Tuesday 25 June 2019

2019 season review

The 2019 season on the Varzuga will go down in the books as one of our better ones.

Fresh fish from the start to the finish of the season
The final overall numbers make impressive reading with 152 clients landing over 6,500 fish in a 6 week period.  It worked out at an average of just over 44 fish per rod per week – superb fishing by any measure.

Alex A enjoying every minute
What is not obvious in the statistics is that these are simply a record of fish that we got to the net.  With very fresh fish and their accompanying soft mouths, losses are often very high and most clients seemed to reckon that they had lost as many as they landed. 

Eskild in the first week 
It is this action which draws people back to the river time and time again as there is nowhere else in the world where you can fish a pool just knowing that there are fresh fish in there every time you go down it and that belief makes you fish with an air of expectation and not just hope – a very different fishing experience to the norm.

4 camps, 4 superb cooks
What is also not obvious in those statistics is the quality of the fish that we all encountered this year.  The Varzuga makes no claim to hold monsters and it is not a river to find your 30lbs fish of a lifetime but for sheer fun and entertainment, she is hard to beat. 

He doesn't smile much but Vitale knows where the fish are
Every single fish we landed this year was just the embodiment of the perfect salmon and the strength of an 8lbs grilse, fresh off the tide, simply must be experienced to be believed.

Jenny with one from the boat
We all laugh about it when on the river but the experience genuinely is not just about the numbers.  Of course, the fact that the Varzuga is the most prolific river in the world is its main USP but I would hope that the overall trip leaves people with many more memories than just a static final number.

Fishing in stunning scenery
The Varzuga deserves to be thought of as a week in the middle of nowhere with fishing that is simply from another planet – even in her “slower” years, there is nowhere else in the world where more fun can be had and more memories made.

The tuition week was a huge success
We strive to match the river in terms of excellence in camp and the cooks, guides, helicopter pilots, the office in Hungerford and everyone else on the ground all work really hard to make sure that it is the fishing trip of a lifetime.  Feedback from clients would suggest that it is just that and repeat rates look very high for next year but naturally please do register your interest as soon as you can.

One straight off the tide at Beach
There will be a change to the format of next year’s blog and we will be reporting on Sundays and Wednesdays only.  I am conscious that a daily blog can become a bit of a scorecard which of course, is entirely what we don’t want it to become. 

A deep fish for Paul C
2020 is our rebasing year and so the main season will start on May 16th.  This is a very late start and we will also be running a “casino” week from May 9th to 16th on Lower and Middle Varzuga.  Only apply if you can handle cold weather, tough wading and sinking lines but if you can do that, there is an opportunity for some of the most prolific fishing imaginable at a really decent price.

My thanks go to all of our clients who put their trust in us this year and we hope that you enjoyed it as much as we all did.  My further thanks go to our teams on the ground and to our Russian partners, without whom none of this would be possible.

The end of another great season
We will of course be going through our strict first right of return policy but if you would like to have more details for our 2020 season please do not hesitate to contact me.

Charlie White