We were shocked to wake up and see the sun this morning from our farmhouse on the banks of Iceland’s Lake Thingvallavatn.  I walked outside with my coffee in hand hoping to feel some the warmth but it was still cold and the wind was cranking.  Nonetheless I enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Iceland.

 

After breakfast Ingo and I wadered up and headed out.  We were on the Fishpartner beat Karastaoir again.  It looked a bit different than last night.  The waves were huge and rolling straight into shore with the wind pushing them.  It looked more like an ocean than a lake.

 

I’d come down from the car without my rain jacket for the first time all week due to the sun.  However, even ten feet up on a cliff above the water, the waves were so big they crashed over the top of me.  I had to go back to the car and fetch my Simms.

 

Despite the hindering wind I went to work chucking my heavy Streamer Screamer on my 7-weight Winston Air as far as I could.  Where I was casting from drops off deep fast so a long cast wasn’t necessary.  With the lake in turbulence I expected to catch a fish but time passed quickly and all I got was a sore shoulder.

 

 

Ingo wisely found a crevice to hide in and relaxed and observed.  I was in the best spot and if I wasn’t getting anything it likely was a waste of time trying elsewhere.  Soon my newest host arrived, Gunnar Orn Petersen.  Gunnar is Kristjan’s partner in Fishpartner and I was stoked he was next to look after me because I really haven’t had much time to meet him before.

 

 

 

By noon I’d casted myself into a lather.  Fighting the wind and waves without a strike by now meant the brown trout weren’t feeding.  Ingo suggested we call the morning session early because he wanted to take us all to lunch at the Ion Hotel on the lake.  I was undeniably ready.

 

Lunch was superb.  By Ingo’s advice we all got the hamburger and fries and they did not disappoint.  The oversized lunch was exactly what I needed after my exertions this morning and the ones to come later.  Once we were done it was time to say goodbye to Ingo.  He returned to Strengur Angling Club to work but what a great time we had together once again.

 

Gunnar and I switched beats to the small Lake Villingavatn.  I fished here on Day 2 with Kristjan and Bjarni.  We didn’t do great that day but we didn’t get skunked either.  Me and Bjarni each landed browns near 20”.  Well, today, in two hours of fishing, Gunnar and I came up empty handed.

 

The word blanked hasn’t reared its ugly head all trip.  It’s in fact surprising because I was informed about how hard it is to catch these big browns.  I had to get at least one fish tonight.  We headed back for the big lake starting at Black Cliffs Beat.

 

At Black Cliffs you wade out to fish.  The sun was in and out and the wind was slowly dying.  That part was good but the water temperature, insanely cold.  We spent a solid hour chest deep and none of us caught anything.  When Gunnar hollered it was time to go my body could hardly move because it was frozen.

 

We returned to Karastaoir at 8 PM.  By now Bjarni had arrived to join us.  Bjarni will host me tomorrow for some Arctic char fishing in the highlands.  The lake looked good.  Then it looked even better when Gunnar hooked up on his third cast.  I knew we were in business.

 

Gunnar stuck a beaut.  After 12 hours of fishing without a fish, it was nice to see what they looked like again.  He released the brown I headed down the bank for the point that had been good to me earlier in the week.

 

 

 

I made the right move.  It didn’t take but about ten casts for me to hook and land my first gorgeous ice age brown trout of the day.  The blank threat was over. And on my very next cast I got another!

 

I always say, keep your fly in the water.  When you travel this far, keep on casting.  Brown trout, and many species of fish for that matter don’t feed 24/7, but when they do hang on tight.  I’d end up catching a total of four and between the three of us we got seven by dark!

 

Dark was at 10:45 PM tonight.  I fished about 14 hours today.  After my fourth I grabbed a comfy seat on a clump of moss and drank a beer.  Then after fishing we cooked up some lamb back at the farmhouse.  I touched my pillow at 1:30 AM.  What a trip!

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing