Fishing in Iceland - Blog post #1 

We are very proud to have our first blog from one of our Special Advisors, Ralf Duerholt, the fishing expert:  
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Fishing Blog Post #1 - December 2015
December is not the busiest time for recreational fishing in Iceland, a good opportunity to share a little about the basics on fish species in Iceland.

​Fresh Water Fish
The five indigenous species of freshwater fish in Iceland are the atlantic salmon (icelandic: lax; latin: salmo salar L.), the arctic char (bleikja; salvelinus alpinus L.), the brown trout (urriði; salmo trutta L.), the eel (áll; anguilla 

anguilla) and the three-spined stickleback (hornsíli; gasterosteus aculeatus L.), the latter not so much of interest to fishermen. Sea trout (sjóbirtingur) and sea arctic char (sjóbleikja) are the sea going variants of the brown trout and arctic char. Occasionally the rainbow trout (regnbogasilungur; oncorhynchus mykiss) and the humpback salmon (hnúðlax; oncorhynchus gorbuscha) are caught as well.

Salt Water Fish
For surf angling (fishing from the coast) the main species of interest are probably sea trout, cod (þorskur; gadus morhua), haddock (ýsa; melanogrammus aeglefinus) and atlantic mackerel (makríll; scomber scombrus). Compared to countries like Germany surf angling is not very popular, although there are reports of very good fishing.
Sea angling (fishing from a boat) is more popular and in most seaside town and villages guided boats trips can be arranged. Species caught include cod, haddock and halibut (lúða; hippoglossus hippoglossus).