Salmon and Arctic Char

Only 30 minutes walk from the fishing village Suðureyri to the next valley (Staðardalur) you can find a small salmon river called Langá. In the bottom of the valley (Vatnadalur) is a beautiful lake surrounded with large stones and lava where it runs from the lake down to the river. In the bottom of the valley the landscape is flat but with green hills and high mountains on both side.

In the lake you will find lots of arctic char and if you are lucky you can catch up to 4-5 pounds arctic char’s and some say they are much larger fish in this lake. In the upper part of the Salmon River you can expect to catch arctic char and brown trout and also salmon. The year of 2006 was the best year for salmon fishing in Langá. Over 60 salmon was cached and the largest one was over 11 pound.

Everyone can buy license from the farmer at Bær during the salmon season witch begins in the middle of June. Arctic char and brown trout fishing license can be bought much earlier. The valley is very quiet and peaceful. The landscape is spectacular and the old gravel road from the village to the valley is located under very high cliffs. The wave’s cracks on the rocks by the shore and when the West wind blow’s strong for few days, the road will be blocked and brakes in parts. The following images was taken last summer in Staðardalur and it is very easy to spend lot’s of time there with your fly rod.

Robert Schmidt
http://www.fisherman.is/

Photos by Robert Schmidt

Fighting with halibut

Here are few interesting photos taken from a long line fishing tour in Iceland where the fisherman are fighting with a giant halibut on the right side of the boat. Sometimes the halibuts are tight with a strong rope to the boat and pulled all the way to the shore. Usually the fisherman manage to pull them onboard. It all depends on the size and weight of the halibut and how many men are on the boat.

Robert Schmidt
http://www.fisherman.is/

Old halibut fishing methods

For decades Icelandic fishermen’s has used special long line for the giant halibut with good results. Not many are using the halibut line today but there are few who are trying these old fishing methods. In Suðureyri are few fishermen’s who have tried the halibut line and during the summer of 2007 one local fisherman cached over 50 halibuts on his fishing boat witch is extremely good fishing.

The bait is usually small Haddock, Cod or Pollack. They are cut into large pieces and attached on the halibut hooks. The leader is about one meter long and the line has few meters between the leaders. The halibut line is placed near to the shore on a shallow water and then the fishing boat heads straight out from the shore until the line is all in the ocean. After 2-3 days the line is pulled up and if you are lucky there could be one or few halibuts on the hooks. Some fishermen’s are using Lump Sucker as bait because they have found those fishes in the halibut’s belly.

It is told that the giant halibut is hunting where the strong current is and on sand bank’s. Often the halibut is in very shallow water like 5-10 meters. They usually chase their prays for a long time.

It is well known the halibut’s are resting under the big birds cliffs in Iceland and they eat the bird eggs who fall into the sea. Fishermen’s have found whole egg from guillemot’s in halibut’s belly that was cached on that aria.

The following photos were taken last summer when Mr. Valgeir Hallbjörnsson from Suðureyri worked on halibut line with his friend. This time he didn’t get lucky but he will try again this summer with a doubt.

Robert Schmidt
www.fisherman.is

Photos by Robert Schmidt

The biggest cod ever

This cod weighted 38 kg and was cached by
a Icelandic fisherman few years ago.

In the year of 1941 in SW-Iceland, the biggest cod (in Iceland) was cached from a local fishing boat. The cod was measured 181 cm long and weighted over 60 kg. In the past 20-30 years the population of the big cod around Iceland has shrunken a lot but fishermen, using long lines, have once in a while brought very large cod’s to the harbor around 30-40 kg (from 150-160 cm long).

However the biggest cod I known witch has been cached by sea angler in Iceland weighted around 28 kg in the West fjords. The Icelandic record (EFSA in Iceland) is around 22 kg. The sea anglers from Germany has beaten the Icelandic record in the West fjords many times and this summer we will try to document the biggest and the heaviest fishes cached by the sea anglers with respectable equipment. Then everyone can read about the records beaten every year, where and who cached the fish.

Talking about large cod’s: In documents from Newfoundland say’s that the biggest cod ever cached there was 200 cm long and weighted 73 kg. That is most likely the biggest cod in the world I know about after reading lot’s of documents.

In Norway the biggest cod weighted around 60 kg and 180 cm long. But few years ago there was another big one cached from Norway but he was 46 kg after cutting. So likely he weighted over 60 kg without cutting.

If we bear in mind that true fact, cod’s have been cached by fishermen’s for so long time, we all can agree there has been bigger cod’s cached in the older days. But know one can tell.

Robert Schmidt
www.fisherman.is

Our boats are large and powerful

The boat is 7.5 m long and has a beam of 2.8 m. It is fitted with a 130 hp diesel engine, fish finder, GPS with digital charts, depth sounder, and automatic alert equipment for coastal sailing, VHF communications, radio and CD player. Every boat is equipped with two 380-litre fish storage containers, gaff, charts, first aid kit, emergency flares, lifejackets and life raft. The boat can accommodate a maximum of six people on each fishing trip.

We have 22 boats in our fishing village. 11 boats in Suðureyri and 11 boats in Flateyri. They all bear the name Bobby, from no 1 to 22.

Robert Schmidt
www.fisherman.is

Photos by Robert Schmidt

Nice Cod's in West fjords II

All these images are taken during the summer of 2008 in Suðureyri. Many cod’s weighted from 20–24 kg and the biggest ones weighted 26-27 kg.

Robert Schmidt
www.fisherman.is

Photos by Robert Schmidt

Nice Cod's in the West fjords

All these images are taken during the summer of 2008 in Suðureyri. Many cod’s weighted from 20–24 kg and the biggest ones weighted 26-27 kg.

Robert Schmidt
www.fisherman.is

Photos by Robert Schmidt

The Catfish

11 kg catfish in the hands of happy fisherman from Germany in Suðureyri 2008


Mr. Jóhann Bjarnason hangs up lot's of catfish for drying

The common Catfish is usually about 50-80 cm long but the largest one who was cached near the island Papey in SE coast of Iceland was 119 cm long. Last summer the heaviest catfish cached with sea fishing rod in West fjords was 12 kg (24 pound) and many around 8-10 kg. The best bait for the catfish is squid ( Loligo vulgaris) and the best time in the year for fishing catfish is from beginning of March and through the summer time.

The catfish is very aggressive fish with strong teeth and powerful jaws. If he bites you in the hand he will brakes some bones. So be very careful while handling him in the boat.

The local fishermen’s starts the catfish season in February-March every year with the long line. But past years the fishing has dropped down compare to the best season 15-20 years ago. Catfish is very popular in Iceland, dried from the local experts. They fillet the catfish and cut small stripes into them. Then they wet the fillets with clear saltwater and hang them up on a wooden bars for two month’s outdoor and get’s dried by the strong wind from the ocean. One kilo of dried catfish cost about 4-5.000 ÍSK and it is very expensive food. It shrink’s down to 10% when it is ready to eat.

Almost everyone eats dried fish in Iceland and some like to add butter on them before eating. The main reason for broken teeth in the locals is because of the very hard surface of the dried fish and therefore the dried fish is the best friend of the Icelandic dentist.

Robert Schmidt
http://www.fisherman.is/

Photos by Robert Schmidt

The Spotted Catfish

Robert Schmidt with large spotted catfish in Suðureyri 2008.


Local fisherman with a very large spotted catfish in Suðureyri 2008.



Fish container full of spotted catfish on the harbor in Suðureyri.

The Spotted Catfish (Anarhichas minor) is quite difficult to find and catch with a sea fishing rod. Everyone likes to catch one but very few managed to do so. This is therefore a grate challenge to all sea fishermen who visit Iceland and West fjords.

The spotted catfish is called; the younger brother of the catfish (Anarhicas lupus) because he was discovered later. The spotted catfish is bigger and the common size is about 70-90 cm long and 4-8 kg but he can crow up to 180 cm long and the heaviest can be 26 kg. Those are believed to be 25-30 years old.

The skin from the spotted catfish is much stronger than the common catfish. Few Icelandic companies are manufacturing leather from those skins and are making all kinds of bags, belts and clothes with excellent results. However the spotted catfish teeth are smaller and weaker. Some say that he likes to eat the caviar from his older brother, the catfish.

The local fishermen’s in Suðureyri catches spotted catfish on a 100 meters deep and often 15-20 miles from the shore on the long line and some of them are very big. The heaviest ones are about 20-25 kg.

Robert Schmidt
http://www.fisherman.is/

Photos by Robert Schmidt

Halibut from the local fishermen

217 kg Halibut

200 kg Halibut


181 kg Halibut

146 kg Halibut

Here are few photos from halibut fishing from the local fishermen around Iceland. This is only few samples of giant halibuts cached on long line or in nets. Some of them are over 200 kg.

Robert Schmidt
http://www.fisherman.is/