Four fisheries, ten days. Not much sleep, but plenty of time on both the camera and the fly rod.
The fly-fishing industry is an odd one. We’re a diverse community, made up of a wide spectrum of anglers spread around the world. Sometimes, when we’re very lucky, we form friendships that morph into some kind of family vibe. A fishing family. And though we often live in different countries and even different continents, that distance makes it all the more special when we’re able to come together and spend time on the water.
When we get to work with friends, everything is better.
And so when the opportunity to head back to Iceland to shoot images a second time for Fish Partner, I was quick to rearrange my schedule, bumping back an already-scheduled Caribbean shoot and making room on the calendar to go chase fish with the Vikings. The Fish Partner team is one of my favorites in the industry—we work hard but fish harder—and I couldn’t turn down the chance to go explore more of The Land of Fire and Ice.
Run-and-Gun Work… and Fishing
True to form, I landed in Reykjavik with a packed schedule. I’d move locations every few nights, maximizing the time on the ground to see different fisheries and spend time on the water with different anglers. For this kind of run-and-gun schedule, a selection of gear is required.
My camera kit remains one of the steady things in my life, whether I’m shooting in the Colombian Pacific or heading north to the Highlands of Iceland. I travel with two Sony mirrorless cameras, one mounted with a 16-35mm lens for scenic shots, lodge and culinary images, and the obligatory in-the-fish’s-face hero shots. My second “ride or die” lens is a 70-200mm, which I adore for detail work, reaching into scenes I can’t physically reach, and wildlife work. A 50mm also comes along for the ride, wonderful for culinary and detail work. Add in a small drone and the fishing gear, and it’s a camera load-out which adds a good 35-lb. to my daily hiking load, but it’s worth it.
While the camera kit remains fairly uniform regardless of the location, fishing gear obviously changes. For a shoot like this, where I’m visiting four different fisheries in 10 days, the fishing gear tends to multiply.
The first few days I fished lakes about an hour from Reykjavik, including the largest natural lake in Iceland, Lake Thingvallavatn, and another, smaller lake nearby. These days I fished floating lines on both the Reference 5WT 590G Carbon Fiber Fly Rod and the 890Ti 8WT Titanium Fly Rod. Iceland Ice Age brown trout are no joke, and I was pleased to pull a buttery 75cm brown out of a lake within a few hours of arriving at the airport, in the stellar company of guide and artist Unnur Guðný. (Who needs sleep when there are trout to be caught? Jet lag’s a relative thing, after all.)
Off to the Highlands
After my lake days I headed up to Fish Partner’s Highlands Lodge, where I put the 8-weight to good use as we fished for both brown trout and gorgeous char in gin-clear water. The River Tungnaá provided us a lovely sunny afternoon with plenty of both species caught during one of those wonderful, relaxed days where guide friends and I took turns lying in tundra grass and leisurely spotting fish for whoever happened to hold a fly rod to cast to. Sometimes that chill vibe is just the ticket, and we all had plenty of fish to our name by the time we headed back to the lodge for a wonderful meal cooked by Argentine chef Fabi Trochine and a good night’s sleep.
The next day was an eight-weight day again. I headed out to hike the winding, fantasy novel scenery of the River Kaldakvísl with friends and guides Jerome and Sindri, who is the co-owner of the business. We hiked and explored, canyoneering along steeply-walled cliffs and fishing under misty waterfalls. A day of exploring and chasing more of these fantastic Icelandic browns.
Adventures On the Mighty Blanda
My next stop was Fish Partner’s newest operation, Long Valley Lodge. The lodge rests on the banks of the pastoral Blanda River, one of Iceland’s top Atlantic Salmon fisheries. The river features long, calm stretches and a canyon in its uppermost section. While heavy wading is required in parts of the lower section, it becomes easier as you move upstream, with pools ideally suited for both double-handed and single-handed rods. The Blanda is particularly famous for its high ratio of multi-winter salmon, which are known for being some of the most powerful in Iceland.
I was fortunate to fish the Blanda for a few days with Fish Partner Founder/CEO Páll Rafnsson, along with guide Ahmed. Kristján and I have fished together before, and always spend long, productive days covering a lot of water… ideal for the camera and for my often-tight travel schedules. We trekked up and down the Blanda as well as one of its tributaries, the Svartá, and fished the river all the way down to where it enters the sea at the small town of Blönduós. The sheer variety and size of this fishery caught me off guard; it’s a productive place for brown trout, sea-run browns, char, and—the hero of the show—Atlantic salmon. Fish Partner is also the first operation in Iceland to be running NRS rafts on sections of the Blanda, offering a nice change of pace from wading days.
On the Blanda I fished both the 8-weight Titanium rod as well as an 8-weighy Spey rod. Swinging for fish on a double-handed rod is always a treat; I’m preschool-level with my Spey casting but am thoroughly enjoying the learning process, and the moments when I get the timing right (rare, but occasionally it happens) the cast is reward unto itself.
The Epic Day
My three-and-a-half days of fishing at Long Valley Lodge were filled with plenty of healthy brown trout, char, and even a sea-run brown. On day two I landed a grilse, which was exciting to see even though it wasn’t the big Atlantic salmon that lingered somewhere in the back of my mind. On my final day of fishing in Iceland (for this trip, at least!), I headed down to Beat One of the Blanda for a guides’ fishing day with guides Ahmed, David, and Robert. Each of the guys have loads more experience at the salmon game than my novice self, and very kindly let me tag along for the day. We divided up, two per side of the beat, and cycled through, often one angler per side lounging and watching while the other fished, giving the water a bit of a break in between swings.
Robert landed his Atlantic salmon first. Then it was my turn. A slight tug toward the end of the swing, just on the far side of a big boulder. I can’t remember the last time I was shaky after landing a fish, but a short fight and an 85cm Atlantic salmon later, I had the shakes. And was rather giddy. I hadn’t had a chance to fish for these salmon since working in Russian in 2012, and it was surreal to be able to catch one at the end of the trip.
By the time 2200h rolled around and we had to get off the water—the northern sun still bright in the sky—both David and Ahmed had landed Atlantic salmon as well. It was a banner day; one salmon per angler, all between 75 and 85cm. A surreal finish to another trip to Iceland, and somewhat similar to how my last trip ended: I’d been over in September 2023 to photograph and fish for sea-run brown trout and ended up catching my largest fish of the trip in just enough time to quickly strip off waders at the truck and make the drive back to Reykjavik and then the airport.
There’s something about Iceland… it’s been stellar to me as an angler, and certainly holds its own in the photography department as well. It remains one of my favorite destinations to both fish and photograph, in large part due to the team on the ground and the guides I get to work with. After all, what’s stellar fishing if you’re dealing with folks you don’t want to work with? It’s a treat to get to work with the best of the best, and this team is one of those (some of my other favorites include Estancia Laguna Verde in Argentina and Tsimane’s Pluma Lodge in Bolivia). Good people make all the difference.
Interested in chasing some Icelandic species of your own? I’m hosting a group back to Fish Partner’s Highlands Lodge July 1-6, 2027. We’ll chase Ice Age brown trout, Arctic char, and enjoy good times and camaraderie with the awesome guide and lodge team. Send me a note if you’re keen!
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Words and images by Jess McglothlinYou can check out out Jess’s impressive portfolio and website here: https://www.jessmcglothlinmedia.com/
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