I must admit that by the time the first fishing trip of the summer arrived, I had become quite impatient. Spring has been exceptionally busy, but sometimes priorities must be set, and this time spring fishing had to take a backseat. Eventually, however, the time came when a gap could be found for a fishing trip.
Very early on Thursday morning, June 14th, we set off from town and drove up to Holtamannafrétt to fish in Þórisvatn. Last summer, the same group went fishing in the lake, and although enthusiasm over the catch was not great, anglers know that it is often a question of hitting the right conditions. We managed to get lost in chatter on the way up, drove past the turnoff to the lake, and ended up at the base camp of some film crew preparing to shoot some blockbuster. We thought it best to turn around immediately before we were shanghaied into filming, especially considering unusually handsome Icelandic men were on the move!
The conditions at the lake were similar to the previous year, except that the water level was much higher now than then. The sun shone, and there was little wind, and at times it was even calm. Every now and then a cloud covered the sun, and shortly after we began fishing, a hail shower poured over us, but otherwise it was dry until around suppertime, when it started to rain.
So, what was the result of the trip? Six silvery trout, red in the flesh, and all about a pound in weight. Little was happening in the fishing, so there was plenty of time to observe the ringed plover and the purple sandpiper in their search for food in the sand.
