End of season letter from Arni Bald

Greetings to our many friends around the globe.

This past year of 2009 was surely one for the books. We enjoyed the second best  Salmon season ever recorded here in Iceland. The best ever in Salmon fishing in Iceland was in 2008 so Iceland looks like on great terms when comes to Salmon fishing.

The year kicked off with great anticipation as most Salmon seasons here are bound to do and we welcomed friends from around the globe for another exciting summer. Our West Ranga River produced over 10.000 salmon in 2009  the all time record in Iceland was 2008 with an incredible 14,400 Salmon landed at West Ranga alone. The East Ranga river finished second here in Iceland this year with a very impressive 4000 salmon on the books. Our newest addition, Tungufljot, also had an amazing season with 1600 Salmon to hand. This ranks the Tungufljot River among the best salmon rivers in all of Iceland. Overall, plenty of fish were landed in all of our Salmon rivers. It was, indeed, extremely pleasing to see such a dramatic increase in the numbers of large salmon in the mix.

In Russia,  our Kola Peninsula  Rivers program was a hugh success. , several rods managed to land a good number of Salmon topping a whopping 30 pounds, and a couple over 40 pounds as well.

The Ponoi program in Russia as usual always great with high numbers over the 20 pound mark. Our newest addition in Russia is the lower section of the renowned Yokanga River. This is one of the legendary great rivers of the Kola Peninsula with big trophy Salmon. Until recently, this stretch of the Yokanga has not been accesible to any foreign anglers. I have high expectations for this exciting new addition in the season ahead. On Lower Yokanga our prime weeks where producing 90 - 100 monster spring fish in June, biggest 44 pound.

Nowhere in the world is there a more beautiful and diverse country to fish Brookies, Rainbows and Brown Trout than in sunny Argentina. Every year our bookings continue to grow as more and more anglers discover this fly fishing wonderland in the wilds of the Patagonia backcountry. And to fish for the monster Sea Trout of Tierra Del Fuego or the high twisting Golden Dorado on the Ibera marshland will put a smile on the face of any traveling angler.

Our deep feelings for Scotland seem to grow stronger with each passing year. The fishing just seems to get better and better. It is always a true delight to cast a fly onto such classic waters here in the beautiful Scottish Highlands. This begins a new yet another Lax-a season which starts here earlier than anywhere in the Salmon world. The legendary River Dee will once again lead Lax-a bookings here in the heather.

In Norway, we have secured exclusive fishing rights on some very exciting beats on the famous Gaula River. Every year the Gaula sits atop the catch statistics of all Norwegian Salmon rivers and is well known worldwide for its diversity and big fish.

As always, at Lax-a we strive to get a little bit better, more diverse, and more exciting than the year before. In 2010, we will introduce several exciting new venues for our many guests. In Guatemala, Lax-a has gained access to the best sailfish and billfishing in the world. In Africa, we can offer a broad variety of fishing possibilities throughout this vast continent as you will see later in this catalog. And we have recently added Mongolia and its incredible Taimen to our far reaching offerings this coming October. Please stay tuned.

It is with heartfelt gratitude that I say a big "Thanks" to all of our many friends both here and abroad. It has been an amazing year and we look forward to sharing another great one with all of you this coming season.

Simply drop an e-mail to : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   and we will arrange your visit.

Thanks for a great 2009 and great fishing in the 2010 season ahead.