Great to be back

Friday night in Helsinki is always something that I look forward to.  Everyone is always full of excitement and catching up with so many familiar faces is a lot of fun. 

An early start on Saturday morning meant that we got to Murmansk at 11am and by 4pm everyone was in camp.  It seemed as if we waited in Murmansk for ages but a 3 hour transfer time to the helicopters was relatively rapid movement.

Craig P into the first of the season

In glorious and warm sunshine we flew over the tundra and whilst there is a lot of snow still remaining, the huge lakes that dot the landscape were beginning to thaw and it felt much more like a normal spring than perhaps it has for the past two weeks.

Arrival into camp is normally pretty full on as we all catch up and discuss the time since we last saw each other but it does not take long before all that is put to one side and the rods start to be assembled. 

A good one to kick us off

Craig P was the man to open the scoring at Lower with a chunky fish caught just in front of camp.  The hot weather of the past two days has meant that the river is rising really quite quickly and it is pretty dirty at the moment as all of the snow, ice and mud is washed into system so getting your fly down and in front of them is going to prove crucial for the next couple of days.

At Middle the team were predictably into waders as soon as the helicopter touched down and they landed 28 fish in their first foray before dinner with Peter W taking no time at all to land 5 fresh fish from Generator.

Mark and Ken offering "helpful" advice to Craig

At Kitza, Tom reports that the camp is in great shape.  Our wonderful and long serving Russian staff have done a brilliant job to get everything up and running in such a short space of time.  The radio this morning was poor but I gathered from him that, like us, the river is rising very quickly and is sediment heavy.

John M raring to go this morning

Dirty and rising the river might be but after a seemingly interminable wait, all of us are looking forward to the first full days fishing of the season and it is great to have the camps full of eager and enthusiastic clients.

Charlie White

Open for business

We went over to Kitza this morning to top the camp up with supplies, see the team there and to check over the outboard engines. There remains quite a bit of snow in camp where the sun has not reached it, but that is disappearing fast as it is here in Lower camp. Over the last week there has been a noticeable melt. The ‘lawn’ here is now quite muddy in places.

Kitza Camp yesterday

Kitza river was looking good, not too high at the moment, the odd bit of ice coming down but that is clearing quickly. It looked very fishable and just about right. Likewise here on Varzuga the river has really settled down, much clearer now although the small feeder streams are still running well in the relative warmth of the afternoon.

Kitza River

We have not had a chance to fish in the last few days, however this evening after we had all done in camp Bill Drury went down Heli Pool for an hour or so and landed ‘quite a few’. He was using a fast sink tip, a Yellow and Black fly on a 1½" aluminium tube and dressed quite long, about 2 inches.



Bill in Heli Pool

 A short blog again as we leave early this morning for Murmansk to meet the clients. The good news is that Varzuga river is ready for business, and all the team here are looking forward to seeing their new guests. The river looks in fine fettle.



One of Bill's today - a true spring salmon

I return to UK today and Charlie will be here to keep up the reports. More news from him on Sunday.

Christopher Robinson

Middle Varzuga

A brief blog this morning as we are leaving here at 8 a.m. with kit and supplies for Kitza. After the disgusting weather yesterday it dawned cold, bright and sunny. A wonderful day and although not warm by any means the sun started its work on the snow and by the afternoon the little streams that feed the river off the Tundra were running really well. The river was a bit dirty as a result and has come up a few inches, but it is still not that full given the time of year.

Middle Camp yesterday

I boated up to Middle camp with Terry the Manger and Donna our most experienced (ever) cook, and of course Glenn with his boxes of tricks to fix anything. We found Big Misha and the all the usual faces to greet us, Luda had arrived too with young Sonya and suddenly the team were re-united and getting on with opening up the camp.

Veranda extension

Misha proudly showed me the extension to the main lodge veranda that I had requested last year, guests can now sit in the evening sunshine enjoying a cold drink. We got the boats in the water, Glenn mended a couple of engines that had got a bit beaten up in the low water last year, sorted out the camp kit and returned late in the day back to Lower Camp. Tomorrow we’ll go up again and leave Terry and Donna there ready for the first guests on Saturday.



Generator Pool

Terry and I had a good look at the river up to Blue Rock. There is much less ice on the banks this year and none of the huge ice walls of 2013. It all look very fishable, Generator bank is clear of big ice, there are a few slabs in some places, but nothing to prevent access. Sadly time prevented a cast or two!

I’ll put some pictures up after our visit to Kitza tomorrow and will let you know how the camp is. In the meantime, if you are leaving tomorrow to join us all here on Saturday – there is quite a lot of snow left and warmer weather could bring a higher river. It has been pretty cold, so come prepared (but expect change! If we say it is cold, you can guarantee that on a Saturday the weather system will change).

I’ll update you tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Normal Service Resumed

To be honest, we kicked our heels a bit yesterday and hung about camp. There is only so much ice coming past that you want to photograph. The weather until late evening was awful, a strong wind driving in sleet and snow all day. We had two long power cuts which damped the spirits a bit too. After nine days couped up in camp there is an understandable cabin fever setting in.

Ice coming past yesterday

We got another smaller boat into the water, then the ice cleared a bit and Feodor decided it was time to put his big boat in with last year’s brand new 90 HP on it. After that the weather closed in and other than cleaning the dining table for the 10th time there was not a lot to be done. A lot of Jenga was played, we celebrated Glenn’s birthday and chose Every Day is Like Sunday by Morrisey as our cabin fever song.

Launching a boat yesterday

While we remained in limbo the river was cleaning out well and by late evening the sky cleared and we had a glorious sunset to admire. It is bright and chilly this morning, we had a hard frost and first thing Terry put the heli camera up to get a picture for the blog. Shortly we are putting in our second big boat and will take Donna and Terry up to Middle camp to start the prep work there. Feodor has already left in his boat to move Big Misha and the guide team up.

Kari on guard

The river is not too high at the moment, indeed a bit lower than I thought it might be – just up to the edge of the withy bushes here at Lower. But there is a good push of water coming through and the ice is pretty much gone, just the odd bit coming down and in a couple of days we should be rid of it.

Kari has resumed his normal position in the sun on the steps to the office, guarding the kit to go to Pana next week, the rest of the boats are being launched and there is a welcome feel of activity here. Phew!

Heli Pool this morning - note the clear, tea coloured water

I hope to get some pictures of Middle today and we will have them up tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Boats and Wagtails

The river maintained its slow rise yesterday, the ice continued to break up and we hauled the first boat into the water. A joyous moment for all, finally we felt we were able to do what we came here for, to get on the river.

Launching the first boat of 2014

This morning we have filthy weather – heavy, driving, up-stream sleet and snow – but the good news is that we watch a constant stream of ice as the river clears itself of winter.  The bad news is that it has made our internet connection terrible and I cannot upload pictures at the moment - as soon as I can I will add them in.

Feodor has made a couple of runs in his boat up to the village, not easy with the ice coming down and the rest of us will wait most of today before getting on the water, maybe until tomorrow morning. In any event tomorrow we will finally be fully mobile on the river and with our helicopter, tasked to be here at midday tomorrow, we will soon be over at Kitza and boating up to Middle Camp.
 

Watching the ice go

It remains remarkable to me how the birds know how to time things. Every year I watch for the arrival of the Pied Wagtails. They arrive, to the day, on the ice break. We have a hatch of large stone flies on the Varzuga just as the ice goes. They sit on the icebergs and in a big hatch the ice looks sooty with the quantities of them, almost like dirty old snow beside a road at home. Some years, if it is warm and the office window is open, they sit on the paper tray of the printer, I guess attracted by the white paper, and my printed lists of supply requests often have squashed stone flies on them. If we are missing tomato juice, it is a stone fly to blame.

Last night, just as the main break was kicking in, the first Wagtail arrived, looking cold, damp and hungry it scurried about on the duck boards looking for stone flies. I managed a poor photograph of it in the gloomy light, but I will be putting  it on the blog – Wagtails mean we’ll be fishing properly in a day or so.

The first Wagtail

On the subject of fishing – we have one rod remaining to join us on our second year of fishing the legendry Vosso in Norway, on the exclusive Bolstad beat. The dates are for five days fishing 7 – 11 July. This is a rare chance to fish this river, renowned as having the heaviest average weight of salmon anywhere. For more information on the week, and to learn more about the remarkable restoration of the run of salmon to this mighty river, please contact Charlie White at the office

charlie.white@roxtons.com .

Meanwhile, up here it is looking good for our first guests – the river is not that high at the moment as we have not had a huge flood but with this sleet and snow today it must come up more. So, the advice remains to expect a high, cold river and true spring salmon fishing.

 

Lower Camp this morning

More tomorrow and as soon as I can get the photos to download I will put them up.

Christopher Robinson

P.S. Terry has just flown the camera under his remote helicopter, not risking going over the river in the wind, so not the best shot but it will give you an idea of the river and camp today.

The Break Starts

Slowly and steadily the river has been rising for a couple of days now but without any really warm weather or heavy rain it has been a painfully slow process this year and enormously frustrating as we wait here in Camp to be able to get going.

At eleven last night the massive ice field at the village detached itself and came past us, to the sound of whoops of joy from Maryke and Bill who were on watch. For several minutes all we could see was a white river of ice moving sedately to the White Sea. The river is up about 10" overnight and today we expect to see a great deal more ice coming through. Feodor, our Head Guide, thinks that he might be able to put one of our smaller boats in the river this evening, a sure sign that fairly soon normal Varzuga service will be resumed.

Bill and Glenn

With damp weather forecast, and Glenn’s workshop full of engines ready to be mounted on boats, we adapted the veranda as a temporary, dry work area. Glenn and Bill managed to get a couple of our oldest engines up and running as spares if needed. The girls went up to the village again for more supplies, and in order to give us a good head start when our guests arrive this weekend have been preparing masses of food for the camp freezers - the Crepes Suzette look very good!

Maryke and Donna making crepes for the freezer

At Kitza and Middle Camp we have the same Russian staff this year, all local people and with years of experience - they know exactly what to do once we get into camp and they will work around the clock to be ready for Saturday evening. Although Terry Mallin at Middle is new to the river, he has Donna, in her eighth year on Varzuga, with him and he has had 10 days here learning the ropes. It is a really solid team this year, and they are itching to get going.

Off on a Varzuga Shopping Trip

Next week’s fishing is going to be ‘the first week’, great news for Lower Camp as this is normally the most prolific week of the season. I would expect the water to be colder than usual and perhaps a bit higher, particularly on Kitza. That said the height is going to depend on air temperatures and rainfall; we have plenty of snow in the watershed still and a quick melt will bring a high river.

It is definitely worth being prepared with a reasonable range of sinking tips and some heavy flies – a standard choice would be a Willie Gunn or Ally’s Shrimp on a 1" or 1½" brass tube. A pair of fleece trousers or similar to keep you warm when wading would be wise to pack.

I’ll keep you posted on developments from here, Terry has his remote controlled helicopter on standby and we’ll try and get an aerial photo or two of the river once the wind drops and we can launch it.

Christopher Robinson

Watching Rocks

A damp, soft day yesterday with some rain for a few hours in the evening, but not the really heavy rain that we had hoped for. The river has risen a touch overnight and slowly, slowly things are changing. Each one of us seems to have a marker, a rock or a stick, which we watch for signs of something happening. My two little rocks that I adopted as my first markers, simply because I could see them from the desk in the office, are covered this morning. It did not freeze overnight and the forecast is still in our favour, but my-oh-my this river is being frustratingly stubborn this year.


Terry and Bill - still clearing snow

Thankfully it did not freeze overnight and early this morning we have a hazy sun trying to do its business and an air temperature of 4⁰C to build on – and lots of damp, slushy snow to plod through and sink in while we potter distractedly about camp, constantly looking at our river height markers.

Bill and Terry have ploughed on with camp tasks, clearing the snow off the containers so that we can build a low roof over them to keep them serviceable well into the future. They date back to 1994 and 1995; we shipped the first boats and engines out here from USA in them, then lowered them into place slung under the helicopter. One is Glenn’s workshop with all the outboard engine kit in (he has over 30 outboards to keep running) the other container houses all our domestic stores.



The carpentry team

After doing a great carpentry job with Bill, building a stand for our new drinks fridges, Terry flew the remote controlled helicopter in the afternoon to get some video footage and photos of the camp and Heli Pool. You can see a few ice bergs on the bank, left by the ‘almost break’ of mid April. The snow in camp now has that dark look of melting slush over a pack of harder ice.

Lower Camp and Heli Pool yesterday

Our real helicopter remains in Murmansk, on standby to come here as just as soon as the ice breaks and we can get on to set up Middle and Kitza for next week. While we tinker with smaller tasks here at Lower Camp actually we are all getting ready to move very quickly once the break starts. Our Kitza staff, Tom - of course! - and Kate who missed last year but who has bags of experience up here cooking at Pana, will now come out with our guests rather than the week before. So we will have to set up for them and make sure they can arrive to an up running camp. The girls here are cooking the Kitza first meals which we will take over to Luba at Kitza and she will have ready for them when they arrive, and we have a gravad-lax and other goodies on the go for them too.

Meanwhile we get on around camp with our preparations, but with a sort nervous twitch that at home might cause concern amongst our friends, as we look hopefully at our individual rock markers for more signs of change.

Oblivious to human concerns

Off to look at my rock again while, oblivious to our concerns, the camp cat sleeps in the lunch cooler bag.

Christopher Robinson

Warming Up

For the first time for several weeks it did not freeze last night. Today at breakfast the air temperature was 4⁰C and a damp fog hangs over the camp. There are a few puddles forming around the duck boards and it is definitely welly boot time for work about camp. We had an hour or so of slushy, wet snow fall yesterday and the forecast remains for rain later today – just how much we get is yet to be seen, but we really need a good few hours of heavy rain to kick things off.

The river at the village

Looking at the river right in front of camp it is very easy to forget just what the situation is a mile or so upstream. At the village and from there up-stream the river remains frozen over, with only the odd clear area where the faster water of the rapids has cleared the ice. The good news is that walking across the ice from one side of the village to the other is now offically banned, a sure sign that the break will come soon. When it starts to move it will be an awe-inspiring sight. Today we will make sure that personal valuables are in grab bags and that precious electrical and other items are placed high on the storage shelves. The boats will remain tied up on their sides well back from the river. The risk of an ice blockage and flood, although slim, is always present.

Bill and Terry testing the helicopter

Terry mounted a Go-Pro camera on his remote control helicopter and tried the first flight in Russian airspace yesterday, it is a remarkable bit of kit and he is pretty skilled at flying it. We experimented with some shots of camp, today he might be bold enough to try it high over the river to get some photos of Heli Pool, but we will have to wait for the fog to clear.

Heli with the Go-Pro

It seems very strange not to have Alan J and Michael H and all the ‘Slipper Gang’ here with us on this first week in Lower Camp. But rather than kicking our heels we have quite a list of jobs that need doing and we will take the unwanted free time to get them done. Bill and Terry have assigned themselves some carpentry tasks today – I’ll let you know how they have got on tomorrow.

The main lodge yesterday

Christopher Robinson

Contrasts

Normally Sasha and I would have driven back to Murmansk yesterday; to top up on any last supplies and kit needed, then to meet our first guests this morning. It is a huge frustration for all of us here, and of course the fishers at home, that we remain locked in ice and snow.



9 May 2013

I recalled the scene last year and dug out the photo I took of Kari enjoying the spring sunshine on 9 May. The river was clear, a perfect height, and we were really looking forward to seeing our first guests. Yes – we had sunshine yesterday, but with a bitterly cold wind - and although you could feel the sun if you found shelter in the wind you had to really muffle up.

 

9 May 2014

 It was Victory Day, celebrating as I mentioned last year an important day in the Russia view of the world, the Soviet defeat of Fascism with the cost of 20 million lives. A big National Holiday and once we had finished our tasks here in camp the girls walked up to a party in the village. Their ordered walk on departure, stamping careful steps along the river bank around the softer and slightly treacherous ice berg fields, was in contrast to the return which might be described as somewhat disorderly. In any event all returned safely if not exactly gracefully – the Russian hospitality here is wonderfully generous.


True spring salmon fishing

I took the chance for my first cast this year, the water was up an inch or two and had started to get some colour in it with grass and sediment kicked up by the chunks of ice coming down. That looked encouraging from the melt point of view, but the fish seemed to be off – but I guess that is all relative such is the quality of the fishing here, and in 20 minutes I had my first springer and was glad to be out of the 1⁰C water. So, above is the first photo in five years of yours truly with a salmon.

 

Photo from my office window this morning

It is a touch milder this morning, I’m typing this in the office, with its view over the river, and can see an encouraging, steady stream of drips from the snow on the roof. The forecast continues to predict warmer weather tomorrow and rain which, I hope, should start the proper melt.

 

Christopher Robinson

Testing The River

It was a warmer day yesterday; the air temperature was up to 4⁰C by mid-afternoon and the snow had that distinctly soft, mushy feel to it.

In the morning we finished off some more camp tasks and after lunch Glenn reckoned we should all help complete the digging out the snow in front of the containers now that it was easier to deal with. A sound idea I thought.


Terry 'testing the Varzuga'

Feodor, Bill and Terry announced that it was highly important that they ‘test’ the river so that an accurate report could be sent back to UK to reassure all that there were indeed salmon here in the Varzuga.

In these delicate situations it is best to try and keep all parties happy. So I went down to photograph our intrepid team ‘testing’ the Varzuga, and then hurried back, rather later than I should have, to help Glenn clear the snow.

The river is incredibly low and shallow, all the melt is still frozen, but despite the water temperature of 1⁰C Feodor recommended only an intermediate tip and not too heavy a fly.
 

Feodor with one of his two spring salmon

Feodor led the way, quickly landing a couple of bright, silver spring salmon. Bill soon had one as well, uncoventionaly beached on a hung up ice berg mid-river - in these circumstances 'needs must'. Terry had a few touches but nothing held on, so he put on 3" Monkey style fly and had a salmon try for it twice on the surface on the same swing – just why that fish, with the water temperature at 1⁰C, came to the surface so aggressively beats me. (For the non-believers we have it on HD Video). He changed back to a Willie Gunn and swiftly landed his first Varzuga salmon.

'Needs Must' in these conditions!

We only have about 300 yards of fishable water at the moment, for those who know it - from Sharks Tooth Rock down to the two huge rocks where we park the boats in the lower water of June. And it is quite a dodgy scramble over the ice bergs to get at the river. Once in the river a sharp eye upstream is needed to watch out for the odd, large bits of ice that silently bear down on the unwary. I’m pleased to say that we have a gravad-lax on the go.

The smile says it all.

Despite the water conditions just now, with such a late snow melt it is likely that those coming on 17 May will find higher and colder water than they might have experienced in the past. I suggest you make sure you have medium and/or fast sinking tips and a handful of heavier flies if needed – say fully dressed 1" brass tubes.

Oh – I forgot to say – we can now fully open the container doors. Thank you Glenn.

Christopher Robinson

Setting Up

By tradition the journey for our team into Varzuga from Murmansk starts at 10 p.m. on a Sunday night with a glass of Russian champagne, served I fear in a plastic pic-nic mug. Always a great re-union and made more memorable by the surreal, chilly, windy car-park setting. Tiffy and I came out on 1st May to complete the supply lists and load up the lorry bound for the village, and thence out to the airport for the above ceremony.

We normally stop for a few hours sleep at Umba and then head on down the road to Varzuga village. With the river still frozen this year, and after a long journey, we used the skidoos to ferry all the bags and kit in and stretched our legs over the crisp snow down the river bank to camp under a bitter but bright sky.

Maryke and Glenn and their containers

There was more snow on the ground than I expected, and after the warm spell of mid April much of it is now rock hard and semi-ice rather than snow. Getting into our containers is always a top priority and a certain amount of digging and cursing was required.

On Tuesday we moved the rest of the stores down from the village to camp, again on sledges behind skidoos. Tiffy, Donna and Maryke then set about dividing a season’s worth of supplies between the four camps while Bill and Terry sorted out the boxes of new waders, boots and jackets for the guides, kindly supplied by Colin Thomas at Airflo.

Dividing up the stores

By last night all was pretty well boxed up, labelled and ready for dispatch and a well deserved party was had; all seem a bit slower this morning and I suspect it is self-help for breakfast.

Donna and Tiffy off to the village

Yesterday was grey and cold, the air temperature hardly got to 0⁰C and apart from the odd bit of ice breaking off there was no change in the river to report. A good day to be inside doing ‘admin’. Without any sun the drips from the melting snow off the roof were almost non-existent. The only hint of things to come were the two ravens who nest opposite here at Lower Camp, they arrived in the morning and flew up and down the river croaking in that unmistakable way so reminiscent of wild places. Good to see them again, as always they arrive almost to the day every year whatever the conditions. Below is a photo taken this morning of the rapids right outside the office, ice stuck everywhere in the shrunken river.



Sobocci Rapids this morning

The forecast continues to predict an end to this freeze at the weekend. I’ll update you tomorrow and, with much work done, I suspect Bill and Terry will get a chance to fish in the limited clear water we have.

Christopher Robinson

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the Varzuga blog!  I know that during May and June many of you, wherever you fish, watch our daily reports of goings on and, of course, the fishing on Varzuga.  Charlie and I will keep you as informed as best we can.  The photo quality will never be quite as good as we would want; to get the blog posted we have to compress and squeeze the photos down a somewhat tenuous modem link through the Varzuga mobile mast.  However we both hope the next 45 days or so of posts will give you a taste of the remarkable fishing on the river and life in camp.

Greeting old friends

We arrived yesterday at the village at midday to find three Russian Managers waiting for us, Big Misha from Middle, Feodor from Lower and Ura who had come over from Kitza. There were lots of greetings and hugs, then we discussed the river and the news was not good. The cold snap we are experiencing up here has stopped the ice melt in its tracks.

Bill Drury and I rather suspected it might be bad news.  On our overnight journey from Murmansk the air temperature was -6⁰C at Umba at dawn and by midday when we arrived at Varzuga it had just managed 0⁰C.

The river at the village

The forecast looks much warmer from Friday/Saturday onwards and just a day or two of warmer temperatures will have the river ice cleared out pretty quickly.  I’ll keep you posted on the weather and river conditions each day, and no doubt some updates on camp life.

Lower Camp yesterday

We all looked at the river and it was clear to see that the warm spell in mid-April, that seemed to herald the start of the melt, had been turned on its heels by a bitterly cold last few days of April and early May. In the few places where the river is clear, and Sabocci Rapids right in front of me now are clear, the river has dropped back to June levels leaving a few icebergs from the ‘almost’ ice break stranded 3 feet up on the bank.


We talked to Charlie back in the office, looked at the forecast for the umpteenth time and the unanimous agreement was that, with massive regret, the first week of fishing would have to be cancelled.  A huge disappointment for next week’s fishers, who are entitled to a full refund, and of course for our team here, both local and all of us from abroad.

Sharks Tooth Rock - upper center of the picture - and ice bergs from the 'almost' melt

More tomorrow from a very enthusiastic but highly frustrated team.

Christopher Robinson

Yet another fantastic season

2013 will be reviewed as one of the more extraordinary years that we have spent on the river.

Every April we start to speak to our Russian partners to hear of what is happening on the river but in truth we rarely get more than being told that everything is “normal” – not this year. On May 1st we were emailed with incredible pictures, taken from a helicopter, of a huge flood and vast swathes of ice tumbling down the river. Apparently the ice had blocked the river below Lower Varzuga, to the point that the river was actually running backwards at one stage, and as a result the village and camps were being flooded. Step forward a brave man with sticks of dynamite who blasted the blockage clear and ensured that the river could run freely again.

An early season fish

This had the desired effect of preventing any more damage to the camps and village but did also have the effect “pulling the plug” on the river and from that moment on, it would be a low water year.

Low water is not a problem and in fact many of us prefer being able to see the lies more obviously and enjoy watching the river reveal its secrets. Sometimes low water can mean that we cannot boat to every pool but this is rarely a big issue.

Netting a fish at Middle

What can be an issue is low water plus high temperatures as obviously lower water is more reactive to swings in temperature than a roaring river and much more susceptible to extreme heat. From the last week of May to the end of the season, with the odd exception, we had extraordinarily high temperatures and we experienced water temperatures that were as high as 25 degrees Celcius at one stage – bizarre.

A good fish from Pana

All of which should have meant that the fishing was very difficult and that we would struggle to land fish in any kind of numbers – the Varzuga has a habit of disabusing such assumptions.

Just over 6,000 fresh salmon were landed in the 7 week season producing an average of over 30 fish per rod per week. It is difficult to comprehend numbers of fish in such abundance when compared to almost any other river in the world. It is worth bearing mind that, on very rough evidence, our rods probably lost nearly as many fish as they landed – whether that ratio was much higher this year because of shorter takes in the warmer water is hard to say but it does show the kind of action everyone experienced.

Fishing the Wires at Lower

Our camps continue to be improved and it is great to hear the comments of people new to the programme who cannot believe what we have built in the middle of nowhere and to see returning clients reactions to the rolling improvements that are made. It is our stated aim that everything else about the programme should be directly comparable to the quality of the fishing – a tough ask but one we remain committed to.

The church at midnight

As ever, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Russian partners and friends as well as our Roxtons staff on the ground – we know how lucky we are to be working on this extraordinary river and never take it for granted as it is simply not possible to replicate it anywhere else in the world.

Midnight light at Middle Varzuga

As is our policy, all of the rods who fished with us this year will be offered the first right of refusal to their rods for next season but if you would like to join us please contact me to register your interest.

Charlie White