2022 ON REFLECTION
It has been a fantastic year. We have seen the usual highs and some unusual lows but overall a stellar season spent with our wonderful clients and professional team. During the season it’s really hard to focus on anything but the present but when you have the chance to reflect it’s clear that we have been blessed in so many ways.
East Ranga had a slow start with cold conditions leading to a quiet June. Fishing picked up as June gave way to July and a few of the early larger fish began to be landed.
However due to continued cold and an unusually large volume of water we did not catch many really good sized fish. That’s not to say we did not welcome one client to the hallowed 20lbs club!
Having said that there were a good deal of 10-16 lbs class fish landed and soon these were joined by grilse making up the statistics most days.
August saw a steady rise in the numbers of grilse landed with more and more fish caught in the lower river as well as the breakaway success of Drápubakki as the new pond showed it’s worth.
September came in very well with the end of fly only restrictions. A lot of the early September dates were actually fished with fly only and a good deal of fish were landed by all methods. Over 1000 fish were landed in September.
As the season drew to a close on October the 20th the East Ranga had landed 3807 fish. Not a record breaker but a lovely number of fish to 18 rods and a good improvement on 2021. We’ve had very successful smolt releases the last two years and so all being well next season we should see a good balance of grilse and bigger fish.
The lower section of the river at Holsa saw an increase in numbers landed despite some changes to the natural lay out of the pools in places. With higher than expected water it proved harder to locate the fish and many carried on straight through to East. Still 403 fish is a strong improvement on 2021.
The real hidden gem of 2022 was Affall. This little river snakes through the southern iceland landscape in a very unassuming manner.
Fished by only 4 rods and clear and intimate like a traditional Icelandic river this river produced 1079 fish for the season. That’s a staggering 269 fish per rod and double the catch of 2021.
It too started slowly but once up and running the fish just kept coming.
So despite some inclement weather this season we were very pleased with the outcome and really look forward to welcoming everyone back to Iceland in 2023.
