Ice Fishing Tour in North Iceland from Akureyri

Try one of Iceland's traditional pastimes, ice fishing, surrounded by the frozen landscapes of North Iceland.

Your small-group tour starts in Akureyri, the capital of the North, where your guide picks you up from your hotel or guesthouse in the morning. From here, it's a drive of about an hour, roughly 43 miles (70 kilometers), to your ice fishing spot at Langavatn Lake.

Getting to the lake can be hard in winter, so the guides use 4x4 vehicles and, when conditions allow, snowmobiles to reach the fishing spots.

Once you arrive, you walk to reach certain parts of the lake. You don't need to worry about the ice cracking, as it is very thick throughout the winter.

Langavatn Lake lies on a mountain plateau in North Iceland, so it is frozen over from December until March or April. The lake holds small arctic char and big brown trout.

Arctic char is closely related to salmon and is found mainly in colder regions like Iceland. Its color varies with the location and the time of year it is caught. The fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and a good source of protein.

It isn't unusual to catch 15 to 20 char in a day, with the occasional good-size brown trout.

The usual bait for ice fishing in North Iceland is worms kept alive from the fall as live bait, which attract both arctic char and brown trout. While you wait for a bite, you can take in the snow and ice around you and the snow-capped mountains.

You can take whatever you catch back to where you're staying. You can cook it for dinner or ask a nearby restaurant to cook it for you, for a fee.

If ice fishing is difficult on Langavatn Lake during your tour, the group may go to nearby Kringluvatn Lake, a frozen lake with as many fish as Langavatn Lake.

Check availability by choosing a date.