Lake Urriðavatn July 6th, 2016

You can´t fish brown trout in lake Urriðavatn (Lake Brown Trout)

The geothermal water tank is in the center of the image. Below the tanks is a man-made stone pier that extends some distance into the lake. On this pier is a 1,900-meter deep borehole that residents of Fellabær, Egilsstaðir, and the surrounding areas use for domestic heating.

We felt we couldn’t leave Fljótsdalshérað without visiting Urriðavatn. The lake is included in the Veiðikortið (Fishing Card) and is located a stone’s throw from Fellabær, west of the bridge over Lagarfljót. It is one square kilometer in size, with an average depth of 4.4 meters and a maximum depth of 10.5 meters. Today, the lake only contains Arctic char, which makes its name (Trout Lake) raise some questions.

Around dinner time on Wednesday, July 6th, we drove up to the farm Urriðavatn to register for fishing. There we met the farmer, who was busy with some outdoor chores. He encouraged us to try and ‘pull some fish out’ of the lake. We felt his tone suggested that hopes for success were slim—or perhaps we just interpreted it that way because we weren’t very optimistic ourselves. We had heard that the best fishing time was in the spring and that it yielded best in calm weather. Now it was mid-summer, and a considerable northwesterly wind was blowing. The farmer provided the explanation for the lake’s misnomer: previously, brown trout was the dominant species, but in the 1950s, a hydroelectric project destroyed the trout’s spawning grounds. Following that environmental disaster, only Arctic char has been caught in Urriðavatn.

Yes, we were pessimistic, and the mood was such that we were seriously considering dashing up to Skriðdalur to fish in Skriðuvatn. Of course, we didn’t feel like making the drive, so we cast flies and lures where Urriðavatn appeared deepest, by the pier below the geothermal tanks. Isn’t it generally true that when it’s warm, the char seeks deeper, cooler water? We hadn’t been there long when our daughter came to us, very excited, saying that about five char had followed her lure all the way to the shore. Well, then! So there was fish there after all. Soon she caught one char and lost another. My wife lost a decent one, and so did I. Shortly after, I landed four char in a row on a nymph that closely resembles one I’ve heard called Alma Rún: black body, no tail, bead-head, and an orange throat.