After weeks of high temperatures and searing sun, we now have fishing weather. We woke this morning to snow and hail showers and we have all layered up in anticipation of a cold day on the river.
Yesterday was similarly cold and it took a few of us by surprise. Not least our friend Chris Yrazabal from Los Roques, Venezuela who is over here to find out all about salmon as opposed to guiding us to bonefish which he does so well.
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| Glynn and Sergei |
Whilst the weather may have changed, the relative fortunes of the camps have not so much. Middle Varzuga was the most productive camp yesterday with 55 fish recorded to their 12 rods. Hugo M was one of the top rods for the day with 8 fish. Not a massive surprise really as he has been here many times before and knows the beat well. However, Michael D was equally prolific which in some sense was a more impressive effort as he has never seen the river before.
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| Richard S on Bear Corner |
At Kitza we have a team that do not need too much excuse for a celebration but yesterday there was a genuine reason to ensure there were hangovers all round this morning. Mark M has never held a fly rod before and we were keen to get him into a fish as soon as possible to alleviate any pressure. Ollie took him out and it was not long before he landed his first fish of any description and then went on to land 3 more – a fantastic effort. They finished with 25 in the book with the top beats of the river being the most productive.
Pana had a slightly disappointing day with the 8 rods landing 18 fish. Andrew D landed a cracking fish of around 14lbs from Grannies whilst John G had the misfortune of losing 5 before getting on the score sheet.
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| Sergei settled in for lunch |
Here at Lower we had a tough day. 10 fish were put in the book with Philip T doing well to land 4 of those. Eoin, Bill and Ollie Shuldham (who will take on running the camps when I come home at the end of the week) were on hand to instruct and help and whilst it was not the most productive of days, everyone came in having learnt something new and we had a raucous dinner last night with the whole team in very good spirits.
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| Ditch out of the blocks |
With the water temperature falling back to 9 degrees we have broken out the bigger flies and the odd intermediate tip this morning and there is something comforting about needing fleece layers and jackets – it feels far more fishy than applying sun cream.
Charlie White
