It is with great excitement that I bring news of Hamish's first Varzuga Salmon. Despite heavy ice flowing down river Bill and Hamish went out for a cast in the morning. Along with a good number of icebergs, Bill lost a fish on green bank. Then the ice became too much so they packed in.
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| Silver and White |
Every time the ice seemed to be getting better Bill and Hamish made their way to the bank to find another great raft of ice coming down stream. After our Russian friends returned to the river Claire, Bill and I sat on the bench above, whilst Hamish picked his way through the ice cubes.
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| It's just an ice cube buddy!!! |
The next thing we see is Hamish's rod tip bent over and line being stripped off the reel. He was cursing the ice and Claire headed inside and Bill and I laughed as he played what looked like an ice cube.
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| Hamish with his first Varzuga salmon |
Suddenly Bill said "ice does not swim upstream" and we were racing down the bank through the slushy snow to see what was on the end. As we neared we could see the silver flanks on a lovely Varzuga grilse.
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| White Wagtail, a sign that the river is waking up. |
The weather yesterday remained fairly over cast until around lunchtime and the sun came out. This certainly had an effect as with Hamish's drone we could see large chunks of the ice that sits on the far bank of the village breaking off. This morning is also very sunny and dare I say quite mild. Holly and I are off to Middle this morning to get things ready there and I hope to work a way to report from there in the morning.
Jack Selby
