Midfjardara: A peek below the surface

Many Icelandic rivers are brimming with salmon this year although some weeks of draughts have dropped their levels and slowed the fishing down. Still, the totals this year are excellent all things considered. One of the AnglingIceland.is staff visited Midfjardara recently with our new waterprrof camera.....

This was just over a week ago and the levels were low. Fish were stored up in many pools while many others, the more shallow pools, were empty. This was the blueprint for some dramatic picture taking as the river was extreamly clear. Many pools had literally hundreds of fish stacked up. The one we put in here is from the Upper Stapapollur in the tributary Vestura. They were moving all the time and it was difficult to freeze the whole pack in a single frame.

It was also difficult due to the sheer numbers. Many other pools were packed in the same manner, for instance Arndisarhylur, Tunhylur and Hlidarfoss on Vestura, almost every one of the cut bank pools on Midfjardara and several pools on Austura as well, although the salmon can work the Austura better as it has more consistent levels. Nupsa on the other hand is reduced to a trickle undir these circumstances.Those fishing Midfjardara and many other rivers when substancial rains up the levels will be enviable people indeed, as the salmon will then start to move and fill up previously empty pools. Traditionally the fishing will then change from good/excellent to mind blowing. All photos by Heimir Óskarsson, the bottom one os from Hlidarfoss, the others from Upper Stapapollur.