The cool thing about Iceland is that when someone catches a fish everyone celebrates. Everyone here at Laxamýri Laxá í Ađaldal was excited to see the “Single Handed American” catch a huge salmon. Most guest here have caught monsters of their own over the years but they all remember how incredible it was when the caught their first. We toasted a few Icelandic Ales before dinner then plenty of fine wine during and after dinner – all the way until about 1:45 AM, so late that it almost got dark out but not quite. Its no wonder 7 AM came fast.
Today provided a dash of sunshine but was cold and windy – again. I’m starting to think it’s the norm for Iceland but have been informed that this weather is more like October. I’m sure with a nick name like “Monsoon Currier” that the cold rain will start next. Ingo and I had beat 8 in the morning. We fished beat 8 a few days back with not even a salmon sighting. Today I actually saw one as I cast off a cliff. He looked at my salmon fly but only raised a foot before sinking away. That was it for the entire session.
For the afternoon session Ingo and I had beat 3 again. Beat 3 is where I got my monster yesterday. We were super stoked to make it happen again. But we fished all six hours diligently, not only in the exact hole but in some other great spots as well and caught nothing. I had my chance however, but I didn’t feed him the fly. So did Ingo. Our only fish was a random 13” brown trout that took my Sally.
There were just few Atlantic salmon caught today. The Laxá Adaldal is still running high and green so conditions remain challenging for all. The best thing you can do is keep your fly in the water and that we did.
When fishing is tough it always leads me to notice other things going on. I can’t describe how wonderful the food has been here at the lodge. The soups, the salads, the dinners and deserts have been off the charts delicious. And it’s not just that we have a great chef, they switched chefs after the first scrumptious night. The chefs are brought up from Reykjavik and work two week shifts as a change from their norm down in the big city. These guys are really really excellent.
It’s another late one, about 1:15 AM to be exact. I’m getting used to the crazy midnight sun Atlantic salmon fishing schedule. I didn’t even take a nap today. Tomorrow its beat 2 and 4 in the morning then Ingo, Hilmar and I drive to the west to fish the Flekkudalsá, another great venue of the Icelandic Fly Fishermen. You can check out this unique small river and lodge on their website. Goodnight!
A special thanks to Ingo Helgason and Icelandic Fly Fishermen for making this incredible visit to Iceland possible.
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