Saturday - Murmansk Day

I’m off to Murmansk first thing today as we change over teams on Saturday – so here is a quick round up of yesterday’s news.

Tim P hooked up in Simmonds

A really bright day yesterday with the air temperature up to 25⁰C; to make things more tricky there was a strong, albeit warm, upstream wind that made elegant, long casts somewhat rare. Compounding the issue was a river that continued to rise. I was sure yesterday morning that it would level out but I was wrong, we recorded a rise here at Middle Camp of another 5”. Pana this evening reported that it had dropped off a touch with them, so I would hope that by the time the next team start fishing in earnest on Sunday morning it will have settled down here.

Costa del Varzuga

Even so we had a very productive and happy day landing 55 salmon, Dominique M being the only one to fish late in order to land a couple more fish to round off his week with 40 salmon to his rod.

Ian S with his 100th salmon of the week

Pana had a quieter time and the team up there had a pretty relaxed day and, in shortened hours, had around 70 fish. Tom at Kitza reported around 30 salmon landed. I’ll get the full news tomorrow evening and will do a roundup of this past week.

Farewell from a wonderful group to have here at Middle Camp

It looks pretty good to me for the next week, a good water height and plenty of fish running.

More news tomorrow when we have the new groups in camp.

Christopher Robinson

Still rising

Such is the nature of the Varzuga watershed, consisting solely of virgin tundra and bog, that even heavy rain takes a day or so to percolate through to the river. We must have had more rain than we thought on the 12th and 13th June as yesterday the many small streams that feed the river were noticeably full and noisy and the river continued its slow rise.

David KW with one from the boat

At Pana (80 km upstream from us here at Middle Camp) our manager, Mungo, reported the river to be well up, 9” over two days and getting a boat down to the holy grail of Ponzoi should be possible for a few more days. At Middle, where the river is wider, the total rise of water height is 6 ½” (17 cm), causing us to adjust the beats to make the most of the changed conditions.

Lunch opposite Clarkes yesterday

Despite the rise, the water remains crystal clear and the temperature steady at 14⁰C. Full

floating lines or a floater with an intermediate tip are working well and bright flies with

yellow, red and orange remain the favourites.

Pana landed 98 salmon yesterday, the catch pretty evenly spread amongst the eight rods and all of the
beats up there are fishing exceptionally well. Over at Kitza the catch was a little off
yesterday and they put 34 fish in the book before going down to the White Sea for a stroll
on the beach at midnight. That might sound bizarre to you back home – but it really is an
extraodinarily spiritual experience, the light is quite magical and it is something that lives in
people's minds when they reflect on their trip here.


The White Sea beach at mid-night

At Middle Camp we landed 78 fish with Ian S reaching a remarkable land mark for a salmon fisher landing 100 salmon in five days fishing.

The rods have just set off for their last full day on the river, this week seems to have flown
by, tonight we’ll have a barbeque by the river and the usual farewell party before
reluctantly boarding the helicopter back to Murmansk on Saturday morning.

Fishing a skated fly at Party Pool

We look set fair for next week – the rise in water has come at a perfect time and the river looks in excellent shape.

Christopher Robinson

The Mediator

The rain of Tuesday night continued most of yesterday, accompanied by an upstream gale in the morning. Pretty foul conditions and here at Middle Camp we kept the generator on all day in case anyone took an involuntary swim and needed a warming shower, we lit the fire and brought everyone back into the lodge for lunch.

Fishing in the mid-night sun

The river rose slowly throughout the day, on the radio last night the camps reported the casting into the wind tricky and the fish fickle. The score sheets were down a bit with Kitza recording 45 salmon with the biggest of the day at 14lbs to Ed B. The river had risen by 3½” triggering a landslide at Clay View which coloured up the water for the lower beat so Tom moved the whole team up-river. This morning the water had cleared and they will be able to put a couple of rods below camp into the ever productive Sasha’s Pool.

A 14lber for Ian S

Up at Pana the team of eight rods had 102 fish for the day taking them past an extraordinary milestone of 8,000 salmon landed and released in 21 years of fishing here. The river up there has risen 4” in the past 36 hours and all the lower pools remain accessible.

At Middle the fish were a bit dour, but I guess that statement needs to be put into a wider context – we finished with 78 salmon for 11 rods, not exactly a disaster in salmon fishing terms. Everyone one had three fish or more for the day, again Ian S, Richard L and Dominique C leading the way with double figure scores.

There was no doubt that the fish had their heads down a bit, after dinner the weather calmed so Ian S, Hugh and I took the boat down to Party Pool to experiment. Ian fished his trusty fly, The Mediator, on a very short slow sinking tip while Hugh and I took turns with either a Bomber or skated Sunray Shadow. In an hour and a half Ian landed four (one a cracker of 14lbs) and lost one; while not a single fish showed to the surface flies.

1,111 salmon caught and released so far this week

The river should settle down today, it is up 4” at Middle which gives us a bit more lee way for the jet boats, the weather is cooler and brighter and there is a light breeze. Everyone has been digging around in their fly boxes for Mediators and Hugh has been busy at the fly tying bench. We’ll see what happens today, so far this week 27 rods on the Varzuga and Kitza have landed exactly 1,111 salmon in four days. Not too bad!

Christopher Robinson

Mid Week

At Kitza Tom reported seeing more fish yesterday than he had on previous days and the group of eight rods recorded 58 salmon landed, Richard G was top rod with 12 fish on his card. Tom reckoned that most of the salmon were in the 8lb – 12lb range and straight in from the sea. The water level on Kitza has dropped more slowly than the Varzuga and all beats remain accessible by boat for the moment.

Dominique C and Volva

The eight rods on Pana had another bumper day with 139 salmon landed. They are still able to get a boat down to Ponzoi but this option could denied to us in the next few days if we do not get significant rain. It should not matter too much as the most productive beat remains the tail of Lagoon to just below White Rock, so there is masses of room still available if Ponzoi has to be taken out of the rota.

A bear crossing the river yesterday

The run of salmon continues here at Middle Camp, yesterday we saw numerous pods of silver fish splashing through and our team of 11 landed 126 salmon, the largest of 14 lbs falling to David KW. Ian S is acknowledged by all to be our expert and he is now on 76 salmon for three days fishing – a remarkable effort and most of them caught in “office hours”. Four of our Belgium friends went up Yovas rapids and had a fantastic day up there, Rodolphe C and Dominique C leading the way with 32 fish between them.

With three wonderful days of fishing under their belts the team are beginning to experiment, something Hugh and I are encouraging, more single handed rods are being put up, the Bombers and Skaters are coming out and I’m sure that we will have more converts to surface fishing this week.


Mother and 3 cubs seen at Middle Camp on 31 May

Those of us who stayed on the lower beats yesterday got together for one of Jemima’s famous roast chicken picnics at Peartiha. Half way through lunch a bear swam the river right in front of us, a wonderful sight. At Kitza the rods were surprised to see an elk charging across the river with a young bear in hot pursuit.

It rained heavily all night and the river is up an inch this morning. A welcome rise, not so much from a fishing point of view but it does help from a boating perspective. In any event the river is a good deal higher than this time last year and is about as perfect a height as one could wish for.



Perfect height at Snake |Pit

 The water remains at 15⁰C – very much a floating line temperature, the flies of choice at the moment are Flame Thrower, Mediator and Red Francis on a ½” tube or #8 to #10.

Christopher Robinson

Yovas

Yovas Rapids are at the head of the Middle Camp’s beat, 2½ miles of white water and wonderful ‘lay-bys’ for the running salmon to rest in on their haul up the steepest section of this long river. Early in the season the fish pause at Clarkes right at the bottom of the rapids, making Clarkes probably the most sought after spot on the beat rotation. Now, with the water temperature above 10⁰C, they tend to run through Clarkes pausing in the myriad of perfect pools throughout Yovas.

Lunch at Yovas

 The jet boat ride up the rapids gives the day a feeling of expedition, you pull into the bank, the engine is cut, and suddenly you realise you are genuinely in the middle of nowhere, just a mile or so south of the Arctic Circle, in the most beautiful place on the Varzuga with more fantastic fly fishing water than you can possibly cover in the day. Truly fishing heaven.

Graham B and Anton with another silver salmon from Yovas

I ran my boat up Yovas to meet Graham B, David KW and Ian S for lunch, a fresh salmon barbequed by Sasha; we relaxed on the bank and soaked in the silence of the wilderness. In the afternoon Anton guided Graham down the bank while I took David in my boat. I made a couple of indifferent decisions about where to fish and by mid-afternoon, much to Anton’s delight, Graham was well ahead on the score board. Eventually we got it right, just above The Slabs, and in an hour of mayhem David landed four, lost four and had numerous aggressive and splashy takes.

We sat in the boat quietly contemplating the day, David said “I wonder if people realize that it is a privilege to fish Yovas”.

A very happy Sebastien R

At Middle Camp we ended the day with 103 salmon in the book, Kitza reported 55 with Joshua C landing 15. Pana had a cracking day with 136, one guest fished late to get to a remarkable score of 50. It was a bright day and the water temperature rose to 15⁰C; floating lines are now the best choice and flies of 1” or less are working well.

More tomorrow from the wonderful Varzuga.

Christopher Robinson

The Perfect Day

Yesterday was probably one of the best I have witnessed up here on Varzuga. The weather was perfect with mixed cloud and sun, a light breeze, few if any mosquitoes, the water height at summer level and the water temperature (even on Kitza) at 12⁰C. Ideal floating line conditions and with the huge run of fresh salmon continuing it was difficult to imagine a better place for a fisher to be.

Over at Kitza Tom reported their best day of the season with 59 salmon, Ian B leading the way with 14. After getting his first salmon very soon after arriving on Saturday night Ed B put another three on the bank to get his fishing career off to a remarkable start.

Sebastien R with his first salmon

Pana had 106 to the eight rods with the catch evenly spread amongst the team, some of whom have fished here for many, many years. They tried the float trip for the first time this season with great success and that will now be a much anticipated event for two guests per day.

Here at the Middle Camp Hugh took Sebastien R out in the morning to settle him into salmon fishing and he landed his first two fish in Bear Pool; meanwhile Graham B had his best morning ever with 10 fresh fish from Simmonds. In the afternoon Ian S undertook an extreme wade through Eagle Rock and was richly rewarded with 19 salmon landed and five lost – taking his total for the day to a staggering 30. The camp total was 105, putting them one behind Pana for the day – Hugh is not that happy to be beaten by Pana for the first time this year and there was an air of determination at the morning briefing.



Jim R with a typical 2012 chunky Varzuga salmon

Last night I ran a boat down to the Lower Camp to collect some supplies and on the way back was amazed at the number of fish running and porpoising their way up river. Not only have we had a really good run of salmon this year but the average size has been noticeably larger with many 8lb – 12lb really fit and strong fish.

Hugh briefing David, Graham and Ian on Yovas beat this morning

This morning there was a distinct buzz of excitement at breakfast, Barbara C had landed three and Ian S four before they tucked into their scrambled eggs and bacon. Today we are sending two groups right up Yovas rapids to explore the prettiest beat on the entire river. Once I have this blog posted I’m off to join them!

Christopher Robinson

Summer Time

Murmansk airport was wonderfully noisy yesterday, the upstairs bar was packed for a couple of hours as the outgoing parties met up and compared notes and the incoming groups urgently de-briefed them for information on water height, hot spots and the best flies to use.

Getting ready - 30 minutes after arrival!

The decibel level at the bar was understandable given the extraordinary catches; last week Kitza finished with 310 salmon to 8 rods, Middle had a staggering 907 for 10 rods while the team of 8 at Pana landed 496. I’m not sure yet of the total score for the Ultimate Salmon Fishing Course that we held at the Lower camp, but it was in the region of 350 salmon for 9 fishers. Vintage stuff!

The group coming into Middle Camp came in in two parties, the second a few hours after the first. As we made our final approach, low over Generator Pool outside camp, Richard L was lifting a 10lb bar of silver out of the water for us all to see from the helicopter windows.

Kitza

The excitement in camp was infectious, rods were hastily assembled, dinner was rather quick and by mid-night the rods had banked 11 salmon before retiring for a well-earned sleep.

Summer is in the air now, the water temperature is 12⁰C and the height, although a little above average, is ‘summer height’. Perfect for floating lines and before breakfast this morning Ian S had a salmon on a single handed rod and small skated tube.

Generator at mid-night

I talked to Kitza this morning to hear that Ed Billson from Australia had landed his first ever salmon after dinner last night and there was, I gather, ‘a bit of a celebration’.

Another update from Varzuga tomorrow when I can report on how the first day of the week has gone, it was very bright first thing but is now clouding over nicely – looks good!

Christopher Robinson

The Ultimate Atlantic Salmon Fishing Course

My last blog of the season seems to have come around far too quickly. I am about to depart for Murmansk and Christopher Robinson will be running the remainder of the programme from Middle Varzuga. We will have three camps running for the next fortnight and the prospects look excellent.

We have had an amazing season so far with many long standing records broken. I am conscious that big numbers of landed salmon make it sound as though catching fish on the Varzuga is easy – anyone who has fished here will dispute that with vigour. The difference is that we do have a river that has a serious run of salmon and if you put in the hours and fish well, you will be rewarded. Very rarely do people catch fish on bad casts and even rarer is someone who has landed a lot of fish for their week without substantial skill and dedication.

Terry M with another cracker for his week

Our final week here at Lower has been an enormous success. Bill Drury and Eoin Fairgrieve have both worked incredibly hard to ensure that their team have all progressed with their casting and their fishing ability. Some have landed their first ever salmon, some have cast their first ever fly and some have simply improved their casting from an already strong platform. What has been uniform has been the very high level of enjoyment and satisfaction that everyone has taken from it.

Howard E on Bear Corner

We have averaged over 30 fish per rod for the week and there is no other casting course in the world that can come even close to that. We will be running exactly the same programme next year and if you do think that you would like to improve your fishing whilst having the chance of landing a lot of fish then please do register your interest at the earliest opportunity with Bill, Eoin or myself.

All of the camps have fished beautifully this week and the river is itself looking stunning. Everything is very green and the flowers are in full bud – when the sun shines and people’s rods are bent into fish it really is hard to think of anywhere finer.

Jenny C at midnight last night with a fish on a skated fly

A personal thank you to all of the staff here who have worked so hard to make everything such a success and to our Russian partners and friends who I look forward to seeing every year and without whom none of this would be possible. Dasvedanya!

Charlie White

Age proves no barrier to success

One of the great aspects of working out here and back in the office at Hungerford is that it provides an unparalleled opportunity to meet fascinating people from all walks of life and of all ages.

Many people stand out but Sir Gordon L must be in the top 10. At 92 he is not the youngest client we have ever had out here but nothing stops him and he fishes harder than most people 30 years younger than him. Yesterday morning at Pana was a case in point as he landed 12 fish for his morning session. His tally went towards an overall total of 82 for the day at Pana with fish being caught from the top to the bottom of the beat.

Bill Drury on Green Bank

At Lower Varzuga the bright conditions did not help matters hugely but it did lend itself to a superb picnic back at the lodge. We usually have lunch on the river bank but with such a nice day, we decided to get all of the kitchen staff involved and they provided us with a feast. It is extraordinary that despite a slightly later start in the morning than usual and a long lunch, we still managed to find time to land 35 fish with everyone on the score sheet. Everyone’s casting and fishing ability has been transformed and it has been excellent to see people fishing with increased confidence.


Our barbecue lunch yesterday

Kitza continues to fish very well and they had 50 fish to the 8 rods yesterday. Julian P was again top of the charts with 14 fish and George R had a cracking 12lbs fish from the Reel pool. Tom reports seeing fish all over the river which is pretty much the case for all of the camps and I will be sad to leave the river tomorrow when it is fishing like this.

Terry M on his first ever fly fishing trip

Middle Varzuga had yet another amazing day with the 10 rods landing 132 fish. Jim R had 15 in one session out of Simmons pool and Laurence L had 15 out of the prolific pool of the season which has been Party.  The fish are still pouring through and I think and hope that next week will be just as productive.

The camp at Lower last night

They caught more fish in the morning session than the afternoon which was similar to here but with a greyer day today I am hopeful that we will have one last superb day at Lower before we take the boats out of the water to put them away for the long winter.

Charlie White

A trip to Pana

I went to Pana yesterday to take some supplies and to see how the river was looking. The clients were having a picnic lunch down river but I was there long enough to see that the camp pool was alive with fish and it was hard to look at the river for any length of time without seeing one jump. The 8 rods up there had 94 for their day and they are going to break all of their records for the week. Barrie W had a 21lbs fish which is the biggest that he has had from Pana in all the years he has been coming whilst Christopher L and Keith H had a bonanza day of 16 apiece.

Hippo Rock is now almost part of the bank

After we landed back here at Lower, Christopher and I got in a boat and went up to Middle for dinner which turned out to be a very good idea as Jemima cooked us a delicious dinner and all of the clients there were in excellent spirits. The fishing has been nothing short of extraordinary all season and it shows no sign of stopping at the moment. 156 fish were landed to the 10 rods with Laurence L doing particularly well and he has already landed over 100 fish to his own rod for the week. All of the clients remarked on the size of the fish and it is clear that wherever they have been feeding they have done exceptionally well as they are all in perfect shape and fight like things possessed.

Philip W with one of 13 he had for his day

We got back to Lower at about midnight to find a serious party in full swing. Everyone here was celebrating yet another amazing day as they had finished with 69 fish for their group. Steve W and Jenny C had a day to remember with 13 and 10 respectively whilst Howard E landed 6 out of the Larder pool for his morning session. With fish being landed across all the beats it was great to see everyone swapping stories and laughing and joking long into the night.

The midnight light at Middle

Kitza is also fishing incredibly well and the 8 rods had 57 for their day with Malcolm K and Julian P leading the charge with 12 fish each . It was a bit of a struggle to hear Tom this morning as he tried to tell me the full story of almost every fish that was landed but suffice to say that I gathered that they were having an excellent time.

Greg K with one safely in the net

It seems entirely wrong that we should be closing this camp tomorrow evening as the fish are still running through here in huge numbers but it does bode very well for the rest of the season in the other camps. However, it is very bright today which might not be the best for the fishing but at least it almost certainly explains why most of the clients felt the need for sunglasses at breakfast this morning…

Charlie White

More personal milestones

The weather yesterday was exactly what you would hope for on any fishing day – overcast, a light drizzle and very little wind. A day to improve your casting for sure but it also proved to be a day for catching a lot of fish.

Jenny C with one of 8 she landed yesterday

At Lower Varzuga, Jenny C landed 8 fish for her day which is the most she has ever landed. Andy B continues to impress and had 11 to his rod whilst Terry H went from landing his first ever salmon on Sunday to landing his biggest fish of around 12lbs. Eoin and Bill also picked up a rod yesterday for an hour or so and showed all of us how it should be done within a short space of time and we finished the day with 60 fish in the book. Dinner was delicious and great fun with smiles all around the table.

Eoin Fairgrieve during a rare "off duty" moment

At Pana they did have another record day as we had hoped they might. Jack M had 26 for his day whilst Dick B landed a further 19 to go towards a total of 106 fish to the 8 rods. Phenomenal fishing which is as we had dared to hope for given the amount of fish we have seen all season in the lower beats.

Terry H with a good fish from the boat

The team at Middle Varzuga continues to land a staggering amount of fish and the 10 rods had 167 silver bullets for their day. Hugo M and Rob M were fishing Party pool in the morning and Beach pool in the afternoon which sounded promising in the morning but no one would have dared predicted that they would land 27 and 26 fish respectively for their day. I am going up there for lunch today and it will be very good to catch up with them all.

Kitza is fishing beautifully and the 8 rods there had 58 fish for their day. David P and Julian P were the days top rods with 14 and 13 fish but everyone had several fish during the morning and afternoon sessions.


Andy B and one of his 11 for the day

Stephen W and Henry G went out this morning before breakfast and had 2 fish apiece whilst seeing a lot of fish showing all the way down the home pool here and there is every chance that today will be as good as yesterday as we have similar weather and an increasingly able team.

Charlie White

Another day in paradise

When the weather is good, our daily routine is to take Maryke and the lunch out to the river and set it up before the clients arrive. At 1pm yesterday, all of the boats converged near our picnic spot and before I could ask how their morning had been, Eoin simply beamed at me and said “another day in paradise”


Terry M with a fish from Moscoi Rapids

It transpired that he had been with Terry M for the morning session and he had landed another fish to add to his growing total. The encouraging aspect was that they were at the bottom of our beat and reported seeing masses of fresh fish entering the system which indicates that the run of fish continues in its strength. We finished the day with 43 fish and it was great to see the casting and fishing confidence improve in all the rods as Bill and Eoin rotated around the beat.

Jenny C with one from Bear Corner

At Kitza they are dealing in round numbers and the 8 rods had 50 fish for their day. Bill O-Y was the top rod with 14 for his day but otherwise the catches were evenly spread. Their water temperature is now 10 degrees and it is dropping all the while which will help open up yet more of the beat.

At Middle the fishing continues to amaze and the 10 rods had 126 fish for their day. Laurence L had a superb afternoon on Party pool (which has fished incredibly well all year) and he landed 18 fish in about 4 hours. Many of the rods are repeat guests and they have all commented on the sheer strength of the fish this year.

Sam B who landed 8 yesterday

It is raining heavily this morning which sometimes affects the clarity of reception on our radios. As a result I could not totally hear Mungo but from what I could gather, the team of 8 rods at Pana had an excellent day. They landed 80 fish with Dick B leading the way with 22 to his own rod.  This is the highest number of fish this very experienced group have ever had in a day and it is the best day of the season at Pana so far but that is unlikely to remain the case for too long.

Glenn, on the left, with his first ever salmon

Christopher Robinson took a boat up to Middle Varzuga yesterday with Glenn, our mechanic. They were there to fix an engine but it soon became clear from the grin on Glenn’s face that they had spent the return journey having much more fun and his first ever salmon has been celebrated in style.

Maryke at 11pm last night

Not content with guiding Glenn to his first ever salmon, Christopher took Maryke out for an hours fishing after dinner and she also landed her first fish. Breakfast this morning was a quieter affair but there is a definite sense of achievement in the air from clients and staff alike.

Charlie White

First fish and many more

As we had slightly hoped and expected, having Bill and Eoin with us here at Lower has already paid dividends. The strong upstream wind of the morning remained a feature of the day but with expert tuition, the clients were soon casting beautifully.

Terry M was the first story of the day as he went with Bill to Bear Island and after a few pointers, landed his first ever salmon. He went on to land 2 more to give him a dream start to his fishing career. Not all of our rods are beginners and this was amply demonstrated by Stephen W who has already landed 17 fish to his rod. We finished with 67 to our 9 rods and the week could not have started in a stronger fashion.

Stephen W with a nice fish from the Larder pool

Kitza is really fishing very well now and the 8 rods there had 46 for their day with David P the top rod having landed 15 fish. They had a couple of good sized fish of around the 13-14lbs mark from Beaver Pit and Sasha’s pool and it appears as though there are fish all through the beat.


Jenny C in to one on Bear Island

Middle Varzuga shows no sign of slowing down and the 10 rods have had 156 bars of silver already. Phillip W and Nick M had the day of their lives on Clarkes and Party pools and landed 54 fish between them during the guided hours.  They have caught fish all along their stretch of river and with water levels remaining at an excellent level, all of the pools are in the rotation which gives them a huge area to cover and being only 10 rods gives them even more flexibility which they are making the most of.


A dangerously good pudding last night

At Pana the 8 rods had a great start to their week with 48 fish in the book. Dick B and Jack M were the top rods with 10 apiece and Mungo reported seeing more and more fish in all of their beats. As ever at Pana, they are catching some bigger fish and a 15lber was the best that they had yesterday.
Summer is definitely here now and floating lines are the favoured choice. Christopher Robinson took 2 of our rods out in the boat last night and they raised 10 fish to a skated fly in about an hour and the Sunray Shadow is beginning to find its way to the top of everyone’s fly boxes. 


Barry H with a fresh fish from Duck pool

A new day has bought no change to the weather as it is very bright and the strong upstream wind will put the odds in the fish's favour but we have everything else going our way and the team here are determined to make the best of it.

Charlie White

The records continue to tumble

Yesterday was a busy day in Murmansk as most of the Kola rivers are now open and as we all share the same charter from Helsinki the immigration hall was packed but within a couple of hours we were on the helicopter and ready to start a new week.

We can only hope that this week starts in the same way that last week finished. We had superb fishing across all of the camps and Kitza is now dropping in perfectly for the new group. The departing team had their best day of 45 fish from the river on Friday and David P went out last night to land 2 before dinner and they should have an excellent week over there.

Henry P on Moscoi Rapids

At Lower we had one of our best days on Friday with 52 fish landed to the 10 rods. We welcomed Eoin Fairgrieve and Bill Drury with their very keen team of rods and supper last night was a quick affair as everyone was keen to get on the river. Stephen W was the one to get off to a flyer with 6 fish in a couple of hours from Wires but everyone who went out managed to land fish and the enthusiasm levels this morning are great to see.

Pana fished beautifully by the end of the week and the team of 6 finished with exactly 150 fish for their 6 days fishing. There is no doubt that their fishing got better and better each day and with a few fish already in the book from our new team, we hope that this trend continues.

Howard E last night

At Middle the unthinkable happened. I did not believe that it was possible to catch more fish than the previous group had done as that was a record for the river in itself. I was wrong. The 12 rods finished their week with 1,377 bars of silver and amazingly, 8 different clients landed over 100 fish to their own rods. It was great to catch up with them all in Murmansk and it was clear that they all recognised that they had been part of something very special. “We will never see it like that again” was the overriding comment and I think that they have a point but I rather hope that they are wrong!

Bill Drury and Stephen W ready for action this morning

The 10 rods who are there this week have already landed several before breakfast and there seems no sign of the run slowing down. However, we have a very strong and cold upstream wind this morning which is going to make life tougher for everyone but it will give Bill and Eoin ample opportunity to put their tuition skills to good use.

Charlie White