Captain Nemo's report

We had perfect Varzuga fishing conditions yesterday morning, mixed sunshine and showers and a soft down-stream breeze to flatter the casting skills (not that this team at Middle Camp need much help – most having ‘fished a bit’!). The afternoon was more tricky, quite cold, the wind picked up and the salmon put their heads down.

Sandy S, Rafael M and Anton heading off to Green Bank

 Pana continues to fish wonderfully and the eight rods landed 105 salmon; Dan B was top rod with a fabulous day of 29 fish.

Straight in from the White Sea

Kitza reported a biggish run of grilse coming through the lower beats and they had 29 fish for the team of seven. Here at Middle Camp our 11 guests landed 70 salmon. Birthday and Party Pools are just beginning to slow down and now we are sending two boats right up to the top beats at the head of Yovas rapids – possibly the most beautiful place on the river.

Midnight sun last night

After a busy Saturday I had a chance yesterday to catch up on some administration, and to reflect on last week’s fishing. Despite the very hot, bright weather Kitza and Pana had excellent weeks, both hovering around the consistent long term average of 30 salmon per rod/week. Middle Camp was slightly ahead with just under 40 salmon per rod. Very creditable results given the conditions. All of us involved in the river feel the run of fish this year is stronger than 2010 and there seems no shortage of fresh, silver fish still running in from the White Sea.

Emillio R-G with a really good salmon from Snake Pit

I’m going out guiding today – needing practice after being soundly beaten by young Jesse last week. A public apology to Paul Young and Colin S for our boating adventure on the rocks on Thursday. The guides here at Middle Camp are amused at my new title of ‘Captain Nemo’!

Christopher Robinson

P.S. Cooler this morning. 4⁰C at breakfast so it might be a slightly tougher day.

Cooler weather

Saturdays up here bring a degree of urgency and, dare I say it, controlled chaos at Murmansk airport; it is always a relief to get everyone on to the helicopters and on the way to the camps. We were all settled in by late afternoon and within minutes rods were being put up in eager anticipation of a week on the Varzuga.

Tom C-B last week

We are now concentrating our fishing efforts from the Pana, Kitza and Middle Camps and I have based myself at the later. All camps had landed fish before dinner last night, here at Middle the team landed 20, Simon G leading the way with 7 salmon from Generator.

Arctic Terns watching for smoults

We had some rain in the evening and thankfully the baking hot sun of last week has been replaced with much cooler, cloudy weather giving us excellent fishing conditions. The water temperature had reached 16⁰C on Thursday, hopefully it will now drop back towards an optimum 12⁰C. Floating lines remain the most popular, flies are the usual eclectic range the top choice probably being a size 8 Cascade.

Another salmon from the famous Generator Pool

This morning has started well with Laurence L putting 4 bright silver salmon into the record book before having breakfast (wearing a very happy smile!).

More tomorrow….



Christopher Robinson

It ain’t half hot

Yesterday was more of the same weather wise and it got up to 30 degrees by lunchtime. The water temperature was 17 degrees and the height had dropped by about 3 inches which is a lot for a river of this size.

Here at Lower Varzuga we fished in the morning where Paul Y had 2 nice fish and then we had a long lunch, a siesta and hit the river again at around 7pm. With the guides working from 9am to 6pm it was left to Jesse, the camp manager and Christopher Robinson to take the 3 clients out in separate boats. Rather inevitably things got competitive as both tried to prove that they knew the river better than the other in an attempt to put their rods on fish. Christopher has been up here for 20 years and Jesse 2 – bets were placed and bold statements were made. Kola discretion prevents me from disclosing full details but let’s just say that Jesse is walking a foot taller this morning and that Michael G was happy he chose to be guided by the newbie!

Paul Y with one from the morning

At Middle Varzuga the team also had an early supper in order to make the most of the cooler evening. They had 58 between the 12 rods and they worked hard for their fish as it really was seriously hot yesterday afternoon.

At Kitza, Roger B had a bonanza session in the afternoon with 7 fish out of Sasha’s pool. Having had a couple in the morning he finished on 9 for the day and whilst he valiantly tried in the evening for his 10th fish it would not oblige. 24 bright fish, straight off the tide, were landed to their 7 rods.

Picture taken by Christopher - not of his rods playing fish...

Up river at Pana they are having a great week as they continue to have kinder weather (in fishing terms) to contend with. The 8 rods landed 59 fish and Jean H had a stunning fish of 18lbs from Ponsoi pool.

I am going home with the clients tomorrow so Christopher Robinson will be your blogger over the next fortnight and he will be based at Middle Varzuga. I hope he has as superb a time as I have had over the past three weeks.

Charlie White

Heat wave on the Kola

The good news is that we now have power as the mains supply has been reconnected and everything is working as we would hope. The bad news is that we are experiencing a major heat wave. This has affected the fishing but, as ever with this river, we can still find fish even if we should really be sunbathing. We reached a temperature of 28 degrees yesterday and the water is at 14 degrees Celsius this morning -long leaders and small flies will be the advice today.

The team at Middle Varzuga had 75 fish yesterday to their 12 rods. Hugo M was the star turn with 15 fish for the day whilst James MacP had 6 from Bear in just under an hour between 6-7pm. If this weather continues they are going to have an early supper today and fish into the night as the temperature drops.

Paul Young about to land a fish from Green Bank

Here at Lower such ideas are firmly frowned upon and fishing after dinner is strictly for staff only. We had 9 fish to the 3 rods yesterday and Colin S took a lovely fish of around 12lbs from the bottom of Heli pool. With Paul Young keeping us all amused with his stories of filming Hooked on Fishing it has been great fun but it would be nice to see a bit of cloud cover to help us.

At Kitza all of the seven rods caught fish and they totalled 25 for the day – as ever Kitza can cope with these sort of conditions rather better than most.

Colin S after landing his 12lber

On the other hand Pana had a shower of rain yesterday which just demonstrates why I don’t particularly trust the weather reports in this part of the world. Pana is only 80 miles north of us but experiences its own weather patterns. They finished with 49 for the day whilst their final score for the day before was 54 fish. Jack M is demonstrating his knowledge of the river and had 15 fish to his own rod yesterday. Many thanks to our Spanish friends who have emailed me some pictures of their stay at Pana last week.

A nice one from Pana last week

It is another “El Scorchio” today and I was rudely awakened this morning by a blistering sun filtering through my bedroom window. It does mean that the river, the trees and the flowers look quite beautiful but as of today I would probably trade the view for some cloud cover.

Charlie White

A power cut in the village

One of the major changes that we have seen in the last 5 years at Lower Varzuga has been the switch from generator power to mains electricity as the pylons slowly marched their way across the tundra to the village. At first it felt like an imposition into our wilderness world but naturally it soon becomes the norm and makes life considerably easier. Until there is a power cut!

From Varzuga to Umba (a considerable distance) the power is down and yesterday was spent dusting off old generators and hoping that they would still work. After some spluttering and coughing we now have electricity to the kitchen, the dining room and the client cabins.

Dan B and Sergei yesterday morning

The first job was to make sure we could charge the computer and satellite phone (as power to the mast for mobile reception is also down) which led to all of us jostling for space over the few plugs in the kitchen that were working off the generator. Supper might be late but the blog cannot be!

We had the mid week changeover last night and we took the seven rods over to Kitza and brought three rods plus Tim Scott Bolton back to Lower Varzuga. Tim is out here for two weeks as our resident artist and he will be exhibiting his work of the Varzuga in the Autumn – more on that to follow.

Kitza from the air last night

The team of 7 rods finished their time at Lower with 50 fish. Not as many as perhaps I had hoped but we have had three days of bright sunshine which has not been ideal for the fishing. The 3 rods at Kitza had 42 fish which is rather more as I would expect. Kitza is a narrower valley and is less susceptible to bright sunshine as there is more shade throughout it.

At Middle the team had 67 for the day with Emilio G taking a cracking fish of 22lbs from Birthday pool.

The two teams from Lower and Kitza at the mid week drinks party

With the power off our radio is now working on batteries and so conversations have been quite short. I could not hear Pana this morning but as of last night they were on around 40 fish for the day with a few rods still to report their scores.

Whilst this temporary loss of power is boring for us it is having a much greater effect on the village (they have a saw mill, a school, a dairy and numerous workshops to power) and so there is a huge desire from everyone to re-establish communications which I hope they will have done by tonight. Back to basics is great but only for so long!

Charlie White

Smashed leaders and lost fish

Yesterday was clearly a day when the fish won. We landed a lot of fish across all of the camps but there were plenty of tales about fish lost, snapped leaders and backing being torn out of reels before the inevitable.

I spent a great afternoon with Dan B at Wires and Sabacci Rapids where we had two fish to the bank and one fish that took roughly 200 yards of running line and backing before disappearing back to the White Sea. After 10 years of coming up here it still never fails to amaze me quite how strong some of these fish can be.

Tom C-B with a fish from Middle Varzuga

We finished with 18 for the day whilst at Kitza the three rods had 11 fish. Christopher Robinson and I took a trip to Middle Varzuga last night to see the rods up there and so I missed the chance to talk to Tom, the manager at Kitza, about the action they had throughout the day but I will find out more tonight.

Christopher Robinson at the helm on the way to Middle

At Middle everyone was doing well but Hugo M, on a single handed rod, was the leader of the field and he had 22 fish in the book. He knows the river intimately which makes such a difference and he also is prepared to wade deep and far which in these warmer conditions can be a huge advantage as the fish run further out in the main current. They totalled 89 for the day with as many lost again.

Our picnic yesterday at Lower Varzuga

At Pana they finished with 41 to the 8 guests with some superb fish netted. This morning is bright, warm and with barely a breath of wind so I hope for more of the same as we had yesterday

Charlie White

Varzuga exercise

We had another excellent day yesterday and the radio calls in the evening were a cacophony of noise as each camp manager tried to tell their own stories as to what had happened in their camps.

Hugh, the manager at Middle, managed to establish air time and related a story regarding Hugo M fighting a big fish that gave him a serious work out. Whilst fishing Snake Pit he hooked a fish that stripped him of all of his line and took him 300 yards into the backing with the drag on his reel as tight as it would go. When it was clear that he was going to run out of line he started running down the river. 100 yards later he realised he could not keep up and summoned the boat. With some deft work his guide got him into the boat and started to follow the fish downstream. Sadly the fish continued to scream away to the White Sea and the inevitable “ping” that followed could only be acknowledged by a shrug of the shoulders and the fact that some of the big ones will get away.

Dan B with his first Russian salmon

The 12 rods at Middle had 83 fish for the day with Jim R taking 12 fish to his rod.

At Kitza we have a small team of 3 rods being looked after by TV star Paul Young. As was perhaps inevitable with his experience, Paul had 12 fish to end up as the top rod whilst the final total was 22 fish for the day.

Further up river (by about 80 miles) we welcomed 8 friends back into Pana and their experience of the river showed. Jean H was the top rod with 13 fish and they had 40 in total with Barrie W landing a nice fish of around 12lbs from Northumberland Avenue.

Julian P and a thick set fish taken from Green Bank

Here at Lower Varzuga our 7 rods had a slightly tougher day as they worked out the beat, the wading and the vagaries of fishing in Russia, of which 6 of them are new to. 18 fish were landed with Julian P, the only rod who has been here before, taking 6 for the day. Whilst it might not have been quite the flier I was hoping for in terms of numbers, it is clear that our team here is determined to enjoy every minute of it and we had an excellent dinner last night that lasted well into the evening.

"Sit down please"- our rods and guides this morning

It is a quite beautiful day today with much less of a breeze than we faced yesterday and lunch will be a picnic on the river. The water dropped by about an inch last night and most rods have now moved fully on to floating lines whilst a skated fly was tried yesterday evening. If this warm weather continues, this visually exciting way of fishing will become the norm and we can start to really experiment with summer fishing tactics.

Charlie White

A new week

The expected delays in Murmansk airport were strangely absent yesterday and our returning rods had hardly gone through check in for the charter home before the incoming clients were through immigration. We got into camp by about 4:30pm and had plenty of time for a few fish in the evening.

Last week was one where quite simply everything went right. The weather was kind apart from the odd session, the river is looking stunning as the trees and flowers move into their summer colours and there were a lot of fish caught in all camps.

Rob W in the bright sunshine

At Pana the eight rods had a total of 233 fish for their week with plenty of fish weighing in the high teens and at least 2 fish that were certainly over the 20lbs mark. Sadly, they had gone through check in by the time I arrived at Murmansk (they and Middle flew on an earlier helicopter) and so I was not able to download any of their pictures.

Here at Lower Varzuga the team of 8 rods, led by top Rutland guide Rob Waddington had 274 fish for their 6 days. Their scores from Kitza for the 3 days were 134 and then they had 140 here – very even fishing. The 9 rods that started at Lower Varzuga took a total of 252 for their week with 3 of them landing their first ever Atlantic salmon.

How big was it Jeremy?!

It was interesting to speak to the more experienced rods who commented that there are not too many rivers where advanced fishers can really push themselves whilst at the same time the more novice rods will also be rewarded for their efforts.

At Middle, the 12 rods had a phenomenal week. Exactly 800 salmon were put in the book to give an average of just over 66 fish per rod for the week. There is no doubt that they put in a lot of hours to achieve these numbers but it does demonstrate what is possible on the river if you are prepared to work for it.

If the mobile network goes down we post the blog by satellite

This week appears to have started in the same vein with Roger B having 3 this morning before breakfast. The day has started in bright sunshine and everyone was mad keen to get going this morning - they should have a good day.

Charlie White

Quick update before departure

The last day of the week proved to be a very successful one with a lot of fish caught in all camps. We are going to fly to Murmansk shortly and so I will be brief but it has been the most wonderful week across all four beats with the radios crackling into life every few minutes with tales of fish being caught and lost.

Pana had their best day of the week with 53 fish. Jose F-M proved that his earlier catches were no fluke as he had 20 fish for his rod. Benjamin B had a tough morning but more than made up for it with 7 fish in the afternoon including one that was somewhere between 22-24lbs. I am hoping to get some pictures from the group today and I will post some of them next week.

Jesse with a lovely fish last night

At Kitza, Hywell E had a lovely fish of around 14lbs from Sasha’s pool whilst the team had about 30 fish for the day. There are one or two rods fishing this morning trying to get that extra fish just before the helicopter arrives.

Middle Varzuga is still fishing incredibly well. As is usually the case in this camp, a lot of the rods fish after hours and I will not know the final scores until tomorrow but they had around 130 fish for the day which puts them very near 800 salmon for the week to their 12 rods. David C was one of the top scorers yesterday with 20 fish.

A rare picture of my father minus a cigarette!

Here at Lower Varzuga we had 49 fish for the day and Jesse went out in the evening to find that extra one to take it to a round 50 for the day. He did so in style with a fish that was probably just over the 15lbs mark. Peter H and Ian E were the top rods for the day with 8 and 9 fish respectively.

Gerry H witha  nice one from the Larder

It has been a great week to be up here with kind weather, plenty of fish to catch and camps full of people with smiling faces. I was down at the very bottom of our Lower Varzuga beat yesterday and saw masses of fresh fish coming in off the tide so I am very hopeful that next week will prove to be just as successful.

Charlie White

Rain and a rising river

Yesterday was a pretty dour day weather wise with rain in the morning and an overcast sky but helpfully there was no wind at all which made things easier.

The river rose around 2 inches which can sometimes put the fish off but it didn’t yesterday. Having looked at our records of water height over the past 20 years, it is clear that despite the early break in the ice, we are around normal levels for the height of the river at this time of year and we can access all beats very easily.

Bob M with one the 12 fish he landed yesterday

At Lower Varzuga Bob M, on his first trip to Russia, had a bumper day and landed 12 fish to his rod.

He and Peter H were fishing Heli Pool in the morning and on the opposite bank they could see Mike T and Rob W fishing the Larder pool. At one point all 4 rods were bent into fish at the same time which to my knowledge is the first quadruple hook up we have had. 3 of those fish were landed along with 48 others as we finished with 52 fish for the day.

In the afternoon we were treated to the sight of supplies being brought to the camp in a less than usual way.

No road?  Nyet problem!

Middle Varzuga again decided to have a very early supper and to fish in evening. They had around 110 for the day to their 12 rods but some fished very late into the night and others have got up very early this morning which has meant that Hugh has not got around to everyone to collect their final scores.

At Kitza, Jeremy C and Mark M were the top rods with 10 fish each for the day. Overall they had 42 fish yesterday but it was clear that the big run, that Tom and the guides saw the day before, have yet to disperse over all of the pools as some rods caught a lot of fish whilst others had a tougher day.

Rob W at Bear Corner on Wednesday

Up river at Pana they had a better day with 34 fish between the 8 rods. Jaime S was leading the way with 9 fish. It is Kate’s (cook at Pana) birthday today and it seems as if the clients are planning to cook their own tapas this evening as a present. I suspect that the event may be marked by the odd vodka as well..!

Team C at Middle

As is often the case on the last day of the week, everyone was up early this morning and ready with all of their kit on the dot of 9am – they are all keen to make the most of the fishing before they go home and with the run of fish that we have at the moment it is easy to understand why.

Charlie White

A visit from the choir

After another “Costa Del Varzuga” day on the river, the weather men were finally proved correct and the weather changed dramatically. At around 7pm the skies darkened and we were treated to the most extraordinary thunderstorm. Very picturesque but not exactly safe for after supper fishing with the amount of lightening that we had!

The Varzuga village choir

At Lower Varzuga, fishing after supper was not on the agenda anyway as we were treated to a visit from the Varzuga village choir. The 9 strong team sang beautifully, with a range of songs about men going to war, boys meeting girls and finally a charming song offering prayers to the river itself. We were very grateful that they came down as they had braved lashing rain on their boat journey from the village.

Marina, on the left, in charge of the village stores and the choir

The fishing yesterday was quite tough everywhere apart from Middle Varzuga where they had a bumper day. The 12 rods had 136 fish with Stewart L taking 15 salmon from Pasha’s Rest in just over 3 hours – a wonderful spell of fishing. Jeremy H lost a fish that twice took him to the end of his backing and had him running down river to try to keep up with it but eventually the fish won.

Alan M with a nice one from the boat

In the rest of the camps the morning session was the most productive whilst the afternoon was made more difficult by burning sunshine and a very strong upstream wind.

It tested even the most competent of casters but here at Lower, Alan M and Alistair W fought valiantly through it to end the day on 7 and 6 fish respectively. Mike T had a cracking double digit fish from 39 Steps which he thoroughly deserved as he was casting into a gale down there. A very respectable total of 39 fish was the tally for the day.

Alistair W into one of his 6 fish for the day

At Kitza the team had 31 mint fresh fish with several rods deciding to call it a day slightly early in order to save their backs and shoulders. Tom, the camp manager at Kitza, said that he and the guides had seen a big run of new fish coming into the lower part of the system yesterday afternoon and we can only hope that they catch up with them today.

At Pana it was slightly slower and again, the weather played its part. I know that they had 22 fish but unfortunately, slightly I suspect due to the change in atmospherics, our radio call this morning was not very clear and I could not hear any more detail than that. I will try to find out more for tomorrow.

Ian E with one from the Wires

It is still raining this morning and whilst the river has dropped slightly overnight I would expect it to have risen by this evening as this rain runs off from the tundra. Bob M woke early today and has had 4 fish from Heli before breakfast whilst the wind has almost completely died down so I am hoping for an excellent day.

Charlie White

Mid week changeover on a scorching day

Yesterday was the hottest day of the season so far and whilst the downstream wind made casting slightly harder, it did keep us cool.

After fishing here at Lower Varzuga we all got into the helicopter to go across to Kitza camp. It was good to see those clients we had dropped off on Saturday and it was obvious from the large smiles we saw as we came into land, that the 8 rods there had had an excellent three days.

Upstream from Kitza camp on a stunning evening

They finished their time at Kitza with 136 fish whilst the 10 rods that were fishing at Lower Varzuga tallied 156 – remarkably even fishing across the two camps. Kitza is a beautiful camp and is hard to beat and so it was nice to see the reaction of those rods, arriving here last night, to the new lodge. One of our clients, who has fished pretty much everywhere, confirms that it is certainly the most comfortable accommodation he has seen on any of the Kola rivers.

The new lodge at Lower - it is amazing how fast the grass has grown

At Middle Varzuga the camp manager, Hugh, decided to take action to negate the effects of the strong downstream wind. The wind tends to die down in the evening and they decided to have a very early dinner and take advantage of the softer conditions later. The plan paid off with a beautiful evening of fishing in great conditions and the 12 rods took 97 fish for the day with over 20 of those coming after dinner.

Karai enjoying the late evening sunshine

At Pana our Spanish friends continue to catch fish and to catch big fish. They had 39 for the day with Jose F-M again the top rod with 9 fish as well as a stunning 18lber.

Those bigger fish run through Lower and Middle Varzuga just after the break in the ice but they are strong enough to be able to run the middle of the river and so are too far out for us to reach them. When the river narrows, as it does at Pana, we are able to cover them which is why this camp is known for its bigger fish.

The view from my office - Hywell E into one yesterday

It is another very hot day today but I have just seen Alistair W take a fish out of Larder pool and so it does not seem to be affecting the fishing. The weather men said it would rain very hard this morning – it is good to see that they are as accurate here as they are at home..!

Charlie White

Rising water

When we arrived on Saturday night it was raining lightly and Sunday morning was damp and dull but it is clear that there must have been a lot more rain in the catchment area overall. From Saturday evening to this morning the river has risen by around 4-5 inches which is a huge amount for a river of this size.
Yesterday morning was relatively difficult for all of the camps but the river levelled off by around 3pm and suddenly everyone started catching fish in the numbers that they had been on the first day.

Ueli Z with one of the 10 fish he had yesterday

Here at Lower Varzuga we had 60 fish to the 10 rods and Ueli Z, who has been coming out here for many years, had his first ever double digit day and landed a round total of 10 fish to his own rod. The other notable feat is that we have had 3 clients land their first ever salmon - Bill D, Gwyn D and Rhodri D are all on the score sheet and continuing to land more.

Rhodri D with his first salmon

Kitza had another great day with 50 fish landed to the 8 rods. Ian E and Peter H were top scorers with 14 and 13 fish respectively. It is strange, that with such an early break in the ice, the fish should be appearing in their numbers as late in the season as this but it is good to see that the run is as strong as ever. We will fly over there tonight to do the mid week changeover and their team will be here for the next 3 days.

Pana had another very good day and 35 fish were put in the book by the 8 rods with Jose F-M at the top of the charts with 9 fish. More big fish were a feature of the day and it sounded as if as many fish were lost as they were landed.

Bill D with his first fish - not a great picture but a great feeling

I took my father up to Middle Varzuga last night (it takes about an hour by boat) and we had an excellent dinner with the 12 rods there. Paul C and Jeremy H were the top rods on the day and they had had 15 fish each. A total of 115 fish for the day was excellent but they all felt that the strong upstream wind had probably had a detrimental effect on the overall score.

It's official, the blog is bribeable - one for Janet!

Sink tips remain popular but we have a very bright and warm day today, albeit with a very strong downstream wind, and it won’t be long before the sink tips prove less effective than a full floater.

Charlie White

A perfect start to the week

Yesterday morning started with thick fog and yet, as can often be the case up here, by lunchtime it was the most beautiful day. All of the carefully assembled layers of clothing were thrown to one side and everyone was trying to find their sun cream.

You might expect such changeable conditions to have a detrimental effect on the fishing - it was clear from the radio calls with all of the camps that this was not the case.

A happy scene on Generator pool at Middle

At Kitza the 8 rods had 42 fish for the day which was a superb start and very encouraging. The water temperature has risen to 8 degrees and it would appear as if this is what the fish were waiting for. Rob W had 8 fish from Rock pool and I understand that Deluxe and Sascha’s were also very productive, demonstrating that the fish were in all parts of the river.

They are still fishing with sink tips and weighted tubes but on the rest of the river we are now on floating lines with the odd person trying an intermediate tip. Fish are now coming to the skated fly but the most productive method has been straightforward doubles in size 6-8 and shrimp patterns appear the most effective.

Bob C with one from Moskoi yesterday

At Pana, our group of 8 had 43 fish for their opening day including a superb fish of 20-22lbs for Antonio B . Domingo P was the top rod with 8 fish and the overall opinion was that they were catching bigger fish as a rule. Most fish were over 10lbs and there were 3 or 4 up to the 16lbs mark.

Middle Varzuga had 144 fish to their 12 guests with Stephen C leading the charge taking 20 fish to his rod. Alan S had a day to remember with an extraordinary tale of a 14lbs pike. He hooked a grayling which he was busy hand lining in when the pike came from nowhere and swallowed it. He then proceeded to play the pike and the grayling and got them both in the net whereupon the pike promptly spat the unfortunate fish out – effectively making it one of the first fish we know of to have been landed without ever having a fly in its mouth!

Dinner last night - picture taken at 10pm

Here at Lower Varzuga our 10 rods had 55 fish for their day with Jeremy C and Mark M showing the others the way. My father is out here this week and we spent a very happy afternoon catching fish, catching up and generally enjoying this very special place. Dinner last night was great fun with a room full of beaming faces and it was hard to see how the day could have been improved for anyone.

Charlie White

All in camp and with their luggage!

Many thanks to Christopher for updating the blog yesterday as it was a slightly hectic day.

Fortunately we have an excellent partner in Helsinki, Marjalissa, who managed to persuade the authorities that, wild cat strike or not, the plane going to Murmansk had to be treated as a priority. Thanks to her, the problems that we had envisaged and made provisions for, did not come to pass. It was great to see everyone at Murmansk and it was even better to see them with all of their bags!

Keith B with one from the boat last week

Last week was a great week across the camps. Middle Varzuga finished with 795 fish to their 12 rods which will take some beating. It is only fair that I point out that one of our clients had 222 fish whilst Peter W had 112 – amazing numbers of salmon in a week and demonstrates the potential of the river and the perserverance of the rods.

Sasha - the two rods he was guiding had over 300 fish for the week

Lower Varzuga fished beautifully all week. With varying degrees of effort we had 170 fish to the 4 rods. Fresh fish are still coming in and Jeremy C had 6 out of the Wires after supper last night so hopes are high for this week.

Kitza was relatively slow and they finished with 65 to the 4 rods – not at all bad obviously but I had perhaps hoped for a few more. The encouraging news is that they had 7 fresh fish in just a couple of hours last night and it would appear as if the main run of fish is just starting.

Casting a long line at Beach

Our first guests are now at Pana and they also had 7 fish last night from just outside of the camp. The eight rods are all Spanish and with Barcelona’s success, I don’t think that breakfast was too early this morning!

Our new rods meeting the guides

It is very foggy today but the mood in camp is bright and optimistic for the week ahead.

Charlie White