A new lake was added to the list of waters my wife and I have explored. Lake Oddastaðavatn, located in Kolbeinsstaðahreppur in Hnappadalssýsla, is reputedly a fine fishing lake with both brown trout and Arctic char; online descriptions and angling handbooks claim that char is the dominant species.
Oddastaðavatn sits at 57 meters above sea level, covers about 3 square kilometers, and reaches a maximum depth of 18 meters. One of my fishing companions, who hails from the Snæfellsnes peninsula, has fished there before and gave us some tips on the most popular spots. We drove north of the lake and turned onto a track leading along the western bank, followed by a short walk down to the water. As we arrived, an older gentleman was packing up after fishing from noon until the evening news. He told us he had caught thirteen fish, ranging from one to four pounds, and showed me some fine specimens in his cooler.
It seems the official information about the lake is becoming outdated, as the old-timer said the char is disappearing and the catch now consists mostly of brown trout. My friend from Snæfellsnes said the same, noting that on his last trip, he caught two char, which was considered quite surprising. My wife, our daughter Lilja, and I fished the lake until midnight but had little success. We were starting to think we wouldn't even manage a single meal's worth. As the evening progressed, fish began to show, but they were very small. We kept three just so we could say we’d tasted the fish from the lake.
