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Fishing

The season so far in Iceland

by Charlie White

The smaller West and North coast rivers have been most affected and their catches are around 30% below what we might expect at this time of the year.

The stand out performers have been Beat 1 on the Blanda River and the East and West Rangas.  It is no coincidence that all three of these rivers are glacially fed and as a result have stable water flows whatever the weather. 

The West Ranga was the first river in Iceland to record 1,000 salmon for the season with the East following closely behind it.  Both of these rivers are now landing around 80-90 fish per day which is shared between 20 rods on the West and 18 on the East.  One feature of the season has been the noticeable number of much bigger fish and several fish in the high teens have been landed with one or two tipping the 20lbs mark – this is rare for Iceland and makes these rivers even more attractive.

While the smaller rivers may be slightly slower this year, they do offer an unparalleled opportunity to sight fish for salmon using 6 weight rods and skated flies – it is one of the most exciting ways to fish and the numbers of fish on the bank are definitely not the be all and end all of the day.

There are a few prime rods left for the season which will end in mid September so please do not hesitate to contact Louise Mackenny or Charlie White for further details.