Saturday 26 May 2012

The end of an amazing week

It will be a short blog this morning as we are off to Murmansk any minute now with our outgoing clients. During the hour and a half flight we will no doubt all be reflecting on a wonderful week on the Varzuga.

Joe M at Lower Camp with a bright bar of silver
As I type, a few of the hard core members are still fishing and trying to squeeze that one last salmon in before we depart so I do not have final numbers for the camps. Tomorrow I will have caught up with everyone and will report the totals. One thing I am fairly certain of is that Middle Varzuga will have broken every record going. As of Thursday evening, the week was averaging 98 salmon per rod and they still had a full day to go.

Peter A with another one from Pertiha
At Lower and Kitza we had fabulous fishing. The numbers will be less than Middle but we had an excellent 6 days with very little fishing out of hours. The camp at Lower is now fabulously comfortable and with the intimacy of Kitza, it is a wonderful way to split the week.

Water height at Sabacchi Rapids at Lower Camp yesterday
There is no question that those who fish before breakfast and after dinner do land more than those who fish in just the guided hours but, for most people, a week here is about the whole experience and not just the numbers. Being on a river where you fish in expectation rather than vague hope is a rarity these days and our guests have taken full advantage of it.

One of the many Arctic Terns that have arrived this past week
More tomorrow when I hope to report that many of our new rods will already have had a few fish under their belt on the first evening and will be enjoying simply being in this amazing environment.

Charlie White