Kitza changeover

After a very good days fishing here at Lower we flew over to Kitza to do the mid week changeover. As ever, it was good to see Kitza and to hear the many happy tales of fish lost and landed from the team who are now in camp with us.

Michael E and his team, who started their week at Lower, finished with 255 fish for their 3 days fishing – an excellent total and everyone left here in great spirits, excited to be going over to Kitza where the fish are really starting to build in numbers.

John M on Bear Corner

The team that we picked up had a great days fishing yesterday and landed 40 fish between them with Joe L taking a really chunky fish from Sasha’s. As we had hoped, they reported seeing a lot of fish moving through the bottom of the beat and everybody remarked on the strength of these fresh fish.

Not wanting to waste any time at all, we had a quick dinner and some of the rods went straight out again with Alan M being the star performer taking 4 fish in quick succession from the Wires. Demonstrating admirable stamina, Alan was out before breakfast this morning and had a further 4 fish from Heli pool to show everyone what the river was capable of producing.

Sue C with a nice one from the boat

It is a very cold morning but everyone was out at the boats at exactly 9am in order to make the most of their time here. We are still fishing sink tips and intermediate lines with 1 inch tubes but with the water temperature creeping up to 9 degrees this morning, I expect us to be on floating lines and size 6 flies before too long.

Eric W with one of 6 he landed yesterday

At Middle Varzuga the 12 rods landed 89 salmon yesterday with Paddy F landing 9 fish in his afternoon session. For the first time this week, the higher beats offered some excellent fishing and Hugh, the manager at Middle, is keen to get more rods up there today – it is a stunning part of the river and when the fish are there in numbers it is hard to beat.

Kitza last night

Today we are flying the 80 miles to Pana to take Damian and Charlotte up there to open up the camp before their first guests arrive on Saturday. I will take some pictures of the river and I expect to see Hippo Rock well out of the water.

Charlie White

The fishing continues to impress

Yesterday was one to confound all theories about salmon fishing. Sue C started proceedings by landing 5 fish out of Heli pool before breakfast - at that time the air temperature was considerably colder than the water. We then had barometric pressure that was up and down like a yoyo with a really cold morning followed by a searingly hot afternoon – none of which affected the fishing in the slightest.

We finished our day at Lower Varzuga with 79 salmon landed to the 10 rods with everyone doing well. Graham M, Hugh N and Sue C all landed more fish in a day than ever before and everyone reported that they had seen, hooked, lost and landed some really decent fish. The fish we are seeing are really well conditioned and John M landed one on Beach yesterday morning which he simply described as “salmon perfection”.

Hugh N with Damian who will shortly be going to Pana

Kitza recorded 32 fish for the day with David B taking the honours in the morning by landing 5 fish from Third Island and Goldmine. Encouragingly, Alan M was fishing Sasha’s in the afternoon and took 4 salmon, straight off the tide, in fairly short order and Tom reported seeing lots of fish running through the beat. Despite low water and a big flood, the main run of fish is bang on time.

I spoke to Tom at an earlier than agreed radio time as he arranged a flotilla of boats to take everyone down to the White Sea for a barbecue dinner. There are very few places more atmospheric than down there and he reported that everyone had felt that there was something special about being “at the end of the world”.

Maryke, our cook at Lower, with her first salmon

The 12 rods at Middle Varuzga landed 95 for their day with scores evenly spread across the board. It remains the case that the beats nearer the camp are the most productive but every beat is producing fish. The water is dropping quite quickly and many of the fish are running the middle of the river which does mean that those who can cast a good and straight line will be the most rewarded.

Graham M with one of 5 he landed yesterday

It is a grey day this morning but all are determined to make the most of their final day at Lower and the boats left at 9 o’clock sharp. Tonight we will take our clients over to Kitza and bring those rods back here for the mid week changeover and I will try and get some pictures of the river for those of you coming later in the season.

Charlie White

A superb start to the week

The second week of the season has started in style with all of the camps reporting some great fishing.

Being based at Lower Varzuga, it is inevitable that we hear more first hand accounts of battles won and lost here than we do about the other camps but it was clear that both Hugh and Tom had plenty to tell me and it was highly encouraging to hear their enthusiasm despite a rather crackly radio last night.

At Lower, many of the experienced rods broke their own personal records with Eric W landing 11 in his morning session at Bear Corner whilst Ed M finished with 14 fish for the day. Caleb S was not keen on coming back into dinner and who can blame him as he capped off a brilliant session by landing his 21st fish of the day.

Ed M at the bottom of Bear Island

Over dinner there were many tales of fish lost when firmly hooked which was backed up by Michael E, who has been here countless times and knows the beats intimately, who recounted how he had lost 8 fish in a row on Bear Corner before landing one. We concluded that it was entirely possible that the 10 rods had had encounters with well over 200 fish yesterday with 107 of those actually landed – a great day in every respect.

As regular blog readers will know, getting definite figures from Middle Varzuga is practically impossible as at nearly every hour of the day, at least 1 or 2 rods will be fishing but Hugh said his best estimate was that they were up to around 135 in the book since the team landed on Saturday evening. They most productive fishing is still below Clarks but every day more and more fish are being landed in the higher beats.

John M, fishing with Ed at Bear Island

The day at Kitza was a tale of two halves. They concentrated on the normally productive lower beats in the morning but very little was caught below Sasha’s which is strange for this time of the year. At lunch they decided to head upstream and immediately started finding fish. Understandably the team are keen to go up there today and it will be interesting to see how they get on. They landed 35 for their day with Alan M taking a cracking fish from Gold Mine.

Blogging - Russian style.

It is cold this morning with a biting wind but Sue C landed 5 fish before breakfast from Heli and the weather has not dampened anyone’s enthusiasm. The water temperature is at 8 degrees and dropped only an inch overnight; we are hopeful of a similar day to yesterday.

Charlie White

Great to be back

It is great to be back on the Varzuga and thank you to Christopher for setting up the camps and ensuring that everything is running so smoothly.

The Friday night in Helsinki is very much the beginning of the trip as everyone catches up and discusses the reports from the river. Excitement levels were high and after last week rightly so.

The 10 rods at Lower Varzuga finished their week with 409 salmon to the bank – a superb week of fishing and many of the rods caught their first salmon which is always wonderful to see. Bill Drury was on hand to offer advice to the team and he will be back with Eoin Fairgrieve at the beginning of June for their tuition week which we are much looking forward to.

Caleb S with his first Russian salmon last night

There was a combination of experienced hands and new rods in the team at Middle Varzuga and they had an excellent week, landing 392 fish to the 8 rods. As ever, they worked hard for their fish and were handsomely rewarded.

Our arrival into camp could not have been smoother. A pretty quick customs and immigration queue followed by the short bus ride to the helicopters meant that all of us were in our respective camps by 4pm.

Here at Lower, there was a blur of activity as everyone rushed to set up rods and race down to the river. 6 of the 10 rods landed a fish whilst all were connected at some point or another and we had 13 salmon in the book before dinner – not a bad start.

JP M on Heli yesterday evening

At Middle there was, perhaps for the first time ever, more of a leisurely approach with most of them electing to put their rods up and relax after the journey. However, Peter W was not for stopping and landed 5 before Hugh called him in for supper.

The 10 rods at Kitza also had a fairly leisurely start but had landed 6 fish by the time I spoke to Tom at 7pm.

The land of the midnight sun - 11pm last night

It is a stunning day here today with a light upstream breeze and bright skies. The only blot on the horizon is that the mobile mast is down and this is being sent by satellite phone so don’t panic if you do not hear from your loved ones here – everyone is OK! I am not sure when mobile signal will be restored but will keep you updated.

Charlie White

Brief update

We leave early tomorrow and the rods here at Lower are all in, at Middle a few remain out enjoying a few last casts on the Varzuga.

Robin M into a fish on Heli Pool

It was bright again today with a bit of an upstream wind, we saw masses of fish moving through and landed 65 with Alan J (aged 80) landing 17 to his own rod. Jonathan B had the fish of the week this afternoon, around 14lb – 15lb from The Larder. All have remarked on the quality of the fish, really well grown, very fit and amazingly hard fighting. A great week for this party with 406 bright silver spring salmon landed to 11 rods (4 of whom were totally new to salmon fishing just six days ago) - lots of smiles around the dining table this evening.

Jonathan B with salmon of the week

Middle were reporting 69 to the eight rods at dinner, with a number of guests going out afterwards again. They went up Yovas Rapids today and had fish from Green Bank, so next week I guess Hugh will put it on the rotation.

The water temperature was 8.5⁰ C at close of play and the water down a few inches on yesterday. It looks pretty good for next week and I wish them great success.

A happier team would be hard to find!

More from Charlie once he has his feet under this desk – not many desks have a view over the greatest salmon river of them all! I look forward to being back up here in early June.

Christopher Robinson.

A Taste of Summer

Finally we saw the sun yesterday, a glorious day, bright blue at first and then one of those extraordinary, huge skies you get up here crept in - high up in the stratosphere a massive ribbon of mackerel clouds seemed suspended over us all afternoon.

Maryke with lunch at Bear Corner

A wonderful day to be out fishing albeit not ideal conditions from a catching point of view but we all enjoyed the first taste of summer on the edge of the Arctic Circle. In the evening I went up to Middle Camp to see how they were getting on. The water temperature had climbed to 9⁰C, the team reported seeing a great number of fish moving through but they were harder to catch than previously.

They are pretty keen up there at Middle Camp as Varzuga blog watchers will know and by the time Jemima brought the cheese to the table there were only 3 of us left to enjoy it – the others had politely excused themselves and were scrambling back into waders for a last go down Generator and Bear before the air temperature dropped too far. Hugh did not have a definitive score for me this morning as a few had had another cast or two before breakfast but reckoned they were over 50 again for the eight rods.

Johnathan B at Lower Camp with a beautifully marked hen salmon

Charles H at Lower also had a cast before breakfast this morning and gave us encouragement by banking a cracking fresh fish of 9lbs before his fried eggs and bacon. Yesterday we had 53 salmon at Lower, a good day capped off by a master class of guiding by Feodor. At 18:00 prompt, when the other boats were parking up he dropped anchor off the camp lawn and Michael and Alan had three double hook ups with a gallery of spectators cheering them on.


Double hook up for Alan, Michael and Feodor

Tom at Kitza had an hour on Heli Pool yesterday afternoon, the water temperature, as always on Kitza, was a touch cooler than here at 5⁰C, he landed two fresh salmon on an intermediate tip and a Cascade. There is every prospect of Kitza getting off to a really good start this Saturday.

We depart early tomorrow morning for Murmansk, I’ll try and get a quick update through before we go. Charlie will take over from me and I’ll be back in England for a couple of weeks, deeply envious of those up here on this magic river.

Christopher Robinson

Normal Service Resumes

After a tricky day on Tuesday normal service was resumed yesterday with Middle Camp recording 64 salmon and Lower Camp 67. A much easier day, by no means warm but by midday you could have called it ‘soft’; the evening was overcast, the air temperature held up until almost midnight and it was distinctly fishy.

Arnauld F-M and Volva at Middle

At Middle Julian T hit a really big run of fish coming through Party Pool and had 15 by lunch time, he ended up top rod for the day with 20. Again the beats from Snake Pit and down are fishing best, there was a sort of attempt to get up Yovas Rapids, but I guess that the crackle of radios recording fish caught lower down was too much of a temptation and we have not really explored up-stream yet.

At Lower the start was a bit ragged after a well-deserved late night and we were a couple of men down for some of the day. The Senior Team of Alan J and Michael H had 12 salmon each, the third day out of four that they have each caught exactly the same number, they did much of the damage in Morskoy which was loaded with new fish in the afternoon, Michael had trouble keeping them on and reckoned that if he’d landed all he had hooked he would have had well over 20.

Tim T at Lower

At dinner we knew that Middle Camp were on about 60 for the day and we decided that we had to stay ahead of them (only to please our guides here you’ll understand!), so we took advantage of our warmest evening yet and in an hour and a half added another 7 fish to the book just to be sure that we’d be ahead of Middle. In fact that has been our only ‘out of office hours fishing’ so far.

Today has dawned bright and clear, great to see some sun back. Tom at Kitza was planning some test fishing with Ura today and if I hear from them this evening I’ll let you know how they got on. If it stays bright the water temperature should climb a bit today, the height continues to drop, and that will be the norm unless we get rain.

Oliver L who first fished Varzuga in June 1991!

Floating lines and intermediate or slow sink tips are working well. Flies are the usual eclectic collection according to personal preference, size ought to be 1" - 2". If in doubt use the Ally's Shrimp or similar pattern.

Christopher Robinson

To Kitza

We flew over to Kitza yesterday taking Tom and Donna and a full load of supplies. Ura and Luba were there to greet us; wonderful to see them again and enjoy the peace and quiet of that special place. The camp looked well up together, Ura and the team have been busy building a new store beside the kitchen, the banya floor has been repainted and a new floor put down in the dining/sitting room. With the new wooden dining chairs (like Middle Camp – finally!) it was all looking pretty good.  Donna was thrilled to find a brand new cooker and for Tom there was a new generator. Glenn did a ‘once over’ on all the outboards, we left them a spare one and lots of spare parts then flew back in the evening to Lower Camp.

Kitza Camp Pool

On the way over Tom had a text from David P requesting the breaking news on river height and temperature etc. So, David and all you keen Kitza fishers, here is the news and some rather dull, grey photos – it was that sort of light that I think even Matt Harris would have been challenged to take a decent shot.

The water height looked perfect, just off the scrubby bushes in Heli Pool. The water temperature was 4.5⁰C which was pretty much what we expected. Camp Pool looks a touch high at the moment, it is really a medium/low water pool. From the air Sasha’s Pool was begging to be fished – yet again time did not permit a quick go and we left Tom pretending that he had lots to do and would not fish for a day or so, but knowing full well that as soon as our helicopter noise had faded to the West he would be doing a little test fishing just to satisfy himself that the salmon really were there.

Kitza Heli Pool

As always things can change but the start at Kitza on Saturday looks promising and thankfully no repeat of the very high water of last year.

On Lower and Middle yesterday conditions were tougher – none of us really know why, the fish are here in good numbers but they were just ‘off’ for some reason. But ‘off’ on Varzuga is slightly different compared to other rivers and Lower Camp managed over 50 salmon on the bank. Yet again Richard M showed us how to do it and has now landed 57 salmon in just three days. As I mentioned on the blog yesterday we have some really chunky fish coming through and we had several yesterday well into double figures; every salmon seems to be straight in from the sea, in wonderful condition and with that translucent purple, silver and blue sheen to them.

Roma and Robin M with a really chunky springer

Hugh also reported a trickier day at Middle, they had 38 up to dinner with a few guests determined to go back out afterwards. Bizarrely the pool of choice at this time of year, Clarkes, yielded only one fish for the day – an unheard of event! The water temperature was only 4⁰C yesterday so it is unlikely that the salmon are pushing on fast, but to explore a bit Hugh will push a team or two up Yovas Rapids today to see if there are pods of fish in the many resting places they make use of in the canyon.

Matt L with one of 7 salmon he landed yesterday - his third day salmon fishing!

Today is another rather grey, dull day, quite chilly still and we’d love a day or so of sun. The air temperature is stuck at 5⁰C and the water temperature the same. Jamie has just left to prepare a salmon BBQ at Bear Corner for lunch – not exactly BBQ weather but that has not dimmed his Aussie enthusiasm.

More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Mid May Weather

Much more seasonal weather has set in now, typical for the Kola in mid May, overcast and quite chilly with the day temperatures struggling to get much above 6⁰C - 7⁰C. There was the odd snow flake in the air as the boats set off this morning, but luckily the upstream wind of yesterday has reduced to a breeze and that should make casting a tidy, straight line a touch easier.

Julian T at Middle

I went up to see Middle Camp yesterday evening and found them in very good spirits. Inevitably there were a few rods reluctant to leave the fishing on Generator Pool for Jemima’s delicious dinner, but hunger drove them in eventually and we had a very noisy, jolly evening before setting off on a chilly run, into a strong wind, back down to Lower Camp.

Yesterday Middle landed 65 salmon to their team of eight. All the beats are fishing well although Beach was a bit quieter than normal as was Clarkes. Party Pool continues to be exceptional and Phil J had an extraordinary session there catching four really good fish in succession, all over 10lbs, and all a beautiful, straight from the sea, chrome colour. The new showers in the guest cabins have been received well as have the new dining chairs – one or two of the team mourned the passing of the old plastic ones and said things just were not the same without the chance of your chair collapsing during dinner.

Fishing Party Pool

At Lower Camp Richard M led the charge again with 21 salmon to his rod in the total of 78. Again we saw some really good fish coming through and 39 of the salmon weighed in the 8lb – 12lb bracket. For some reason Wires and Duck, normally great pools at this time of year, are not fishing that well so today Jamie is concentrating his efforts downstream with Morskoy and Sviats being the beats of choice.

Freddie P at Middle

We have caught very few kelts down here at Lower, just a handful, yet up-stream at Middle they are hauling them out with one rod getting 28 in a day. For some reason, despite the huge early flood they seem reluctant to leave the middle river. It bears out our feeling here that the salmon tend to run to the calendar rather than water conditions. Despite the big early flood and now the water being a lot lower than this time last year the main run of fresh fish will no doubt hit us in late May and early to mid June as it always does.

Another bar of silver for Robin M

Today we will take Tom and Donna over to Kitza and tomorrow I will have some photos of the river which we start fishing this Saturday. I'll have the latest news too from Ura about the river and fishing prospects.

Christopher Robinson

A Good Start

A damp morning yesterday so we decided to have lunch back in camp. At 1 p.m. the boats came in and it had clearly been a productive morning for most of the rods. There was quite a bit of tackle talk and various lines were changed and adjustments made before all set off for the afternoon session. As we thought, the best combination at the moment is a floating line with an intermediate or slow sinking tip and a brass or aluminium tube fly of 1” – 2”.

Ken L and Sergei at Heli Pool

The water dropped a couple of inches and Sharks Tooth rock, here in Heli Pool at Lower Camp, is just beginning to show. By the afternoon the water temperature was up to 6⁰C, after a hard frost again last night it is back down to 4⁰C this morning.

At Lower Camp we landed 89 salmon to our 11 rods with four guests getting into double figures, notably Richard M with 16 and Robin M, who had not caught a salmon 24 hours ago, with 13. Indeed four of our rods caught their first salmon – a really encouraging start to the season.


Matt L with his second salmon

Above us at Middle Camp they had at least 60 fish to eight rods in addition to the 20 landed on Saturday evening, several had fished late last night (Sunday) and Hugh did not have a final score this morning but was more than happy with the first day. The ice walls have not hindered fishing to any significant degree and only the lower half of Clarkes and a section of Party are affected.

In a similar vein to last year, a number of regular rods commented on the size and great condition of the salmon this season. Michael H had a super fish of about 14lbs and there were several other real trophies in the record book at the end of the day.



Richard M with a real beauty - one of 16 for him yesterday

The rods were off promptly this morning - keen to make the most of the river in such good condition. After a reasonably mild day yesterday everyone is well wrapped up, the air temperature is 5⁰C although with a chill wind from the North East it feels quite a bit colder than that. We will have lunch on the river rather than haul back into camp and Maryke is busy preparing lashings of soup and a hot meal that we will run down the river for them.

An encouraging start! Tonight I will go up to see Middle Camp and will have a first hand report for you tomorrow.  

Christopher Robinson.

Let the Fishing Commence

Our first guests touched down 20 minutes early at Murmansk airport, we were soon on our way to camp and we were on the river for a bonus few hours fishing by 5 p.m. with a later dinner at 9.

Middle Camp yesterday - Generator, lower right, looking perfect

I know I have written the same comment for the last three years – but it really is great to experience the enthusiasm shown by the first guests as they get out of the helicopter and stroll (actually, it is more of a sprint if the truth be known) to look at the un-fished river loaded with spring salmon.


Here at Lower Camp we were quickly off the mark with Alan J landing the first fish in Heli Pool. Matt L and Robin M both had their first ever salmon, in fact Robin landed three in a busy hour in Larder and lost a couple. We had nine on the bank by dinner and although it was a mild evening, and we could have gone back out, we called it quits and hit the sack ‘reasonably’ early after a little celebration.

Alan J getting off the mark

At Middle the eight rods had 18 salmon before dinner with most coming off the lower section of Generator. Bear has some big ice walls on it but is fishable although only produced a couple of fish last night, but it will improve as we get progressively more access to it.
It started raining last night and today is pretty damp and grey, it is forecast to stay this way for the next 24 hours. The water height was steady overnight however I would expect some sort of rise over the next day or so. The water temperature continues to remain around 4⁰C which is perfect for this time of year. We caught fish on floating lines with intermediate tips yesterday evening which was encouraging. The text book would dictate a medium sinking tip but in this slightly lower water than normal it seems less important to get down really deep.

Robin M with his first salmon

As I type, at the dining table with a great view over the river, I have half an eye on Michael and Alan guided by Feodor on the opposite bank in Larder. Feodor has been quite active with the net so I guess they are doing well. I’ll update you tomorrow; in the meantime I think we might have a productive week!
Christopher Robinson

Wish you were here!

We had a wonderfully peaceful yet productive yesterday; being Victory Day meant that most of our Russian friends were in the village, so no helicopters coming in and out ferrying supplies, no jet boats running to and fro from the village - we turned off the insistent crackle of the HF radio in the kitchen and just enjoyed a quiet day getting the last bits in order.

Kari enjoying a quiet day

A ‘productive calm’ we called it at lunch – it may sound all a bit too chilled but the set up here is pretty frenetic and moments like this are welcomed. We have finally got the supplies sorted out, the flooded office and containers have been cleaned and re-occupied, and a lot else besides, so we decided to knock off at 4 p.m. and I then took Jamie in a boat to do another recce of the beats at Lower Camp.

Glenn back in his container workshop

Hugh from Middle came along for the ride as he had not seen the water below here. I asked them to bring their rods and we stopped at The Beach below Morskoy Rapids, the last rapid on the river, and they had a go for thirty minutes or so. A big run of fish came through and with the water temperature nudging 6⁰C we saw numerous fresh salmon showing. Let’s just say that they did OK and we sat on the side of the boat and wished that we had our guests here.

Wish you were here

The water level remains steady; last night we had another really hard frost and the puddles in camp had a good ice covering on them by 11 p.m. At dawn this morning the water temperature was down to 3⁰C. A floating or intermediate line with a slow or medium sinking tip will work well. Flies of 1” to 2”, the colours of choice here always being red and orange, black works well too and there are others who swear by a Green Highlander. In any event, the spring salmon are here in good numbers and they tend to be less picky than their summer cousins regarding flies.

Green Bank last night

Today I go to Murmansk to collect some supplies and to meet our first guests on Saturday. I will not post a blog on Saturday morning and normal service will be resumed on Sunday when I hope to have some photos of big smiles and silver salmon.

All here are much looking forward to getting the season under way – just wish you’d been here yesterday!

Christopher Robinson

Victory Day

An important National holiday in Russia today, Victory Day, celebrating the defeat of Fascism albeit with huge sacrifice. Sasha said last night “A day of celebration with a tear in the eye”. Most of the Russian team will be in the village today so we will have a chance to tidy up, take stock and have a bit of a breather after three very full on days.

Moving the last of the boats to the river

Nothing seems easy up here sometimes; we lost the mobile connection to Lower Camp for 24 hours and had to post the blog with our back up satellite system. The best place for the tiny portable satellite dish was on an ice berg with yours truly kneeing in the mud fiddling with a lap top in a light drizzle. Much mirth amongst the rest of the team!

Blogging Varzuga style

In Lower Camp we continue the drying out process of the ‘office’ and the containers and sorting the last of the kit to go out to the other camps. The main lodge and guest rooms are fully functional and better than ever; today we can re-occupy the office, get the floor back down and I think that by the end of the day we will be pretty much set up for the season.



Sasha, Tiffy and Maryke sorting medical supplies

Hugh and Jemima took a boat and more kit (including the long overdue new dining room chairs!) up river to Middle Camp yesterday and returned late in the evening really pleased with the camp. Jemima was thrilled to find 2 brand new large fridges, until it was explained that the bear that Hugh had photographed so close to camp in our last week of last season had apparently broken into the kitchen after we had left and demolished the old fridges. I guess that’s one way of persuading the boss to provide new kit – I’d love to see the insurance claim form. 

The photo you really logged in to see - Heli Pool this morning at perfect spring height

Enough of the admin stuff, and on to the reason you are reading this - fishing. The water height is steady; there is a large ice wall camped on top of our normal river height reference point known as Keith’s Nail so I can only explain it by saying that the river is on the edge of the Withy bushes in Heli Pool and not right up into them. Just about perfect really. The water temperature this morning is 4⁰C - we had a hard frost last night and the puddles are well frozen over. After supper yesterday, Hugh and Jamie popped down to Heli Pool and had a fish each before the air temperature dropped below freezing. Floating or intermediate lines with a medium sinking tip are the current recommendation.

Christopher Robinson

Supplies and Stuff

A warm bright morning, turning to heavy rain this afternoon, topped off by a chilly evening and brilliant sunset. We spent the day continuing the season preparations. Hugh, Sasha and I went up to Middle Camp to find Misha and his team hard at work on the cabins and camp.

Ice Walls

Thankfully the flood only reached just over the level of the floors in the main lodge and cabins; so no serious damage done and things are drying out well. The ice bergs parked themselves on the edge of the Island, luckily not in camp, but leaving some very impressive ice walls in places – the good news is that Generator looked perfect, we were itching to give it a cast or two but time did not permit. Honest!

Generator clear of ice

On the way up we witnessed the arrival of the pair of Fish Eagles that nest near the Island; mobbed by a pair of Ravens they swooped along the river seeming delighted to be back in their summer quarters. On return to camp this evening the first Pied Wagtail had arrived. The first big stone fly hatch happened this morning – just how these little birds time their arrival to the day defeats me. No Arctic Terns yet, they are due any day to feast on the smolt run having completed their annual 17,000 km round trip to Antarctica.

Hugh and Jamie drying out electrical kit

The river was a touch up today and is now at 4⁰C - Feodor the Head Guide at Lower Camp went out for a couple of hours and had 5 springers and lost a couple.  He had a great day as he then boated home with a shiny new 90HP jet out board that Glenn had fitted for him. A very happy man!


Sunset last night

As I type this up at breakfast time Jamie has just walked in with two cracking silver 8lbers from Heli Pool caught on fast sinking tip and large bright fly, we kept one fish to go into gravadlax for next weeks guests. The water is up 12.5 cm (5”) overnight and steady at 4⁰C.

Christopher Robinson

Welcome To Varzuga 2013

Welcome back to the Varzuga blog! Another fishing season beckons on this extraordinary river.

The great news is that we arrived yesterday to find the Varzuga at a perfect spring height. Our concern, as we rattled south from Murmansk to the village, was what damage we would find following a huge flood on 30 April.  We had been alerted that the river ice had created a massive dam below the village, the water had backed up fast and it had flooded both our Lower and Middle camps. The spring melt carries with it huge ice bergs and while water damage is bad enough, ice berg damage can be “Maybe a little bit catastrophic” as Ura over at Kitza would say.

Water flowing through Lower Camp

Eighteen houses in the village were severely damaged by ice, but miraculously both camps have escaped with only water damage. Our Russian partners have done an amazing job in sorting things out and while we have some drying out to do we will be in fine shape when the first guests arrive this Saturday.

It is standard practice to store as much of our important kit as possible above ‘flood level’ and this paid huge dividends this year. Our biggest problem has been the kit stored in the containers; they floated off their mountings, then filled with water and settled back down at crazy angles. We spent yesterday sorting out a jumble of wet, muddy equipment and jacking the containers back up to a tolerably level state.

Moving kit into camp

By the evening we called a halt and Hugh (Middle Fishing Manager for the third year) and Jamie (Lower Fishing Manager for the first time) spent a well earned hour ‘checking that the salmon are here’. They are! The water temperature is 3⁰C and the clarity clear – perfect for this time of year.



A real cracker to start the season



Today we plan to boat up to Middle Camp where Misha and his team have been repairing minor damage. We will try and get some photos for you as I know that the Middle Camp fishers will be keen to see them.

It is wonderful to be back here on this magic river and a great relief to find things less of a problem than we might have expected. Lucky? – Yes. But a massive Thank You to our Russian friends and partners who have worked around the clock to sort out two damp and muddy camps in just a few days.

More news tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson