A new week

Yesterday was a pretty busy day in Murmansk. We left camp at 7am and took our outgoing guests back to catch the charter flight back to Helsinki. Stories of fish landed, rods broken, sights that had been seen and a general catch up are a great way to start the day.

Lower Varzuga in the sun on Friday

The teams had a lot to talk about. The 12 rods at Middle Varzuga finished with 464 for their week. It sounds ridiculous but in some ways we all felt that the figure was a bit smaller than we might have expected. The 9 rods who fished Lower Varzuga before Kitza finished with 341 in the book whilst the "opposing" team of 10 rods recorded 407, remarkably consistent fishing.

Swans flying over us yesterday

Having waved goodbye to them, we awaited the incoming clients. It quickly became apparent that some had lost their bags. Not a good situation in anyone’s eyes and the team needed to think quickly on their feet. Several texts and phone calls later and everyone was kitted out and on the river. New waders, rods and jackets were sourced from our base camp and some remarked that they were going fishing looking a lot smarter than they had anticipated.

Maryke and Bill setting up lunch

As ever, a few fish under your belt makes most situations feel rather better and Michael S-D proved the point by going up to Wires last night and landing 5 before dinner.

Jamie K has also landed 5 fish before he meets his guide and with reports of fish landed from Kitza, Middle and Pana, the week has started as we would hope and I look forward to bringing you more news from here tomorrow.

Charlie White

Where did that go?

There is something very odd about experiencing 24 hour daylight. The days never end and roll into one another with barely a notice period. It may be something to do with that which explains why time goes so fast and it is hard to believe that we are just about to embark on our last day of the week already.

The one thing for sure is that when the fishing is like this, it is sensible to make the most of it and our team at Lower have been doing just that. Some get up early in the morning, some fish after guided hours and some fish after supper with the result being that there is barely a minute when someone is not fishing. All of which led to a further 110 fish being landed yesterday to the 10 rods. Stuart L emerged as the top rod with 22 to his rod for the day but was closely followed by Craig C and Marc W.

Douglas B on Heli

 Marc "retired" his own tied fly last night, the Finn’s Gold, once it had landed 40 fish – not bad for one fly. Whilst the young guns put in the hours, it has been Douglas B who has caught the selector’s eye and at the age of 80, he decided not to come into dinner last night as he wanted to carry on fishing. A final tally of 17 was deemed sufficient before he came in.

Craig C with one of 20 he landed yesterday

Middle Varzuga is beginning to show signs of normal service being resumed and they finished with 103 to their 12 rods. Peter W accounted for 17 of those whilst John R and Jim F had 11 and 10 fish respectively. Terry reports fish all the way from Party to Korevi Pots and that they saw plenty more fish.

Glenn, our fixer of everything, in the sun this morning

Kitza surprised us a bit. We would normally expect catches to go on an upward curve from day one but they landed 19 fish to the 9 rods which was a bit lighter than we would have hoped. Much like Middle, their numbers will climb steadily. A later than usual response to the radio call by Ollie this morning betrayed the rather obvious fact that it was Craig P’s birthday yesterday and it seemed likely that one of Kitza’s legendary kitchen party’s had been much enjoyed.

Stuart L, soaked but happy

Proving that the weather can do what it likes this far north, it is a stunning day today with not a cloud in the sky. Graham , Paul, Stuart and Douglas were out this morning and have all landed fish before coming in for breakfast so we hope for more of the same. It is an early start tomorrow morning so the next blog will be on Sunday when I will try and round up what we have finished with for this week – it is going to take some tallying.

Charlie White

Personal bests

There have been times in the past when I have got very frustrated with the camp manager at Middle Varzuga. Every morning and evening, at an agreed time, we radio each other to ensure that everything is going well and to find out about the days fishing. Not unnaturally, one of the key points is to find out how many fish have been caught that day. Very often the manager at Middle will tell me he doesn’t know, is not sure or that he hasn’t spoken to everyone which can be quite frustrating. I now take it all back.

Paul P with one of 10 he landed yesterday

The team here are fishing every hour that they can and keeping track of where everyone is and what they have caught is almost impossible. However, after finally rounding them all up we deduced that the 10 rods had landed 124 fish in the day. Personal bests were being broken on what felt like an hourly basis but in the end Graham J was the top rod with 21, Craig C landed 20, Marc W had 19 and various others reached double figures for the first time.

Graham J - top rod with 21 fish for his day

We landed fish up and down the river but our bottom beats are still the most productive. We are now fishing with intermediate tips, half inch tubes and at times, size 6 flies. Next week will probably see us switching entirely to floating lines and fly sizes will decrease but as ever, we are in the far north and making any firm predictions about what next week will hold is not always the best policy.

John M on Moskoi Island

Kitza had another 22 fish for their day with Craig P landing a beautiful fish of around 15lbs from Sashas. They decided to explore the upper river a bit more yesterday which was a great success. They knew that there were probably more fish below the camp but were prepared to forego the extra numbers to fish in such a stunning place.

Middle Varzuga finished with 69 in the book which is without doubt a great days fishing but was a bit slower than we might expect given what we landed here. Theories abound as you can imagine and it is simply a matter of time before the main run hits that camp but in the meantime there is a certain swagger to the guides at Lower knowing that they are outfishing what is normally the most productive camp.

Stuart L on Jannaways

This morning has seen a complete change in the weather and it is currently pouring with rain. The least bothered about that is probably our 80 year old veteran, Douglas B, who found that he was awake at 5am. Deciding that he just as well fish as stare at the ceiling he landed 5 fish before breakfast and has given us all the lead for the day.

Charlie White

Pana and Kitza

Yesterday was a busy day in the helicopter. We first took Toby and Beanie up to Pana and as ever, it was great to catch up with the team of guides and camp staff who have been there for so long.

The river looks perfect up there with Hippo Rock just showing, they had got five boats ready to go, the cabins are up and running and now we just need to add rods.

Pana from the air

Following that we took the team who had been fishing here at Lower over to Kitza and swapped over with the 10 rods who have been fishing over there. We try to do the changeover quite quickly as otherwise it can feel as if everyone is hanging around a bit but there is inevitably some delay as tactics are swapped, beats discussed and advice freely given.

Alicia, Arlena, Toby, Natasha and Beanie at Pana

There was much advice to go around as the 9 rods at Lower put a further 63 fish in the book yesterday with Stephen T having his best day of 13 from Sviats and Moskoi.

At Middle Varzuga they seemed to suffer from a mid week lull and the scores during the guided hours were not that spectacular but the home pools of Generator and Bear saved the day and the 12 rods finished with 62 recorded. Jim F, having not been out here for 7 years, remembered what he was doing and finished with 14 for his day.

Eric W with one of 28 fish he landed in 3 days at Lower

Kitza had a slightly slower day and they finished with 22 and a lot of those fish came from Reel and Spey. As soon as we had landed at Lower the team had their rods up and were fishing the home pools. It was clear that dinner was going to be delayed so we had a staggered evening as everyone came in when either tired or sated.

Marc W made the best of it and landed 10 fish from Wires whilst also losing a further 9 more. His shell shocked expression when he came back in is the kind of reaction we are all hoping to see.

Kitza last night, still quite high

This morning is bright but there is a tough upstream wind. Not that that mattered to Craig C who went out before breakfast and took 2 fish from Heli. Everyone was bang on time for breakfast and the enthusiasm levels are as high as I have seen – let’s hope for more of the same today.

Charlie White

Up to Middle

After an extremely successful day’s fishing at Lower, I went up to Middle Varzuga to visit the team there for dinner. It takes about 45-50 minutes to get there by boat and whilst wrapped up as best I could, I was pretty cold by the time we got there and was grateful that Terry and Donna had got the fire blazing and the drinks ready.

Hayward F with one of 17 he landed yesterday

They had had a very good day and finished with 93 fish for their total. In amongst the fresh fish they landed, they had also lost roughly the same again, landed twice as many kelts, accounted for 4 decent sized pike and an endless succession of biggish grayling – it was clear that they had been very busy all day. A delicious dinner ensued which certainly kept me much warmer on the way back.

Getting back at just after midnight normally means that you return to a quiet camp but last night there were a few who were keen to celebrate their day and they were right to do so.

Snakes at Peartiha pool at Middle

103 fresh fish to 9 rods is a superb day of sport and it seemed a shame not to mark it with a few vodkas. Hayward F had comfortably the most productive day of his fishing life and accounted for 17 fish whilst Craig P put 20 more in the book.

At Kitza the team landed 32 for their day and again, the catches were spread very evenly although Jo A was the top rod with 7 fish landed from Reel and Camp pools. We will fly over there tonight for the weekly changeover and I will try and take some pictures of the water height for those of you coming later in the season.

Craig P with the perfect springer at Moskoi

Today we will take Toby and Beanie to Pana with the Russian team and set up that camp which will welcome its first guests on Saturday. Having spent time at Lower learning the ropes, Toby is raring to go and to have charge of his own camp.  Beanie was here last year which is always a massive help as it can be daunting being dropped in the middle of the tundra and being told to get on with it.  Having seen it all before makes it much easier.

Toby and Beanie - looking forward to welcoming their first guests of the season

It is a beautiful day for flying with a blazing sun and very little wind. The bright sun does not seem to affect the fishing as you might expect as there is always a peaty tint to the water. This has been proved by Craig P already landing another fish before breakfast so we seem set for another good day.

Charlie White

P.S. A very happy birthday to Braydyn Whalen from his Dad, Marc

Have faith

It doesn’t matter how cool you try to be or how many times you look at the statistics of the river over the years, there is always an underlying doubt as to what you will find year on year. Will the fish run, will they be there in the numbers you hope and more to the point, will they play ball?

The answer is that we should show more faith in the river. Yes, one year will be different from another and catches may vary but the remarkable thing about this river is its underlying consistency.

Ken B on Moskoi Island

Yesterday was a case in point. We started with the brightest of bright sunshine, then had some really cold showers combined with a pretty unpleasant upstream wind, none of which seemed to make much difference.

Here at Lower our nine rods (John, you are much missed) put 95 fish in the book. A very good day by any measure but we lost twice as many more and the action was fast and furious. Michael E demonstrated his knowledge of the beat by landing 20 to his rod and Mark E made the most of an afternoons session on Moskoi to finish with 16 for his day.

Craig P on Bear Island

At Middle Varzuga, the 12 rods accounted for 76 more, with fish being landed from Birthday pool all the way up to Korevi Pots. Given that Lower’s most productive pool has been at the bottom of the beat it would indicate that the main run of fish is only just starting and it seems likely that the catches at Middle have just begun the upward curve that we are so used to seeing.

Michael E with one of 9 he took from Larder

Kitza has started really well and they accounted for 32 fish with Graham J the top rod having landed 8 fish from Spey Pool. Ollie reported a very happy camp with fish landed below and above Clay View.



Sue C on Bear Corner - one of the 11 she landed yesterday

Today is grey and cold but that did not deter Sue C who went out this morning and landed 6 fish from Heli pool in an hour and a half. Craig P joined her and took 3 fish on his spilt cane rod – not a bad way to start the day.

Charlie White

Old friends

As ever, it is great to be back on the Varzuga. We are only here for a short period of the year but we have been doing it a long time and firm friendships have been made.

After too long counting down the days, it is always a real pleasure to walk into the Helsinki Hilton and see so many familiar and friendly faces at the bar. Aware that it is a very early start in the morning, we do all try to make a token effort to be sensible but it never seems to work out that way.

Ken L with a chunky fish landed on Friday

Flying into camp is another moment to catch up with all of the guides and staff who we know so well. The Russians have a reputation for being dour but no one who steps off the helicopter, to be greeted by bear hugs and huge smiles, could ever go along with that.

We landed in brilliant sunshine and it was not long before the first rods were out on the river. Whilst Saturday is really only a bonus day, there are always the home pools to fish and most, if not all, want to take advantage of that.

Midnight last night

 At Lower Varzuga we landed 21 fish before dinner which was a fantastic start. Everyone is normally pretty tired on the first night as it is a long day of travel but the energising effect of a river full of salmon certainly worked its magic and it was not the earliest night we have ever had.

Up at Middle, the extremely experienced team were pretty much in their waders before I had taken off in the helicopter to come back to Lower. They too had over 20 by the time they came in for supper and knowing the rods who fish this week, I suspect they would have had some more after that and some before breakfast this morning.

Rods raring to go this morning

Kitza opens this week and it looks great. It is still quite high but is dropping in really nicely. The rods landed 4 fish in and around camp last night and Ollie reported more being landed early this morning. The new showers and refurbishment of the camp has made it look much smarter but it retains all of its charm.

Craig P with his own design hat. Russian writing to spell Varzuga

We start this morning in bright sunshine and having already landed quite a few fish before breakfast; everyone has gone out with a real sense of hope and excitement.

Charlie White

Stable River

It has remained pretty mild for this time of year and the forecast looks reasonably settled for next week. Varzuga veterans will know how changeable it can be up here and you really do need to be prepared for that cold North wind that on occasions catches us out. I use http://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:00000.1.22324 which gives you the forecast at Umba, some 130 km to the west of here.  Like all forecasts you just need treat it as only an indication of what the weather will be; keep your warm gloves and hat in your day pack!

Lunch Pool at Lower Camp yesterday

We had a benign, warm spring day on Thursday. There is a distinct hint of spring in the air and boating down from Middle Camp in the morning we passed skeins of ducks, geese and two pairs of swans all heading north to their breeding areas. The ravens opposite us at Lower Camp have started on their nest – about 5 days later than last year for some reason.

Signs of Spring

The water temperature this morning is 9⁰C and we are debating moving on to intermediate tips, or perhaps even trying floating lines on the shallow tails of some of the pools. Yet the river remains high, we had a few hours of heavy rain in the evening,  and this morning the river is steady, no drop overnight; so the general consensus is to stay with medium sinking tips just now. I suspect that next week, if the river drops off a few more inches, then we can start the change to floating lines.

Geoff F and Sergey setting off this morning

At dinner last night the Lower Camp team of eight were really chuffed to have banked 69 salmon and to have got well ahead of Middle Camp who had a duller day and finished on 40. Not quite sure why that was – something to do with the party on Wednesday night?

Jonathan B with a bright spring salmon at Lunch Pool

Earlier in the week the salmon seemed to be holding back below Morskoy Rapids at Lower Camp however with the increase in water temperature they are starting to run in real numbers and we can see them splashing through to thier way upstream. Toby Burrell, the Pana Fishing Manager is out here this week and willing the salmon on up river to Pana which we will commence fishing on 30 May.

Kitza from the helicopter yesterday

I went over to Kitza in the afternoon to see Ollie and Rosie and to drop off more supplies. They had landed a couple of salmon from Camp Pool and Sasha’s, the river is dropping in slowly and remains at about 5⁰C – if you are fishing Kitza next week expect it to be higher and colder than Varzuga. You ought to have at least a medium sinking tip and a handful of heavy flies. We have suitable flies in camp if you get caught out!

Christopher Robinson

Level Pegging

Salmon fishing is, or should be, a contemplative pastime. Competition ought to be reduced to just you and the fish, or perhaps to you and your casting, or to you and the weather; it a personal escape mechanism from the haste and pressure of modern life. There is however always a keen interest here on the Varzuga in the evening radio call. Partly to see what the various camp scores are and partly I guess to understand what the salmon are doing. Is there a big run coming through the lower river? etc.
 

One from the boat at Birthday Pool

Yesterday the scores were level pegging. Tiffy and I had come up to see the Middle Camp guests and to drop off more kit (and lots more tonic water!). We had not yet had a cast this season so we popped out in the boat to Birthday Pool and shortly had a cracking fish of about 13lbs. Terry agreed not to put it in the book and at the evening radio call the scores were level - 64 salmon to each camp for the day. Not bad! and all were delighted.

Laura in action by the banya in Bear

At Lower Camp Robin M opened up Larder Pool with three salmon in the afternoon. Larder is normally one of the most productive spots at this height, and being directly opposite camp we can watch the fishers and see the glint of sunlight on bent rods. For some reason this year it has been slow, perhaps the river is changing.

One of the 60 + fresh silver springers from Middle Camp yesterday - not bad for 7 rods!

Up at Middle Camp the Bear Pool is out fishing Generator. Normally in the evening everyone is out on Generator, last night when we arrived there were four guests fishing Bear as far down as the camp banya, landing six salmon in a hour or so. The river seems to be changing here too and perhaps Generator will lose its fabled status to Bear.

Digby and Sasha

We have another warm, mild and still day again. The water temperature is up to 7⁰C and at breakfast the air temperature was 12⁰C. Most rods are fishing medium sink tips, if the weather remains warm we might be onto intermediate tips by the end of the week. As always - you are best advised to bring a selection of tips so that you can adjust to water conditions. Flies at the moment are the usual eclectic mix of colours and patterns, the best size being about 1.5" to 2". Bring layered clothing and remember we are a long way North - the weather can be 'changeable'!

I am posting this blog from Middle Camp so have had to compress the photos more than lately.

More news tomorrow from Varzuga.

Christopher Robinson

Kitza

We had lovely mild weather yesterday and in the afternoon the wind dropped right down. It felt pretty warm in the sun and in places there are the signs of green shoots poking through the brown, dried old grass. Here at Lower Camp the beat below Morskoy rapids was the hot spot and of our 26 salmon landed 15 came from there; a sure sign that the main run of fish is building up.

The road to Kuzomen

Up at Middle Terry reported that the team of seven rods had landed 63 salmon; the fish were well spread out over all the beats. As of yet they have not fished up the Yovas rapids above Clarkes Corner and I suspect that it will not be until next week, when we have 12 rods fishing, that they will venture up there.

Loading stores into the Kitza boats on the White Sea coast

I took Ollie Maxwell and Rosie Furnival over to Kitza to settle them in and to see the camp. Tom Ledger is also out here this week and with four season’s experience of fishing and guiding on Kitza he will make sure that Ollie gets a good feel for the river before our first Kitza guests arrive this Saturday. The river was high, but dropping in nicely and running pretty clear. As always it will be about a week or so behind Varzuga in terms of height and water temperature. Ura said that the salmon were already there and Sasha’s did look very inviting, but sadly time did not permit a quick flick or two. Honest!

Kitza River, looking upstream from Clay View yesterday

Ura and his team have been in camp since early May and have done wonders. New doors have been fitted on the bedroom cabins, new floors laid, new showers installed and there is lots of shiny new paint etc. We have not enlarged the sitting room this year; although we had had a plan to do this it proved to be structurally impossible to do – so Plan B is to rebuild the whole Lodge, both sitting room and dining room for 2016. On reflection I am sure that makes sense and rather than a bodged temporary fix we can rebuild properly for the long term. But there is a new sofa and some new chairs on the way, the fireplace is painted and it all looked most welcoming.

Robin M with another springer from Morskoy

The drive over the remarkable Kuzomen desert is always memorable and we stopped for a few photos and to admire the estuary and White Sea. On the drive back there was not one of us who did not want to be left at Kitza for a week or so – what a charming camp it is.

It is mild again this morning, the river continues to drop and salmon are showing. Looking good.

Christopher Robinson

Off To The Races

Yesterday, our second day of fishing this season, it all started to come together. Between the 15 rods on the two beats that we are currently fishing our guests landed over 100 bright, fresh spring salmon. It is still not warm, the water temperature was 3⁰C, the river is quite high and although it is dropping in nicely we had a brisk upstream wind. Not perfect conditions – but good enough - and everyone made the most of this most productive river.

Robin M with a cracker at Lower Camp

Upstream from here at Middle Camp they had a really excellent day with Clarkes Corner, just below Yovas Rapids being the usual early season hot spot. Likewise Morskoy, the lowest rapid on the river, was the hot spot at Lower Camp. That said, the salmon are now pretty well spread out and with the water level slowly dropping each day more pools are coming into their own.

Digby F at Middle with a lovely fish from Clarkes

I miss-reported yesterday – at Middle we had three ‘first salmon’ on our opening day, Giles, Tim and Charles all landed their first salmon. A great start for them. I saw the Middle Camp last night and they were all delighted with the way the week was developing, the score was still being assessed when I left but it seemed that the seven rods had caught over 70 salmon for the day. Returning to Lower Camp I saw our Fishing Manger, Bill Drury, who was delighted to report 41 salmon for the day, including another first for Neil C; I understand it was suitably celebrated at dinner!

Terry and Laura at Middle

The numbers actually landed at Lower Camp somewhat underplay the action, for some reason the fish were taking short, just not really taking the fly aggressively enough, as a result we lost a lot. Ken and Geoff landed 19 between them, but they lost 43! By ‘lost’ I mean rod well bent and the thought turning to landing the fish – not just an ‘on-off’. The long inquest has not produced any meaningful explanation – such is salmon fishing.


Heli pool at Lower this morning

The river is down again this morning, we are getting towards a really interesting spring height. A brighter day this morning, not too cold and all were on the water right on time eager to make the most of it. I hope to get over to Kitza today and if so will get a photo or two for the blog. Our first guests arrive there this Saturday, Ura reports that the river looks good and he has all his boats in the water.

More on Kitza, and an update from Middle and Lower Camps tomorrow, in the meantime with the river looking really quite good, Spring in the air, and salmon running in earnest there is a distinct fishing optimism here.

Christopher Robinson

The First Day

After an evening’s unpacking, settling in and a cast or two for the keenest on Saturday evening we commenced fishing yesterday in earnest. It was not the easiest day weather wise with a brisk, cold upstream wind and here at Lower we made sure that the Banya was fired up to warm up our guests when they got it from the river.

Ken and Geoff at Bear Island

The river had dropped over night and through the day continued to do so. At Lower camp we struggled a bit; dirty water was coming in from the Sobacci stream which was in full spate and with the river still high the wading in the withy bushes was not easy. After lunch Sergey took Geoff and Ken out in the boat and roping down on the anchor by Bear Island (still well under water) they picked up four bright silver spring salmon.

Generator Pool at Middle Camp

Up at Middle, Terry reported that water was much cleaner and the seven rods there landed 35 salmon. Leading the way was Laura H who showed the men how to do it by landing eight fish from Peartiha. Generator fished well too and Tim D landed his first ever salmon there to much celebration.

First salmon for Tim D

So – not a bad start at all although we would have liked to have contacted more fish here at Lower Camp. In the afternoon Michael and Alan fished Moskoi with Feodor and though they only had a few takes that did not convert they saw fish showing as they came in from the sea. Overnight the river has continued to drop and it looks a great deal more manageable today and I’m sure we will see the score here at Lower much improved.

Jonny and Laura H

The weather looks pretty settled for the coming week, it might be a bit chilly but no real rain is forecast so we can expect steadily improving conditions. I look forward to updating you tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

The first Finair charter aircraft of the Kola salmon fishing season arrived yesterday at Murmansk from Helsinki, on board were our guests for both Middle and Lower Camps. With only 18 on the first flight this year they cleared through immigration and customs quickly; as always it took a bit of time to sort the bags out and make sure the helicopter was loaded correctly, however by just after 2 p.m. we were all in camp. A point to note - the time zone has changed this year - Russia is only 2 hours ahead of UK time.

Middle Camp and arrival helicopter in the background

The weather in Murmansk was pretty foul, about 4⁰C, grey and drizzly, but once into the Varzuga water-shed we arrived to a wonderfuly warm, sunny, spring afternoon. At Middle Camp Terry and Donna had laid out welcoming drinks, coffee, soup and the ever present Middle Camp bloody mary jug on the veranda. At Lower the fire was lit and Markye’s home made chocolate chip biscuits made us welcome.

Midnight last night

Since I left on Friday morning the river had dropped at least a foot. At Middle it was running clear, at Lower we had a touch of colour still in the water, but the trend looked good.

Tackling up this morning - quite chilly and a real contrast to yesterday

Our arrival day is not really a full fishing day. In other words if we get into camp early enough, of course our guests can put up their rods and have a go. But is also the guides’ day off, so it is a bit of self-help (bonus) fishing. Up at Middle they landed a handful of salmon, inevitably from Generator. Here at Lower we fished Heli Pool only and did not manage to land one, but we all noted the dropping river and at dinner we were chatting about the improving prospects for the week.

Michael H ready for action this morning

This morning, Sunday, the river has dropped steadily over night; it is not yet at the optimal spring height, I think we need a couple more days, but it looks increasingly better. After the bright, warm spring day of yesterday this morning the weather has turned again; we have a cold upstream wind, it is grey and dull and really quite chilly. Although not really pleasant to be out in at least it will slow down the snow melt and we can now commence fishing knowing that each day increasing numbers of salmon will come in.

Christopher Robinson