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S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S • 133 down to the bottom. While I was in Iceland a fly fisherman casting from shore pulled a 30-pound brown from private thermal springs on the southern end of the lake. All of this means that angling pressure is definitely on the increase. If Iceland's already stressed infrastructure (its parking lots choked with tour buses, its multitude of one- lane bridges, and its swarming hot springs and glacial lagoons) can be seen as an analogy for the coming effects on fishing, it's clear that modern conservation measures must also come if Iceland is to remain the glittering emerald of a place that it is today. T his is why Snævarr's trout tagging study is so timely if Iceland is to protect itself from being loved to death. Above all else, his research shows the value of catch-and-release and proper fish handling H istorically, most anglers who traveled to Iceland came for Atlantic salmon, fishing private beats on the Laxá, or Miðfjarðará, or (the South Icelandic) East and West Rangá rivers for big daily rod fees—sometimes thousands of dollars. Brown trout largely took a back seat as a fill-in target; something to do on your off days if you didn't want to keep spending thousands searching for salmon. In recent years there has been a recognition that Lake Thingvallavatn, in Iceland's centrally located Thingvellir National Park, is home to genetically unique "Ice Age" browns, which have a similar bio-history to the outsized Lahontan cutthroat trout of Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Their special attribute is an ability to grow really, really large in the lake's waters, which are so clean snorkelers in dry suits can be overcome with vertigo looking Snævarr Örn Georgsson holds a brown trout caught in the Ranga River. His tagging study has shined a spotlight on the world-class brown trout fishing in Iceland. Below: The author sets the hook on a big trout during his midnight fishing foray on the Ranga. Opposite: Iceland's spectacular scenery is a steadily growing attraction; indeed, some of its most famous lagoons and waterfalls are in danger of being loved to death. Continued on page 194