Fly fishing in the land of ice and fire
river Kaldakvísl

With a great affinity for Scandinavian countries, I have traveled a lot to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland but Iceland wasn't on my list before. I once had great plans to visit Iceland more then 20 years ago but when the ferry from Hanstholm to Seydisfjordur had a huge delay I decided to cancel the trip and go to Norway instead. Iceland always had stayed high on our wish list, and when I finally got the opportunity to fish and wet my flies in several mountain lakes and rivers in the highlands of Iceland, I jumped at the chance. When I returned from this unbelievable experienced I regret it very much that I never went to this wonderful country much earlier.

Although our trip was planned for early summer 2006, we already began with our first preparations in December 2005. We started to read books, visited holiday fairs and searched the web to get a good impression what we could expect in the land of Ice and Fire. A great help for us here in Holland was Willem van Blijderveen. He owns a nice little travel agency named "IJslandspecialist" from which he organise trips to Iceland only. Willem also wrote the "Dominicus Travel guide for Iceland" what show his qualities as an excellent author as well. We met him at the Dutch Holiday Fair (Vakantiebeurs) in Utrecht and we were highly impressed by his enthusiasm and unbelievable kindness. Even when we didn't book a trip at his company he gives us a lot of useful information and many personal tips from his own personal experience.

Our fishing trip was all organized because we had chosen to take part in Guðmundur Tyrfingsson fishing program for 2006 and we were very excited and curious about it. Salmon fishing is very expensive in Iceland and because GT offers you fishing for trout and char in the highlands only the prices are reasonable too. In Guðmundur Tyrfingsson fishing program they advertise to offers their guest some unforgettable fishing trips in the Icelandic highlands and after own experiences and spending several days fly fishing together with master guide Tyrfingur Guðmundsson I only can confirm that GT's fishing package is extremely spectacular and well organized  indeed.

Johanna Wiklund from GT picked us up from the airport and we could choose to have a nice dip in the famous Blue Lagoon first or going straight to our accommodation. We decided to keep the visit to the Blue lagoon for our departure day and we drove via Hveragerði to Selfoss, were we spent our first night in the excellent Fosstun apartment hotel. We always start our trips with a a good sleep, just to get over jetlag first and being sure that we begin our holiday in a nice relaxing way. At Fosstun we met our guide Tyrfingur Guðmundsson and we discussed with him our time schedules and the places were we were going to fish with him.

Tyrfingur Guðmundsson or Tiffi as friends like to call him is not only a master guide but also an outstanding fly fisherman too. He is a man to our hearts with an enormous respect to nature and wildlife and know the outdoor life very well. Beside that he is an excellent four-wheel driver what is very important because during your trips you will need to across many rivers by car.

 

When Tiffi asked us if we want to go to the fishing places right away or if we prefer to see some other interesting places first we knew directly that he was very eager and excited to show us his beautiful country as well. And he did with a great enthusiasm and passion what resulted in the fact that before we had reached our fishing locations we already had seen the second highest waterfall in Iceland.

The waterfall Háifoss is located not far away from the Hekla volcano lin the south of Iceland. The river Fossá, a tributary of the Þjórsá, drops here from a height of 122 m. The Háifoss is the second highest waterfall of the island and the view is unbelievable spectacular. From the historical farm Stöng, which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption of Hekla in the Middle Ages and fully reconstructed, it is possible to hike to the waterfall along the Fossá (it takes about 5 to 6 hours to get there). Above the waterfall, there is also a parking lot, so the hiking also can be done in the other direction.

The fishing spots we planned to visit all were located in a part of the country that can be considered as one of Iceland's natural gems. Here you have the biggest wet desert in Europe where elements of nature and weather are in a constant struggle. It is a world of huge contrasts that still found a perfect harmony between nature, volcanic impact, ice, snow, water and the fish living in them. In these areas nature find a wonderful way to combine pure wilderness, green oasis 's abounded with bird life, fresh clean air, amazing volcanic landscapes and rivers and lakes that are rich in trout and char.

Famous in GT's fishing program are the rivers Tungnaá and Kaldakvísl. Both rivers are well-known for producing big and very tasty fish. In these undisturbed waters fish easily can reach sizes from three to up to ten pounds. Iceland's trout is renowned for their amazing colours and spots. The beautiful Arctic char is found in most of the rivers and lake systems as well.





GT describe the River Kaldakvísl as one of the most enjoyable fly-fishing places in Iceland and I only can agree because while I stayed in the area I fished the river five times. Sadly we fished the Kaldakvísl very early in the season and the weather was cold and the trout was spooky and not really in a taking mood. Fortunately I did extremely well in catching a good number of Arctic char on light tackle. The upper area starts at the Nefja waterfall and ends at Ford Trippavad. This is a very exclusive fly-fishing area, which is accessible from the nearby River Tungnaa Bridge. A 4wd track leads all the way to the waterfall. The best fishing spots are below the waterfall and in the long and deep pool about 300 m down river. Further downstream are more good fishing spots.