Highlights
Close to an overdose on Blanda and W. Ranga
After having a truly nice Friday night in various Reykjavik bars and clubs (those Icelandic people sure know how to party), we drove north to River Blanda, famous for its early run with a good size average. The lower section of the river was full of salmon and we had a blast when fishing those beautiful, although rather demanding pools. Altogether, in one day, we (2 rods) hooked 15 fish and landed 9 of them including one fish clearly over 20 pounds. Even though the wind was probably over 30 m/s, there were still some active fish willing to test our skills. The biggest problem was not the casting in a storm but trying to wade close to the main channel. Time to time the gusts were so strong, that all you could do was to concentrate on staying on your feet. The quality of the guides and the lodge were outstanding and comparable to any other high-class operation in the world. Blanda is a superb river and I just can’t wait to get back there.
After getting our muscles hammered by the strong wind and fast fish, we drove down south to the beautiful West Ranga. Being one of the best rivers in Iceland in 2004, our expectations were high. We wanted to see the famous waterfalls and make acquaintance with river’s numerous salmon. The weather was getting better and by the time we reached the lodge, the sun was shining and the wind was basically gone.
The main problem when fishing for andranomous fish, is of course, that sometimes there just isn’t enough fish in the river. This time the number of landed fish before our arrival was five or six and only some 50 fish had gone through the fish ladder. In a big river like West Ranga, that is close to nothing. However, being Finns, we didn’t give up (neither did we start drinking, even though the bar at the lodge was very well equipped) and so, in no time, we were fishing below the lower waterfalls. A member of our team hooked five fish in a row from the same current seam. One of them was a good size salmon close to 16 pounds.
Unfortunately, he lost every one of those. You just can’t land them all, but five in a row, seriously, that is something. We gave him some friendly feedback, you can believe that.
Next morning I was lucky enough to land the season’s first grilse from the "junction pool". And what kind of fish it was – one of those absolutely fantastic bluish fish straight from the sea with lots of sea lice. They just can’t get prettier than that. Having worked several years as a guide on Kola Peninsula Russia, I have had my share of big and so called fresh fish, but never have I released more shining fish than this West Ranga beauty. From the same spot, I hooked four sea trout, and, oh boy, did they jump. I just hope that our camera man was able to keep up with their pace. I really want to see some of those jumps with the slow-motion button pressed down.
The general atmosphere in the lodge was very relaxed and the quality of the service was impeccable in every aspect. No matter how much you enjoyed your time on the river, you were still waiting to get back to the lodge, to sit down on those cozy leather chairs and to have that first bottle of ice-cold beer or a class of properly chilled white wine.
Accompanied with a bunch of fellow salmon anglers and a friendly and professional staff, it just can’t get better than that. Well, if we would have arrived to the West Ranga lodge a week or two later, the river would have been full of fresh fish and the action on the river would have been outstanding.
However, I think that there is a certain limit to the amount of happiness that a passionate fly fisherman can tolerate during a short fishing trip. I know for sure, that if the West Ranga would have fished better, I would have gone way pass mine. The consequences could have been extremely serious. I don’t know that for sure, because I have never crossed that border. This time it was very close – thanks to Angling Club Lax-A.
Mika Vainio
on behalf of the Finnish TV-crew led by Mr. Pasi Laine
