Iceland ahh .... so easy to get to and yet.. it's like entering another world. A fishing paradise in many ways.The incredible shore fishing is almost completely unexploited, and sea trout, salmon, char and brownies abound. Add in freewheeling puffins, whales, fresh air and space and you're only scratching the surface of what Iceland has to offer.
Previous trips have seen me pulling out codling, ling and big wild trout , but on this trip I was on a family holiday so I was just putting in the odd rod hour here and there. The wind was 30 mph plus in my face so I codlin get onto the cliffs or pier at Keflavik where I have previously done so well. It was a shame I had to abandon my plans to test the reaction of the shore cod to an HTO mighty minnow bounced along the bottom Brighton style, but I was there to enjoy myself with the family, not battle the elements for the sake of proving a point to myself.
The harbour round Reykjavik itself is generally shallower, and the deeper water lacks tidal flow so, although sheltered, didn't offer the same opportunities as I'd had on previous trips. Still, I knocked out some chunky dabs on isomes pretty quick, and numerous codling to 2lb from around the fishing boats in the gin clear water.
Very different though to the quality of the fishing round Keflavik which is much less scratchy. You can see a ( minke?) whale breaking the surface in one of these shots from 3 years ago. the whale hung around all day right in front of me, and it didn't even put the fish off. I was plopping out a mackerel bait on a borrowed rod 35 yards and caught fish all day. So great to catch tasty ling from the shore too, and there's a good chance of wolffish and spur dogs from different locations, and (fairly) realistically halibut.
Stuff can be fearsomely expensive iceland ( £24 quid for a tin of brew dog dark ale for example). But accommodation and car hire, petrol are not too bad. A day out along he famous golden circle is good value and you'll see a lot of interesting lakes and rivers along the way, plus volcanic activity, steam coming out the ground , geysers erupting and spectacular waterfalls.
The tackle shops in Iceland are very helpful, if prohibitively expensive and they tend to steer you towards organised trips which ranged between 500 euros to more than 2 grand for a day... Sod that. But, usefully, there is a general fishing ticket available in locations all over Iceland which gives you access to 35 lakes for 40 quid for the whole season. Its hard to access which lakes will fish, as information is hard to find and the fish are wild, no stocking. Just because its Iceland they don't give themselves up! I fished probably the most heavily plundered lake in the Iceland , being 10 minutes out of Reykjavik centre and even so managed several small trouts with the fatter odd pound plus fish. But If I had gone off the beaten track more I would have found more and bigger fish for sure as Ive done previously. Char are always a delight to catch. I hope to go back and do three weeks round the coast and lakes at some point and get round the whole island.
PM me if you want to get out there and I'll tell you all I know- Ive had some salmon too and loads of sea trout on fly, but after 3 trips I'm only scratching the surface of course and (although I love it)- I'm no expert fly angler.
That's it from me- but watch this space for a film of a dancing puffin that I met, who plays with wool and a ball like a cat- can't argue with that can you?