Venjanssjön

Venjanssjön is a large lake located 53 km west of Mora and 43 km northeast of Malung.

The lake is very variable in depth with many shallows, bays and islands, and therefore somewhat difficult to navigate by boat. Some shallows are marked with spruce branches or buoys, a detailed depth map is available over the lake, The lake holds a lot of pike and perch.

Trolling is popular and competitions are arranged every year. Boats must be checked before being put in to prevent infection.

The lake has an endangered population of a whitefish that is only found in one other lake in Dalarna. A control fee applies. The lake otherwise holds perch, pike, trout, whitefish, etc. Venjanssjön freezes solid during normal winters and attracts many ice fishermen. Competitions are sometimes arranged, although the pandemic in recent years has limited this. The lake's role as a reservoir in the Dalälven river's regulation area means that it is lowered by just over 4.5 meters during the winter.

Venjanssjön has historically been a very rich fishing water. Long before the area had permanent settlements, mainly vika and mora farmers established fishing grounds on the shores to collect fish for winter food. When the permanent settlement was so large that it prompted the establishment of its own parish, in 1607, the aforementioned farmers demanded that a large part of the lake should go to them in view of its importance for livelihood. The result was that the new parish became hourglass-shaped. The parish seal was a fishing hut with fishing nets on the drying rack. The rich fish population is witnessed in many other contexts. When the Johannisholm power plant was built, fish migration was limited partly by the power plant itself but also by a damming of the largest inflow, the Vanån. Later, the second largest, Ogströmmen, was also dammed, and to some extent Kräggån at its mill dam. Since the construction of the power plant, the lake's fish population has changed so that trout has been reduced to an uncommon catch from having been one of the most common.

The lake cannot form a population of trout alone, running water is required for the trout to spawn, and adjacent watercourses therefore play an important role. Current fish populations include pike, whitefish, whitefish, bream, perch, roach, etc. Pike are often caught by visiting trolling fishermen and by angling. Whitefish are caught by local fishermen by seine fishing, which is a growing local tradition. Interest in the fish population was concentrated on the conservation of the so-called Venjan whitefish, planktonic whitefish or Coregonus nilssoni, which has been an important source of food and income for the people of Venjan.