In just over 2 weeks the fishing season starts in Iceland for real. It marks the day that the law makers say we can start targeting sea run trout. April 1. is an exciting day and the majority of the hardcore sea trout anglers are hitting refresh on the weather forecast websites every 5 minutes. April 1. is also the day we launched the Alpha version of Angling iQ to a small group of testers here in Iceland in 2015.Â
April 1. is technically still winter here in Iceland and it’s not uncommon that the rivers are frozen. Last year I took a small group to the opening of a sea trout river on the south coast of Iceland. We arrived late to the river because the group landed in Iceland in the afternoon and it took us 3 hours to drive to the river. On the way things were looking good, temperatures just over zero but as we got closer to the river we saw the temperature drop with every 50 kilometers we drove. By the time we got to the river it was frozen solid.Â
The next morning we were in no hurry since that night the temperatures had gone down as low as -10°C and even though it had gone up above zero it was still going to take some time for the ice to get off the river.Â
Finally we managed to fish a patch of river that had cleared in the early afternoon and we managed to catch a few fish that day and in the next days. We then moved to a spring creek that never freezes and landed over 100 sea trout in 3 days.Â
Opening day here in Iceland can be magical but can also be so cruel. If the temperatures are above zero and the rivers are ice free the fishing can be off the hook. But then again the weather can be awful making it impossible to fish. All this adds to the excitement and I can tell you this angler just can’t wait to get out there!
Stjani Ben - Angling iQ username: stjanibenÂ
Follow my profile for some fishing action this upcoming season.Â