Ice, Fire and Fish in Iceland

The title tells it all! We’ve just got back from fishing in the beautifully scenic West Fjords region of Iceland. There was snow on the hills yet we got burnt by the glorious sunshine that shone 23 hours a day with temperatures reaching over 20C. And then there’s the fish!

We’d got three days boat fishing lined up in the company of Barney Wright, Editor of TSF and Steve Mason of Icelandic Fishing Adventures. First day we’d be fishing Isafjordur from Sudavik.

We were knackered that first morning having had our plane delayed six hours at Stansted the previous day, then arriving at 3am in Sudavik, but we were up and raring to go at 9am for the boat.

Our first drift found us taking loads of cod to 8lbs or so, but the skipper wasn’t happy with the stamp of fish we were hooking so moved to a drift over rough ground on the southern side of the fjord towards the mouth and open sea.

We started with quality haddock, Mike Jr bagging a fish that was certainly over 7lbs, and I took one about 5½lbs. Barney and Steve were also finding good cod and some big haddock over 4lbs. This was the norm for several drifts with cod touching double figures taking lead heads and small pirks.

The skipper adjusted the drift again and we were maybe 30yds closer in than before. The cod were bigger, but slightly fewer in number. I changed gear to a lightweight MTI 20/40 braid rod and a reel loaded with 30lb braid. I went for a Pink Ice shad on a short trace jumper rig figuring any bigger cod would be tight to the seabed working under the main shoals.

After only a few drops down I hit a real “lump” that hung tight to the seabed and thumped the rod down using its full weight, typical cod style. This fish went 26lbs!

Less than an hour later after rakes of cod, haddock and coalies between us, some of the cod touching tight to 20lbs and all of us getting fish well in to double figures, I switched to a bigger lead head with a longer Tiger Tail body to try for a bigger fish. Again working the lure within 10ft of the seabed and dropping it back time and time again.

Something smashed in to the lure big time and took off about 15yds of line, then whacked the rod right over as it pulled its full weight. It took me a good 5 minutes to work the fish to mid water, then we had a stalemate for a while with the fish coming a few feet, then taking the line back. Steady pressure told and the fish finally broke surface. A personal best at 37lbs weighed ashore a few hours later!

The numbers of cod in these western Icelandic waters is incredible! It literally is a fish a drop if you pick the right technique. Iceland is a hidden gem and just 2hrs 40mins from Stansted. How the hell have we missed it for so long!

Watch out for the full story of how we got on in an autumn issue of Total Sea Fishing magazine.