July 5th 2010 - Breiddalsa


Me and my brother had one rod in Breiddalsa in the east of Iceland. I have never fished this river before but of course passed over it thousand times and always wondered how it would fish. Throstur Ellidason is the lease holder or the fishing club Strengir. Throstur has been releasing smolt in this river for the last 10 years or so but when he took it over it was averaging 100-120 salmon a year. The average over the last 3 years is about 850 Salmon!

July 6th 2010


The river only opened on the 1st of July so I think there were only 5 Salmon caught when we arrived on the 5th but the river had flooded already the 2nd or 3rd of July but was getting pretty good although very high the first afternoon we arrived. We had beat 3 the first afternoon but saw no Salmon on that section. The day after we started on beat 2 and the photo above is from Efri Beljandi pool and Gudmundur is standing to the left.


That afternoon we had beat 1 and I hooked one in Langihryggur. The photo above is from Langihryggur but Gudmundur is just finishing off the tailwater.


The logde in Breiddalsa is for sure world class. The attention to detail and workmanship is just plain outstanding. Gudmundur enjoying the view of the river.


It's truly is a grand lodge, every room has a private shower, there is a sauna and a hot tub to relax in after day of fishing. The service and food was outstanding and the staff very helpful.


After a day and a half of fishing the river became un-fishable. She was already high the day before but she was clear and becoming very fishable. I estimated on my photos that the water level came up good 5-7 feet! Throstur and his staff told me this was as bad as they had ever seen it. So, what was left of our stay we enjoyed this fantastic country hotel with good people and great dining.