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The Minnivallalækur River is approximately a one-and-a-half-hour drive along the coast road south-east of Reykjavik, through the most dramatic volcanic landscape. If you mention Iceland to most fishermen, they immediately think of fast-flowing rocky rivers and million-dollar salmon fishing. This is of course what Iceland is internationally known for, but the fantastic fishing that is to be found in its slow - winding trout and artic char rivers and streams can only be compared to that of Patagonia and the Russian tundra.

We were 8 fishermen, 3 from Mustad, 2 from the sports fishing branch in Norway, 2 competition winners and myself acting as guide / photographer.

The happy team that enjoyed the hospitality of Iceland, the saga-island, and the fantastic fishing adventures offered by www.strengir.is on the "Mustad Dream Trip Iceland 2005"

Situated in the shadow of Mount Hekla , Iceland 's largest mountain / volcano, the Minnivallalækur River is small to Norwegian standards, and for the most is quite shallow. Snaking its way slowly through the impressive treeless landscape of flat volcanic fields and improvised farm land, like a giant serpent, each bend in the river revealing new pools and new fish.
		Morten enjoying one of the many stunning sceneries in Iceland

Marius, one of the competition winners began fishing with the fly that produced the most fish for me on my last visit; a tiny dry tied on a Mustad Signature Dry/Wet R50 #22, constructed of nothing but a little dubbed body of black seal's fur. After a short while when our eyes adjusted to the low light and the ripple of the uppermost part of the pool, we began to see small steady careful rises, but still no sign of insects. I positioned myself up on top of the highest advantage point of the pool upstream from Marius. As I approached the river, a huge long thick shadow shot out from under the bank and into deeper water. This was a fish of 5-6 kg. I turned and gestured to Marius with both my hands wide apart, he responded with the same gesture and then pointed a few metres up stream from him, there I could see 7 large brown trout between 1.5- 3.5 kg. This is what we had come for! Like most big fish rivers, Minnivallalækur doesn't grow fish. These huge trout spend the winter months in large lakes and a large glacial river and migrate up this small river in search of food and spawning. Throstur Ellidason, who is a freshwater biologist and leases this river along will several others in Iceland , told me about the special strain of brown trout in Minnivallalækur. We believe that they are some of the very last remaining trout of this strain. It was this brown trout that used to be over the whole of Northern Europe , this is the original " Salmo Trutta"

The next few hours we explored the pools of the upper 3 km of the river. It's essential while fishing in Iceland that you have a four wheel drive, as there are very few roads, only farm tracks that follow the river, if you're lucky. The last part of the day produced several more fish up to and just over the kilo mark, most of which fought with just as much passion and determination as the first one.

Our last morning fishing produced excellent weather, we could now observe the smallest midges hatching everywhere and the odd caddis fly coming off, but for some reason there were less rising to be seen. This is a challenging river to fish as these big trout are easily spooked, with gin clear water, high banks and a minimum cover. We spent a lot of time on all fours, crawling to the bank and spotting fish, rather like fishing for big trout in New Zealand .

The traditional Icelandic method of fishing is with large, traditional streamers, Black ghost, Muddler minnow etc; in the early part of the season fished down and across stream, and later on in the year with small weighted nymphs fished upstream in combination with a strike indicator when fishing deep. Iceland has no tradition with dry fly fishing. Our short stay at Minnivallalækur produced many fish, the majority of which were taken on dry fly, with a couple of fish on small gold head nymphs.
		Sigurjon Olafsson's Orange Flavour Char & Salmon fly, tied on the brand new Mustad Signature Salmon SL53U BL. Photographed on a beautiful Icelandic Char

The larger char where powerful fish, just a few seconds after the take, your reel was screaming and you were long into your backing.

The weather for our four days fishing in Iceland was exceptional, just like the service from our host Throstur Ellidason and all the other members of his team at Angling service Strengir.

The fishing at Minnivallalækur is "fly only" and catch and release, but you are allowed to take the occasional fish for the table. The beat covers about 7 km of river, which is fished by only four rods at one time. The season runs from 1 April - 30 September. The average size of the fish in Minnivallalækur is an amazing 1 to 2 kg. The new fishing lodge is first class and has 4 double bedrooms and a view from the sitting room over home pool. A visit to www.strengir.is will give you all the info you need to know about the fishing at Minnivallalækur and Breiddalsa.

Angling service Strengir
Throstur Ellidason
PO Box 12024
132 Reykjavik
Iceland

Tel/Fax +354 567 5204

E-mail ellidason@strengir.is

www.strengir.is