What Makes Icelandic Salmon Fly Fishing Different
Iceland’s Atlantic salmon rivers are famous for gin-clear water, technically demanding wading, and a fly-fishing culture that’s produced some genuinely distinctive patterns and techniques. Flies here tend to run smaller than what you’d fish elsewhere for Atlantic salmon, sizing leans heavily on doubles, trebles, and micro tubes, and one technique in particular — the riffling hitch — defines how a lot of Icelandic salmon are actually caught. If you’re tying or buying for an Iceland trip, understanding the hitch matters as much as knowing the fly names.
The Riffling Hitch: Iceland’s Signature Technique
The riffling (or riffle) hitch is the standout technique on Icelandic rivers, and it’s as exciting as it is effective. A small tube fly is hitched so that it skates and wakes across the surface rather than swimming beneath it, leaving a distinct V-shaped wake as it crosses a pool. You can work the hitch by lifting the rod tip to make the fly skate, by stripping it back at pace, or by combining both — the goal is a controlled, steady skate across the hot spot in a pool, fished either square and fast or stripped back.
Because you can see the fly the entire time, you also see every take — and that’s exactly where most anglers new to the technique go wrong. The single most important rule of fishing a hitch is to never strike. Salmon takes on a hitched fly range from a gentle sip to an explosive, aggressive boil, but striking on either will almost always pull the fly straight out of the fish’s mouth. Let the fish turn down with the fly and the rod load naturally instead. If a fish misses the fly, give it a short break before trying the same spot again rather than immediately recasting.
The technique works especially well in slower pools with glassy surfaces, but it also produces in the faster water at the head of a pool. Gin-clear water and relatively high banks on many Icelandic rivers mean you can often spot fish lying in a pool before you ever cast to them, which makes the hitch even more engaging — you’re frequently casting to a fish you can actually see respond.
Essential Icelandic Salmon Fly Patterns
Frances (Red and Black)
Created by Peter Deane in the 1960s and named for his assistant, Frances Hydon, who tied the original patterns, the Frances was designed as a prawn imitation. It’s a near-permanent fixture near the top of Icelandic salmon logbooks and has since proven itself for salmon and sea trout well beyond Iceland. The body shape and antennae generate a lot of turbulence and movement in the water, and the Frances has a particular reputation for drawing takes from reluctant fish that have been sitting in a pool for a while, as well as fresh-run fish. It’s most popular in Iceland at size 12-16, tied on trebles, with smaller tungsten hexagon tube versions used when you need to get down deep quickly.
Collie Dog
One of the most classic British salmon flies, originally tied with Border Collie hair sourced from farm dogs owned by ghillies and local farmers. Simple to tie and highly effective, it comes in forms ranging from doubles and trebles to two-inch aluminum tubes. Fished square and fast, or stripped back quickly, it can provoke aggressive reactions even from otherwise uninterested fish. In Iceland it’s most often fished as a small tube stripped fast across the surface, and the smaller tube versions are well-suited to hitching.
Sunray Shadow
The Sunray is consistently among the top-producing flies in Iceland, and for reasons that aren’t entirely obvious, Atlantic salmon there find this simple pattern irresistible. It’s tied across a huge size range, from small hitch tubes up to 6-inch tubes, though the most popular Icelandic version is a 1-2 inch plastic tube with 2-3 inch wings, stripped fast across the surface. On rivers that call for bigger flies — East Rangá and Laxá í Aðaldal are two commonly mentioned examples — the Sunray Shadow is often the fly anglers size up to.
Blue Charm and Green Butt
The Blue Charm originated on Scotland’s River Dee, created by Colin Simpson, and remains one of the more popular flies fished in Iceland, particularly in clear water. It’s typically fished at size 6-14, tied as a single, double, or treble. The Green Butt is a classic Canadian pattern — simple but deadly — tied in a range of sizes and shapes, though smaller versions tend to be the most popular in Iceland. It’s a good choice to try first on a new pool and particularly excels in low, clear water.
Haugur and Other Riffling-Hitch Specialists
Designed by Icelandic guide and fly tier Sigurdur “Siggi Haugur” Hedinn, the Haugur is a must-carry pattern for Iceland. It’s effective tied as a standard salmon fly on a size 10-16 treble or double, or on a tube in various sizes — but it’s as a riffling-hitch tube that it’s genuinely unmatched. If you’re building a box specifically around the hitch technique above, this is one of the first patterns to add.
More Flies Worth Carrying
A longer list of patterns that regularly appear in Icelandic fly boxes: Friggi, Munro Killer, Black Sheep, Snælda, Hairy Mary, Colburn Special, Cascade, Green Highlander, and Allys Shrimp, among others. You won’t need all of them for a single trip, but they’re worth knowing by name if you’re buying flies locally or comparing notes with a guide.
Fly Sizing for Icelandic Rivers
Compared to many other Atlantic salmon destinations, Icelandic flies run small. Commonly fished sizes land in the 10-18 range, tied on doubles or trebles, with micro tube versions (down to size 16-18 trebles) used for technical, low-water hitching. That said, sizing isn’t uniform across every river — some systems, noted above, call for noticeably larger flies like a full-size Sunray Shadow. A good general approach: pack a core of small flies for typical conditions, plus a few larger options for the specific rivers known to need them.
When to Fish for Salmon in Iceland
Timing varies meaningfully by coast. West coast rivers tend to fish best in early-to-mid July. Rivers in the north peak slightly later, with prime weeks typically falling in early-to-mid August. East coast rivers sit in between, usually fishing best in mid-to-late July. Iceland as a whole tends to offer strong numbers of grilse, with most pools holding at least the chance of a fish, alongside a smaller but real run of larger salmon. Rain can meaningfully improve conditions on any of these rivers, so it’s worth checking river flow and recent rainfall alongside the calendar dates above.
Gear and Water Conditions
Most Icelandic rivers are comfortably fished with a single-handed 6-7 weight rod and floating line; a handful of larger rivers, such as Big Laxá, call for a double-handed rod instead — your outfitter or lodge will typically flag this ahead of time. Because the water runs so clear, fine tippet matters: 10-15 lb fluorocarbon is standard, and the same clarity that lets you spot fish lying in a pool also means fish can spot you. Wade and cast with that in mind, especially in low, glassy pools where a hitched fly is working. If you’re also considering other salmon destinations and patterns, Iceland’s small-fly, clear-water approach is a useful contrast to the larger, heavier streamers typical of somewhere like Alaska. Many Iceland trips also mix in brown trout and Arctic char fishing on the same rivers and stillwaters — see our regional guide to Iceland and Alaska trout flies for patterns to pack alongside your salmon box.