The Boys Show the Way

I hope this is the last time I mention hot weather – another baking day yesterday and at dinner we all sweltered, outside it was still 30⁰C in the shade at 8 p.m.; while Maryke, Luda and Lara struggled in the kitchen where it reached 40⁰C. During dinner the wind kicked up and it started to cool down - by mid-night the wind had swung around to the north and this morning, finally, the air temperature is back down to normal levels and, as I type, it is 13⁰C.

Maryke, Sasha and Daniel preparing the pic-nics last night

We went out last night knowing in our hearts it would be tough going, despite the steady change in weather the water temperature was still 22⁰C. But adversity does not dull the enthusiasm of a youthful fisher and our two younger rods showed us that you should never give up.

Tom onto his first fish at the Point of The Island

Everyone fished hard but even Yovas with the streamy rapids did not produce much action. James W had two good salmon from Scotts which he rightly deserved having fished so well yesterday without result.

I joined Malcolm and Tom on the normally productive Generator but we could do no good with it despite trying everything from a deep Red Francis to a small skater. After a picnic at 2 a.m. we moved down to the new hot spot, the Point of The Island where the changes to the gravel bars after the big flood this year have altered the flow considerably.

Tom and Anton

Tom and I chose a Green Machine from my fly box, my last one and given to me two years ago by Ash M when fishing in Norway. Tom rose two fish almost immediately and further down hooked and landed a really strong cock fish of 10lb that had him well out into the backing on his single handed rod. Malcolm then had a go and landed a nice clean grilse, Tom went down again and had another nice grilse. A few more were risen but would not take hold. A magic hour for father and son and no one was more pleased for them than both Anton and I.

On return to the camp, Tom wanted to tie a Green Machine but with no green chartreuse for the body he settled on yellow, the fly will have its first outing tonight and Tom has named it the Yellow Submarine. I wish it luck.

Malcolm playing his fish with Anton at the net

After that we had breakfast, but as a celebration was in order there was a pretty eclectic mix of fluid taken with the bacon and eggs. Rob had asked Maryke to keep his dinner from last night so he could have 'dinner' not 'breakfast' after fishing. So while Rob had roast chicken followed by lemon sorbet, I had a fried egg 'easy over'. Quite bizzare. It was also agreed that the boys could have a gin and tonic to celebrate their success. I think our families back home may have to nurse us back into reality at the end of the week.

James and Tom

We still have rods out so I am not sure what the tally is for the night, we should be in double figures but not by much. In any event the boys took the day and well done to them.

Christopher Robinson

A Hard Days Night

We had yet another blisteringly hot day and after brunch everyone crashed out following our first nights fishing. In the evening Hugh took the water temperature and was somewhat reluctant to announce the news that we suspected but really did not want to hear, 25⁰C.

Andy and Vova - Yovas last night

My experience over a few years dictates that at 17⁰C or over, salmon become reluctant to move far to take a fly and at 20⁰C they become torpid and almost impossible to move. So 25⁰C was going to be a challenge. With the undying optimism that only salmon fishers and Jesuits possess, undaunted we set off at 10 p.m.; the guides working miracles and still getting the boats right through to the top of Yovas despite the water now being at the lowest of the year.

Royal Deeside at 2 a.m.

It was a hard days night – I accompanied Rob and his son James on the lower river.  James was casting beautifully, really well, and normally would have been handsomely rewarded. Rob picked up one fish in the tail of Peartiha and after a quick snack at 2.30 a.m. we fished down through Generator – not a touch or any sign of interest, not even a grayling. We finished, with the sun well up at 6 a.m., on the point of the Island and in the faster water James moved three fish, one to a Skater, one to a Sunray and one to a Green Machine, all lazy half-hearted attempts by salmon that would normally have nailed the fly.

Gerry with Vova and the first salmon of his three last night

Hugh went up river to Yovas with Andy and Gerry C; Andy got his first Varzuga salmon, Gerry had three and lower down Norman also had three. Again it was the streamy water of the rapids, with the extra oxygen, that yielded a fish or two. Other than that it was the odd one here and there. Really tough going to be honest and we have retired back to camp tired, disappointed perhaps, yet content to have been out on the river all night and to have given it our best effort.

Young James at the Point of the Island this morning

A great pity really as the fishing here at Middle Camp can be so good in low water, we just are stuffed by this bizarre hot weather - my mood not made much better when Tiffy called me last night to say we were low on logs in the wood shed at home; chilly back at home I gather.

Oh well – tomorrow's another day I guess, but that is confusing too as we are already tomorrow and the camp debate over what is breakfast, lunch and dinner continues. All I know is that Maryke continues to ply us with food, now more chilled soups and sorbets rather than the usual hearty cold weather fare. No one quite knows what the etiquette over drinks at ‘breakfast’ is – so we have agreed anything goes and there was a good mixture of red wine, tea, strong coffee and our two young ones tucking into well deserved chilled beers.

As I type the sun is beating down again. I’m just hoping against hope that we get a break from this heat – such a keen team here, very frustrating. Such is fishing I guess, but being so proud of the river the guides, Hugh and I really want our guests to experience it in better conditions.

Yours frustrated from Varzuga

Christopher Robinson

Green Machines, Skaters, Food and Bears

We started our new routine last night and went out fishing at 10 p.m. It had been a blisteringly hot day, 29⁰C in the shade, and there was no doubt that we had made the right call. After dinner we set off with the sun dropping behind the pine trees, it was a bit cooler during the night, all the way down to 18⁰C (that’s not a typo, 18⁰C at 04:00 – Ed). The light was stunning and it looked fishy but the but, and it is a big but – is that the water temperature remained stubbornly at 20⁰C all night.

Gerry S with a good salmon on the skated fly

Our valiant guests did well despite the conditions, Chris C had 5 salmon including a really nice fish of 76 cms (about 11.5lbs), Rob W also had a good night with five fish as well. The Gott father and son team, Malcolm and Tom, had eight between them to add to our total of 21. I encouraged Rob to use the Green Machine, a fly synonymous with the Miramichi and it worked well for him.  After we all got back into camp at about 7 a.m. Tom walked down to the point of the Island and had another salmon from there, again on a Green Machine.

Chris C

The skater did well too, Gerry G had a good fish from Simmons Glide on the skater and two casts later hooked a strong fish that tore off down river and eventually snapped the leader. Malcolm fished his skater a tad unconventionally (he is from Yorkshire) on an intermediate tip and a fluorocarbon leader, but he had three salmon this way and another yesterday – no one is saying much but I did see a couple of people adjusting their kit when we got back for breakfast.

Gerry and Andy, a toast to the Varzuga

On the subject of food, we had a bit of a debate over our eggs and bacon on return. Markye had sent us off into the night with a light pic-nic and I included a reasonable ration of vodka and the shot glasses - a toast or two under the rising sun at 2:30 kind of rounds off the surreal experience of fishing all night. We were not sure what to call breakfast after fishing at night – Rob said it was really dinner, Chris thought it was brunch and Gerry G said he didn’t care, had no idea what the time was let alone which day it was.

NOT the last photo Hugh took

It’s now midday, 30⁰C in the shade and all are asleep. Hugh is fiddling with his cameras as we have a bear that visits the island occasionally and Hugh (a budding Attenborough) places his cameras on the tracks to capture it. He got a cracking photo last night of the bear investigating the camera. We thought we might post it on the blog as ‘The Last Photo Hugh Took’ but that might have spooked Jemima at home.

Off to bed. More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

All Change

As expected, yesterday was the very opposite of good salmon fishing weather. A high, bright sun, very warm and a water temperature that climbed slowly to peak at 20⁰C in the late afternoon. Most of the fish were caught first thing in the morning, after that they put their heads down and only the odd one made a mistake until the evening.

Fortess Pool yesterday

James W had a great day landing his first ever salmon, then in the evening he and Tom G saw a bear cross the river a couple of hundred yards below them. Tom and his father Malcolm led the board with two and three salmon respectively from the top of Yovas; Tom, who has fished for the English Youth Team casts beautifully and was unlucky to lose a further three salmon that appeared well hooked and were on for some time. Andy and Gerry G had quite a few takes and touches but nothing stuck on, they went out very early the morning and are now asleep so I’m not sure how they got on.

Norman with a good salmon from Generator

We ended with 18 salmon for the day, not a vintage Middle Varzuga score, but more than respectable for the first day and given the adverse conditions. This hot weather seems to be set in for most of the week so yesterday evening we decided to adopt a night fishing regime that will maximise our chances. We will start fishing at 22:00 this evening and fish through until 06:00, the air temperature will be at its coolest, the sun low and we also benefit from the ‘change of light’.

Chris C landing a salmon early this morning

Here, just short of the Arctic Circle at mid-summer, the sun dips towards the horizon around 22:00 The change of light is noticeable to those who have fished some years for salmon in the North, between 02:00 and 04:00 it starts its climb back over the top of the fir trees and again the light changes. These are great times to be fishing and so often the most productive as any keen Scandinavian fisher will agree.

The whole camp routine has to change, from the hours we run the generator, the daily kitchen bread making, meal times and even the laundry and housekeeping times. All our guests are most grateful to the wonderful Russian team here who have quickly altered a well-established routine to fit in with the new fishing times.

Party Pool at 2a.m. last night

With today to catch up on sleep quite a few rods fished last night although were quite weary from a long day on the river. It’s now 10:30 and a brunch is due shortly, but so far no one has stirred so I do not have any results from last night other than I know that both Chris C and Malcolm had caught salmon. It is already blistering hot by mid morning, and very bright so our decision seems well justified.

I look forward to letting you know tomorrow how we get on fishing through tonight.

Christopher Robinson

Mostly Cloudy

We were into camp pretty quickly yesterday and the new team were out on the water by 5 p.m. Hot, very bright and a nasty upstream wind kicking up waves which made explaining the ‘draw out’ on Generator difficult. Not an ideal start but everyone settled in and got into the casting rhythm. Rob W landed a nice salmon before dinner, Chris and Gerry C soon worked out what to do, paced themselves a bit and then fished through to the early morning when the light was at its lowest and best. Chris had four salmon , although two fell off as he was dragging them onto the gravel and Gerry one. Bob was up early and landed two salmon before breakfast. So not a bad start really.

Rob with the first salmon of this week

I had a squint at the forecast on the internet first thing, “mostly cloudy” said the experts. I did as instructed by Tiffy - “just look out of the bloody window” – bright blue sky, blazing sun and I’d be surprised if there was a cloud between here and Murmansk. Good job Noah did not rely on the forecast; it would probably have said “possible chance of light drizzle”.

"Mostly cloudy" this morning

I fear we have another hot and bright spell with us again. We will see how it goes today, our first day, and then adjust from there, I suspect we will alter the fishing times and make the best of the low sun and cooler temperatures at night.

Gerry C at 3 a.m. this morning

Yesterday I flew out to Murmansk with the Kitza team, Tom, Donna and our Spanish friends. There were huge smiles in the helicopter, lots of thumbs up and I was able to download the photo of Jaime and his big salmon – a very happy young lad. Tom was delighted with the season but was sad to close down with fresh fish still running. However he was justifiably very proud to have seen 1,349 salmon landed in just five weeks, each of six days fishing. An average of 45 Atlantic salmon per day for eight rods – makes you think a bit if you are fishing elsewhere doesn’t it?

Jaime with his salmon of the season at Kitza

I’m about to post the blog a touch later than normal as the helicopter dropped a massive load of supplies for us this week. With everyone else out Big Misha and I carted it all from the pad to the store and freezer, muttering like grumpy old men; the young and fit are never about when needed.

Now off to find Maryke and see if she can do another rain dance.

More tomorrow

Christopher Robinson

Beat Number 5

At Kitza yesterday there were two notable fish amongst the 24 the team landed, the first being a lovely sea-liced 10lber caught by Jose M L in Upper Beaver Pit (one of eight he caught yesterday). We seldom find sea lice on our fresh run salmon until mid-June but from now onwards, and particularly when Charlie will be back up here in September, they are quite common; the White Sea is just too cold for them to multiply in any numbers until around mid-summer.

Peter J with one on the small skater

The second fish of note from Kitza yesterday was the largest of the season, estimated at 18lb – 20lb and landed by young Jamie (aged 12) from Kitchen Pool after a nerve wracking 30 minute battle. There are some photos which, time permitting at Murmansk tomorrow, I hope to download onto the lap-top.

Jo and Daniel

Pana reported 27 salmon last night, Andrew C M was top rod with 7 fish from Lansdowne through to Ponzoi.  The radio reception was poor this morning so I do not have an update on that but it is good to hear that they are still getting down as far as Ponzoi and I hope they manage it again today, their last day.

Here at Middle the salmon were just not in the mood and we struggled a bit to move them. We ended with 14 salmon landed with the catch pretty evenly spread and no obvious leader on the board. Under a bright, bright sun we tried all sorts of tactics including switching back to intermediate tips and small brass tubes, Red Francis and Snaeldas etc. Peter J had a frustrating time that summed up the day, losing four on the trot fishing ‘slow and deep’ in Dunkery, then landing two on a tiny skater with a single handed rod, then in the evening losing two more at the net in Generator fishing pretty conventionally with a floating line and small brass tube.

Hugh and Myriam at a Beat 5 lunch last week

This week we have had a beat rotation at Middle Camp with five beats and five pairs of rods, the pairs moving down one number each day. Beats 1 and 2 are in Yovas at the top and much sought after, however Beat 5 includes Generator (one of the most productive pools and easy wading) and, as a bonus rather than a pic-nic on the bank, the pair of rods have lunch in Camp. Everyone loves Beat 5; great fishing with the prospect of a really good lunch and then a rather leisurely afternoon in Generator and Party Pools where the wading is not likely to be too much trouble if that extra glass of wine has been consumed.

Maryke, Francis and Tim S at yesterdays Beat 5 lunch

For our last day this week we drew lots for the Beats, all hoped for Beat 5 and it went to James and Jo. Good news for Jo who has been nursing a really sore throat and heavy cold all week; this morning he said, with the true focus only Norwegian salmon fishers have, “now I go fishing”. He is the sort of person who might get on the helicopter tomorrow in his waders. Maryke has their beers chilling in the fridge and is preparing a delicious quiche and salad. It looks very good indeed I think I shall declare myself a ‘Camp Administration Morning’ and join them for lunch!

Francis and Misha, one from Birthday Pool yesterday under a blazing sun

Tomorrow we go to Murmansk fairly early, I look forward to resuming normal blog service on Sunday.

Christopher Robinson

Kitza fishing excellently

Kitza had another wonderful day yesterday with 49 salmon to their eight rods, well out-fishing (again) the other camps. Jose L A led the score board and was delighted to land 13 for the day, 12 of which came from Third Island down to Old Dam. The water height continued to rise during the day and by the evening radio call was up 2.5”. Tom reported fish throughout all the beats but said they were a bit more concentrated in pockets and if you found them you did well.

James F (right) and Daniel

The team at Pana had 19 salmon for the day, nine of them coming from Ponzoi and five from the float trip, again not a vintage Pana day but all were happy to be doing better than the previous week.

At Middle Camp the rise in water started to steady off by the end of the day and we had hoped to really get stuck into fish but for some reason it did not happen and we ended with 19, level with Pana which pleased them up there. The upper section in Yovas did not produce the usual numbers but on the other hand the lower beat around Camp did really well; Jo and James had four each, including a brace from Party Pool which, in this higher water, is now back on form.

Tim S with his big 'un from Dunkery

On the upper beats the lower number caught was more than compensated for by the larger fish landed, notably a really good cock fish of 16lbs or more landed by Tim S at Dunkery Corner. We had another encounter with a really large salmon earlier this week in the same pool that eventually took a massive run down stream and straightened the hooks.

Peter D in Generator

With the water level now well up we have been able to re-position the boats back at their normal parking space by the camp which saves the stroll up to the top of the Island. There is not much rain in sight on the forecast and soon the river will start its normal steady drop and we may have to adopt our low water regime at some point. Not that that is any great hardship as I believe that many of the salmon pools at the Middle Camp fish better in really low water rather than in the in-between stage from normal to low.

Christopher Robinson

River well up

Kitza had a good rise in water yesterday, the heavy rain of Monday pushing the water up 7” in 24 hours, which for Kitza with its lake system, is quite a fast rise. They saw plenty of fish but suspected that the rising water put them off the take a bit, even so they produced a good result with 26 landed, Carlos with 7 of them.



Peter D in Generator

Pana too had a fast rise in water, also up 7” on the day. This enabled Dima to get his boat down to Ponzoi later in the the afternoon with Willie and George where they quickly picked up 3 salmon each. Ponzoi will now be back on the beat rotation which all up there are understandably delighted about. They landed a total of 23 for the day, Guy being top rod with 7 fish from the tail of the Lagoon and just below.

Francis with one of his eight salmon for the day

Here at Middle Camp the water continued to rise, albeit much more steadily than at Pana and we were up a couple of inches for the day. The slower, steady rise did not seem to effect the fishing too much and a good day was had by all with everyone catching salmon and 36 in the book by the end. Hugh went up to the top with Tim S and Francis where, after some deep wading to get to the right spot, Francis had four salmon in five casts from Pashas Rest; he ended the day with a personal best score of eight.

Anthony also had a good day, two nine pound salmon in the morning, a snooze on the bank after lunch and his degree results from Reading University in the evening – a 2:1 – he was justifiably delighted and the party continued well into the early hours.

The last photo of Tim I playing a fish that we will take!

Tim I now has a horror of cameras, when he hooks a fish we get a camera out and the fish promptly jumps off. This has happened too many times and he lost another two with me yesterday afternoon. So the above is the last photo you will see of him playing a fish on this trip, we will keep our cameras in our pockets until the salmon is in the net.

Looking upstream from Pasha's yesterday

Quite chilly this morning, the air temperature was only a shade over 5⁰C at breakfast, but it looks settled and with the fresh water in the river we could have a good days fishing.

Christopher Robinson

Rising River

A muggy day yesterday with heavy clouds threatening rain. At 4 p.m. there was a bright flash of lightening and a massive clap of thunder right over Generator Pool where I was with Peter D and Peter J. Being thoroughly British, neither of the Peters' wanted to be seen making a hasty retreat from the water; their guide, Sasha, sensibly saved any loss of national face by declaring it time for a cup of coffee.

Peter J with a good salmon taken on the small skater

Peter D showed that uncanny ability to find fish that regular guests on this river have and had seven salmon from Generator whilst Peter J did well with four, his last of which was on the small ½” skater – a first for him. Generator is the most extraordinary pool, it does not look much, indeed there are many other places here that look more appealing to the salmon fisher, however it produces salmon consistently in any height of water. At the moment, in low’ish water, we are catching salmon from right at the top by the mid-stream pyramid rock all the way down to the direct track from Camp to the lower section – a distance of just under half a mile. It is also the most perfect pool for a skated fly and a great place to experiment. Fishing Generator with a small skated fly after dinner, with the arctic sunset/sunrise at midnight as a backdrop, is pure salmon fishing heaven.

Scott's at the top of Yovas yesterday

Middle ended the day with 31 salmon taken well spread out throughout the Camp Beats although no one fished Simmons yesterday so that is well rested for Tim and Michael this morning. Kitza again out fished us and on the radio Tom is sounding rather smug nowadays! The team had 34 salmon for the day, the water level remains steady and the fresh fish continue to run in from the White Sea.

At Kitza young Jamie, aged 12, has taken to fishing like a duck to the water (I may have mixed metaphors there) and after landing his first salmon within an hour or two of arriving, managed to net four yesterday taking his total to eight in two days. These are the sort of figures that make people at home choke over their early morning coffee as they look to see how we are getting on - and, I hope wish that they were here and not in the office.

Sonya (aged 7) helping me measure water height

Pana had a much better day with 27 salmon, a good day by any accounts but not great for Pana I know, but there was an audible upbeat tone to Damian’s report over the crackly HF radio last night. Guy R and Willie G had had seven fish from the float trip and had had much more action than that number would indicate. The water on Pana is up 6” since this team arrived on Saturday evening and today they will try and boat further down river.

Tim I in action with Vova

Here at Middle the river has risen steadily by an inch or more a day since the rain of Friday; yesterday the guides got the boats all the way through to Scott’s right at the top. We have had heavy, steady rain since dinner last night and we went to bed with the rain pattering on our tin roofs, just the sound needed to send a salmon fisher off to sleep content that all will be well. This wet spell should secure us enough water to keep us topped up well into next week for Rob W’s group. The water height here moves so slowly, a great advantage as we do not often get radical changes, but difficult to predict as the high ground is some 100 miles to the North and we do not know what is happening up there in terms of rainfall. So, as usual up here, it will be ‘all change’ and we will adjust to the new water levels over the next few days.

Christopher Robinson

The Spanish ahead

The cloud we expected yesterday afternoon got stuck somewhere and only appeared in the evening so we fished the day under a pretty bright sun. No one complained and simply enjoyed the stunning scenery, green birch trees and wild flowers.

 

Middle Camp in the sun yesterday

Pana had another dour day with nine salmon added to the eight of the first evening. Willie G landed a lovely 18lber from Grannies. With the water height up 4” or so over the past week we had hoped for a few more fish to run Pana, but they have not materialised as yet.

However over at Kitza fresh salmon continue to enter the river and our Spanish friends landed 43 – a really good score for their first day of the week. They are very pleased to see the river low as they love true Summer Salmon Fishing with small flies and floating lines. The Greenbank and Beaver Pit beat fished excellently with 18 salmon taken in those pools, leading the score board was Jose M L with 11 fish and Carlos RG with nine. Tom did not report any larger fish yesterday but was delighted to see more fresh fish running off the tide into the lower pools in the evening. I think this group will fish pretty hard, no one made it back to camp for Donna’s delicious dinner until 9 p.m.

Anthony M-J with Misha and a 12lber

Tom and the Spanish group at Kitza were delighted to have confirmation at this morning’s radio call that they had out fished Middle camp with two less rods one of whom is only 12 years old! At Middle we had 29 salmon with everyone catching fish and all the beats fishing well from Generator up to Scotts, although for some bizarre reason Simmonds did not yield anything. Sasha and Vova got their boats right through to Green Bank which is in the centre of the top beat, and also the most wonderful place to make a camp fire and have a pic-nic. Today Hugh has also gone up there with the two teams and I hope will get some good photos for us.

Ian S was top rod last week - here is a covert picture of his fly box!

Jo Arve A from Norway, new to the Varzuga, soon settled in and had eight salmon yesterday and this morning, before breakfast, he took a couple from Generator on his single handed rod and a small skated fly. Anthony M-J landed his first Varzuga first thing in the morning from Generator, a really good cock fish of about 12lbs. We are expecting some rain today, it is mild, fairly still and overcast and seems pretty ‘fishy’. The water has come up a touch overnight as Fridays rain slowly, slowly drains off the boggy tundra; good news indeed and we should now have sufficient water height to continue boating up to Green Bank for the remainder of the week.

All were off pretty promptly this morning – Anton’s back-pack clanking a bit as he walked up to the boats – I think he has quickly worked out that his rods, Tim and Francis, enjoy a glass of white wine with the pic-nic!

Christopher Robinson

A New Week

We bade a fond goodbye to last week’s guests at Murmansk, there was lots of “see you next year” and I noted that of our 28 guests last week only 5 were on their first trip to the river, all of those 5 being invited by existing rods. Which I guess explains why it can be hard to get a slot on the Varzuga in mid-June.

Farewell from the team at Middle Camp

I met the three incoming groups in the usual controlled chaos of the small arrivals area but we were soon out of the airport and on our way to the camps. Shortly after dropping the teams off at Pana and Kitza I flew back over Pana on a supply run and was delighted to see the boats down at the bottom of Lagoon and guests already out fishing. They caught 8 salmon and retired for dinner looking forward to their week.

The view from the dining room at dinner

Over at Kitza the rods too were soon in action and they landed 5 fish, the most important catch being a first salmon for young Jamie R F, who at 12 years old is probably the youngest fisher we have had on the river.

We got into Middle a little later than the other camps, had dinner and then it was off to the river under a wonderful midnight light. Hugh S got us off to a good start with 3 cracking fish from Generator before the whisky came out.

Hugh with one of his three salmon last night

Today has dawned bright and clear with the prospect of cloud cover this afternoon and perhaps some rain in the next 24 hours. The rain of Friday night has shifted the water level up a few inches, not enough to change the boating regime at Kitza and Pana, however here at Middle Camp Sasha and Vova are going to try and see how far up Yovas they can get their boats today. The water temperature is steady at 13⁰C and we are all on floating lines and quite small flies, size 8 through to 12.

Generator Pool at midnight

More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Settled Conditions

Yesterday was a perfect Varzuga fishing day, mixed sun and cloud, a light breeze with an air temperature of 10⁰C – 15⁰C and the water temperature steady at 13⁰C. The heavy rain showers of Wednesday pushed the river level up ½”, but other than that it was a really settled day.

Ian S with one of his 14 for the day

Our guests at Middle were off early with Ian and Doug taking the left bank of Yovas Rapids and Peter and Olivier the right bank which is a slightly longer walk but easier. Despite my saying that there were miles and miles of fishing up there and there was no need to go all the way to Scott’s of course they could not resist it and they started right at the top. Pasha’s and Dunkery were reported to be ‘heaving’ with salmon, and good sized ones as well. The four rods in Yovas accounted for 38 of the 60 salmon we landed at Middle Camp yesterday. Ian was back to the top of the board again with 14 fish closely followed by Doug (his mojo returned) with 11 – several fish of over 10lbs were landed and all talked of them fighting really hard in the cooler water temperature.


Olivier hooked up

A major success was the first salmon for Myriam I – she had never caught a fish before and while we were all out she waded Generator by herself, hooked, landed, photographed and released a lovely hen fish of about 8lbs and strolled back into camp with a huge smile and those slightly shaky hands we all get after a huge adventure. A great feat and one she has shrugged off with remarkable modesty.

Mryiam relaxing after landing her first salmon

Pana reported 20 salmon with the float trip not having great success and the salmon mainly concentrated in the Lunch Pool area. Kitza had another good day with 44 salmon to their team of eight rods. Charles had a super day taking 10 fish from Kitchen including one of 12lb and one of 18lb. In the evening Tom radioed in to say that a big run of fresh fish had come splashing through the pools around camp. The water at Kitza is low enough to prevent any boating other than a ferry downstream as far as Piddling Pool. However at Kitza, like at Middle, once the guests have settled into the low water beat regime they all adjust to it quickly, the fishing can be great and the pools so much better defined.

Doug with the first of 11 salmon yesterday

The week has flown by, it is the last fishing day and everyone is out making the most of this extraordinary river. I await the helicopter due shortly in camp with next week’s food and drinks and tomorrow we leave for Murmansk. I will endeavour to give you a brief update before we leave, but if I fail then normal blog service will resume on Sunday morning.

Christopher Robinson

Sunshine and Showers

A day of all seasons yesterday, at times bright sun and pleasantly warm out of the wind and then hammering cold rain for 20 minutes. The water temperature was settled at 12⁰C which is about perfect and the height although very low was steady with no drop overnight.


Anton and Gregoire with one of 11 for the day

Sometimes the fish gods do not reward the deserving, why I know not and there is sometimes no rhyme or reason to it. Doug and Ian, right up there with the strongest fishers we have, struggled a bit and just could not get into fish. Doug had a particularly lean day with only one salmon, so on return to camp he had a quick 45 minutes in Generator before dinner (this pool is normally as much a guarantee of success as you can find in salmon fishing) but without so much as a touch. Immediately after dinner Gregoire and Jean Christophe had a scamper down the same stretch and landed seven between them. Doug took it well, although we did do a bit of red wine over the de-brief, this morning he is up in Yovas so I just hope the fish gods are smiling on him today.

Peter J at Bear and his second salmon that fell to the tiny skater

In the afternoon I took Peter J down Simmons, nothing happened although it had fished excellently in the morning. With an hour or so to go we went to Bear Pool, which in this low water resembles a small pool on any one of the classic Scottish spate rivers. We tried the small ½” skater and almost immediately a cock fish of 10lbs hammered it, coming clean out of the water on the take – just an electric moment. With that fish landed Peter proved the technique by landing a second fish of 8lbs.

We closed the book for the day at Middle with a healthy 49 salmon landed, Jean-Christophe with six to his name to beating his best daily catch and with Gregoire top rod with 11.

Kitza too fished really well, topping us again with 52. Harry B had a cracking day with 12 salmon closely followed by Richard G with eight. Pana reported a better day as well with 26 although they did not do the float trip which I gather is on for today.

Discussing tactics this morning

This morning has dawned soft and fairly still, it seems quite settled and calm. The water temperature starts the day at 10⁰C and after the heavy showers of yesterday is up a fraction by 3mm or so – not significant really, but when it is low anything will do!

We are much looking forward to seeing the teams on Middle, Pana and Kitza next week. Please be prepared for mixed weather, layered clothing is the answer; this week we have fished in air temperatures from 28⁰C down to 3⁰C. Even if it pours down with rain we will still have low water, so please be prepared to walk a bit where we cannot get the boats through; a day bag you can sling over your shoulder or a small ruck sack is quite useful.

I will leave you with a photograph of the extraordinary arctic light that we fished under after dinner last night, catching salmon with that as a backdrop is really quite special.

Christopher Robinson