Dagur Árni Guðmundsson

Dagur Árni Guðmundsson was born and raised on the icy, windswept island of Iceland, where his earliest memories are of fishing for cod and pollock off the piers, and pulling apart shoelaces and finding feathers to “tie” flies onto worm hooks. Once he discovered fly fishing at the age of six, he decided that it looked like the coolest thing in the world, and started down the path that led to him becoming a full time guide and fly tier. At ten, he moved to the Central Coast of California, and has since split his time between Iceland in the summers, and California the rest of the year.

Immediately after getting his driver’s license, Dagur got his foot in the door at one of Iceland’s top salmon rivers doing whatever was asked of him until he started filling in guiding at the river when the opportunity presented itself. That was the beginning of a life as a fly fishing guide, and after spending a lot of time learning the fisheries on the Central Coast, he is now a full time fly fishing guide in California as well as Iceland.

In California, Dagur focuses on carp, bass, and surf perch, with carp being his main obsession. He spends 300-320 days a year fishing or guiding, and loves the endless learning a life on the water has to offer. Dagur has been a regular contributor to the California Fly Fisher magazine since 2020, is the director of fly education for the American Carp Society, and is a full time fly fishing guide and fly tier.

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