Accompanied by an American angler we set off to explore part of the
Due to some excellent packing skills we managed to bring everything
north-west highlands of Iceland, chasing rumors of 6-8 pound char. These fish are supposedly tucked away in the countless lakes and streams that make up a large part of the high plains landscape.
Through some string pulling and research I managed to book accommodation and fishing permits for all of us for four days. When we got up there we immediately saw the stream running by the cabin we were going to stay in. With much anticipation and one jet lagged American we decided to split up and fish in pairs to try to cover as much area as possible. After all this was an exploration trip.
Me and the “upfor24hours” American went fishing a lake, it’s outlet and the
The first lake we fished
main river the outlet flows into. Equipped with GPS and info on the best spot being where the outlet flows into the big river we started walking. My fellow angler picked up a few char on a dry fly in the outlet but they were small and not really the kind of fish we were pursuing. The creek however was very nice and both the weather and scenery were accommodating to us aliens.
The American fishing the outlet
When we arrived at the junction we were beat. Close to 10 miles hike in rough terrain with the speed to match the anticipation. We arrived at a beautiful pool and tried everything but the fish were not biting. My stomach hurting was not helping either. We decided to walk upstream and see if we would find those big char we were after. Then we walked and fished about another
Junction pool
6 miles of water without any luck.
We were tired and a little bit disappointed with the lack of fish but tried to keep our spirits high. At least we were out fishing were no one had fished in the last year at least. Now came decision time. According to the GPS we should take a short cut, leave the river and cut across the moor to find our truck again. Bad idea.
When the fog got thicker we had to rely on the GPS for direction and those
"Thank God for GPS"
hills seemed endless. After about 2 hours of hiking we finally saw the truck and were able to get back to the cabin. Note to self: bring water and something to eat.
Upon arrival at the cabin we got the good news. Our buddies had hooked some nice char in a pool close to the cabin. In that same pool they had hooked four big char, managed to land two of them but two broke their leaders during the fight.
If I had not hiked over 20 miles that night in rough terrain I probably would have had trouble sleeping. The next morning it was our turn to fish that river. To be continued….
Iceland Angling Travel - Blog 