FROSTASTADAVATN, Landmannaleid

This lake is mostly surrounded with lava fields and breathtakingly colourful mountains. Its area is 2,6 km² and it lies at 572 m above sea level. The road runs along its northern and eastern sides. It abounds in lake char and every now and then some brown trout is caught there as well. Its fishing hut is at Landmannahellir, but the tourist hut in Landmannalaugar is closer by.
There is no limit to the number of rods per day.
According to the legend the people, who lived at the farm Frostastadir, once consumed char with reversed fins from the lake. They did not notice this abnormality and therefore did not know that the fishes were poisonous. Consequently they all died. No ruins or traces of this farm have ever been discovered.

The distance from the capital is about 182 km.

HIGHLAND ICELAND SAGA

Frostastadavatn in Icelandic

Fishing card:

Location: Hnit: 64° 1.021’N, 19° 2.830’W
Frostastaðavatn is located at Landmannaafréttur in the central highlands and is the largest lake in the cluster of lakes located to the south of Tungnaá.

Itinerary:
You should enter Landvegur (Road 26) off the ringroad (Road 1) at the Landvegur junction and drive as the crow flies until you reach a sign, pointing towards Dómadalsleið (Landmannaleið). You must stop at the Landmannahellir (Landmanna cave) where fishermen need to sign up in order to be allowed to fish in the lake which is about 15 minutes drive away. Travelling time from Reykjavík to Frostastaðavatn is about 2 hours and 40 min.

General information:
The lake is the largest within the cluster of lakes located to the south of Tungnaá. It is situated about 570 metres above sea level with an area of only about 2,5 km2. The greatest depth is just above 2 metres but the average depth is about 1 metre. This route is only passable to four-wheel drive vehicles. It is necessary to drive over tributaries on the way.

Fishing area:
The whole lake is open for fishing. The best catch is in the lava and the most popular spot is next to the parking lot. The lake contains large quantities of fish and thus it is ideal for fishermen to try other spots.

Accommodation:
The tourist service in Landmannahellir is operated by Hellismenn (landmannahellir.is) and can also be purchased at Áfangagili (afangagil.is). Both of these places offer accommodation and an organised camp site with sanitation facilities.

Fishing:
The lake mostly contains artic char but also brown trout. Small artic char is the most common, actually quite common. This lake is probably one of the best fishing lakes for the young generation to surely catch fish. There are also sizeable trouts in the lake. The catch in numbers can be found at www.veidivotn.is

Daily fishing hours:
from. 7:00 to 24:00.

Season:
The fishing season starts 20 of June and it ends 15th of September.

Bait:
All bait is allowed, alive or dead, for the fish to chase and take. Only one type of bait is allowed per fishing rod. Fishermen can never use hooks to hook the fish unexpectedly. Small pupas and streamers are usually the best option but those who use spinning rods it is often better to use float and flies than other bait.

Best fishing time:
There is a lot of fish in the lake and it does not matter what time of day the fishing takes place but generally the best fishing is in the morning and evening.

Other information:
Frostastaðavatn is only one lake out of many to the south of Tungnaá. However, the Fishing card is only valid for Frostastaðavatn, but it is easy to buy permits in Landmannahellir for fishing in the other lakes as well. The cost, per fishing rod, is ISK 3,500 per day. Note that the entire lake area is nature reservation, and this ask people to be tidy and not cause any harm to nature and the environment.
Rules:
Fishermen shall sign up for the fishing in Landmannahellir where they receive the permit and the fishing report to complete. The report has to be submitted in the Landmannahellir or into a labelled post box at the junction of Dómadalsleið and Hrauneyjaleið near Tjörfafell. You can also scan or take a picture of a fishing report and send it to info@landmannahellir.is.

Fishing shall be conducted from the banks and the islets are reserved. Children under the age of 14 can fish for free, accompanied by a card holder. Any violations of the fishing rules mean an instant abolition of all fishing rights, even to the point of having the fishing gear confiscated for damages, according to national laws on the fishing salmon and trout. It is not allowed to eviscerate or gut a fish at the banks of the lake, but rather at special facilities at Landmannahellir. Birds are conserved. Off-road driving is prohibited and within the reservation, camping is only allowed in designated camp sites.

Use of boats is generally not permitted but for exceptions such as regarding scientific research. Due to such research at these waters, fishermen are asked to note if any catch is marked by a plastic badge on the back. Such fishes need to be measured for length and weight, register the number on the badge and hand in that information to the guards at the Landmannahellir
Guards:
The guards at Landmannahelli do poaching control and take care of issues regards the fishing, including giving additional information, if necessary.

Fishing card only costs 9.900 ISK.