Smashed leaders and lost fish

Yesterday was clearly a day when the fish won. We landed a lot of fish across all of the camps but there were plenty of tales about fish lost, snapped leaders and backing being torn out of reels before the inevitable.

I spent a great afternoon with Dan B at Wires and Sabacci Rapids where we had two fish to the bank and one fish that took roughly 200 yards of running line and backing before disappearing back to the White Sea. After 10 years of coming up here it still never fails to amaze me quite how strong some of these fish can be.

Tom C-B with a fish from Middle Varzuga

We finished with 18 for the day whilst at Kitza the three rods had 11 fish. Christopher Robinson and I took a trip to Middle Varzuga last night to see the rods up there and so I missed the chance to talk to Tom, the manager at Kitza, about the action they had throughout the day but I will find out more tonight.

Christopher Robinson at the helm on the way to Middle

At Middle everyone was doing well but Hugo M, on a single handed rod, was the leader of the field and he had 22 fish in the book. He knows the river intimately which makes such a difference and he also is prepared to wade deep and far which in these warmer conditions can be a huge advantage as the fish run further out in the main current. They totalled 89 for the day with as many lost again.

Our picnic yesterday at Lower Varzuga

At Pana they finished with 41 to the 8 guests with some superb fish netted. This morning is bright, warm and with barely a breath of wind so I hope for more of the same as we had yesterday

Charlie White

Varzuga exercise

We had another excellent day yesterday and the radio calls in the evening were a cacophony of noise as each camp manager tried to tell their own stories as to what had happened in their camps.

Hugh, the manager at Middle, managed to establish air time and related a story regarding Hugo M fighting a big fish that gave him a serious work out. Whilst fishing Snake Pit he hooked a fish that stripped him of all of his line and took him 300 yards into the backing with the drag on his reel as tight as it would go. When it was clear that he was going to run out of line he started running down the river. 100 yards later he realised he could not keep up and summoned the boat. With some deft work his guide got him into the boat and started to follow the fish downstream. Sadly the fish continued to scream away to the White Sea and the inevitable “ping” that followed could only be acknowledged by a shrug of the shoulders and the fact that some of the big ones will get away.

Dan B with his first Russian salmon

The 12 rods at Middle had 83 fish for the day with Jim R taking 12 fish to his rod.

At Kitza we have a small team of 3 rods being looked after by TV star Paul Young. As was perhaps inevitable with his experience, Paul had 12 fish to end up as the top rod whilst the final total was 22 fish for the day.

Further up river (by about 80 miles) we welcomed 8 friends back into Pana and their experience of the river showed. Jean H was the top rod with 13 fish and they had 40 in total with Barrie W landing a nice fish of around 12lbs from Northumberland Avenue.

Julian P and a thick set fish taken from Green Bank

Here at Lower Varzuga our 7 rods had a slightly tougher day as they worked out the beat, the wading and the vagaries of fishing in Russia, of which 6 of them are new to. 18 fish were landed with Julian P, the only rod who has been here before, taking 6 for the day. Whilst it might not have been quite the flier I was hoping for in terms of numbers, it is clear that our team here is determined to enjoy every minute of it and we had an excellent dinner last night that lasted well into the evening.

"Sit down please"- our rods and guides this morning

It is a quite beautiful day today with much less of a breeze than we faced yesterday and lunch will be a picnic on the river. The water dropped by about an inch last night and most rods have now moved fully on to floating lines whilst a skated fly was tried yesterday evening. If this warm weather continues, this visually exciting way of fishing will become the norm and we can start to really experiment with summer fishing tactics.

Charlie White

A new week

The expected delays in Murmansk airport were strangely absent yesterday and our returning rods had hardly gone through check in for the charter home before the incoming clients were through immigration. We got into camp by about 4:30pm and had plenty of time for a few fish in the evening.

Last week was one where quite simply everything went right. The weather was kind apart from the odd session, the river is looking stunning as the trees and flowers move into their summer colours and there were a lot of fish caught in all camps.

Rob W in the bright sunshine

At Pana the eight rods had a total of 233 fish for their week with plenty of fish weighing in the high teens and at least 2 fish that were certainly over the 20lbs mark. Sadly, they had gone through check in by the time I arrived at Murmansk (they and Middle flew on an earlier helicopter) and so I was not able to download any of their pictures.

Here at Lower Varzuga the team of 8 rods, led by top Rutland guide Rob Waddington had 274 fish for their 6 days. Their scores from Kitza for the 3 days were 134 and then they had 140 here – very even fishing. The 9 rods that started at Lower Varzuga took a total of 252 for their week with 3 of them landing their first ever Atlantic salmon.

How big was it Jeremy?!

It was interesting to speak to the more experienced rods who commented that there are not too many rivers where advanced fishers can really push themselves whilst at the same time the more novice rods will also be rewarded for their efforts.

At Middle, the 12 rods had a phenomenal week. Exactly 800 salmon were put in the book to give an average of just over 66 fish per rod for the week. There is no doubt that they put in a lot of hours to achieve these numbers but it does demonstrate what is possible on the river if you are prepared to work for it.

If the mobile network goes down we post the blog by satellite

This week appears to have started in the same vein with Roger B having 3 this morning before breakfast. The day has started in bright sunshine and everyone was mad keen to get going this morning - they should have a good day.

Charlie White

Quick update before departure

The last day of the week proved to be a very successful one with a lot of fish caught in all camps. We are going to fly to Murmansk shortly and so I will be brief but it has been the most wonderful week across all four beats with the radios crackling into life every few minutes with tales of fish being caught and lost.

Pana had their best day of the week with 53 fish. Jose F-M proved that his earlier catches were no fluke as he had 20 fish for his rod. Benjamin B had a tough morning but more than made up for it with 7 fish in the afternoon including one that was somewhere between 22-24lbs. I am hoping to get some pictures from the group today and I will post some of them next week.

Jesse with a lovely fish last night

At Kitza, Hywell E had a lovely fish of around 14lbs from Sasha’s pool whilst the team had about 30 fish for the day. There are one or two rods fishing this morning trying to get that extra fish just before the helicopter arrives.

Middle Varzuga is still fishing incredibly well. As is usually the case in this camp, a lot of the rods fish after hours and I will not know the final scores until tomorrow but they had around 130 fish for the day which puts them very near 800 salmon for the week to their 12 rods. David C was one of the top scorers yesterday with 20 fish.

A rare picture of my father minus a cigarette!

Here at Lower Varzuga we had 49 fish for the day and Jesse went out in the evening to find that extra one to take it to a round 50 for the day. He did so in style with a fish that was probably just over the 15lbs mark. Peter H and Ian E were the top rods for the day with 8 and 9 fish respectively.

Gerry H witha  nice one from the Larder

It has been a great week to be up here with kind weather, plenty of fish to catch and camps full of people with smiling faces. I was down at the very bottom of our Lower Varzuga beat yesterday and saw masses of fresh fish coming in off the tide so I am very hopeful that next week will prove to be just as successful.

Charlie White

Rain and a rising river

Yesterday was a pretty dour day weather wise with rain in the morning and an overcast sky but helpfully there was no wind at all which made things easier.

The river rose around 2 inches which can sometimes put the fish off but it didn’t yesterday. Having looked at our records of water height over the past 20 years, it is clear that despite the early break in the ice, we are around normal levels for the height of the river at this time of year and we can access all beats very easily.

Bob M with one the 12 fish he landed yesterday

At Lower Varzuga Bob M, on his first trip to Russia, had a bumper day and landed 12 fish to his rod.

He and Peter H were fishing Heli Pool in the morning and on the opposite bank they could see Mike T and Rob W fishing the Larder pool. At one point all 4 rods were bent into fish at the same time which to my knowledge is the first quadruple hook up we have had. 3 of those fish were landed along with 48 others as we finished with 52 fish for the day.

In the afternoon we were treated to the sight of supplies being brought to the camp in a less than usual way.

No road?  Nyet problem!

Middle Varzuga again decided to have a very early supper and to fish in evening. They had around 110 for the day to their 12 rods but some fished very late into the night and others have got up very early this morning which has meant that Hugh has not got around to everyone to collect their final scores.

At Kitza, Jeremy C and Mark M were the top rods with 10 fish each for the day. Overall they had 42 fish yesterday but it was clear that the big run, that Tom and the guides saw the day before, have yet to disperse over all of the pools as some rods caught a lot of fish whilst others had a tougher day.

Rob W at Bear Corner on Wednesday

Up river at Pana they had a better day with 34 fish between the 8 rods. Jaime S was leading the way with 9 fish. It is Kate’s (cook at Pana) birthday today and it seems as if the clients are planning to cook their own tapas this evening as a present. I suspect that the event may be marked by the odd vodka as well..!

Team C at Middle

As is often the case on the last day of the week, everyone was up early this morning and ready with all of their kit on the dot of 9am – they are all keen to make the most of the fishing before they go home and with the run of fish that we have at the moment it is easy to understand why.

Charlie White

A visit from the choir

After another “Costa Del Varzuga” day on the river, the weather men were finally proved correct and the weather changed dramatically. At around 7pm the skies darkened and we were treated to the most extraordinary thunderstorm. Very picturesque but not exactly safe for after supper fishing with the amount of lightening that we had!

The Varzuga village choir

At Lower Varzuga, fishing after supper was not on the agenda anyway as we were treated to a visit from the Varzuga village choir. The 9 strong team sang beautifully, with a range of songs about men going to war, boys meeting girls and finally a charming song offering prayers to the river itself. We were very grateful that they came down as they had braved lashing rain on their boat journey from the village.

Marina, on the left, in charge of the village stores and the choir

The fishing yesterday was quite tough everywhere apart from Middle Varzuga where they had a bumper day. The 12 rods had 136 fish with Stewart L taking 15 salmon from Pasha’s Rest in just over 3 hours – a wonderful spell of fishing. Jeremy H lost a fish that twice took him to the end of his backing and had him running down river to try to keep up with it but eventually the fish won.

Alan M with a nice one from the boat

In the rest of the camps the morning session was the most productive whilst the afternoon was made more difficult by burning sunshine and a very strong upstream wind.

It tested even the most competent of casters but here at Lower, Alan M and Alistair W fought valiantly through it to end the day on 7 and 6 fish respectively. Mike T had a cracking double digit fish from 39 Steps which he thoroughly deserved as he was casting into a gale down there. A very respectable total of 39 fish was the tally for the day.

Alistair W into one of his 6 fish for the day

At Kitza the team had 31 mint fresh fish with several rods deciding to call it a day slightly early in order to save their backs and shoulders. Tom, the camp manager at Kitza, said that he and the guides had seen a big run of new fish coming into the lower part of the system yesterday afternoon and we can only hope that they catch up with them today.

At Pana it was slightly slower and again, the weather played its part. I know that they had 22 fish but unfortunately, slightly I suspect due to the change in atmospherics, our radio call this morning was not very clear and I could not hear any more detail than that. I will try to find out more for tomorrow.

Ian E with one from the Wires

It is still raining this morning and whilst the river has dropped slightly overnight I would expect it to have risen by this evening as this rain runs off from the tundra. Bob M woke early today and has had 4 fish from Heli before breakfast whilst the wind has almost completely died down so I am hoping for an excellent day.

Charlie White

Mid week changeover on a scorching day

Yesterday was the hottest day of the season so far and whilst the downstream wind made casting slightly harder, it did keep us cool.

After fishing here at Lower Varzuga we all got into the helicopter to go across to Kitza camp. It was good to see those clients we had dropped off on Saturday and it was obvious from the large smiles we saw as we came into land, that the 8 rods there had had an excellent three days.

Upstream from Kitza camp on a stunning evening

They finished their time at Kitza with 136 fish whilst the 10 rods that were fishing at Lower Varzuga tallied 156 – remarkably even fishing across the two camps. Kitza is a beautiful camp and is hard to beat and so it was nice to see the reaction of those rods, arriving here last night, to the new lodge. One of our clients, who has fished pretty much everywhere, confirms that it is certainly the most comfortable accommodation he has seen on any of the Kola rivers.

The new lodge at Lower - it is amazing how fast the grass has grown

At Middle Varzuga the camp manager, Hugh, decided to take action to negate the effects of the strong downstream wind. The wind tends to die down in the evening and they decided to have a very early dinner and take advantage of the softer conditions later. The plan paid off with a beautiful evening of fishing in great conditions and the 12 rods took 97 fish for the day with over 20 of those coming after dinner.

Karai enjoying the late evening sunshine

At Pana our Spanish friends continue to catch fish and to catch big fish. They had 39 for the day with Jose F-M again the top rod with 9 fish as well as a stunning 18lber.

Those bigger fish run through Lower and Middle Varzuga just after the break in the ice but they are strong enough to be able to run the middle of the river and so are too far out for us to reach them. When the river narrows, as it does at Pana, we are able to cover them which is why this camp is known for its bigger fish.

The view from my office - Hywell E into one yesterday

It is another very hot day today but I have just seen Alistair W take a fish out of Larder pool and so it does not seem to be affecting the fishing. The weather men said it would rain very hard this morning – it is good to see that they are as accurate here as they are at home..!

Charlie White