Salmon fishing in Iceland

So what makes salmon fishing in Iceland so much fun? Well I can’t speak for other people but I’d like to share with you what makes me love it. But first of all some background info.

I love trout fishing. I love trout fishing on small creeks where I have to crawl around, see the fish, be super stealthy, see the take and preferably use dry flies. Who doesn’t? Well the same thing applies to salmon fishing. I love fishing for salmon using a size 16 fly on a floating line but above all I love using the hitch technique.

I think the only thing I love more than fishing for salmon using the hitch is teaching other anglers to use this method and stand next to them when a big salmon breaks the surface to either hammer the hitching tube fly or simply to squash it with its tail. The rush of adrenaline is wonderful and the excitement that starts is indescribable. If the salmon only splashes the hitch and does not take it that simply adds to the excitement on what will happen next. It is vital to make the same cast again and see what happens. Sometimes the fish takes it in the next cast but you must not do the same thing too many times as that may result in “putting the fish down”.

One great example of this happened this summer. I was guiding on the Huseyjarkvisl River, a group of four keen anglers and one of them had not touched a salmon yet at that point. It was during a morning session and we arrived at a pool called Laugarhylur. I knew the pool held a lot of fish but advised the angler to make a cast right on the hot spot right away. The angler made the perfect cast and the hitch tube skated perfectly across the current and then when it went over the rock the salmon sit next to a big fish came up and splashed the fly.

The angler was very startled and got very excited and so I told him to make the same exact cast. The same thing happened again and again and so we tried changing to a smaller hitch tube. No luck. Fish started jumping above us so we put the original hitch tube on and went to the top of the run to give the big one behind the rock some time.

More fish came for our hitch while we fished down the run but none of them took. The angler was having the time of his life but getting ready to feel the pull of a fish on the end if his line. Surface action is fun and all but at the end of the day we all like to feel the fish on the line. Anyway… As we approached the big rock again we both got even more excited. The hitch skated over the rock and again the fish came up and attacked it without taking. We needed to make a change and I put on the smallest hitch tube I had in my box – a micro hitch and a size 18 treble hook.

The angler looked at me like I was an idiot and asked if I was serious about using such a small thing for such a big fish. I was. First cast – nothing. Small seed of doubt set in my mind. Second cast – Bamm!! fish took the tube, the rod bent and line flew through his fingers. What a strike! When the angler had the fish on the reel I reminded him we had a size 18 hook on there so he was to be careful not to play the fish too hard. The angler looked at me and said he only had a 12 pound breaking strain leader on so there was double trouble.

After a few jumps and having both seen the fish a few times we estimated it at about 18-20 pounds, a big bar of silver and it was fighting hard. 25 minutes into the fight both fish and angler were getting tired and the fish was in a dangerous place, just above some rocks followed by some rapids.

The angler pulled just a little harder but at the same time the fish surged past the rocks and the leader broke. All of the line shot up onto the bank and the angler was left standing there with a bleeding finger from the lever on his reel.

This is just a small example of what it is that makes me love salmon fishing in Iceland. Using a single handed rod, working smaller rivers, stripping small flies or skating hitch tubes on the surface. Getting that surface action and seeing the salmon come up and hammer the fly either on or just beneath the surface.

I’m going to leave you with a short video taken on Nordura in June 2011 showing a salmon come up and splashing the hitch tube. LEt me know if you’d like to try this style of salmon fishing out here in Iceland. Visit our website www.icelandangling.com for more information on fishing in Iceland, the rivers and trips we offer. Also you can follow us on Twitter @icelandangling or “Like” us on Facebook for news, photos and videos.

Tight lines,

Stjani Ben – Iceland Angling Travel

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