Hofsá

Hofsá river in Vopnafjörður fjord, Iceland, is one of Iceland's best salmon rivers. Every year a great number of foreign visitors come to fish in the river. Charles, Prince of Wales used to come to fish in Hofsá some years ago.

Hofsá has salmon for 30 km up from the rivermouth, and Trout for about 6 km.

The salmon fishing season in Hofsá starts early in July, and finishes in the middle of September. The best time to fish is late July and first 2–3 weeks of August.

The fishing is currently limited to 7 rods ( one per beat ). All beats offer excellent opportunities to catch fish and have a differing number of pools per beat. Beat 7 is closest to the sea, with Beat 1 starting at the base of the waterfall, where the salmon that have made it that far, collect. All pools are accessible by 4 x 4 vehicle, with the exception of the majority of Beat 1 where you have to walk 2/3 km to the start of the beat, by the waterfall. It's a bit of a trek in waders over rough ground, but well worth the effort. The drive to Beat 1 is truly spectacular with the 'road' rising around 100m above Beat 2, with a near vertical drop to it.

In 2007, any fish landed over 72 cm (and in a condition where they would survive) had to be returned or placed into the boxes in the river by some of the pools, to be used in the breeding programme.

External links

"Official tourist guide & local government website in English". http://www.vopnafjordur.com.