WWMF Nordura Report-Iceland

The Nordura has been a WhereWiseMenFish favourite for as long as I have been arranging trips to Iceland, which will be 19 years this August.  With so many great salmon rivers in Iceland to choose from, deciding where to go is not entirely straightforward, although invariably having reasonably high prospects of catching a salmon or two is typically at the top of the list.

Timing of course is everything, no matter where you go or what the average catch statistics reveal about your likely prospects over a specific period.  I hate to use the dreaded word ‘conditions’ as it is more often than not used  to excuse less than stellar catches, however for our trip over 27 June-1 July, on paper at least, the conditions looked close to perfect! 

Britain and indeed really all of Europe was in the grip of its second, third or fourth significant heatwave so far this year.   Flying northwards from London, looking down all, you could see were parched fields and an already arid looking landscape despite it still being late June.  Unbroken blue skies prevailed throughout the first 2hrs 40 mins of our 3-hr flight and it was only really as we were approaching the final descent towards Iceland that we hit a bank of dark grey rain laden clouds.  As the plane touched the tarmac streaks of rain channelled past the windows.  Those who had departed in shorts and T-shirts looked rather crestfallen.  By contrast those who had been looking at the weather forecast prior to departure knowingly pulled out jumpers and fleeces from their hand luggage prior to disembarkation.

Whilst those armed with rucksacks and hiking sticks were looking somewhat crestfallen, this was exactly the sort of weather that, as salmon anglers we get excited about and none more so than our assembled team of guides and anglers when we arrived at the lodge.  Icelandic rivers do not rely on snowmelt for their early season water, the bulk of which will have melted in April and May.  Rainfall is key and it had been lacking over May and early June.  The Nordura has one of the earliest runs of salmon in Iceland and typically is the first to open on or around the 4^{th of} June.  As is typically the case on the opening day catches were good due to the early running salmon that had previously filled the pools.   Subsequently however, due to the unusually low water, the river had not been filling up with the same volume of fresh fish as might be expected.  With the recent influx of ‘inhospitable’ rainy conditions, hopes were high and the volume of water in the river was almost three times what it had been a mere 24hrs earlier.  Neither was the boost in water levels a flash in the pan.  Prolonged rainy conditions looked set to ensure that for the immediate future the prospects were going to be as good as could be wished for, both for our fishing and as importantly through the following weeks and the main grilse run over mid-July.

The fishing at the Nordura is split into 6 beats fished by 12 rods with an afternoon and a morning session of 5 or 6 hours each.  Both of those sessions are split into two, meaning that you will fish two beats each session and consequently cover all the water available every 1 ½ days.  This results in anglers experiencing both a fantastic variety of water as well as the chance to fish all the beats at different times of the day.  Some of the key pools will of course get more attention than others but it is equally possible to cover ‘fresh’ water on most sessions should you want to do so.

One of the absolute joys of fishing in Iceland is the water clarity.   There will always be a need to cover the water but at the same time the ability to spot fish and then target them adds an entirely different approach when salmon fishing in Iceland as opposed to what you might expect in most salmon rivers in other parts of the world.  An added bonus is the glorious emerald-green colour of the water in the Nordura.  That said, with grey skies, intermittent rain and gusty conditions, visibility was a fraction of what might otherwise be expected, and consequently we were more or less reliant on seeing fish move on the surface to give us an indication as to where fish were lying over and above the very good advice from our guide.  (The poor weather even rendered my ‘eye in the sky’ drone more or less redundant on a good number of our sessions).

Lack of good visibility did not however seem to slow our first afternoon’s activity and by the time we returned to the lodge at 10pm the catches being reported from all at the lodge were consistently good, with salmon being caught in almost all beats with the exception of beat 6 at the top of the river.  It was the following day however when things really started to pick up with no less than 4 salmon of over 80 cm being caught, the biggest being 93 cms (approx. weights in the 10-18lbs range - In Iceland they mainly measure salmon vs weighing them).  Knowing ten river was full of good-sized salmon was exciting to say the least.  The Nordura is mainly known for its grise run, as is the case with  most Icelandic rivers.  When larger MSW salmon are caught on the Nordura it tends to be in early June so this influx of good-sized salmon in late June/early July was a real bonus.

Equally pleasing was the fact that one of our WWMF group, Kate, had a salmon of 84cms.  An achievement in itself but as this was only Kate’s second ever salmon after many years of trying it was a triumph.  She caught first salmon last year on the Nordura  and went on to land another two over our trip.  Amongst the wider group was another team, one of whom having never even fished before.  He landed a salmon of 83 cm.  Memorable achievements regardless of when or where you are fishing.

If I was to highlight the most memorable part of my trip it was whilst fishing with my partner Brendan on the uppermost pool on the Nordura situated immediately below the third waterfall.   It also happened to be one of the relatively brief windows when the sun was making an intermittent appearance.  Very few salmon had been seen and to my knowledge none caught on the uppermost beat which is by far the longest beat on the Nordura, consisting of some much slower pools as the river meanders through the valley prior to once again entering a rocky, gorge section leading to a waterfall which acts as the final barrier to any salmon running the Nordura. 

With the sun out I had flown my drone and spotted 4 or 5 salmon lying towards the tail of the pool.  Having only received rather despondent reports as to the lack of salmon in this beat from other groups who had fished previously it was of huge encouragement to know we were not fishing over  an empty stretch of the river.  With good visibility and my drone in action I oversaw Brendan fishing a small sunray over the salmon lie.  With some encouraging comments from me to change flies, cast again, lengthen the line etc it was not long before his line went tight and he was able to land, what we think was the first fish of the season from that section of the river.

We then took the decision to rest the pool whilst we tried some equally attractive pools slightly lower down, and although I saw one fish flash, we did not have any further action.  Returning a few hours later we again set to work.  This time however there appeared to be more activity with fish showing on a regular basis, I assume heralding the arrival of a new pod of fish.  Although the wind and the skies prevented any effective visibility of what was going on in the pool itself, seeing the fish provided all the confidence we needed.  Over the next hour or so I lost three salmon, all coming off after a good fight, all hooked on a small, hitched fly.  We kept on fishing until the dot of 10pm, having used every last minute of our allotted fishing time.   Although our joint scorecard for the afternoon may only have been one landed salmon it belied immense fun,  excitement and the intense action that we had that afternoon.  Few things are as exciting as fishing a hitch to eager fresh-run salmon and especially so in a beautiful river such as the Nordura.  It makes all the days when things do not go according to plan disappear into faded memories.

On our final afternoon (day 4 as we fished for 4 days rather than the usual 3) we fished the main waterfall below the lodge.  This was where almost all of the larger fish had been caught.  Some morning sunshine allowed some aerial flight-time with my drone and there were a prodigious number of salmon visible in the lower section of the pool. Although we only landed one fish and lost a further one between our pair of rods, just to fish a river ‘bursting’ with salmon, is an undeniable pleasure.  It is a truly spectacular place to fish.  From the home bank, to reach the far side where the best lies are accessible  you have to wade immediately under the waterfall.  It looks daunting and you do have to ‘know your route’ but it is equally breathtaking.  Mount Baula, the 934 m high pointy triangular mountain frames almost every view as you look up the river. 

At the end of our trip our WWMF team averaged approximately one salmon landed/day per full rod.   Had a few more fish gone our way it could have been quite a lot higher but when fishing a hitch or indeed a sunray, salmon are frequently poorly hooked at the point of their mouth as opposed to the corner.  Losing a higher proportion of fish is just part of the equation that comes part and parcel with the excitement of surface action and additional activity.

Rjúpnahaed (Rjúpnaás) fishing lodge on the Nordura is situated atop the gorge which the centre section of the Nordura runs through, the middle three beats of the river being accessible by foot from the lodge.  Renovated in 2017 the lodge offers a combination of the original character of the old lodge with the functionality and comfort of the modern wing consisting of the bedrooms and fishing boot room. Single rods have an individual room as standard, each room with twin beds for sharing rods however for a small additional fee, sharing rods can normally always have their own room.   The food at the lodge is of a very high standard.

Costs to fish for Salmon in Iceland are high, a good many people would say too high!  It is notable that Icelanders almost always share a rod which helps with the overall cost and although sharing may not appeal to everyone, it is always worth remembering that the guided hours are from 8am-1pm and then from 4-10pm.   I will admit that when the weather is inclement, the sharing part is less fun than it is sitting on the bank in warm conditions but on a typical day, with good amounts of activity in the river, sharing can be very rewarding.  The Nordura offers plenty of spots where you can overwatch from on high, looking for fish and generally staking out you or your partners next moves.

The other point I will make with reference to costs is that whether you end up with just 1 or 2 fish for the trip vs a better return which might be 2-5 fish in a day, you can pretty much be assured you will be covering fish most of the time and you really do have a great chance for some fairly consistent action.  With Atlantic salmon a seemingly ever-dwindling resource, Icelandic rivers and specifically the Nordura provide the sort of opportunities that are becoming increasingly rare elsewhere.

Finally, whilst the Nordura is certainly not the only stunning river in Iceland, it is unquestionably one of the very finest, and its unofficial title as ‘the most beautiful of rivers’ is by no means undeserved.  Three very impressive waterfalls, a gorge with sides 100m high, huge variety of pools, from churning pots beneath the waterfall to wide open meandering sections in the upper valley and of course the exceptional clarity of the water.  By and large the fishing is accessible and can be tackled by anglers of all abilities.  Over our stay I do not think I have ever been to a lodge of this nature which had as many first-time salmon anglers present and which delivered first salmon to a good number of them. A remarkable river!!