or World Championships together with my father, Dan. Unfortunately, there was never any participation from Sweden, and the international debut had to wait. In the years following that setback, I instead focused on catching big fish on the fly. At that time, it was all dry flies, even though there was a little rain. That taught me how to read waters at a young age and I´m still thankful for that time of my fishing life.

It was actually in the mid-2010s that competitive fly fishing took off for me. I participated in a fly fishing competition in Laxviken and had no chance of keeping up with the top competitors. Still casting my dry fly, I needed to observe the others and learn. I watched, absorbed knowledge, and in 2016 I participated for the first time in an international championship where I learned more about the "Euronymphing" technique. I could never have imagined how effective it was. This is where my competitive fly fishing career really started.

After my teammate at the European Championship in Poland, Marino, taught me the basics of nymph fishing and the Portuguese Luis Ferreira taught me how to hook fish during the training sessions before the European Championship, I was hooked. A poorer result in the competition but richer in experience, and the commitment was a fact. However, my personal success awaited a few more years after this.

In 2018 in Trentino, Italy, I participated in my first World Championship, and my best so far, with a 29th place individually (10th in the team) among over 140 participants. Since then, I have won 2 more Swedish Championship golds and have usually been in the top half of the standings at the international championships I have competed in. At the championships, it is difficult to get everything to align; many factors must come together to achieve success. Often there is a top placement in one or two sessions(out of 5), but so far it has not been enough to reach a top position in total at an international championship. It requires dedicated, goal-oriented work over many years and is ongoing, with the European Championships in Italy 2025 and the World Championships in the USA 2026 as first goals.

I have always been passionate about fishing and would love to share my knowledge. Being able to spend the day with someone on the lake or by the river is what I enjoy, whether in winter while hunting for perch or char, or in summer chasing grayling and trout among mosquitoes and gnats in deep forests. Perch and pike-perch are also something I pursue in the summer, on my home waters in Falun/Borlänge.

My goal is for you and me to be able to improve our fishing skills, create and share great memories, and continue to enjoy great catches for a long future.

/Markus