This is from an Icelandic video/DVD production company and follows a salmon angler as he tries to find out more about salmon, about fishing and asks experts why, in their opinion, salmon take flies in fresh water. The narrator hero is not a total novice angler, nor is he an expert. His curiosity seems genuine and serves to bring the pieces of this DVD together into narrative form – not a terribly compelling device but it works well enough to hold this documentary together.

As far as I was concerned, some sections of the DVD are not essential viewing. For example, our hero gets very basic casting instruction, he buys tackle, joins a group of tyers and spends an evening watching footage of salmon fishing from the previous season. All OK, light hearted stuff, but not terribly interesting.

Why does the salmon take? gets more interesting when experienced anglers, fishing guides and fishery scientists are interviewed. It gets much more compelling when the camera goes underwater.

Interviews mostly turn around the title question. It is answered but, of course, the answers are not definitive – it would be mad to expect that.

During several interviews, and seamlessly edited into fishing episodes, the camera dips under the surface of Icelandic rivers. We see pods of fish lying undisturbed, then as flies pass nearby. In one scene, fish shy and scatter from a poorly presented fly. In others, we see one overactive, overeager, aggressive fish separate from the pod to nail the fly. It’s probably the best underwater footage of salmon I have seen.

Frankly, the opportunity to see salmon reacting to flies makes this DVD worthwhile. Sound and vision are good, if not broadcast quality. The narration is in English and interviews were either originally in English or, those that were in Icelandic, have been translated and dubbed.