Monday, 20 June 2011

Mixed Blessings

Low water brings mixed blessings here at Middle Camp on the Varzuga. On the plus side the pools become more defined, fishing effort can concentrated on the more obviously productive salmon lies and the river looks stunningly beautiful. On the down-side boating is tricky to say the least. Yesterday we all clipped rocks in a couple of places so today there are two shallows where we shall get out and walk the boats through, it does not take long and is well worth the effort.
Lawrence D below Pic-nic
We had a great start to the week; having landed eight fish in Generator on their first evening our six rods set off with the sort of enthusiasm that deserved reward. Andy B and Ian C walked up from Blue Rock to Scotts – their effort paid a handsome dividend in the form of 21 salmon between them. Ian experimented a bit and had four on a Bomber with numerous others risen. Andy stuck to his Mediator tied specifically to Jim Fisher’s instructions and finished his ‘best days fishing ever’ catching four more out of Simmons on the way home - giving him a total of 17 salmon for the day. The team finished with 44 in the book, the biggest at 13lbs for young Richard D.

Richard D with one of his 10 salmon since Saturday evening
The low water hampered the experienced team at Pana. They just got into double figures, with the float trip again yielding the best results. Today we are adjusting the pre-positioning of the boats which should improve access to the lower beats.

Simmons in low water - nine salmon were caught here yesterday afternoon
Rain is forecast today, no sign of it yet and anyway unless we have a massive amount the desperately dry tundra will just soak it up. Pana would welcome even a shower, here at Middle I suspect the team would prefer to enjoy the river as it is.

Christopher Robinson