Huge one from the Nes beats
Elvar Friðriksson with his beautiful salmon, 102 cm and 23 pounds of pure turbo silver! Photo by Júlíus Bjarni Bjarnason.
A huge salmon was caught on the famed Nes/Árnes beats on the Big Laxá several days ago. It measured 102 cm and weighed 23 Icelandic pounds, something like 25 lbs or so. It is one of the biggest so far in Iceland.
The salmon was caught in the well known big fish pool of Kirkjuhólmakvísl and took an inch long hitch tube variation of the local fly called Skröggur. It is mostly black with an orange butt. The angler, Elvar Friðriksson who is an up and coming young guide said that the salmon had made several passes at the fly before taking it and it had been a nerve wracking experience to watch one attack after another without a hookup. But he persisted and the huge fish finally couldn't stand it any longer and grabbed the fly.
The Nes beats are rather far upriver, yet they have had exceptional early runs, just like most rivers and beats in Iceland. At the weekend some thirty salmon had been landed and the average weight at that point was an astonishing 17,3 pounds!
