Iceland is young
geologically. At the close of the last ice age, the island was completely covered
by a thick ice sheet, which depressed large areas of the land below
sea level.
When the ice and snow melted, freshwater species expanded northwards
and settled in Iceland. This is the main reason why they are able to
live in both sea and freshwater.
Fly fishing on rivers and lakes is a very
popular sport in Iceland and anglers don’t need to go far from Reykjavik to find various salmon
and trout rivers or excellent trout and arctic char lakes.
All parts of Iceland offer a large variety of rivers and
lakes, whether in the lowlands or the expansive, uninhabited
highlands. Wild brown trout and arctic char are the target species of game
fishing in Icelandic lakes. The target species on rivers are
atlantic salmon, brown trout, sea run brown trout, arctic char and sea
run arctic char.
The fishing season in Iceland
starts on April 1st on several sea trout & brown trout rivers as well as a few
lakes. The main brown trout & arctic char fishing season starts on May
1st, except for the
highland lakes, which open in mid June. The season for the lowland lakes
ends in mid September, and the highland lakes’ season ends in late August.
The salmon season starts in June and extends into
mid-September.
In a number of late-run rivers, fishing ends at the close of
September, but few ocean ranching salmon rivers are open until
October 31st.
The prime and highest-priced season is in general from mid-July until mid-August.
The prime sea trout season is September & October.
Preliminary 2009 salmon
catch figures.
Useful information concerning fishing in Iceland
Visit Iceland - practical information
Photos showing many
of the natural highlights
by the south shore
