Highlands islandesi

islandesiHighlands

Giorgio Cavatorti

Dopo una partenza difficoltosa a causa di una logistica di voli abbastanza sfortunata siamo finalmente arrivati nella capitale islandese, dove auto e guide sono lì ad aspettarci. Questo sarà un viaggio verso le Highlands islandesi a circa 3 ore dalla capitale alla ricerca di trote e salmerini. L’Islanda la conosciamo per il salmone e la trota di mare, ma non tutti apprezzano la grande qualità della pesca delle grosse trote fario e dei salmerini islandesi. Una gestione oculata e una pressione di pesca abbastanza bassa hanno protetto questi fiumi e, insieme ad un prezzo a volte poco competitivo, hanno fatto sì che la pesca sia da qualche tempo estremamente interessante. Un paesaggio lunare e la quasi assenza di popolazione rendono queste zone particolarmente affascinanti. Il nostro viaggio è iniziato nella zona di Selfoss, che con i suoi 7000 abitanti è la località principale del comune di Árborg nella regione di Suðurland. Situata sulla riva orografica sinistra dell'Ölfusá (che è la continuazione del

fiume Hvitá), dista una sessantina di chilometri dalla capitale Reykjavík, passando per la vicina Hveragerði. In questo villaggio abbiamo pescato splendide trote di mare nel fiume Varma che lo attraversa, la zona è piena di hot pond, sorgenti di acqua calda, che in alcune zone aumentano di molto la temperatura dell’acqua. Le trote che risalgono in questo fiume sono di buona taglia, spesso superano gli 80 cm e le si possono vedere mentre cercano di scavalcare le numerose piccole cascate del torrente. Si pescano bene a secca o con mosche semisommerse e sono consentiti 4/6 pescatori alla volta in un tratto che supera i 5 km di fiume; la guida è consigliata. In questa zona scorre anche il Sog, ottimo fiume da salmoni atlantici che diviso in varie beat ha un grande fascino. Sempre alla portata del nostro lodge abbiamo poi pescato le famose trote del lago Þingvallavatn , il lago più grande dell’Islanda. Un paio di altri torrenti e laghi molto interessanti per le grosse fario hanno reso il viaggio veramente interessante. Spesso questi lodge sono a gestione self-catering, quindi una spedizione per corriere di prodotti

alimentari italiani e il gnocco fritto del grande Vinicio, cuoco ufficiale della spedizione, ci hanno garantito la sopravvivenza in questi 20 giorni di permanenza. Successivamente ci siamo poi spostati verso le highlands, ad un paio d’ore verso nord est. Qui la pesca si concentra sulle trote e soprattutto sui salmerini, abbondantissimi in questi piccoli ruscelli. Ninfe minuscole e ottima presentazione sono la chiave del successo. Per tutto il viaggio siamo stati assistiti dall’eccellente organizzazione di Kristjan della ditta Fishpartner, che ci ha aiutato anche quando abbiamo avuto problemi a raggiungere alcune pool. È infatti in questi momenti che si è grati per avere comprato pacchetti pesca da professionisti del settore e non da broker improvvisati.

Credo che ritorneremo in Islanda a breve per svariate ragioni: la qualità e la bellezza delle acque, le dimensioni dei pesci naturali e non ultima la comodità di un volo breve e spesso diretto dall’Italia che permette, in giornata, di essere a pesca di grosse trote o salmoni.

We finally reached the capital of Iceland after a difficult departure due to an unfavorable flight schedule. Cars and guides were there waiting to take us on the trip to the Highlands of Iceland, about 3 hours from the capital, in search of trout and char. Iceland is known for its salmon and sea trout, but not everybody appreciates the high quality of fishing for Icelandic big brown trout and char. Cautious management and a rather low fishing pressure have protected these rivers and, together with sometimes not very competitive prices, they have made fishing there extremely interesting in recent times. The moon landscape and the almost total absence of population make these areas particularly fascinating. Our travel started in Selfoss, an area with 7,000 inhabitants. It is the main town in the municipality of Árborg, in the region of Suðurland. Situated on the left bank of the Ölfusá River (which is the continuation of the Hvitá River), it is about 60 kilometers away from Reykjavík, the capital, and flows through nearby Hveragerði. In this small town we caught wonderful sea trout in the Varma River which

flows through it, in an area full of hot ponds, and warm water springs that can increase the water temperature a lot in some spots. The trout rising in this river were good-sized, often over 80 cm, and could be seen while they were trying to leap over the many small waterfalls of the stream. They could be fished well with a dry fly or with half submerged flies and 4/6 anglers at a time were allowed on a stretch of river which was longer than 5 km; a guide is always recommended. The Sog River flows in this area too: an excellent river for Atlantic salmon, it is divided into various beats, and is very fascinating. Starting from our lodge as well, we then fished the famous trout of Lake Þingvallavatn, the largest lake in Iceland. A couple of other very interesting streams and lakes with big brown trout made our travel really interesting. These lodges are often managed by self-catering, and therefore with carrier shipments of Italian food products, including fried dumpling

by the great Vinicio. He was the official cook of the expedition and guaranteed our survival in the 20 days of our stay. Later we moved to the highlands, a couple of hours towards the north-west. Over there, fishing focused on trout, particularly on char, which abounded in those small streams. Tiny nymphs and an excellent presentation were the key to success. For the whole travel we were supported by the excellent management of Kristjan from the Fishpartner company, who helped us even when we had trouble in reaching some pools. It is just in these moments that you are grateful for having bought fishing packages from professionals of the sector and not from improvised brokers. I think we will return to Iceland soon for various reasons: the quality and beauty of the waters, the sizes of natural fish and, not the least, the comfort of a short flight which allows you to fish big trout or salmon on the day of your departure.

A HISTORICAL PLACE After the borders were opened in the early nineties, fishermen from all over the world began to come to the Kola Peninsula. A group of British fishermen acquired the rights to the Yokanga and built a classic fishing lodge. It was ordered from Canada and assembled using huge cedar logs, then dismantled, loaded into 12 steel shipping containers and transported to the UK and then to Russia. A full customs checkpoint was opened for clearance of the containers, each of them weighing 20 tons! Their transportation was made using MI-26 Russian military helicopters. From the time of its foundation in 1998 and up to 2019 numerous groups of poachers “worked” on Yokanga, and fish were caught in tons. One can still see old overgrown roads and hear names of some areas back from those times like “Poachers Pool”.

NEW ERA The situation began to significantly change in September 2019, when passionate Russian fly fisherman, Alexey Strulistov, acquired the Murmanskturist company, which owns the rights to this fishing site and the lodge itself. He set up the security process. Significant funds and efforts have been spent on a relay radio communication system and cellular and satellite communication infrastructure. Remote parts of the river are now monitored with a drone, and it makes the camp’s security team work very efficiently. The river has been cleared of nets and the fishing process in the public license area has improved. The lodge was completely overhauled and surrounding infrastructure was built from zero to provide the highest level of comfort. All these efforts resulted in excellent salmon catches throughout the season.

FISH OF DREAMS The owner of the lodge Alexey Strulistov says: “After significant security efforts were made since I took over the river, we have seen an increase in the catch numbers. The average size of Yokanga salmon is 22-24 pounds but every week our guests land 3-4 fish over 30. Also, in what was a very short 2020 season our guests managed to land two significant fish over 40 pounds”.