Fishing in Iceland (in a nutshell)

Spring sea trout

April 1st can be a very exciting day, especially for sea trout fishing. The fishing however is a huge gamble to say the least and anglers typically don’t know if the river is fish-able or not at that day. Permits must however be booked months in advance. If weather conditions are favourable on April 1st, those who take the chance sometimes experience fishing like you would not believe.

As the days go by and the season change the trout fishing starts getting better and better but the sea trout fishing declines by the day. In May there is some great lake and river fishing for trout to be done. Iceland does not have Mayflies in great quantity and the few we have don’t hatch in May. But strong hatches of Caddis and Chironomids are in May so the fishing for resident trout and char can sometimes be fantastic. May is also a gamble, more so than the months later in the summer.

Nice brown caught late June

When June arrives so do the very first Atlantic salmon. On the South-west corner and the odd river in the north open for fishing in the beginning of June. Slowly the rivers start opening up across country with perhaps the latest opening dates around the beginning of July. This is a time when the locals go up north for brown trout fishing, start fishing for sea char and get their salmon gear ready.

July is what you could call prime time for fresh salmon but for trout it is the peak of dry fly fishing. This is the month when the few Mayflies start to hatch and there are still great hatches of midges and Caddis. In July most locals have switched to salmon and so great trout fishing permits are available for booking. Late July the very first and the very biggest sea trout start running select rivers and there are strong migrations of sea char up to the fresh water.

Early season salmon

August is the prime time for salmon, especially the beginning of the month. This is when daddy long legs start hatching and you see them get blown on to the water by the hundreds. The hatch of midges and caddis has slowed down and as the days go by the trout seem to start on a fish diet. This simply means they get harder to catch. The sea trout keep running and by now most of the big spawning sea char have entered the fresh water of the rivers. The lake fishing slowes down dramatically in August.

September arrives and marks the coming of autumn. The sea trout are very active and strong runs pour into the sea trout rivers. The salmon runs slow down severely and the trout fishing as well. Lakes start closing for the winter and the anglers start braking out their sink tip lines and heavy flies. Salmon rivers also start closing and the salmon start getting ready to do their thing and fulfill their purpose of migrating up the fresh water.

Late season sea trout

October can be very cold. October is a huge gamble. You can be lucky and get warm and calm days but you can also get the fall storm. Most salmon rivers have closed by now as well as most lakes. This is sea trout season until October 10th for most rivers, only a select few can stay open till October 30th. Then starts the long wait through cold days and long nights. This means tying flies, cleaning gear, watching DVDs and reading books on fishing. Six months until it all starts again. Most of us are already double hauling in our sleep come March.