One of our members, Jim Petersen, took a vacation to Iceland and found a little time to turn a vacation into a fishing trip. Check it out!

The Land of Fire and Ice

After an incredible week exploring Iceland’s iconic sights with my wife and daughter, followed by a six-day trek through the Highlands with friends, I had the fantastic opportunity to spend two days fishing at the Myrarkvisl Lodge. I joined Iceland Fishing Guides, the same outfit our sensei and Jim Craig fished with last year. Many of you might even remember them from the Denver fishing show; you may want to review Kenny’s report from last year.

We primarily targeted Atlantic salmon on the Myrarkvisl River using streamers. We also fished the Laxa in Adaldal for brown trout and Arctic char, employing both dry flies and indicator nymphing techniques.

The pursuit of Atlantic salmon is deeply woven into Iceland’s history, culture, and economy. Icelanders famously prioritize the challenge of landing a single Atlantic salmon over catching numerous brown trout or char. 

This trip was my first real experience dedicated to “hunting” just one or two fish. Our guides, in constant communication, would track the salmon’s upstream movements. We’d then strategically fish various “beats” or sections of the river, focusing our efforts on specific fish.

Our daily fishing schedule ran from 8 AM to 1 PM, followed by a mandatory lunch and rest period. We’d resume fishing from 4 PM until 10 PM, or whenever we felt ready to call it a day. 

I was fortunate enough to land two Atlantic salmon and had an exhilarating 15-minute battle with “the big one” before it spotted the guide attempting to net it and bolted over a large riffle. I also caught several nice brown trout and three char. After my two days of fishing, only four of the eight guests had landed salmon, though they still had another four days to fish. Everyone, however, caught brown trout and char.

A special thank you to Tim Cammisa, Trout and Feathers youtuber, for allowing me to fill in with his group.