Back from Pana

Well that was fun. Three days in the simply glorious surroundings of Pana with clients who know it so well. In truth, the water is too high for it to be at its best but it is such a stunning camp in utter tranquillity that it seems picky to say that it could be any better.

Paul C with one from the Indel

I left Lower Varzuga on Saturday to fly to Murmansk and on the way it was obvious that all of the feeder streams had pretty much dried up and you would expect the river to drop quite quickly. However, some serious rain in the past couple of days has changed the game and as I flew back in yesterday, I could see Sobacci stream running very high and all of the smaller burns are also pumping water into the system. All of which has meant that we are faced with a rising and quite dirty river – not ideal.

 

Beany - not about to be put off by the rain on Sunday

That was slightly evident in the catches yesterday but as ever, you cannot help but be amazed as to how many fish we actually do catch in conditions that should write everything off.

Pana finished with 27 to the 8 rods which was lower than we would hope but not much is going to get in the way of the team enjoying themselves. Paul C had 4 fish from the Indel before lunch and Jack M continues to catch fish in all sorts of circumstances.

Grant I on the Wires yesterday

Kitza had a better day and they put 36 in the book. Chic McS was the top rod with 9 but from this morning’s conversation on the radio it would seem harsh to expect too much from the rods today. A very major party took place last night and Ollie was not sure how many would make breakfast. I think he is underestimating the stamina of the team and my guess is that they will all be out on the river before too long.

Middle shows true consistency throughout the season and yesterday was no different. 64 fish to the 12 rods was the final tally with John M scoring 11 for his day. JP C also had a good day with 9 fish but it was very even otherwise.

Damian S all smiles after another fish from the Pana home pool

We had a rather tougher day at Lower as, being at the bottom of the system, we are more affected by the feeder streams but even so we still put 27 fish in the book. Barbara H had 4 for her day and remarked that she has been waiting all her life to catch more than two fish in a day and she has now done it three days in a row. We raised a glass (or 3) to David H as he landed a salmon that took him to 200 fish for his salmon fishing career which involves 20 different river and 6 different countries.

Keith C on Heli last night

It is a much better day today with very little wind and bright skies. This will help settle the river down and we should be on a more even keel before too long. Paul B has been out this morning to land two fish from Heli before breakfast and spirits are high – long may it continue.

Charlie White

North Wind

It has not been the easiest start to the week from a weather point of view. After the rain on Sunday the wind has set itself in the North, and yesterday was strong enough to dampen a few spirits at the Lower Camp where, along with Middle the river is wider and more exposed. After dinner they all hunkered down by the fire in the Lodge and did not head out to Heli Pool – many spirits of a different sort were raised in ‘various toasts’ as Bill reported this morning!

Fishing Heli Pool at Lower in the wind

Pana had a another good day with the team of eight landing 43 salmon, Jack M had 14 of them fishing from the Old Bridge down to camp. Good news as it means the salmon are now right through the river system – pretty much on time; I always have 6 June in mind, so the cooler weather this year has not delayed them much.

Terry at Middle reported 62 fish for the day – a good result in the wind. Andy B did well with 16 to his rod. Kitza, for the first time in 10 days or so, had a tougher day as well and they reported 29 for the eight rods. Charlie has sent over another guitar – they have two now at Kitza – not sure if the legendry Kitza Kitchen Parties are playing a part in the score?

Grant I at Beach yesterday

Lower Camp struggled a bit and ended up with 21 – still, not exactly a disaster in salmon fishing terms. The wind has abated this morning although it looks like it is going to remain from the North for a day or two yet. The river is steady after the rain, but will commence its slow drop again shortly. Intermediate lines are the best at the moment, if we get some sun on the river the water temperature will soon be back up to over 12⁰C, so if you are coming next week make sure you have a floating line and also an intermediate tip.

Varzuga Village - potato patch ready to go

This morning Sasha went up to the village, the wind is drying the soil out and everyone is getting ready to plant the potato crop. Another sign that summer in Varzuga is not too far away.

Christopher Robinson  

Summer Is Not Here Yet

Just when the weather here at home is settling down and starting to feel like summer the same cannot be said of the weather up north.

Yesterday saw another day of pretty heavy rain on and off all day, this morning Bill Drury reported the weather distinctly chilly with an air temperature of 6⁰C and a sharp wind from the NW. The water temperature has dropped back to 10⁰C.

Grant I at Sviets yesterday

Not ideal conditions and with a slowly rising river as well to add to the ‘fishing excuses’. That said the teams in the four camps had a pretty good day yesterday and the catches have remained remarkably consistent despite the changeable conditions.

Up at Pana they landed exactly 50 salmon with Barry W taking the best fish at 18lbs. Kitza too had a good start to their week with 46 landed, the whole of the beat is fishing well and the salmon seem well spread out from the top at Rackmanns all the way to below the Camp.

The Wires at Lower Varzuga

I do not have news from Middle Camp, but the team there is an experienced one and I’m sure they will have done well. At Lower Camp they landed 39 fish with Ralph C top rod for the day with seven.

With the water temperature down a bit most fishers are sticking with intermediate tips and slightly larger flies. The weather for the week looks to be on the cold side with an East wind, if you are preparing to come out on 13 June those gloves and a hat might be needed.

Bear dog sheltering from the rain at Lower Varzuga

Charlie should be back from his visit to Pana today and I hope we might have some Pana photos on the blog tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

No News Is Good News

This is a somewhat unusual blog today – from Wiltshire in UK rather than direct from the Varzuga, and I am light on ‘breaking news’ photos!  Charlie is staying at Pana Camp for a couple of days, a very useful chance for him to spend some time there and to look over the camp infrastructure. Our normal 2 hour visits with a millboard and a list might seem to be productive, however it is really only when you actually stay a couple of nights in a camp that you fully understand how it is working and what needs to be done.

It is a busy week.  All four camps are up and running and we have 39 guests this week, Bill Drury is anchoring the operation from our base in Lower Camp. He called in last night (Saturday night) with the call we all want to hear – all the guests were in the camps in good time and many were already out on the river.



Lower Varzuga on Friday - Brendan G

This morning it is pouring with rain again and looking at the forecast http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=umba it looks like another unsettled week. Maybe not the most pleasant fishing conditions; but much better than a dreaded high pressure system that might park itself over the Kola for a week or more - great if you want a suntan, but that is not why you come to Varzuga.

Bill sent me a text to disturb my early Sunday morning, with the weather really closed in the HF radio reception is rubbish so Middle and Pana did not get through with a report this morning. Each camp has a backup satellite phone, they are expensive to use so for the morning call we work on a ‘No News is Good News’ basis – for the evening check if the we fail on the radio then the camps have to call in on the Sat Phone with a report.

Wiltshire this Sunday morning

At Lower Camp we have our Instructional Week with both Bill Drury and Eoin Fairgrieve on hand – a wonderful chance to experience some of the best salmon fishing with two masters of the art to guide and coach. Paul B got off to a good start with 3 salmon from Wires before dinner and over at Kitza they also had a handful of fish from the camp pools in the evening before Rosie served supper.

Mouse defences in Lower Camp

The water temperature is steady at 12C and this rain should keep the river topped up. Floating lines are working, my hunch is that an intermediate tip and a slightly heavier fly will be the killing method if you really want numbers rather than the fun (in my view!) of fishing a floater. It is too early really to predict the conditions for the week starting 13 June, let’s see how this week pans out first.

More tomorrow!

Christopher Robinson

 

 

Power cut

Yesterday was a really good day over all of the camps. Middle had their best day of the week and finished on 108 fish to their 12 rods. I asked Terry who had stood out from the crowd in terms of bigger catches etc and he simply replied "everybody" which was a nice sentiment but doesn’t help much!

William P-S on the Wires

Kitza also had their best day of the week and put 55 in the book. Tom M and Jamie K went all the way up to the top of the beat and fished their way down. Tom had a staggering day and finished with 18 to his rod.

Terry Malin, the Middle Varzuga manager

Pana is currently the model of consistency and they ended on 50 for their 8 rods. Ian S was the top rod with 15 fish in the day but with fish landed from Poachers Pines to Ponzoi, it looks very well set for the rest of the season.

Igor and Tolik ready for action this morning

Here at Lower we finished with 44 recorded. Bruce B and Brendan G continue to lead the way and furthermore have been out before breakfast and have already landed 6 between them. It has rained almost solidly for the past 24 hours but that has not a chance of dampening the spirits here and everyone has gone out with a real determination to make the most of the last day of the week.

Lucy M in a rare moment of sunshine yesterday

We are in the middle of a 36 hour power cut at Lower Varzuga at the moment. We have dusted off long forgotten generators and are all crowding around the one socket which has enough power to charge phones and computers. Radios are down and communication is by text so the fishing reports are a bit lighter than usual.

Our old generator - not something I expected us to be needing this season

That might also be the case over the weekend as on Saturday I am flying to Pana to spend some time in that camp. Bill Drury will be giving the fishing reports to Christopher Robinson who is currently in the UK and he will update the blog. I will be back on Tuesday when normal service should resume.

Charlie White

To Middle

Yesterday was a really changeable day in terms of the weather. Heavy showers were followed by blue skies which were then followed with monsoon like conditions. I managed to pick the key monsoon period to boat up to Middle to have dinner there. Over an inch fell in that hour and it is fair to say that I was quite pleased to get off the boat and into the warm dining room.

Lucy M with a lovely fish from Beach

The 12 rods there were in great spirits and we had a really good evening. They landed 96 for the day with David C the top rod on 15 fish. Donna’s theme was the 80’s with prawn cocktail as the starter, followed by roast pork and apple pie, all delicious and it was great to see everyone enjoying their week so much.

A full moon at 1am this morning

I got back at around 1am to find that most of our clients had gone to bed as a combination of wind and rain had meant a tiring day. We finished our day at Lower with 48 fish to the 9 rods.  John G-H is much missed and we look forward to seeing him next year. As predicted, Bruce B and Brendan G were our top rods but fish were caught from the top to the bottom of the beat.

Brendan G on the Wires last night

Kitza totalled 28 fish which was a bit slower than we might have expected. However, it sounds from the radio call this morning as if they got over that fact pretty quickly and a party in the kitchen went on into the very small hours of this morning. I could blame the radio reception but I think that the quiet voices that came through over the radio were more to do with a late night rather than atmospherics.

Kitza on Tuesday night - looks perfect

Pana carries on apace and they had a further 51 fish to their 8 rods. Benjamin B seems to be the man this week for the bigger fish and he took a cracking 16lber from Home pool. They have not started the float trip yet but Toby is seriously considering doing that either today or tomorrow as he boated up above camp yesterday and there are obviously fish all the way up there.

Michael G just before he flew to Kitza

This morning is grey and cold but Joe and Lucy M have been out early and landed a fish apiece before a slip and an exploded lifejacket put an end to that. Rearming took place during breakfast and everyone was at the boats on the dot of 9 o’clock, conscious that the week is flying by.

Charlie White

Kitza changeover

We run two weeks of the season where the rods at Lower Varzuga and Kitza swap over after 3 days of fishing. Everyone comments that it feels more like two trips as after the changeover it seems as if you have started a new holiday. The same was true last night. After the mandatory "how did you get on" between the rods changing camps, we flew back to Lower and everyone was raring to try the new water.

Not a bad idea as it turns out as Bruce B and Brendan G have managed to land 16 fish between them before they have set eyes on their guide this morning.

Lucy M on Kitza

Yesterday was a good day across all of the camps but the wind in the afternoon made life much harder than we would have preferred.

The 12 rods at Middle Varzuga finished their day with 75 fish in the book. Alan S and Jeremy H had 8 fish apiece to be the top rods which probably demonstrates how evenly the catches were spread.



Jamie K with his guide at Lower, Sergei

Pana continues to impress and the 8 rods there finished with an even 50 fish recorded. Benjamin B landed the biggest fish of the season so far from Choppy. 21lbs of silver was the perfect way to start the day but in a continuing theme, they lost lots of fish and the action was fast and furious.

The 10 rods who flew to Kitza last night finished with 32 for their last day at Lower. Tom M and Jamie K were the top rods with 7 and 6 fish respectively. We had a really productive morning but struggled with the upstream wind after lunch.

Tudor D on Jannaways

 "Every day was better than the last which is quite something given that the first day was the best day of my fishing life" was one of the comments from the rods we picked up at Kitza. They had ended with 38 in the book with William P-S landing 7 of them. They landed fish all the way up to Rackmans and it is simply stunning up there at the moment.

Tolik in a familiar pose

This morning is not so stunning with very heavy rain. Lunch will be back at camp as opposed to our normal picnic on the bank which can mean a later start to the afternoon than normal but with Brendan and Bruce determined to make the most of it, it seems unlikely that we will be delayed for too long.

Charlie White

Surface action

In a place that is all about salmon fishing it is not unsurprising that quite a lot of time is dedicated to discussing the best tactics, terminal tackle, the argument of nylon against fluorocarbon and many others. What is for sure though is that as our season goes on, we will move away from sinking and intermediate tips to full floaters. We are certainly approaching that time now.

Virginia W on Upper Sviats

Tom M had 8 fish for his morning, all of which took on the surface and as I watched him fish the Wires yesterday afternoon, he had any amount of fish come at his fly. A lot missed as they slashed at it too hard but it barely mattered as the end result was not so much about numbers in the book as it was the sheer enjoyment of seeing such aggressive takes.

In the end he finished the day on 14 fish, helping us toward 48 for our day. Virginia W is doing her best to keep her guide busy and was rewarded with 9 to her rod.

Feorder and Misha - lynchpins of Lower Varzuga

Kitza continues its upward curve and the 9 rods there finished on a tally of 45. Joe M, who has fished this river so many times, showed his knowledge of the beat and was the top rod with 12. They went down to the White Sea last night and whilst it was pretty cold, a few vodka toasts to the extraordinary environment down there certainly took the edge off.

Middle Varzuga continues to be ultra consistent. 76 fish were landed yesterday with Paul C the top rod on 11 fish. He also had a cracking fish of around 15-16lbs from the tail of Birthday. Otherwise their scores were very even across all of the rods and all of the beats are producing fish.

Rhodri D on 39 Steps

Pana has started with a bang. 54 was their total for the day with Doug U the top rod on 14. He landed 10 in his morning session at Ponzoi and his fishing partner Ian S was not far behind. Toby, the camp manager, can barely contain his enthusiasm over the radio and it is great to see them getting off to such a flyer.

It is a mixed today with plenty of blue sky but a cold wind. That has not put off our team who have already shared quite a few fish before breakfast and they are determined to make the most of it. Tonight we go to Kitza for the mid week changeover and I will try to bring some pictures from there.

Charlie White

All camps up and running

Our season on the Varzuga is a very short one. Lower is only open for 4 weeks, Pana the same whilst Kitza fishes for 5 weeks and Middle is open for 7 weeks. The reason for this is that we try to put rods on the river only when we believe that each camp will be at its best.

Therefore, when you have all 4 camps open at the same time as we have now, it is the moment for the river to come up trumps – it did yesterday.

Tudor D just before trying to swim the river rather than wade it

Pana opened their season with 31 fresh fish to the 8 rods. Often in the opening week the main head of fish haven’t quite got to camp and you need to boat down river to intercept them but yesterday they landed fish in and around camp as well as down at Ponzoi which is very encouraging. Domingo P was the top rod with 6 fish but it was a close run thing as to whether he was happier about that or about his beloved Barcelona’s football result!



Virginia W managing to look glamorous whatever the circumstances

Kitza has started to kick in as we would hope having been a bit stubborn so far. The 9 rods over there put 34 in the book with the greatest celebration being saved for Simon H who landed his first ever salmon. Bruce B was also quietly celebrating his own day having landed 9 to his rod.

Here at Lower Varzuga our team recorded 62 fish for the day. Catches were noticeably even across the board but the top rod was Michael S-D with 13 closely followed by Jamie K and Tom M who each landed 8.

Bob M with one of 5 he landed in the afternoon

Middle continues to do very well if not, by its own stellar standards, as well as we unfairly expect it to. 75 fish to 12 rods can only be described as a great day but there was a sense that the rods were having to work harder for their fish than they have in seasons past. Nothing wrong with that as, despite the numbers, no one who has fished here will tell you that it is easy fishing.

The team during dinner last night

Today is grey with a cold wind and for the first time our water temperature, 13 degrees, is warmer than the air (around 9 at the moment) Common wisdom dictates that this does not help the fishing but that did not stop Virginia W landing 2 fish this morning in about 20 minutes or Tom M and Patrick F also landing fish before breakfast. All the camps are up and running and it is all systems go.

Charlie White

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