Dear fishing friends

The fishing has been up and down for the last few weeks. Our total number is now around 2100 fish landed and a few very nice fish have been landed..

Mid august we had a bit of rain and fishing went extremely good. The group from the 14 - 17 of august landed 190 fish and most of our groups have had decent fishing although we are way under our number in the last two years.

September has been up and down as well mostly due to low water and cold weather ( which has been the story of this summer ).. The best part about last 2 weeks is that we are landing big fish, as an example we have landed 4 fish in giant sizes, 100 cm, 102 cm, 104 cm and a stunning 106 cm male from the Austura canyon.

Even if we are not seeing last 2 years numbers we can be really satisfied with our numbers. If fishing stays the same we will be seeing a closing number of around 2400 - 2500 fish which before 2009 would have been a record year. The difference is mostly catch and release, good anglers and the fact that we have a fantastic team of guides who know the river extremely well..

I will be starting to work on the 2012 bookings in the next 3 weeks and it seems like we have more interest than ever before.

Tight lines
Rabbi

Dear fishing friends. The fishing has been extremely good for the last few days. The week 27 july - 02 august gave around 200 salmon. A fantastic group of guys that really know how to enjoy life. Young and old, experienced anglers in a mix with first timers but all loving the sport and their stay at the Midfjardara lodge.

In the last 3 days from noon 02 - noon 05 we have landed over 150 salmon. The biggest 98 cm and a huge fish in the mid twenties broke of after a 10 minutes fight, taking the angler down 500 meters down river. This morning 15 fish were landed in beat 1 including 2 sea-liced fish over 90 cm.

We have spotted a fish in the river close to 30 pounds and hopefully a lucky angler will be able to hook and land that fish in the next days.

Here are a few photos from the group that just left.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

Dear fishing friends.

We are still waiting for rain but we are told that we can expect it in the next few days. Fingers crossed. The weather has really been in control of everything here for the last weeks. First extremely cold and windy and now warm, sunny and low water.

The numbers of fish being landed has been from 20 - 39 fish pr day. The mornings have been more productive than evenings but when the conditions are right we are having good fishing for the whole day.

People are still having good fun and enjoying themselves although the fishing is more difficult than last 2 years.

Here are a couple of photos of fish caught in the last few days.

Tight lines
Rabbi

Dear Midfjardara fans. We have had a slower start of july than last year but if we compare us to our neighbors we can not complain. The river is now at 230 salmon landed and fresh fish are starting to show up in numbers. As an example 2 rods have been catching 8 - 10 salmon for the morning sessions in the main river, all really fresh with sea lice. First grilse runs are starting to show up in a mix with big healthy MWS. The weather has been terrible from the start of the season with northern cold wind blowing up river every single day until now..

The shape of the MWS salmon has been fantastic and some of the fish over 80 cm have looked more like Argentina seatrout than salmon..

We are hopefully getting better weather in the next few days that will hopefully help with the numbers.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

Water conditions are fine but low temperatures are giving us a hard time. It seems that the spring in the north and northwest of Iceland is arriving later than in the last few years.

At noon on the 23rd a Danish group arrived to the lodge with 6 rods on the main beat and 2 rods in a rotation on the char beat.. The fishing started out well with 4 salmon in the first afternoon but then has slowed down a bit mainly due to cold weather and heavy wind..

We will keep you posted on how the next days will be.

Tight lines
Rabbi

Dear fellow anglers.

This season has ended and it ended with a boom.. The last group had great fishing with lots of fish and big ones in between. The biggest fish for the last group were 2 fish of 98 cm, 1 fish of 100 and 1 fish of 108 cm.. The final number for landed salmon this year was 4043..

I will be working on some statistics for the season that will be published here soon..

We would really like to thank everyone that fished with us this season for a great time and we do hope to see you next year.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

The fishing has been great for the last few days.

A group of Norwegians just left after 3 days of fishing. The 10 rods landed just under 200 salmon in the 3 days. A lot of big fish were landed and lost.

Since we have been busy landing fish this season I have not given myself time to do our statistics for the season. We have landed just over 3400 salmon this season and here are some statistics from the season so far.

Length of fish.
Under 70 cm = 2118 fish
70 - 79 = 608 fish
80 - 89 = 588 fish
90 - 99 = 80 fish
100 + = 6 fish
Total = 3400 salmon landed.

From the 3400 salmon landed 3019 of them have been released again..

Tight lines.
Rabbi

I sometimes wonder how good things can get. First of all our first season last year was a record year with 4000 salmon landed on the 10 rods. This season started out great with a lot of big fish and it is already the second best year ever in numbers. So many big fish have been landed that we have lost count of all the fish from 90 cm - 100 cm. A 108 cm fish was landed in the beginning of august, then the biggest fish landed in Iceland. A few days later that was beaten by a Big Laxa fish of 109 and then 110.. But yesterday a great big female of 109 cm was landed form the pool Svarthamar ( where I already had landed a 100 cm fish earlier in the season. ) This fish is one of the few 100 cm + female salmon landed every year in Iceland. This female will be laying a lot of ( big fish gene ) eggs in the next weeks.

Today I heard of a couple of guys going to the upper east river. They landed 3 salmon on their rod. 90, 93 and 97 cm. What a morning..

I guess Midfjardara is the best river you will find when it comes to quality and quantity..

Tight lines
Rabbi

Fishing is still great in the Midfjardara. Last night we caught salmon nr 3000.. So if september will be as good as it was last year, we will not be far from the total of our record year 2009.. The water has dropped again and taken the catches down to normal numbers ( 40 - 50 salmon pr day ). The sizes of the fish are ranging from 5 - 15 pounds with a few fish in the close to 20 pounds.. A few fresh fish are still being landed in the lower beats.

Small flies, micro cones seem to be the best flies on the river now.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

For a few weeks we have been waiting for rain and finally it came 4 days ago. I think everybody that has fished the river this season has known that when it would finally rain the fishing would be great. But who ever believed that it would be this good..

For the last 3 days the fishing has been crazy as we have landed 329 salmon have been landed on the 10 rods. A lot of big fish have been landed and there are some repeat clients that have fished here for years that all agree that never have they seen as many big fish in the river as it is now. The 3 biggest fish for the last days are a 100 cm from the Nupsa, a 100 cm fish from Hukskvorn in the Vestura and a 103 cm fish from the pool Hriseyrarhylur in Vestura. A few big fish also broke loose and many fish ranging from 80 - 100 cm have been landed.

The water is dropping now and it would be nice to have a good splash of rain in the next days to keep the fishing good. A few salmon fresh sealiced fish are landed every session in beats 1 and 2 every day in a mix with older fish..

Tight lines
Rabbi

The group fishing now has been doing great. Last night the 10 rods had landed 125 salmon in 2 1/2 days. A lot of big fish have been landed for the last few days and a few Big ones have broken leaders and escaped. A client of mine for example had lost 2 fish in the 20 pound category in the last 2 days. Yesterday afternoon we were up on the upper east river and fighting heavy northern wind. He handed me the rod and invited me to fish. A couple of casts in to the pool and something heavy grabs the fly.. I offered him the rod but now he said smiling " you land this one "... Fifteen minutes later a 100 cm salmon was landed. What a fish. A few photos later this mighty male was released again to the pool.. Hopefully another angler will be blessed by this fish later in the season.

Only a few days a fish broke of after 2 hours in this same pool... I doubt it was the same fish..

Tight lines.
Rabbi

Yesterday was great number wise as we landed close to 50 salmon in the day for the 10 rods. The biggest fish for the day was a silver fresh 99 cm ( 21 pound ) salmon with sea lice caught on beat 1. We are now at 2030 salmon landed and it looks like we will be having the second best season ever on the Midfjardara.. Why?? C&R is mostly the answer.. The rivers are packed with fish and over 90% of the fish have been released again to the river. Giver them a few days and some of them will take again soon..

It has finally started to cool down a bit and we have been blessed by rain showers for the last few days. Not much, but everything counts. We can feel that autumn will be here soon as geese are starting to gather up in packs to prepare to leave the country of fire and ice.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

Fishing is still good on the Midjfardara and it has started to rain a little bit and some more rain should be coming in the next days. We have been seeing some schools of grilse coming in with the tides and then turning back out to sea, waiting for more water. A fish over 20 pounds was lost in the upper west this morning on a small fly..

Please note that I have not been receiving e-mails on my address rafn@fhdestinations.com due to some problems a fisherman does not understand. Please send all emails to rafnva@internet.is

Tight lines.
Rabbi

The river is getting close to 1850 salmon landed and the big fish are starting to get aggressive again. A few big ones have been landed over the last few days..

The biggest fish of the season was landed today.. The salmon which was 108 cm was landed in the upper Austura on a small conehead. This fish should be around 27 pounds.

Here are a few photos of the fish and the happy angler..

We might be getting the rain we were promised last week so it seems like the next few days might be interesting.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

This spring we decided to make a little experiment in a cooperation with the landowners.. What we did is that we fished in late april and early may for kelts that then were tagged. Around 20 salmon were tagged and most of them were grilse ranging from 55 - 65 cm.. One of those fish we tagged was caught in the pool Grjothylur ( Airport pool ) on beat 1 ( Midfjardara ) in early may.. On the opening day 23rd of june this same fish was landed in Grjotarstrengur ( beat 3 ) upper Austura.. This fish had then travelled to the ocean, back up river, taken the whole Austura canyon and up the fish ladder and in the middle of the upper Austura. We have since then caught him 2 times in that same pool.. We call him 101069 which is the number on his tag.

We are now over 1600 salmon and we are sure that if we would not have been releasing so many of the fish we are catching the numbers would be much lower.. There are plenty of fish in most of the beats and all beats are producing fish every session..

Now it is getting to the point where the days are getting shorter and often that means that the big fish start taking again. A huge fish was lost in the upper Austura yesterday after a good fight.. I hope to give you some big fish news in the next few days.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

Last night we broke the 1500 salmon barrier. After fishing in awful conditions for the last 2 weeks with low water we are finally seeing the first drops of rain since the beginning of july. Although we have been fishing in low water the groups that have fished with us have been doing well. The daily number of fish landed has been between 30 on our slow days up to 60 on good days. Not bad for 10 rods.

We are seeing fresh fish entering the river every day and yesterday in good numbers.

Lets hope it keeps raining to move those fish we already have in the river and get more fresh fish coming in that have been waiting at the river mouth for the last weeks.

94% of all the fish that has been landed has been released again so there are a lot of fish in the river.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

Although we are facing very difficult conditions with low water and sunny warm days we are still catching a lot of fish.. We are now getting close to 1200 salmo landed since we opened on the 23rd of june. The runs have slowed down a bit, mostly because of low water and high temperatures. A couple of days ago we had overcast for the whole day and we landed 55 salmon that day.. We are praying for rain and if the weather forecast will turn out right we might be seeing the first drops of rain late tonight. It has not rained a drop here since the 7th of july..

Our clients are having a good fun with skating micro hitch tubes over salmon and using small flies even down to size 18.. If the fishing is slow they can at lease expect to get fantastic food when they get back to the lodge..

Tight lines
Rabbi

This is something that is hard to resist.

2 rods came available due to a cancellation from the 21 - 24th of july.. Also a client has asked me to sell 2 of his 4 rods from the 30th - 02 august.

Please contact my on my email rafnva@internet.is if you would be interested on either of these dates.

Tight lines
Rabbi

The group that fished from the 6 - 9th of july landed 189 salmon on the 10 rods. As everybody knows we did have a record season last year, but the start of this season is much better than last year. Lots of big fish around and big fish still running into the river. The conditions in the ocean seem to have been really good this year as the fish we are catching are really well held, fat and beautiful. A few fish over 90 cm are landed every day now. The 2 biggest fish of the season were 97 cm. The water conditions are good and people are fishing floating lines, hitch tubes and small flies.

Tight lines
Rabbi

We opened up the Midfjardara on the 23rd of june. The first morning gave us 7 salmon and the first afternoon 9.. The river was fished by 6 rods for 2 1/2 days and we managed to land 46 salmon. Only 2 fish under 70 cm with the majority of the fish ranging from 80 - 92 cm..

There is a good number of fish already in the Austura and the Vestura but they do not seem to be settling down in the main river yet. The ones we have been landing there are all fish running trough.

I will keep you informed about how the next days will be.

Tight lines Rabbi

We are opening the Midfjardara in a few days and we can feel the tension building up. We have been working around the lodge for the last few days and as always we do look into a few pools now and then to see if the number of fish are increasing. Last friday I took a look under the bridge on Vesturá and spotted 6 big fish. Just 100 meters above the bridge is the pool Skalapollar. I saw a few fish jumping so I walked down the slope to take a better look into the pool. Just in that small pool I spotted at least 40 fresh salmon ready to move further up the Vesturá. Also I sotted a few fish in the pool Hlaupin in Austurá.

I will update the blog on the opening day ( 23rd of june )..

Tight lines Rabbi

This morning me and Jonni went to look for fresh early runners in the river. Since last year we did not spot the first fish until the 5th of June, our hopes were not so high. We spotted 15 salmon in 3 different pools in the Vestura tributary. 9 fish were in the Kistufoss pool, 4 in Kerafoss pool and 2 in Hlidarfoss breida just below the Hlidarfoss waterfall.. All of these fish were MWS salmon ( 10 - 18 pounds ) and this is a good indication that our researchers were right when they speculated that the numbers of MWS salmon would be good for the Midfjardara for this season. This means added value for the spring fishing ( late june early july )..

There are still 20 days until we open up the river so it will be really hard for us to wait until the opening day. The arctic char beat will be opened on the 10th of June and there have a lot of arctic char been seen already. A couple of guys that we asked to try some fishing there around the 20th of may landed 5 nice arctic char in just a couple of hours.

We will keep you posted on how things will progress in the next few days.

Tight lines
Rabbi

The weather in Iceland as been fantastic for the last few days. The spring has arrived, anglers have started to fish for trout and char and the first salmon of the season have been spotted. It is the opinion of most that the spring is 2 weeks earlier this years than in the last few years. We of course are really happy with this and this gives us a good feeling about the opening of the Midfjardara and the fishing in the first weeks of the season with runs of MWS salmon. There has been a big discussion on MWS salmon and the declining of their numbers in Iceland for the last few years. Last year the number of MWS in the Midfjardara was higher than in the last few years based on our books. With the added catch and release of these fish we are hoping to get these numbers up.

With just over a month to go before we open up the river we are just about to head north and do a little work on the lodge and fix roads etc. We will be watching the river carefully to look out for fresh runners that will probably be arriving in early june. We will keep you posted.

Tight lines.
Rafn 2

Dear fishing friends. Now it is getting close to us being fully booked. Only a few rods ( listed below ) are still available.

• June 27 - 30 / 4 rods
• July 06 - 09 / 1 rod
• July 15 - 18 / 1 rod
• August 08 - 11 / 2 rods
• August 14 - 17 / 2 rods

Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information and prices.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

As it gets closer to the 2010 season we are getting more and more anxious to open the Miðfjarðará again. With less than 60 days to go we have almost everything ready for the season. We still have to put down the signs for the pools and just a little bit of work to do inside the lodge.

I have been in contact with our scientists regarding the possible catches for next year and they of course are a little bit afraid to give any direct comments about what we can expect. However they have told us that we can be optimistic about the fishing, even though we can possibly not expect the same numbers as last year. The numbers of smolt and par in the Midfjarðará are really good and we have a healthy stock of wild salmon in the rivers. With the added catch and release and changing this river into a fly fish only paradise we will see the numbers of salmon increase here in the next few year.

So the bottom line is. We can be optimistic about our next season and the future.

Tight lines.
Rabbi

With close to 4000 salmon landed in our 90 day season a record has been set for the river. Unbelievable catches through out this season have given many of our anglers magical moments on the river banks. What can we thank this fantastic fishing? It is my opinion that there are 4 factors that we can thank this great outcome.

• 1.Really strong runs of salmon.
• 2.Water conditions were pretty good through out the season, with rainy days often around the highest tides.
• 3.Added catch and release. 74% of all the salmon was released again. Some of these fish will not hesitate to take our anglers flies twice or even more times.
• 4.Great guides and anglers.

To finish this I really want to thank all the great people that fished and worked with us in the 2009 season.

Tight lines.
Rabbi