Here in Brautarlækur, it hasn’t rained for six weeks. The rivers and lakes bear witness to the lack of precipitation, and the Norðurá river meanders past us like a small stream. If my wife and I hadn’t been so busy at our place in the countryside, we surely would have taken advantage of the time for fishing trips. But for now, our construction projects had to take priority.
Finally, now toward the end of our summer vacation, there was a brief pause in the construction work. We are nearly finished insulating the workshop, we’ve put up a small six-square-meter storage shed, and we’ve finished the formwork for the foundation of the ‘new’ Brautarlækur. Don’t we deserve to go fishing now? I certainly think so.
The big project this summer: setting up the formwork for the new house at Brautarlækur. We aim to pour the foundation walls in August.
I decided to make a trip to the moorland lake, but my wife didn’t join me—mostly because of the dog, who can’t seem to settle down during fishing trips. The weather was exceptionally good. Not bracing sunshine, but dry, 15 degrees, and a light breeze when I started fishing around two o’clock. I searched far and wide for fish but didn’t see a sign of life. Just before seven in the evening, the southwesterly breeze turned into a northeasterly wind. I had fished all the main spots on the eastern bank and around Réttartangi. Everything felt stone dead. Even at one of our most productive spots in the lake, it was the same story. No activity.
After dinner, I strolled over to Breiðavík and cast across the bay from the west. I got no reaction and was starting to think about heading home. That’s when a 2.8-pound trout took my lure. Naturally, I kept at it, but no other fish bit. I thought to myself that there must be fish at the spot I had visited earlier. I walked back with my fly rod, and soon a 2-pound trout took a black Nobbler. I cast again, and again there was a strike on the Nobbler. This was a big fish that fought hard. To my frustration, the line snapped—and I realized I had left my fly box back at Breiðavík! I went to fetch more flies and my spinning rod and ended up landing three more trout. Two took a red Nobbler, but then the fly disappeared into the depths when a trout snapped the line. I switched back to the lure and landed one more. All of them were around three pounds. The total catch for the trip was five trout, ranging from two to three pounds.
The water level in the lake is quite low, as the month of July has been exceptionally dry.
The hike back in the dark is always an ‘adventure,’ so to speak. I was tired and my legs were aching after walking all day. I saw little sign of other people having been at the lake, though a group of horses had clearly passed by recently.