Fishing rules and regulations in Iceland (in a nutshell)

In Iceland most of the fishing water is privately owned. Landowners own the fishing rights on their land and so several different landowners can own a single river. To avoid conflict the laws state that the owners must form an alliance regarding the river and matters concerning the river. This means that most rivers and some lakes and lake clusters have what we the locals call a fishing club. This club is made up of people that own parts of the rivers or lakes and each gets a vote.

The club then either sells fishing permits itself or leases the river to companies that take care of the river, sell permits and operate angling related tourism on said river (or lake). A governing body in angling matters issues guidelines for the well being of the river such as number of rods, method of fishing and that sort of thing. Netting in fresh water is forbidden. The fishing club takes these guidelines into consideration and sets the rules for their river.

The law states that fishing for salmon in Iceland can only be done from May 20th - September 30th each year with minor exceptions allowing some rivers to stay open through October. However, rivers can only stay open for 105 days within the given time-frame and it is up to the fishing club of each river to decide when to open and when to close.

Fishing for sea run species of trout and char can be done from April 1st - October 10th each year with minor exceptions. Fishing for resident trout and char can be done year round (according to the law).

All anglers entering the country must have a certificate of disinfection for their gear. More info here. The disinfection can be done at Keflavik airport for a small price. Please help us keep our rivers clean.