Be Careful What You Wish For

We joked yesterday morning over breakfast as the weather changed to the North. Tee shirts went back into the suitcases and the fleeces, woolly hats and gloves came out – Maryke’s rain dance had done the trick and our wish granted. Vova, who is as close to the nature here as anyone I know, shrugged his shoulders and with a wry smile said “Maybe snow”. Last night Camp Manger Misha told us that he would leave the generator on all night, a sure sign that they knew it was going to be a chilly night.

Gregoire with warm hat and gloves this morning

This morning at breakfast the air temperature was barely 3⁰C with a light drizzle and North wind adding to the chill factor. The water temperature has plummeted from 22⁰C on Monday evening to 9⁰C on Wednesday morning.

Jean Christophe with his motivational tee shirt

The howling wind from the North yesterday was a challenge and particularly in Yovas the casting was testing to say the least. Myriam sensibly took a day off from the river and settled down with a book by the fire place in the Lodge. The banya was stoked up to warm up the guests and guides at the end of the day. We stuck with floating lines and smaller flies with success and recorded 41 salmon for the day. Gerard went on to prove he has the hang of fishing and banked three and Ian S again led the board with 11 for the day. Peter J had a memorable battle with a really good, strong fish which was eventually netted by Ivan after various adventures around rocks and estimated at 9lb – 10lb, Peter’s personal best and he was delighted.

Peter playing his best ever salmon

Over at Kitza the salmon continue to be caught throughout the river and Heli Pool is fishing really well, a sure sign that fresh fish are still coming in off the tide. Joshua and Alan showed remarkable stamina by walking right up to Rackmann’s and fishing down from there. Charles W was top scorer with eight for the day followed by the Team Head Richard G with six ; the total for the camp was 38.

The Pana fishing remains a bit of a mystery, they had 20 yesterday and given the experience and knowledge of the team there we would have expected a lot more. It is almost as if the salmon are holding right back in the main river system somewhere and not running up Pana as usual.

Talking of salmon behaviour I had a really bizarre incident yesterday. I have taken to carrying a small spinning rod with a chunky 8cm surface popper for pike when I am out guiding; the Russian cooks love pike and there are quite a few about. Walking back to camp along the reedy margins of the now totally still lake (200 meters below the Banya for those who know Middle) I saw a good swirl about 5 meters off the reeds which had to be a pike chasing minnows or dace. I chucked out the popper and as it splashed over the spot I had seen the swirl there was a savage explosion and I hooked a strong fish. After a good battle I landed a 10lb female salmon, beautifully spotted and almost certainly a second spawner.

The salmon that thought it was a pike

The water depth where it took was knee height and with absolutely no movement. What on earth the salmon was doing there and why it was so aggressive on the lure will remain yet another salmon mystery.

Christopher Robinson

Hot Hot Hot

The hoped for change in the hot weather did not appear yesterday. More bright sun and tee shirt weather I fear. Maryke went off to the point of the Island where she assured us she would do a naked rain dance she had learnt in South Africa. Tim P donned his bowler hat and hoped that pretending to be a judge at a hunt puppy show at the height of English summer might induce the Rain Gods to act.

Tim P

None of the above worked and by mid after-noon we recorded a water temperature of 22⁰C – a record I’m not sure that I ever want to see broken or even matched. Despite this our valiant team fished hard and quite cannily. They ignored the normal deeper holding pools and concentrated on any fast, bubbly water where the dissolved oxygen might give the salmon at least some energy.

Maryke off to do her rain dance

Middle Camp fishers will understand that Party Pool and it’s like, normally hugely productive, were simply non-starters. Generator Pool was full of fish, concentrated at the top in the faster water, yet even with our four best rods fishing it after dinner it yielded only one fish for the day. However it was a highly important fish – Gerard I’s first Atlantic salmon, indeed his first fish ever as he was totally new to this wonderful sport of ours before he arrived here just 48 hours earlier.

19 salmon of the total of 31 at Middle yesterday came from the rapids above Clarkes, the rest from wherever there was streamy water. Successful flies were the usual eclectic mix with quite a few taken on skated flies and the Mediator being a favourite sub-surface fly. Sizes were generally 8 through to 10 and all fish were taken in floating lines.

Toasting Gerard and his first salmon

Kitza too had a quieter day although their water temperature remained at 17⁰C. They recorded 28 salmon for the day with Harry B having six beautifully fresh fish from the lower beat, two of which were just under 10lbs. They were using slightly larger flies and their favourite yesterday was a 1” Stoats Tail.

Up at Pana they recorded a water temperature of 19⁰C and with sweltering weather and a bit of a walk needed, Damian took only one rod downstream below the Lagoon where Henry G banked a well-earned 7 salmon.

Change on the way?

Last night we had a wonderful halo around the sun and we all felt that Maryke's rain dance might be working. Early this morning the wind finally shifted out of the South and we have a stiff, cool breeze from the North East accompanied by good cloud cover. Getting up early Ian S noted the water temperature had dropped to 16⁰C and making the most of it he dashed off to Generator and landed four salmon before breakfast. That’s more like it!

Christopher Robinson

Top Camp Kitza

Doug U got us off to a good start yesterday at Middle Camp with a couple of salmon landed from the top of our island home before his scrambled eggs and bacon. The forecast was saying cloudy and possibly rain and all morning I watched in vain for the sight of just one encouraging cloud - nothing - not a hint of a change, and by lunch time the air temperature was 28⁰C. Double checking the computer for the forecast just increases the stress levels but being a man naturally I quadruple checked. As TIffy would say “put that damn computer away and look out of the window!”

Hugh briefing Gerard and Myriam on their beat this morning

Hugh and I joined Peter J and Olivier D on Simmons where some fish were showing in the streamy runs opposite Eagle Rock. With the water temperature by mid-afternoon at a highly challenging 20⁰C we changed Peter to a tiny skating fly and Hugh took him out in a boat to cover the better lies where the wading is quite tricky. I took Olivier further up and we had an interesting wade (Bambi on ice springs to mind) through the fast water which really was our only hope of a fish. Peter soon hooked a fish on his skater but sadly it dropped off close to the net. We moved a few more but they really were not at all aggressive and there was little to do but call it quits at 6 p.m. and retire for an ice cool beer.

Peter J and Hugh at Simmons

Further up the river in the Yovas rapids the fishing was better and the majority of our 32 salmon for the day came from up there. Ian S described the canyon as “pure wilderness – pure heaven”. Top rod for the day was Rodolphe C with a very creditable 8 salmon.

Pana was difficult to hear on the radio last night and some rods were still out, Damian thought they would be around 25 for the day, in the hot weather most had not undertaken much walking, reserving their energy for the hoped for change of weather.

Olivier with Ivan at Eagle Rock

There were however whoops of delight from Tom at Kitza when he realized they were by far the top camp. His younger rods had walked up to Boat Pool and fished back down while the more senior guests fished closer to camp and down to the Piddling Pool. Fish were taken throughout the river with Ian B landing a beauty of 16lbs from Old Dam. The water temperature never rose above 17⁰C and they were all delighted to put 45 salmon in the book. I can visualize the large grins (gins? Ed) over there as they celebrated out fishing Middle, and with 4 less rods – well done Kitza!

A salmon saying 'thank you' to Gregoire

There is nothing quite like a challenge to keen fishers and our team here were off by 08:45 this morning. I have given up looking at the forecast, a complete waste of time. A glance out of the window tells me it is sunny and warm with a hint of high cloud that might indicate a front coming in – on second thoughts that might be significant so I’d better check on my computer.

More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Summer Fishing on Varzuga

Early June normally heralds the start of genuine summer fishing here on Varzuga. Spring fishing, with intermediate lines and larger flies, changes to Summer kit with full floating lines and smaller flies; skaters and bombers come into their own and single handed rods come out for a bit experimentation and fun. Generally this happens sometime in first week of June, 1st June being my own date in the diary, and one that has been pretty reliable for many years, when I advise guests that they can expect to fish a full floating line with confidence.

Lower Varzuga on 7 May

This year, as you will have noted, the seasons are running well ahead of schedule and when I look at the river level and development of birch trees leaves here at Middle Camp it feels more like late June. The salmon though are running to their own calendar, and despite the low water, fresh fish continue to run – it was really encouraging to see the team at Lower camp on Friday catching tide fresh fish on the Beach and at 39 Steps, the first stopping spots on the river.

Lower Varzuga on 7 June

Talking of timings, the changeover yesterday went well and all of our guests were in camp by 4.15 for a quick cup of tea and some fishing before dinner. Up at Pana they had 7 salmon from Junction and Ivan’s Stream, over at Kitza Bryan P landed a bar of silver within 5 minutes of starting in Heli Pool. Here we had half a dozen before tucking into Maryke’s delicious roast chicken.

Jean Pierre C at Bear on Middle Camp

Despite the warm conditions last week the results were really creditable. Middle Camp landed 467 salmon and Kitza 301. I don’t have the final score yet from Pana, it was not a good as we might have expected given the strong run of fish we have had this year, however the fish do have an uncanny knack of arriving in Pana at the same time as the current group arrive, so we shall see what this week brings.

Jean Pierre's father, Achillie, with a beauifully spotted 2nd time spawner

The forecast looks more changeable this week, I’m not quite sure whether to trust it at the moment as it is saying current conditions are light rain showers, but have bright sunshine and hardly a cloud in sight! No one is complaining though, just enjoying the wonderful green of summer here, and the amazing wild flowers that are in full bloom.

Charlie is back in the office next week after a ‘pretty busy’ three weeks here and I look forward to keeping you posted on the fishing through June.

Now where did I put my fly box with the Bombers?................

Christopher Robinson

The final day of the season at Lower Varzuga

All too soon we have reached the last day of the season here at Lower Varzuga. As ever, it goes too quickly and it seems only moments ago that we waited with bated breath for news from Christopher and the advance team as to what the river looked like.

The floods, ice walls and big water could not be more different to what we are looking at now and it has been a season where, more than ever, we have been reminded that Mother Nature is in control at all times.

Peter M with one from Arileka

Yesterday’s heli fishing experiment was a huge success and the team landed 40 fish between them. Some did better than others in terms of pure numbers but each and every one had enjoyed the day enormously – not just for the fishing but seeing a different part of the river and eating freshly caught salmon cooked on a barbecue, the best way to eat it by far.

Middle Varzuga also had an excellent day and they landed 81 to the 12 rods. John M and Ian C had a stellar couple of sessions and landed 29 between them whilst fishing above Yovas Rapids. Middle is 12 miles above here and had an endless amount of water to fish and crucially, in these low water conditions, has lots of pockets and fast runs where the salmon can seek much needed oxygen.

David P into one with Misha standing by

Pana had a slightly slower day and they had 18 for the 8 rods. The team who are coming next week know the beat intimately and the fish always seem to arrive just as they get off the helicopter – I am sure that next week will be no different.

Kitza had yet another superb day and they had 46 to their team. Our returning hero had 7 for his day to make the long trip fade away immediately. David P and Julian P had 10 each and encouragingly David was at the very top of the beat whilst Julian was right at the bottom so there are fish throughout the system over there.

David P releasing his fish

After a cloudy day yesterday we are back to sweltering conditions and after a pretty heavy party last night the rods were relatively slow on to the river this morning, my guess is that some will be taking advantage of an afternoon siesta.

A very happy Gordon S with a 2nd spawning hen

I am off home tomorrow and so my thanks goes to everyone here for a great season and I, along with everyone else, will much look forward to reading Christopher’s reports from Middle, Pana and Kitza for the next few weeks.

Charlie White

Much better fishing conditions

Having written yesterday’s blog I was nervous that we would have jinxed the weather by mentioning it had been raining – fortunately the overcast, wet and relatively cold conditions continued throughout the day and it immediately had a positive effect on the fishing across all of the camps.

Kitza is really firing now and the 8 rods landed 74 for the day. David P had a superb days fishing and accounted for 19 of these whilst Chic McS weighed in with 13 and Julian P had 10. They were joined last night by one of the rods who had to cancel at the last minute and who has made an Herculean effort to get here so we just hope that the next two days of fishing make his trip worthwhile.

Sergei with one landed by Neil R on Beach

At Lower Varzuga we had a much better day and it was great that the rods finally had a chance to see how good this beat can be given anything other than extraordinary conditions. They landed 41 fish with Peter M landing 9, Howard E with 7 and his fishing partner, Stephen B taking 6 for the day. Despite the excellent fishing yesterday we had already taken the decision to fly them all out today to a stretch of the river above Middle Varzuga where they have taken a huge picnic and will be there all day. All of the rods bolted breakfast this morning and were ready beside the helicopter at 9am sharp for what should be an excellent day.

The team at Lower ready to fly out this morning

Middle Varzuga recorded 76 salmon yesterday with catches spread evenly across all of the rods although Hugo M just came out on top with 9 fish to his single handed rod.  It is remarkable to note that as of yesterday, 2,000 salmon have been landed from Middle Varzuga in just over 3 ½ weeks– truly an exceptional stretch of fishing.

Pana continues to fish well and they landed 32 yesterday with Barrie W taking 9 from the Home Pool. Jean and Keith H did the float trip and had an excellent day without landing the numbers that we had anticipated. 4 fish between them was a good day out but there is no doubt that, before too long, the numbers being landed from that float will rise sharply.

Phil R on Beach yesterday

We still have cloud cover and it there was a bit of a chill in the air this morning – very welcome indeed and no one was complaining about having to put on an extra layer. More tomorrow when I hope to be able to report on an excellent “away day” for our team here along with catches from other camps that will no doubt be helped by these more favourable conditions.

Charlie White

Reading the water

Yesterday was a day for the connoisseurs and one where those experienced in the art of reading the water came to the fore.

Whilst we had a little rain in the morning, heralding what we thought was a new pattern, the sun won out and by lunchtime it was very hot again. This meant that the best of the fishing was in the faster, oxygenated water and being able to identify those likely holding spots improved your chances no end.

Bill Drury on Duck yesterday

At Middle Varzuga the 12 rods landed 53 salmon with John M on 7, Keith J on 6 and Ian H also on 6 doing well. Hugh did a bit of guiding for Achille C and they landed a stunning 2nd spawning hen fish with masses of spots on its gill plates. They have now got the boats at the top of thr Island and are boating from there to Blue Rock – beyond that it is the beautiful walk up to Pasha’s Rest.

Here at Lower, we were given a master class in guiding from Bill Drury and Eoin Fairgrieve who put their rods on fish every time they were with them. Rods came back in the evening delighted to have learnt new skills and having had the chance to use them to land fish. One man who needs little help at the moment is Gordon S who finds fish wherever he goes and finished with 9 for his day.

Dinner at Lower - a very good team

Upstream at Pana, our 8 rods had 38 fish with Matthew P doing particularly well landing 9 of these. Two rods are going to do the float trip from the Old Bridge down to the camp today and I hope that they do as well as we expect them to.

Kitza continues to fish very well and they landed 48 yesterday to 8 rods. Julian P had 14 of these whilst Ian W, not to be outdone by his son Ralph, recorded 11 for his day.

Gordon S with one of 9 he had yesterday

Dare I say it but we have had quite heavy rain for the past hour and the temperatures are much cooler. It is unlikely to be enough to raise the water height by any great degree but it will at least hold it steady and perhaps more importantly will increase the rate at which the water temperature falls.

All of our rods have headed downstream with a picnic this morning and it was a heartening sight to see them needing hats and jackets as opposed to sun cream and short sleeves.

Charlie White

Rain, glorious rain

Lynsey Mair, who many of you will have spoken to in the office and who is an avowed sun worshipper, will kill me for saying this but rarely have I been happier to see clouds and spots of rain as those that came yesterday. It was only a small amount of rain overnight but it is overcast today, as it was yesterday evening and it already feels a much more fishy day.

At Middle, their earlier start paid dividends as they caught plenty of fish in the morning but found it harder in the afternoon. The water temperature, despite the cloud in the afternoon, was 19 degrees and a lot of fish only half heartedly took the fly resulting in plenty of losses. They still finished with 78 salmon in the book with JP C doing very well landing 12 of those and John C, on his first trip to Russia, taking 9 for his day.

Howard E with one from the Wires in the morning

Here at Lower Varzuga, nearly all of the rods were out by 7ish but it is fair to say that the early start did not make much difference. Fortunately, the overcast conditions worked much more in our favour in the evening session (from 6-10pm) and after a great brunch and a welcome siesta, we started to land fish across the beat. Not in huge numbers but everyone has now landed a Russian salmon and the mood at supper was much more upbeat. Terry H with 3 from Duck and Ken H with 4 from Bear Island were the star performers in a total of 18 fish for the day.

One of Ken's from Bear Island

At Kitza the 8 rods landed 51 for their day, a great effort and everyone caught fish up and down the beat. David H had the best days salmon fishing of his life and landed 10 whilst Ralph W went from landing his first ever salmon on Sunday to landing 7 yesterday. Tom sounded pretty tired on the radio this morning and I suspect that the successes did not go uncelebrated.

Amazingly some of the ice still remains

The 8 rods at Pana recorded 36 fish with David S the top rod with 7 for the day. They have stopped boating down to Ponzoi because of the water but also because it was not producing the huge amount of fish that it can. A lot of the fish are nearer camp which is where they will focus their efforts today.

With conditions much more suited to salmon fishing, everyone at Lower was up for the 6am start this morning but Gordon S was not content with that so started fishing Sabacci Rapids at 5am and had 2 on the bank before everyone else had grabbed a cup of coffee – a good start to what we hope will be a good day.

Charlie White

A change in tactics

Yesterday was the hottest day of the season so far and whilst all the camps caught fish, the radio calls in the evening all focused on the fact that the afternoon was much harder than the morning. Interestingly and perhaps obviously, the smaller rivers, Pana and Kitza were less affected as they are much narrower than the main stem of the Varzuga and they offer many more shaded areas for the fish to rest in.

Middle Varzuga is the widest part of the river but with the many twists and turns there are always darker parts and the rods did well to exploit these. They landed 87 fish to the 12 rods, a superb day’s fishing when most people would have gone to the beach. John M had 10 to his rod whilst Hugo M demonstrated his epic wading prowess and skill with a single hander to take 12 for his day. They are getting up earlier this morning, having a longer lunch and then fishing into the evening.

Phil R's first Russian salmon

We are doing the same here at Lower but with most of the river exposed to the bright sun all day we are aiming for more extreme tactics. The guides were ready at 6am this morning and we will fish until 11, have a long siesta and then fish from 6pm to 10pm which will give us the best chance in these conditions. All of which was a great plan until many of the rods decided to celebrate Stephen’s birthday until very late at night – some of the guides looked a bit lonely this morning. We landed 13 fish yesterday which was not exactly what we were hoping for but given the conditions was really pretty good especially as 5 of the rods landed their first Russian salmon.

Feorder with Gordon S's first Russian salmon

At Kitza, Chic McS had an amazing day landing 18 fish to his rod. He hit the jackpot in Beaver Pit and then took more fish from the Boat pool. They finished with 40 fish to the 8 rods (the two rods who could not make it are much missed and our thoughts are with them) with most of the fish coming from the pools above camp. Great though Chic’s day was, the biggest celebration was reserved for Ralph W who landed his first ever salmon.

Ready for lift off - the stunning Arctic Terns

The 8 rods at Pana had 39 salmon for the day with Dick B landing 10 in his morning session. They are boating down to Lunch and then walking to Rock Pool where they then can go on all the way to Ponzoi. The team all have lunch together which is a lot of fun but does mean that they tend to miss out on the float trip which is a shame as I have a sneaking suspicion that it could be very productive up there.

More tomorrow when we will see if this change in tactics has paid dividends.

Charlie White

Changeover day

Yesterday was a hectic day for one and all. With most of the Kola rivers now open, the arrivals hall was full of bags, clients and excitement. Old friends came through the door seemingly every minute and it was hard to find time to have a chat with everyone – there was a real buzz of anticipation in the air.

After a wait that only Murmansk can be famous for, we eventually got underway but it was not until late in the evening did we all get into camp. Everyone immediately did what everyone does and started to scan the record books from the previous week to see where the fish had been caught and on what.

Lawrence R with one from Middle

They had a lot to read as last week was an excellent one in every respect. In Yemen like conditions, the salmon fishing turned out to be a lot better than was depicted in the film. Middle Varzuga’s 12 rods finished with 776 salmon for their week. All of the rods commented that they had not seen the river that low before but how much they had enjoyed fishing new parts of it and using their skill to seek out new hot spots.

Our Spanish friends at Pana had a fabulous week and landed exactly 300 in their 6 days. They had caught some larger fish, had caught fish in pools that they had not fished before and unlike us, thought that the temperature was pretty normal for the end of May. Carlos MA finished his week with 33 salmon – not bad for your first salmon fishing trip.

Chris C and Ivan

Here at Lower, the 9 rods landed 115 fish for their 3 days to combine with the 200 fish that they took from their time at Kitza. A really great group of people and it was a lot of fun throughout. Lucy M took the starring role by landing salmon on 5 of the 6 days which was a superb achievement having barely held a fishing rod before the start of the week.

The team who finished at Kitza ended up with 317 for the week with the 10 rods all looking tired but happy when we picked them up yesterday morning.  Simon J went from landing his first salmon on a fly at the beginning of the week to landing 15 in a day at Kitza - that is some progress. They are still boating up river and the new team over there are looking forward to exploring the beautiful upper reaches.

Alan S releasing another one last week

It is very difficult to state how hot it is here at the moment and there was a real temptation amongst the team this morning to wet wade – not a bad idea as the water temperature is 17 degrees and it was 27 degrees in the shade at breakfast. However Gordon S got up early this morning and landed his first Russian salmon from the Wires which got everyone going a bit quicker than they might otherwise have done and we are looking forward to another excellent week.

Charlie White

Bad weather for fishing? Not here

Fishing abounds with theories regarding the best conditions for salmon fishing and some say that if Mother Nature is against you then you are better off leaving the river alone.

However, the fact remains that if you have a river with a great deal of fish in it, you will triumph regardless of the conditions and this was amply demonstrated yesterday. With temperatures well into the 90’s, a glaring sun and as still as it could be, the 4 camps recorded a total of 305 bars of silver – amazing fishing in any event but given what we are working with weather wise, it was a simply phenomenal display of what this river is capable of.

John G with a Beach beauty

Kitza had another great day with 64 salmon landed to the 10 rods. Michael G has been coming for a few years now and had his best day ever by landing 7 fish from Old Dam whilst Mark M was again the top rod with 12 for his day. I spoke to Tom this morning who reported that they had had a very relaxed evening with everyone tired but delighted. I am sure that the Kitza kitchen party tonight will mean that everyone will be tired for different reasons tomorrow.

At Pana the 8 rods finished with 46 in the book. Benjamin B continues to set the pace with 10 for the day whilst Jose FM had a tremendous session on Rockface and landed 9. Carlos MA is making the most of his first ever salmon fishing experience and landed 4 yesterday to follow up the 7 he had the day before.

Bruce B about to land another from Bear Island

At Lower, we had an excellent day with 50 fish to the 9 rods. Peter H and Stephen T had 9 between them for their morning session whilst Joe M went for an exploratory walk down the right hand bank below the camp and found the perfect spot where he took 5 fish in short order. After supper and during a glorious evening, Andrew W-D found a spot above the Wires where he caught a fish and also had an unplanned swim – not a bad combination in this weather, intentional or not.

Stephen T with one from the boat at Fyodor's

Middle Varzuga had one of their best days of the season so far and the 12 rods landed 144 fish – a stunning day in every respect. Paul C finished with 19 for his day whilst Alan S had a fabulous time on Simmons Bar where he had 10 fish for his morning session. As ever, they are working hard and putting in the hours but with the fishing this good, there seems little time to waste.

The ever smiling Roma, preparing a picnic in the sun

The last day of the week has, as ever, dawned too quickly and we will be going to Murmansk tomorrow for the weekly changeover. Much as we are looking forward to seeing the new teams it will be sad to wave this party goodbye as we could not have had a more fun week. More on Sunday when I hope to report that the new rods have already landed some of these superb salmon.

Charlie White

Another day in the sun

With the sun beating down yesterday it was difficult not to feel slightly lethargic and it seemed as though the fish were in a similar mood. The story of the day across all of the camps was that we hooked and played as many fish as we could possibly hope but that actually landing them was a different thing altogether. They were not quite going for the fly in the same aggressive manner as they have been in the past few days but once hooked they fought incredibly hard and many were lost.

Bruce B in the brightest of conditions at Larder

At Middle the 12 rods landed over 90 fish and again catches were spread evenly across everyone. Boating up there is fine at the moment and Hugh still has the big boat going up and down the beats which indicates that they have found plenty of channels to cover the whole river.

Whilst the water temperature is up to 12-13 degrees (which would normally mean floating lines are the best option) we are finding that an intermediate tip and a weighted fly is actually working the best. It seems as though the fish are just dropping down in the water column to keep away from the very bright conditions up top.

Phillip L-J below the Wires - not a monster but it took him well into the backing

The 8 rods at Pana also lost a lot of fish but they are hugely enjoying fishing water that is completely new compared to their previous experiences. They landed 35 for the day with Ponzoi (where they can still boat down to) being the most productive pool which would indicate that the bulk of the fish that we have seen down here has not quite got there yet.  Benjamin B landed the biggest fish of his life at 18lbs to continue his run of landing the larger salmon that are always at Pana.

Bob M and Mark M took joint top honours for their day at Kitza landing 9 apiece. Bob was fishing the very bottom of the beat and Mark the very top – great to see the whole river producing fish and they ended with 51 in the book.

Yesterday's picnic on Jannaways - hard to beat

Here at Lower we celebrated Lucy M’s best days fishing yet with 3 fish in her morning session from Bear Island. Her father Joe also had a great day landing 8 from Bear Island and Jannaways. We finished with 43 fish to the 9 rods but there was a serious lecture at supper for John G-H and Joe to ensure that we can have a picture of one of Lucy’s next fish for the blog.

Despite the heat, ice walls remain on the bank

The weather today? You guessed it – bright blue skies, soaring temperatures and the exact opposite to that you are having at home. Whilst some rain and some cloud cover would be nice, it is hard to deny that it is stunning being here in these conditions and as long as the fish continue to play ball, there will be very few people here who want to change it very much.

Charlie White

32 degrees at 39 Steps

Yesterday was the hottest day of the season so far and at one point in the afternoon the temperature reached 32 degrees. A burning sun and a still day meant that whilst it was obvious that all of our rods at Lower were catching fish throughout the day, I was slightly concerned as to what news there would be from the other camps – an unnecessary worry.

Middle had their best day of the week so far with 130 fish recorded to the 12 rods. Paul C had 20 for his day having had a particularly busy session at Korevi Pots. Stephen C also did very well landing 17 to his rod whilst Chris C took 14. Several of the rods have been coming for a long time and reported that they had seen more fish running yesterday than they had in many a year.

John G with one from Kitza

The same was true here at Lower. After a delicious picnic on Jannaways, we walked down to the Beach with Jonathan D and Simon J. Leaving Simon on Red Rocks, Jonathan went on to the Beach where the river was simply alive with salmon showing everywhere. Between the two of them they played 14 fish and landed 8 – a great fun session in a day where we recorded 49 in total.

Joe M yesterday with a fish that was weighed at 15lbs

At 7pm we flew over to Kitza and it was obvious from the grins on everyone’s faces that they had had a pretty special day. They boated up to Rackmans which is a long way up but with channels dug through Tricolore, they got up there fairly easily. The 9 rods then proceeded to have a bonanza - 84 fish were recorded which I think is a record for a day at Kitza. Andrew W-D landed 21 of these with Bruce B and John G contributing 13 and 15 respectively. Being lake fed, the Kitza tends to hold its water for longer than the tundra fed Varzuga and all of the clients who are now here at Lower were hugely enthusiastic about the fishing and the stunning scenery over there.

Upstream from Kitza camp last night

Pana also had a cracking day with the 8 rods landing 50 fish. Benjamin B netted a 16lbs fish from White Rock and the float trip was a great success. The two rods landed 14 fish between them and caught fish all the way from the Old Bridge back to the camp.

Another very hot day has dawned today and everyone has gone out with big smiles and hopes are high that the fishing remains as consistent as the weather.

Charlie White

The weather doesn’t change but nor does the fishing

It feels as if we are in the middle of a major heat wave up here at the moment. Day time temperatures of around 20 degrees and bright blue skies give the impression that we should all be donning shorts as opposed to waders but fortunately the fishing remains excellent and putting on waders is no chore at all.

The team at Pana landed 50 fish yesterday with Jose FM putting 13 of these in the book whilst Pablo PR had a beautiful fish of around 16lbs from Ivan’s. They are boating down to Ponzoi at the moment but for how much longer the head guide is not sure. This would normally be slight cause for concern as Ponzoi can be very productive but the fish are all around the camp at the moment so it is not such a pressing issue. Two rods are going up to the Old Bridge today for the stunning float trip back to camp and it will be very interesting to see how they get on.

Mark M with a cracker from the Beach

The 9 rods at Kitza had another excellent day with Peter H landing 13 fish from a total of 51. They too are going up river this morning to take a picnic all the way up to Rackmans and beyond to see if the fish have reached the higher beats yet. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole river system and regardless of how many fish they catch, I know it will be one of the highlights of the week that will be discussed over dinner here tonight once we have done the mid week changeover.

Bob M with one from the Wires

Middle continues to be very productive and they landed over 110 fish yesterday. Quite a few rods were out after Hugh had gone to bed and many were up before breakfast this morning so final numbers are hard to ascertain but it was obvious they had all done well. David C had 7 in the morning from Green Bank followed by 8 in his afternoon session on Royal Dee whilst Chris C landed 13 from Snake Pit down to Peartiha. Brian W also weighed in with 11 fish for his day showing that there are fish in all of the beats up there.

Michael G on Heli with Colin S

At Lower the team put 44 in the book with some really nice fish landed. Bob M has been coming for a few years now and put his knowledge of the beats to good use, landing 14 throughout the day. We are splitting the teams up so that we can cover the river as best we can as boating below Bearlets is now no longer possible. 5 of us had a picnic on Bear Island yesterday and as we watched Arctic Terns dive on the smolt run it was hard to think of a better place to have lunch.

Sobacci Rapids yesterday - hard to believe that 20 days ago it was a raging torrent

Another boiling day today means that we are short on suncream but we remain long on cold beer and fish in the river so we have things in the right order.

Charlie White