Surface action

In a place that is all about salmon fishing it is not unsurprising that quite a lot of time is dedicated to discussing the best tactics, terminal tackle, the argument of nylon against fluorocarbon and many others. What is for sure though is that as our season goes on, we will move away from sinking and intermediate tips to full floaters. We are certainly approaching that time now.

Virginia W on Upper Sviats

Tom M had 8 fish for his morning, all of which took on the surface and as I watched him fish the Wires yesterday afternoon, he had any amount of fish come at his fly. A lot missed as they slashed at it too hard but it barely mattered as the end result was not so much about numbers in the book as it was the sheer enjoyment of seeing such aggressive takes.

In the end he finished the day on 14 fish, helping us toward 48 for our day. Virginia W is doing her best to keep her guide busy and was rewarded with 9 to her rod.

Feorder and Misha - lynchpins of Lower Varzuga

Kitza continues its upward curve and the 9 rods there finished on a tally of 45. Joe M, who has fished this river so many times, showed his knowledge of the beat and was the top rod with 12. They went down to the White Sea last night and whilst it was pretty cold, a few vodka toasts to the extraordinary environment down there certainly took the edge off.

Middle Varzuga continues to be ultra consistent. 76 fish were landed yesterday with Paul C the top rod on 11 fish. He also had a cracking fish of around 15-16lbs from the tail of Birthday. Otherwise their scores were very even across all of the rods and all of the beats are producing fish.

Rhodri D on 39 Steps

Pana has started with a bang. 54 was their total for the day with Doug U the top rod on 14. He landed 10 in his morning session at Ponzoi and his fishing partner Ian S was not far behind. Toby, the camp manager, can barely contain his enthusiasm over the radio and it is great to see them getting off to such a flyer.

It is a mixed today with plenty of blue sky but a cold wind. That has not put off our team who have already shared quite a few fish before breakfast and they are determined to make the most of it. Tonight we go to Kitza for the mid week changeover and I will try to bring some pictures from there.

Charlie White