Master Class

Yesterday I mentioned just how wonderful were the fishing conditions on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday proved trickier. We had bright, bright sun all day and in the afternoon, with the sun heading around to the North West and lowering a bit, it was straight into the eyes of the salmon.

That said, at Middle we landed 145 salmon for the day, Hugo M was top of the board with 35 fish, and the team were rightly pleased with a well-earned result. Jean V, here on his first ever fishing trip, kindly poured me one of his famous gin and tonics and we sat on the veranda in the evening sun discussing the day. An inquisitive learner Jean wanted to understand just what made the difference and why the scores between the rods varied so widely. Even with only three days fishing under his belt he had quickly understood that all the beats are loaded with salmon at the moment and that it was the way people fished that made the difference.



Terry annd Raphael C in Madonna's

The Varzuga really is the place to learn fishing, Terry is a wonderful instructor and I guess I can add some help as well after one or two years up here. And there is also a vast pool of experience amongst the team to glean nuggets of advice from. It is really rewarding for Terry and I to have fishers like Jean who do not blame the guide, their kit, the weather or the beat rotation but who simply want to improve their fishing skills.

Even the best ask for advice, I guess that is why they are the best. Hugo M is by nature a single handed rod fisherman, he his always top rod and is vastly experienced. Yesterday he took out his new, light #7 double handed rod and fished well enough but was frustrated with his casting. He asked Terry to watch him after lunch and quickly Terry had pointed out a minor fault in technique that Hugo soon corrected.


Anticipation

Pana had another excellent day, inevitably less productive under the sun, however 122 salmon was not in any way a disappointment. They are still fishing right down to Ponzoi and should be able to do so for quite a few days yet.

Over at Kitza Richard G and his team had another excellent day landing 60 salmon with Charles W accounting for 15 of them. Benefiting from the lakes upstream the water temperature at Kitza remains stable at 12⁰C; the height has dropped some 6" this week and last night the guides marked the route through the shallows at Tricalore. We should be able to get the jet boats to all beats on all three camps into the beginning of next week at least; a day or two of rain would be handy and would probably see the current water height maintained until late June.

Dominique M with a 10lber from Robinson's Folly

It is another bright day today, a little more hazy than yesterday – but with few mosquitoes, the wild flowers coming out and the river full of salmon no one is complaining.

Christopher Robinson