Touching down at Keflavik airport in Iceland is all the time a somewhat surreal experience. The lunar scenery surrounding Reykjavik's international airport feels very foreign to the pastoral fields I had left. I barely noticed the 3 hour flight from Stansted as my mind flitted excitedly about what lay before me. The last time I had fished in Iceland had been on the Laxa I Adaldal in the North, and the Laxa í Kjos in the South West, and although I had loved every microscopic of the contradicting fishing techniques, I had come away feeling I had barely scratched the surface. I hoped this trip might give me much more of an understanding into what made 60,000 of the 297,000 people of this country obsessed with salmon fishing.
Haraldur Eiriksson (Halli), my colleague at the Reykjavik Angling Club, met me at the airport and we soon were heading north towards the area of Borgarfjördur and the fabled Nordurá, consistently one of the top three most productive rivers in Iceland. The Reykjavik Angling Club has held the lease here for 60 years, and the 55 km provides plentifulness of fishing for its 15 rods. It is broken down into two sections, the upper section starting to fish later in the season.
Turquoise
The drive of 45 minutes wound through thinkable, scenery of broad glacial valleys and high peaked cliffs, and Halli gave me the history and statistical run down of each river we passed. Approximately five hours after leaving Stansted I was casting a line over Laxafoss, salmon porpoising into the tail of the pool in front of me. Nordurá is a microscopic different to most Icelandic rivers in that it is indeed quite broad, although not particularly deep. The rocks strewn bottom can be clearly seen through the gin clear water manufacture the rifling hitch particularly enthralling to fish. Often the fish are seen following the fly before they accelerate and pounce. The valley and canyon etched out by some antique glacier contribute a dramatic vista to this clear running river, punctuated in places by clouds of steam from hot springs gushing freely from the ground. A exquisite way to warm up cold feet!
The Rjúpnahaed Lodge on Nordurá has to be seen to be believed, and is one of the finest I have stayed at on any salmon river. The lodge is more like a underground hotel. The standard of food and attentive assistance are fantastic, and it is adequate with such luxuries as wireless broadband throughout the building. It is a typically Scandinavian edifice, wooden throughout, comfortable rooms with ensuite bathrooms and gallons of hot water. There are two drying rooms, one in the main building, and one at the end of the annex opposite. Both have hot air blowers to stick waders on which means no more slightly damp socks! The sitting room has the most thinkable, view of the Laxfoss from its windows.
The following morning we bounced out of the lodge like coiled springs, ready to do battle with those fresh fish that would have run up from the sea overnight. Halli drove us down to the coveted Stokkhylsbrot pool in the canyon, often one of the biggest producers in the early season. As we descended down the walk way the river opened up beneath us, the early morning sun lighting up the whole pool with that beautiful greenish blue colour. Polaroids were donned and the frantic scanning began. I headed down to the river while my companion scrambled additional round to gain a good vantage point of the tail. I began to strip line off my reel and loosen the shoulders with a merge of Spey casts higher up the pool until I was alerted by a whistle from Halli, accompanied by frantic gesticulations that I took to mean there was a pod of fish keeping in the tail.
After I had received direction from additional gestures on high the line sang out over the upper riffle, and the hitched Sunray began its drift manufacture that exquisite greasy v-wake. Over the lie it travelled and I tensed up expectantly, eagerly waiting for that bulge and splash.... An ooooooh, closely followed by an aaahhhh and something muttered in Icelandic that I presumed to mean " Damn!" suggested that the fish had moved to the fly, but not taken. My heart was thumping as I punched out someone else Spey cast to the same distance of line, again waiting as the fly bumbled over the outside and towards the lie. Nothing.. Time to convert tactics. I flicked the line up, grabbed the fly and switched to a small Loop Bottle Temple Dog. Time to drift it right past its nose...
Again I punched the line out over the pool, this time with more of a quadrate cast followed by a quick upstream mend to allow it some depth. The fly came screaming round the current and Approximately on cue as it passed through the lie I was rewarded with a wrench and a weight on the rod. The reel made a satisfying screech and the fish was on! Yells of encouragement came from Halli's lofty perch, and he began to scramble down the bank to help me land it. After a few good runs and some rather un-nerving head shakes, the steady side ways pressure unbalanced him and I slid him towards the bank before firmly grabbing the wrist and keeping him underwater. A beautiful bar of silver, still covered in long tailed sea lice. I immediately put his head back into the current, and he revived rapidly, breaking my grip with a flick of his tail. I watched him glide over the pool in the clear water, no doubt to sulk in some sheltered lie.
The rest of the morning was spent trying to raise fish on a hitched Sunray, and having had a few fantastic silver slashes at the fly which gave us a huge sense of pleasure, nothing additional indeed hooked up. Rods were fastened to the car and this happy microscopic band sped off in Halli's comfortable 4x4 to try our luck at Hitará, a mere 30 minutes drive away.
Hitará is a very different river to Nordurá, smaller and more intimate in nature. On coming we headed inside to have a look at the fish book to see how they were getting on. The sitting room in this lovely microscopic lodge holds one of the largest collections of stuffed birds in Iceland. It also has a magnificent window over seeing the pool ten yards below it. As we sat seeing at the catch statistics sipping coffee Halli spotted three salmon in the middle of six and ten pounds come gliding up through the tail of the pool, directly into the glassy section below us. We watched in awe as they hung there, Approximately suspended in air in the clarity of the water. A flick of their tails, and they continued on their way towards the falls.
Hitará is much more like a typical Icelandic river, complex currents, clear pools, small flies and technical fishing over its 29 kilometres. The river accommodates six rods on the main salmon section and is ideal for intact parties. A singular handed rod or a indeed light two hander are ideal here, and anglers are rewarded with quite a amount of fish over the seven pound mark. I especially enjoyed fishing the upper stretch; it is quite wild, not unlike a Hebredian river bank, and apart from a good amount of salmon caught up here towards the end of July there is exquisite Arctic char and trout fishing. The char have been caught up six and seven pounds and add a great diversity to the fishing if the salmon fishing is slow.
After a huge amount of fun on Hitará and a quick look at the Skuggafoss falls on Langá its neighbour, once again we saddled up and headed east. Running into the same river principles as Nordurá is Glúfurá, one of the most enthralling rivers I have ever seen. Glúfurá is a three rod river, most of which is contracted through a stunning canyon that causes some fantastic pocket water, ideal for hitching small Francis and tubes. Although it is 19 km long, salmon can only navigate 13 km as far as the Klaufhamarsfoss Falls.
This river indeed made me excited, and is indeed exquisite for reasonably fit fishermen who enjoy stealthy technical fishing. Your first see is of this turquoise clear water flowing through the canyon as you drive over the road bridge near Svignaskard, and immediately has you straining you neck to see behind you. From the edge of the canyon it is inherent to peer over the edge straight in the crystal clear water about 50 ft below you. Fishing this river was an absolute joy, and I could have spent an whole week losing myself surrounded by its rocks, white water pockets and salmon. Stealth is surely an asset as there is not much room to manoeuvre in the middle of the salmon and angler, but what a river for learning salmon behaviour!
The Glúfurá lodge is very new with all modern conveniences along with a hot tub. There are four roomy en-suite bedrooms, and even though it comes self catering, the staff at Nordurá can bring food over from the lodge and turn this into a fully catered operation. It would be exquisite for a party seeing to relax and do some enthralling fishing.
Continuing our path east we arrived at Grimsá. Grimsá has fantastic topography with many hard bands of volcanic rock creating some truly stunning river features. There are over 70 marked pools along its 42 km length, many with enthralling characters all of their own. It is a much coveted river, and has been fished by international clientele for many years...when space has become available! At the bottom of the river is yet someone else Laxfoss, although this one is somewhat unique. The Lodge, which even makes Nordurá look shabby, sits atop a bluff over seeing the Laxafoss. Clients can indeed watch salmon leaping the falls through the huge panoramic windows while they have dinner!
Where the main current comes over the falls the river opens out into a form of bay, and it is inherent to wade out and fish over the current as if you were on a bonefish flat. It was here among the currents of Thingnesstrengir that I found myself before dinner, casting a large plastic tube fly over the current and stripping it back as fast as I could. This is often an highly productive recipe with fresh running fish, and this was no exception. On the third cast a fish exploded onto the fly, and proceeded to scream up and down the pool before tail walking a merge of times. I managed to gain operate and bullied him in hard. If I am to publish a fish, which I all the time do unless it is damaged, I like to play them as hard as inherent so that they may swim away without being completely exhausted. I use a similar philosophy when it comes to saltwater fishing. After a great fight on a singular handed rod my guide tagged and released it to continue on its way up the falls.
By this stage the 24 hour daylight and land of the mid night sun were starting to take their toll a microscopic and I was starting to feel less like a coiled spring and more like one that had exceeded its elastic limit! We spent a magical time in the early hours of the morning sitting by the falls watching the salmon throw themselves at the torrent of water. Often the fish hung to the side if the white water with their backs and tails exposed to the air as they gained their breath for the next obstacle. The tail would quicken, and then with a flash of silver would hurl itself at the white water. It was a lovely way to discontinue our stay.
Once again it was time to head south, this time back to Laxa i Kjos which I looked transmit to with great anticipation. The route down took us past someone else understated salmon river, the Andakílsá. This serene microscopic river has only about 5km of fishing in the middle of a merge of rods on the salmon section, but meanders its way through the grassy meadows and has highly easy entrance for those who are less mobile. There are cut off salmon and trout sections, with the trout section also producing good numbers of sea run arctic char.
As we drove over the road bridge of Laxa í Kjos, we immediately stopped the vehicle and wandered back to peer over the bridge into the pockets below. This is somewhat of a ritual. Having just had the highest spring tide of the month we thinkable, to see a few grey shapes hanging in the current below, but the angle of the sun made it tricky to spot them. I turned to look up the valley to see the river cascading down the appetizing seeing tiered holes, pockets and rifles. It was here among the rocks and white water that I had learnt the art of hitched flies under the watchful eye of my guide, and at last gained faith in fishing small flies for salmon. Having cut my teeth as a guide for three seasons in Norway and subsequently fished in Russia, I had all the time opinion big was beautiful. On some days we had taken fish on size 16 red and black Francis', skittered over the quite glides in the middle of the white water. I had never believed it until indeed experiencing it, and this much lighter approach had been somewhat of a revelation to me, completely changing the way in which I now fished for salmon.
As I scanned the river my eye plainly came to rest on the new lodge nestled in the foreground over seeing one of the most productive stretches. I eagerly jumped back into the vehicle and in 3 minutes we were standing in the new hall, admiring the modern invent and the vaulted ceilings. To the same standard as the Grimsá lodge, the new Kjos lodge is indeed superb. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, with all the fittings and facilities you would expect to find in a capability hotel in Reykjavik. The front terrace opens directly onto the river providing the most fantastic view. The develop of the fishermen on the lower section can be indeed be followed from the relieve of the leather sofas.
The Laxa í Kjos has about 17km that the salmon can pass before being concluded at the very dramatic falls above the canyon. With over 100 marked pools it is the shear diversity of fishing here that makes it so exciting. The upper stretch has fantastic rock pools leading down through the canyon, and Pokafoss falls here will enchant you. The River then moves out of the hard band of rock and meanders its way through beautiful gravel pools in the midsection. Stealth is an asset here, and a breeze to riffle the outside helps hugely to preclude detection. The meadows below are exceptionally good for sea trout, before it piles through additional larval formations as mentioned before in the lower part.
Two kilometres below Thórufoss the Bugda, a small but very productive tributary runs into the Kjos. Bugda resembles in places an English chalkstream, and is the last place one would expect to catch salmon, but it is exquisite to fish with a small 6# and dry fly. I was flabbergasted when I fished it last in taking a 7lbs cock salmon on a size 12 Humpy dry fly. It indeed came up and took it like a trout, indeed I opinion it was a trout until it jumped and spun off down the pool.
From Kjos we drove cross country, again heading South East and skirting to the North of Reykjavik in the Thingvellir National Park. The only way to delineate the scenery is huge. Big sky, big mountains, big lake. The old lava flows covered in cracks and crevasses (that you can walk through if you wish) end instantly at the waters edge of lake Thingvallavatn, the largest spring fed lake in Iceland at 84 km². Apart from keeping large trout and four species of char, Thingvallavatn is also the source of the Sog. Although the Sog is not what it used to be due to the Hydro electric plant at its head, but it still has a good people of larger than midpoint salmon.
The main beats are Alvidra, Bíldsfell, Ásgardur and Sydri-Brú. The river is large, wide and deep with some larval fissures clearly outlined in the clear blue water. It does have exquisite entrance over its 20km, a amount of comfortable microscopic self catering lodges, and is good qualified to those who like to fish with a two handed rod. For those that don't wish to self cater, there is a good bistro right on the river bank. Although we fished Sog hard, we failed to move a fish, although I was captivated by the clarity of the water in the lower beats. Any second I was expecting something to rise from the deep fissure and engulf the fly, but alas it was not to be. This river is surely good fished with a sink tip and heavier flies, as not only is it deep, but it is deceptively fast flowing. The Sog opens on the 14th June and runs through until the 28th of September with the prime being in August. Even though we were there a microscopic too early for optimum fishing, it was a beautiful river to fish.
As well as the Sog there is someone else river that runs into the Hvítá which should quicken the hearts of any truly adventurous salmon fishermen, and that is the Stóra-Laxá. A microscopic additional North East from the Sog this thinkable, river spends 10km of its distance running through a canyon called Laxárgljúfur that is some places is over 150 metres deep. At this stage it is Approximately exclusively fished by Icelandics, and provides some of the most enthralling fishing for big fish that I believe exists. Ten rods fish over four fishing areas with beats one and two being grouped together. These flow through the alluvial plains below the canyon, and are indeed where most of the fish are caught (mostly as this is where most people fish). The midpoint catch is 300 fish a year, but quite often fish of over 20lbs are a reality here. Two handed rods and large flies are the way to combat it, and is reminiscent of Norwegian style fishing. Many of the Icelandics have a love hate association with this river, but it has Approximately made me more excited than any other as it is a real challenge!
We turned our heads for home and began the hours drive back to Reykjavik. Even here the game was not completed as we stopped at the fish counter on the Ellidaár. This small river flows through the city, and is often the first sense that many have of salmon fishing there. The Angling Club has father and son days where the knowledge and joy gained over the years can be passed down from one to the other. The numbers were up, and as we watched fishermen from the road bridge we could see fish pushing up through the pool on the evening tide. The time had gone so fast, and even though I had the opportunity to learn a vast amount more about this magnificent country, I still feel like I have barely scratched the surface! I do now know why 60,000 members of the people are obsessive salmon fisherman......
We will be contribution rods on all of these rivers for the coming season, and many more.
http://www.aardvarkmcleod.com/review2.asp
Iceland Trip report June 2006Visit : The Bests Rings
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