Locals in the northwest corner of Iceland say there are two seasons there: winter and July. And July did not disappoint. The weather was great, almost hot at times, and in fact I saw a worker watering the rooftop grass on my accommodations at Deplar Farm Lodge. When one of their guides asked me what I wanted to do for the week, I replied, “Variety; stream or river brown trout, Atlantic salmon, Arctic char and puffins.” That request does not seem like a large undertaking, as those are all native fish and birds found in good numbers. But Iceland is almost all private property.
They do not have large tracks of land, like the BLM, the Forest Service and dozens of National and State Parks, etc. It’s up to your guide or outfitter to have the contacts or leases to deliver a “variety pack” of fly-fishing opportunities. Deplar’s head guide, Thorsteinn Gudmendsson, a modern-day Viking if there ever was one, accepted my challenge and off we went. There were chrome-bright Atlantic salmon just six miles from the lodge. Within other rivers in the region, there were medium to big browns, caught on dry flies and streamers. Then there were colorful Arctic char, caught on oversized midge pupa, and we spent a day exploring a remote rock island, home to 300,000 puffins. July did not disappoint.
Brian O’Keefe
Apex resident brown trout from the same pool as the first page. Talk about a bang-bang start to the day. 
Ice cold creeks and Arctic char. Their main food, besides salmon eggs and fry, are midges… millions of them.
July at Deplar Farm Lodge. If you Google: Iceland cotton grass images, you will see a fun photo display. 
Summers are short near the Arctic Circle, so open the doors and windows!
Almost all of the rivers in Iceland with good fishing are set up with a beat system, pools are numbered and named. This is 5 miles from Deplar Farm Lodge. Although not a trophy Atlantic salmon, still a lot of fun on a single-hand 7 weight. 
Summer vacation scenario. Plus, world class food, birding, waterfalls, hot springs and nice guides. 
Terrain, weather? No problem. 
A Troll Peninsula pastoral setting. Actually, the whole country is a pastoral setting.
Lodge breakfasts. 
Lodge dinner, from the local ocean and farms. 
Don’t forget your passport, they can be very handy. The Deplar Farm Lodge bar, for an after-fishing beer or cocktail, followed by a hot springs soak, followed by dinner, and maybe repeating the other two. 
Thorsteinn with a decent Atlantic salmon, caught on a Sunray Shadow, black and silver.
It’s pretty obvious; Iceland fishing is not crowded, the rivers are beautiful and the landscapes are easy on the eyes.
Icelandic horses. Did you know that no horses are allowed to enter Iceland… and if an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland it can never return? This protects them from introduced diseases and maintains their genetics. 
This is a 60 mph, out the window shot. 
Another 60 mph window shot. In July, the farmers are working day and night to cut, dry and bale their hay/grass. They will then feed it to their horses, sheep, and cattle, through the long winter.
Exploring this intimidating rock island may have been the highlight of my vacation. Puffins, 300,000 puffins, maybe more. 
In the summer, puffins have a colorful bill and bright orange feet. They are fast fliers, doing 400 wing beats a minute and traveling at 55 mph. 
Puffins are deep divers, going as deep as 180 feet for their food.
Contributed By
Brian O’Keefe
There are many vacation options in Iceland. There are tours, rental RVs and much more. Lucky for me, my employer, Eleven Experience, owns and operates a fly fishing, heli-ski, general vacation destination called Deplar Farm Lodge. There is fly fishing in every direction, an amazing indoor-outdoor natural hot spring pool and a custom boat to access the Puffin Island. For more on all that and non-angler activities, please visit the website – elevenexperience.com. Feel free to contact me for any questions – time of year, species available, flies, guides, etc. – [email protected].
