Iceland!! 7-2-25

Gtnotte and I took our family to Iceland without plans to go fishing... not because we didnt want to, but because we really didnt find many options online other than flyfishing, which was very expensive and not really family friendly.  But, on July 1st, checking into our hotel on the Snaefellsnes peninsula, we saw a brochure for a kayak fishing operation (Vestur adventures) in the town of Grundarfjordur, at the base of Kirkjufell mountain!  We contacted them, despite the 20 mph winds and rain in the forecast, and they said "its beautiful!  Come on out!" so Greg, myself, my two boys, and his son all went cod fishing, and we absolutely slayed! 

They outfitted us with Islander kayaks (UK brand), heavy drysuits, PFDs, paddles, and one rod each equipped with probably 100lb mono with a shrimp-fly setup of varying colors.  The water temp was cold.  Im guessing 30s.  It was raining pretty much the whole time, wind would pick up, then settle down.  The tide was ripping so there was a pretty fast current, coupled with the wind pushing us offshore, so it was no picnic, but totally fishable.  We started a drift in what seemed to be about 60 fow catching smaller cod, but as we drifted out into deeper water, the fish got bigger.  In total, our group caught over 25 cod - had a total blast!  We kept two to take back to the hotel so they could prepare it for us.   

In all, kayak fishing in Iceland was checked off the bucket list unexpectedly!  Epic trip with some really action-packed fishing.  Just thought I'd share here in case anyone finds themselves in Iceland wanting to go fishing. 

 

That "unplan" came together sumpin' epic!  Good stuff to da max!

That is awesome, things just worked out! 

wow, great pics and a great quality of fish!

Stunning backdrop! Thanks for posting.

Bad ass.

Wow! Those Cods are big  Thanks for sharing the trip with us Nolanduke.

Stunning backdrop! Thanks for posting.

+1

Thanks for sharing! What an epic trip!

Yes Please!
How'd they taste?

To answer Johnny's question, the cod were delicious.  I don't have a picture, but simply pan-frying in butter and herbs worked wonders.

NolanDuke captured all the relevant details so I just added one additional pic of my son showing off a nice specimen.  One of the things I loved about this specific trip, and about Iceland more generally, is the lack of regulation.  They didn't make us sign a waiver or anything for this trip, or even pay ahead of time.  Thankfully, all those paddles into a stiff NW wind heading back to launch at HMB prepared our team for the little slog back in.  All in all, one of the most unique experiences I've had kayak fishing.

Oh, and I can't find the website of the actual tour guide, but here is a third party booking site that links you to the actual tour we took:
https://guidetoiceland.is/book-holiday-trips/kayak-fishing-adventure-by-mt-kirkjufell

I never imagined that I'd read about kayak fishing in Iceland on NCKA--or anywhere else, for that matter. What an awesome adventure!

Siiick!

The spontaneity in which this came together seems to have even enhanced this fantastic opportunity and trip. Bravo! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Thanks for sharing Nolan! Looks like lots of fun.