A flagship Vopnafjörður salmon river. Volcanic bedrock underlies this river. Iceland's salmon are managed conservatively under operator and national rules — quotas, size limits and catch-and-release are widely applied; check the river's rules before fishing.
Selá gathers from a web of small streams off the Dimmufjallgarður — the Dark Mountains — and runs the length of Vopnafjörður's broad glen to the sea, draining a catchment of some 750 square kilometres in Iceland's north-eastern corner. Ice-age glaciers cut this country, and the river works through rhyolite and basalt that give the side-canyons, like Þverárgil, their banded colour. Salmon once held to the lowest twenty kilometres; two fish ladders have since opened roughly eighteen more, so fish now run close to forty kilometres up to Efra-Foss. The character is canyon-and-glide: confined rock pools and fast necks in the gorges, opening to smoother holding water below. Eight rods share the river across a lower and a vast upper beat. Wading is secure on volcanic bedrock and gravel, though the canyon edges reward care.
Wading: Steep canyon edges in the gorge reaches
- Volcanic
- Partly confined
- Step pool
- Pool riffle