Víðidalsá threads the green, fertile valley of Víðidalur in north-west Iceland, between Blöndós and Laugarbakki, draining some eleven hundred square kilometres of farmland and fell. With its tributary the Fitjá it offers around fifty kilometres of water and more than a hundred named pools, the most dramatic cut through the Kolugljúfur — a kilometre-long gorge twenty-five metres deep, where the river thunders over the falls of Kolufoss. Elsewhere it runs clear and steady over volcanic rock through a lush, often dramatic dale. The river's reputation rests on the size of its fish: the average salmon is an unusually heavy four kilos, ten-kilo fish are landed every year, and the record book holds salmon past fifteen. Eight rods share four beats. Wading is generally secure on firm stone, with real care wanted along the canyon edges of the gorge.

Wading: Steep canyon edges at Kolugljúfur

Summer-autumn runs, variable seasonal patterns by region