Lake Þingvallavatn July, 9th 2017
The mother and daughter plunged headfirst into the water.
The weather outlook for the day was anything but poor when we cast our flies into Lake Þingvallavatn, south of Arnarfell, at seven o'clock on Sunday morning. A gentle breeze blew from the north, and the temperature was around eight degrees. It warmed up quickly as the sun shone, and every now and then, the lake became perfectly, glassy calm.
My better half, Guðrún, and my daughter Lilja were with me on the trip. Lilja had invited a fishing companion no less famous than Danni—the ‘cover model’ of this summer’s Fishing Card (Veiðikortið). We started on the east bank but didn’t see a sign of fish for quite a while. My companions then decided to move over to the bank beneath Arnarfell. I told them I’d take a few more casts on the east side and join them shortly. I tied the ‘Alma Rún’ fly to my leader, and a snail-eating Arctic char of just over two pounds took the bait.
When nothing happened for a good while after that, I switched flies and put on a ‘Teal and Black.’ A two-pound silverside char (piscivorous char) went for it. Other trout snubbed the fly, so I switched to a ‘Black Killer’ with a bead head and a gorgeous pink collar. On that fly, I picked up five more fine Arctic char.
I noticed a yellow Bónus shopping bag fluttering at the water’s edge beneath Arnarfell, so I assumed they were also catching fish. Then, to my astonishment, I saw the mother and daughter begin to undress right there on the bank. I thought it incredibly reckless to start sunbathing with fish swimming right along the shoreline! However, the explanation for their behavior turned out to be that both of them had plunged headfirst into the lake. They are so perfectly in sync, those dear hearts.
In the Bónus bag was a two-pound Arctic char that Guðrún had caught. She then hooked another similar-sized fish, which must have been a ‘silverside’ char because it looked so silvery—or perhaps it was a brown trout. That one didn’t make it to shore, as it slipped off the hook right at the bank.
When we headed home around half-past two, the temperature had reached 18°C, and people all across the National Park were out enjoying the beautiful weather. At home, the task of finishing the house-painting awaited us. For dinner, we had, of course, delicious Arctic char from Lake Þingvallavatn.
