Yesterday was a very bright day which lent itself nicely to a trip to Middle Varzuga after we had finished our fishing here. It takes just under an hour by boat and during the trip we saw a breeding pair of Golden Eagles, several ravens and masses of Arctic terns dive bombing the salmon smolts that have started their migration to sea.
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| Rob H into a fish at Party pool |
They had had another superb day with 185 fish being put in the book to the 12 rods and I got up there just as Hugh was noting down the days catches from each rod – it took some time! Paul C is leading the charge and has already had over 100 fish for the week to his rod as has David C who has been here for 17 years, this is the first time that he has landed 100 fish to his rod for a week’s fishing. They are fishing every hour that they possibly can as there is a real sense that it seems a waste not to make the most of it whilst the fishing is this good.
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| A greenshank at Middle |
I got back to Lower at around midnight to find Richard and Henry P discussing their day and their evening catches. They had had 7 between them in the home pool after dinner which meant that we finished the day with 43 fish to the 10 rods. Peter H was the top rod throughout the day as he put his experience of the beat to good use.
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| Chris C releasing a fish just below the island at Middle |
At Pana the fishing continues to improve and they finished with 44 fish to the 6 rods with Francisco C-S landing a really decent fish of 15lbs. Jose F-M was again the top rod with 15 for his day and it is becoming clear that they are now finding fish throughout their beat.
Kitza is fishing perfectly well but, after a wet autumn and much snow this last winter, it is remaining stubbornly high and their water temperature is not climbing as fast as we would expect. Bill D and Hywel E shrugged off such worries and landed 4 each in amongst a total of 23 that they had for the day. With another hot day today the water temperature ought to rise some more and we should see it beginning to fish as well as we know it can - and when the Kitza is right there are very few places that I would rather be.
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| Graham W with one from the Bearlets |
We have a crystal clear morning today and we have been discussing tactics at breakfast. The consensus has been that, with the water a bit higher than average, we might need to get down to the salmon more than we have been doing so the intermediate tips and slightly heavier flies are now being broken out. Graham W had one before breakfast on this exact set up and he has set the trend for the day.
Charlie White
