GOOD FISHING ON THE MOUNTAINS

Fresher trawler Sturlaugur H Bödvarsson docked in Reykjavík at midday last Monday with good catch on board after a four-day trip. Skipper Eiríkur Jónsson said that with fishing like this, there is nothing to complain about.

Sturlaugur H Bödvarsson in port at Akranes earlier this year. Photo/HB Grandi: ESE.

‘We sailed on Wednesday night and started on redfish on the Mountains, which is our traditional fishing grounds. There was some very good fishing of good-sized, top-quality golden redfish. That was our redfish allocation for the trip and so we set a course for the Westfjords grounds and the furthest we went was the Thverálshorn,’ he said, commenting that fishing started fairly slowly on the Westfjords grounds.

‘Then things started to get busier and during the next 24 hours we had good catch of cod plus the usual other species as well. Then we were on our way home when we heard there was some saithe to be had on the redfish grounds in the Víkurál Gully. So we had a quick detour as we weren’t far away, and had three quick tows. That gave us good catch of mixed saithe and redfish, Eiríkur Jónsson said.

This was Sturlaugur H Bödvarsson’s first trip after around a month in dry dock and at the quayside for maintenance. As well as routine repairs and maintenance, the opportunity was taken for the ship’s main engine to be overhauled and the catch handling deck to be given a face lift.