Iceland: Another Year With The Giants

Fishing in Iceland has a reputation of being extremely expensive, and many people have gotten the impression that you can catch endless amounts of trout and salmon. While there is certainly some truth in that, there are also numerous fisheries where hard work is required. But then the rewards are usually bigger!

By NILS FOLMER JORGENSEN

My season is typically very hectic and stressful, since the winters here in Iceland are long and bitterly cold. I start out in April targeting seatrout and move on to brown trout, arctic char and – not least – salmon. 2016, was no different. But I will remember it for it’s massive amount of huge fish.

I started off in Huseyjarkvisl where the fishing was red hot, and I managed to land three sea trout topped off by an 82 cm specimen, followed by a quick session on the Vididalsá, where 7 salmon (kelt) between 82 and 92cm came to the fly.

Then came the season opening on Thingvallavatn – Iceland’s biggest lake, which once again proved to boast some of the best brown trout fishing on the face of the planet. Here, I warmed up with several fish – including an immaculate 74cm brute, and it was just the beginning. In May, when I returned with a good friend, I landed 66 Trout with 4 over 20lbs in a week! The fishing was off the charts.

June had me visit the Blanda, Nordura, and Laxa in Adaldal – and they all provided great fishing. Especially the Blanda provided me with some great memories. Here I picked up a few salmon on traditional downstream fishing with a Jock Scott tube, but I then decided to fish the more intense and challenging riffling hitch.

I had never tried that on the Blanda but it made the fishing far more interesting. The Salmon went absolutely nuts for a mediums sized Kolskeggur hitch tube skated crosscurrent, and I ended up with 26 Salmon up to 96 cm.

The salmon, however, got bigger as the season progressed. On the Laxa in Adalsals Nes, I caught 19 salmon with many in the late 90s and one breaking the 100cm mark and later on returned to get a 104cm salmon. In September, while fishing the Laxa in Adaldal on my birthday, I was blessed with an unforgettable session, which started off with a 101cm salmon and continued with two aggressive male salmon that measured 102 and 105cm, respectively.

All of it was topped off with a 108cm salmon.

And then there was all the good company! For instance, I had the pleasure of hosting Jim Bartschi from Scott and Jarle Kristiansen from Flyfish Europe in September. Jim was keen on catching a big brown trout, so we tried something I had never tried before: Thingvallavatn’s ION beat in the autumn. Normally, the fishing gets slower during the summer months, so it was exciting to see how it would be just one month ahead of the spawning. We also planned a day for sea trout in the little Varma River close to Reykjavik. And finally we were to end the trip on the salmon river, Vididalsá.

We started our trip on River Varma. Of course, the weather was bad: Heavy winds and heavy rain, so we didn’t head out until later in the evening. Jim and Jarle went to upper part of the river, Ryan and I to the lower. Right away, I heard news from Jarle that Jim had already nailed a 70cm+ seatrout under a waterfall. What a great start!

I was helping Ryan get into some action in the famous pool, Stodvarhylur, which usually holds char in addition to brown trout and seatrout. And would you believe it, he got them all: a veritable Iceland grand slam.

We then split out on the river and picked up smaller seatrout here and there. I saw some big ones on the upper river, which in my opinion is the most interesting part of the river. The big ones, however were easily spooked!

But then it happened: Ryan hooked a fat 74cm trout on a nymph and his trip was saved. Whiskey time!

The next two days we dedicated to ION’s monsters. Would the fish be in the area this time of year? Would the tributary on Beat II attract the trout? Yes!

The fish were there, jumping like mad - and behaving unusually. During springtime, the trout feed actively and are often seen head and tailing. Now, they were jumping all out of the water like salmon: big coloured males showing off.

The only problem was that heavy amount of rain had flooded the small tributary and pushed the fish far into the lake - so far, that we could not reach them. We could see them all the time, but only on a few occasions did the fish come within reach. It was all very annoying! We cast and cast and almost gave up. But then it happened: Ryan hooked a fat 74cm trout on a nymph and his trip was saved. Whiskey time!

The next evening, I got some action: a 62cm hen and a big coloured male that measured 82cm. All in all, this wasn’t exactly the fishing we had hoped for, but I’m sure things would have been better, if the tributary hadn’t been flooded. The fish were in the area after all!

The next three days we spent up north on the River Vidisalsá targeting its challenging salmon. The weather was better here but the story, unfortunately, was the same as on the neighbouring river, Vatnsdalsa: slow fishing. I was splitting Beat III with Jim and Jarle and I went to the upper area and started scouting for salmon in the pool Snagshylur.

I could see at least 4 salmon and a bunch of char standing in the tail, so I went down and cast a 0,5” Autumn Hooker tube fly upstream, stripped it in and bang! First cast: a 78cm female. A smaller one followed down in the pool Upper Valhylur, but that was it for me that evening. My friends Sturli, Teitur and Birgir had done great on beat II with 5 Salmon up to 90 cm landed! So things weren’t altogether impossible.

There were fish in more or less every little pocket in the upper part of the river where I started, but it was very difficult to get to them without spooking them.

Next morning we were on Beat II. Jim had been out of luck on Thingvallavatn but his stint of bad luck, apparently, wasn’t over. He was trying out a new reel he’d been given as a present, and it almost exploded into pieces when he hooked a huge salmon. Jarle filmed part of the ordeal, and it was a truly messy situation with a huge salmon running and jumping and loads of line flapping about. No wonder, the big salmon eventually broke the line…

That day was my first ever on Vididalsa without a salmon. I had one on for a few seconds in the famous Dalsaros pool, but that was it. The Fishing was slow!

The next morning I visited the tributary, Fitja - a small river with great sight fishing possibilities. There were fish in more or less every little pocket in the upper part of the river where I started, but it was very difficult to get to them without spooking them. The first pool I went to was the Bjarnafoss pool close to the uppermost waterfall. I literally just put my head out over the cliff and all the salmon spooked - about 50 of them. I then walked the river and cast to all the fish I saw landing 6 salmon up to 92 cm. (It might seem like a lot, but I spooked way more). Even in faster water, the shadow cast by the fly line oftentimes spooked the fish way before the line landed on the water.

A big male revealed himself in the middle of the pool, while I was scouting from the cliffs.

The last morning resulted in two very nice salmon in the Dalsaros and Hardeyjarstrengur pools. They measured 81 and 95 cm, and they both came to a small size 14 Autumn Hooker fly. The rain and cold had now hit the north with a vengeance, and I was actually glad that the salmon season was drawing to an end. However, on the last day of September, I got a call from Thorir who invited me to fish Beat IV of the Stora Laxa’s in southern Iceland. I had heard it’s one of the most beautiful places to fish: A rather inexpensive river with extremely rough terrain but a feeling of raw beauty that you don’t experience anywhere else. It was an offer I couldn’t resist!

I got out of town very late and ended up having only a few hours to fish in the evening. Thorir did not make it. Tómas Sigurðsson and Johann Gunn did: two gentlemen I met for the first time and very experienced anglers on this river. They turned out to be really nice guys and very helpful. They were definitely not the kind of people who took the best pools themselves. We drove all the way up through the rough landscape, crossed the river and continued till we could get no further. I walked 20 minutes further up to the most upper pool of the river called Armot.

The river was nice indeed: A medium sized river, long classic pools, and gin clear water. It was quite easy to read but still, you wonder where the fish are when you’re visiting the first time. A big male revealed himself in the middle of the pool, while I was scouting from the cliffs. I ran over the upper part fast and landed a smaller salmon close to where I saw the big male.

I was now down by the spot where the big fish had shown, and nothing happened so I did something I don’t normally do. I went through many flies and presentations. In smaller rivers, you normally only get one chance before the fish is spooked. On bigger rivers with fast water, you get more unless you unsettle them wading.

I tried changing into a weighted black fly, which was taken on the first cast while sinking. The fish went deep, back and forth, over and over again. I had no doubt it was a big fish over 90cm. I put maximum pressure on the fish until it came to the surface, but then it got stuck on a rock out in the middle of the river. Now, we could see it, but the line was wrapped around rocks - and it was to deep to wade out. After almost giving up, the fish suddenly came free.

With the risk of a damaged leader, I took it easy until Tómas finally got it in the net – a 98cm male salmon. Oh, joy! This was one of my biggest moments this season since I came with no expectations. That was the last fishing day for me in Iceland in 2016. It was a fantastic season where the salmon came very early and big. In my time on Laxa i Adaldal, I have never seen anything like it.

On Laxa i Adaldal alone, I landed 7 Salmon over 100 cm! Even rivers that don’t normally produce 1m+ salmon produced giants in 2016: Vatnsdalsa yielded a giant of 110 cm and 3 over 110cm were caught in Adaldal.