Straumfjardara is a small, exclusive river on the north side of the Snaefellsnes peninsula in west Iceland, fed by mountain lakes — chiefly Baularvallavatn — and several springs that together give it some twelve kilometres of gin-clear holding water from the sea up to the top falls at Rjukandi. It runs through a quiet valley framed by volcanic hills and open grassland, the bed clean volcanic rock and gravel, the water famously clear. Predominantly a grilse river, it averages bright fish of five or six pounds with a scatter to eighteen or twenty, and char and sea trout hold in the lower reaches; twenty-seven named pools give up around four hundred salmon to just four rods. The character is intimate, clear, lake-fed freestone on a gentle gradient. Wading is easy on firm footing, but the clarity leaves the fish wary and an angler exposed.

Wading: Exposure under gin clear water