Fishing and fish in Iceland are as much a part of the culture, history and lifestyle as music, beer and late nights in 101. With that in mind, and a desire to encounter first-hand one of the country’s most famous exports, deep sea cod, I set off on a mid-morning trip into the stretch of sea overlooked by Reykjavik to capture one of these beasts from the bay.
After a short motor out to a fertile fishing ground we drop our lures, a multi-coloured mixture of rubber worms designed to look like dinner to a hungry fish, and wait for something to bite. The German fisherman who joined us on the trip, a son and father armed to the teeth with some typically efficient-looking fishing kit, are first to start whooping with excitement as one of them quickly hooks into a prime cod the size of a small family dog. It’s an impressive catch and could feed a very large family more than once over – who needs factory farmed chicken and beef when you have a sustainable food source like that on your doorstep?
The first thing that strikes you about the fish is just how bright and healthy-looking they seem to be. Their colouration is vivid, with the cod ranging from shades of dark olive to sandy yellow depending on their diet and habitat, and there’s obviously no shortage of them scavenging the seabed. The clean waters and remoteness of Iceland must play some part in the quality of the catch and the Germans admit that this is fishing nirvana for them. With a reputation at stake (I’d stupidly claimed to know what I was doing with a rod and line), I was getting worried as the only fish to have fallen for the rather unconvincing lure after the first drift was a small, catfood-sized haddock. However, the next drop down produced something substantial that did think a bit of metal and latex was a legitimate food source bent the rod and tried to head out to sea. It was only a small cod but it was followed by four more, including a proper lump of a fish that made me a very happy fisherman. As I was reeling up the last fish a bit too enthusiastically, the charismatic skipper shouted “don’t get all horny with it”, just before a 3kg example of why Icelandic nature is loved so much hit the surface.

• VERDICT: My friends ate very well that night and the experience showed that fishing is one of the few things that can be universally enjoyed, regardless of nationality or age.
• WHERE: Elding Whale Watching Reykjavik-harbour ?
• PHONE: +354 555 3565
• WHEN: Daytrip. Scheduled from Reykjavík harbor from early June to late August every day at 11:00, but can be booked at other times.