Rain, glorious rain

Lynsey Mair, who many of you will have spoken to in the office and who is an avowed sun worshipper, will kill me for saying this but rarely have I been happier to see clouds and spots of rain as those that came yesterday. It was only a small amount of rain overnight but it is overcast today, as it was yesterday evening and it already feels a much more fishy day.

At Middle, their earlier start paid dividends as they caught plenty of fish in the morning but found it harder in the afternoon. The water temperature, despite the cloud in the afternoon, was 19 degrees and a lot of fish only half heartedly took the fly resulting in plenty of losses. They still finished with 78 salmon in the book with JP C doing very well landing 12 of those and John C, on his first trip to Russia, taking 9 for his day.

Howard E with one from the Wires in the morning

Here at Lower Varzuga, nearly all of the rods were out by 7ish but it is fair to say that the early start did not make much difference. Fortunately, the overcast conditions worked much more in our favour in the evening session (from 6-10pm) and after a great brunch and a welcome siesta, we started to land fish across the beat. Not in huge numbers but everyone has now landed a Russian salmon and the mood at supper was much more upbeat. Terry H with 3 from Duck and Ken H with 4 from Bear Island were the star performers in a total of 18 fish for the day.

One of Ken's from Bear Island

At Kitza the 8 rods landed 51 for their day, a great effort and everyone caught fish up and down the beat. David H had the best days salmon fishing of his life and landed 10 whilst Ralph W went from landing his first ever salmon on Sunday to landing 7 yesterday. Tom sounded pretty tired on the radio this morning and I suspect that the successes did not go uncelebrated.

Amazingly some of the ice still remains

The 8 rods at Pana recorded 36 fish with David S the top rod with 7 for the day. They have stopped boating down to Ponzoi because of the water but also because it was not producing the huge amount of fish that it can. A lot of the fish are nearer camp which is where they will focus their efforts today.

With conditions much more suited to salmon fishing, everyone at Lower was up for the 6am start this morning but Gordon S was not content with that so started fishing Sabacci Rapids at 5am and had 2 on the bank before everyone else had grabbed a cup of coffee – a good start to what we hope will be a good day.

Charlie White

A change in tactics

Yesterday was the hottest day of the season so far and whilst all the camps caught fish, the radio calls in the evening all focused on the fact that the afternoon was much harder than the morning. Interestingly and perhaps obviously, the smaller rivers, Pana and Kitza were less affected as they are much narrower than the main stem of the Varzuga and they offer many more shaded areas for the fish to rest in.

Middle Varzuga is the widest part of the river but with the many twists and turns there are always darker parts and the rods did well to exploit these. They landed 87 fish to the 12 rods, a superb day’s fishing when most people would have gone to the beach. John M had 10 to his rod whilst Hugo M demonstrated his epic wading prowess and skill with a single hander to take 12 for his day. They are getting up earlier this morning, having a longer lunch and then fishing into the evening.

Phil R's first Russian salmon

We are doing the same here at Lower but with most of the river exposed to the bright sun all day we are aiming for more extreme tactics. The guides were ready at 6am this morning and we will fish until 11, have a long siesta and then fish from 6pm to 10pm which will give us the best chance in these conditions. All of which was a great plan until many of the rods decided to celebrate Stephen’s birthday until very late at night – some of the guides looked a bit lonely this morning. We landed 13 fish yesterday which was not exactly what we were hoping for but given the conditions was really pretty good especially as 5 of the rods landed their first Russian salmon.

Feorder with Gordon S's first Russian salmon

At Kitza, Chic McS had an amazing day landing 18 fish to his rod. He hit the jackpot in Beaver Pit and then took more fish from the Boat pool. They finished with 40 fish to the 8 rods (the two rods who could not make it are much missed and our thoughts are with them) with most of the fish coming from the pools above camp. Great though Chic’s day was, the biggest celebration was reserved for Ralph W who landed his first ever salmon.

Ready for lift off - the stunning Arctic Terns

The 8 rods at Pana had 39 salmon for the day with Dick B landing 10 in his morning session. They are boating down to Lunch and then walking to Rock Pool where they then can go on all the way to Ponzoi. The team all have lunch together which is a lot of fun but does mean that they tend to miss out on the float trip which is a shame as I have a sneaking suspicion that it could be very productive up there.

More tomorrow when we will see if this change in tactics has paid dividends.

Charlie White

Changeover day

Yesterday was a hectic day for one and all. With most of the Kola rivers now open, the arrivals hall was full of bags, clients and excitement. Old friends came through the door seemingly every minute and it was hard to find time to have a chat with everyone – there was a real buzz of anticipation in the air.

After a wait that only Murmansk can be famous for, we eventually got underway but it was not until late in the evening did we all get into camp. Everyone immediately did what everyone does and started to scan the record books from the previous week to see where the fish had been caught and on what.

Lawrence R with one from Middle

They had a lot to read as last week was an excellent one in every respect. In Yemen like conditions, the salmon fishing turned out to be a lot better than was depicted in the film. Middle Varzuga’s 12 rods finished with 776 salmon for their week. All of the rods commented that they had not seen the river that low before but how much they had enjoyed fishing new parts of it and using their skill to seek out new hot spots.

Our Spanish friends at Pana had a fabulous week and landed exactly 300 in their 6 days. They had caught some larger fish, had caught fish in pools that they had not fished before and unlike us, thought that the temperature was pretty normal for the end of May. Carlos MA finished his week with 33 salmon – not bad for your first salmon fishing trip.

Chris C and Ivan

Here at Lower, the 9 rods landed 115 fish for their 3 days to combine with the 200 fish that they took from their time at Kitza. A really great group of people and it was a lot of fun throughout. Lucy M took the starring role by landing salmon on 5 of the 6 days which was a superb achievement having barely held a fishing rod before the start of the week.

The team who finished at Kitza ended up with 317 for the week with the 10 rods all looking tired but happy when we picked them up yesterday morning.  Simon J went from landing his first salmon on a fly at the beginning of the week to landing 15 in a day at Kitza - that is some progress. They are still boating up river and the new team over there are looking forward to exploring the beautiful upper reaches.

Alan S releasing another one last week

It is very difficult to state how hot it is here at the moment and there was a real temptation amongst the team this morning to wet wade – not a bad idea as the water temperature is 17 degrees and it was 27 degrees in the shade at breakfast. However Gordon S got up early this morning and landed his first Russian salmon from the Wires which got everyone going a bit quicker than they might otherwise have done and we are looking forward to another excellent week.

Charlie White

Bad weather for fishing? Not here

Fishing abounds with theories regarding the best conditions for salmon fishing and some say that if Mother Nature is against you then you are better off leaving the river alone.

However, the fact remains that if you have a river with a great deal of fish in it, you will triumph regardless of the conditions and this was amply demonstrated yesterday. With temperatures well into the 90’s, a glaring sun and as still as it could be, the 4 camps recorded a total of 305 bars of silver – amazing fishing in any event but given what we are working with weather wise, it was a simply phenomenal display of what this river is capable of.

John G with a Beach beauty

Kitza had another great day with 64 salmon landed to the 10 rods. Michael G has been coming for a few years now and had his best day ever by landing 7 fish from Old Dam whilst Mark M was again the top rod with 12 for his day. I spoke to Tom this morning who reported that they had had a very relaxed evening with everyone tired but delighted. I am sure that the Kitza kitchen party tonight will mean that everyone will be tired for different reasons tomorrow.

At Pana the 8 rods finished with 46 in the book. Benjamin B continues to set the pace with 10 for the day whilst Jose FM had a tremendous session on Rockface and landed 9. Carlos MA is making the most of his first ever salmon fishing experience and landed 4 yesterday to follow up the 7 he had the day before.

Bruce B about to land another from Bear Island

At Lower, we had an excellent day with 50 fish to the 9 rods. Peter H and Stephen T had 9 between them for their morning session whilst Joe M went for an exploratory walk down the right hand bank below the camp and found the perfect spot where he took 5 fish in short order. After supper and during a glorious evening, Andrew W-D found a spot above the Wires where he caught a fish and also had an unplanned swim – not a bad combination in this weather, intentional or not.

Stephen T with one from the boat at Fyodor's

Middle Varzuga had one of their best days of the season so far and the 12 rods landed 144 fish – a stunning day in every respect. Paul C finished with 19 for his day whilst Alan S had a fabulous time on Simmons Bar where he had 10 fish for his morning session. As ever, they are working hard and putting in the hours but with the fishing this good, there seems little time to waste.

The ever smiling Roma, preparing a picnic in the sun

The last day of the week has, as ever, dawned too quickly and we will be going to Murmansk tomorrow for the weekly changeover. Much as we are looking forward to seeing the new teams it will be sad to wave this party goodbye as we could not have had a more fun week. More on Sunday when I hope to report that the new rods have already landed some of these superb salmon.

Charlie White

Another day in the sun

With the sun beating down yesterday it was difficult not to feel slightly lethargic and it seemed as though the fish were in a similar mood. The story of the day across all of the camps was that we hooked and played as many fish as we could possibly hope but that actually landing them was a different thing altogether. They were not quite going for the fly in the same aggressive manner as they have been in the past few days but once hooked they fought incredibly hard and many were lost.

Bruce B in the brightest of conditions at Larder

At Middle the 12 rods landed over 90 fish and again catches were spread evenly across everyone. Boating up there is fine at the moment and Hugh still has the big boat going up and down the beats which indicates that they have found plenty of channels to cover the whole river.

Whilst the water temperature is up to 12-13 degrees (which would normally mean floating lines are the best option) we are finding that an intermediate tip and a weighted fly is actually working the best. It seems as though the fish are just dropping down in the water column to keep away from the very bright conditions up top.

Phillip L-J below the Wires - not a monster but it took him well into the backing

The 8 rods at Pana also lost a lot of fish but they are hugely enjoying fishing water that is completely new compared to their previous experiences. They landed 35 for the day with Ponzoi (where they can still boat down to) being the most productive pool which would indicate that the bulk of the fish that we have seen down here has not quite got there yet.  Benjamin B landed the biggest fish of his life at 18lbs to continue his run of landing the larger salmon that are always at Pana.

Bob M and Mark M took joint top honours for their day at Kitza landing 9 apiece. Bob was fishing the very bottom of the beat and Mark the very top – great to see the whole river producing fish and they ended with 51 in the book.

Yesterday's picnic on Jannaways - hard to beat

Here at Lower we celebrated Lucy M’s best days fishing yet with 3 fish in her morning session from Bear Island. Her father Joe also had a great day landing 8 from Bear Island and Jannaways. We finished with 43 fish to the 9 rods but there was a serious lecture at supper for John G-H and Joe to ensure that we can have a picture of one of Lucy’s next fish for the blog.

Despite the heat, ice walls remain on the bank

The weather today? You guessed it – bright blue skies, soaring temperatures and the exact opposite to that you are having at home. Whilst some rain and some cloud cover would be nice, it is hard to deny that it is stunning being here in these conditions and as long as the fish continue to play ball, there will be very few people here who want to change it very much.

Charlie White

32 degrees at 39 Steps

Yesterday was the hottest day of the season so far and at one point in the afternoon the temperature reached 32 degrees. A burning sun and a still day meant that whilst it was obvious that all of our rods at Lower were catching fish throughout the day, I was slightly concerned as to what news there would be from the other camps – an unnecessary worry.

Middle had their best day of the week so far with 130 fish recorded to the 12 rods. Paul C had 20 for his day having had a particularly busy session at Korevi Pots. Stephen C also did very well landing 17 to his rod whilst Chris C took 14. Several of the rods have been coming for a long time and reported that they had seen more fish running yesterday than they had in many a year.

John G with one from Kitza

The same was true here at Lower. After a delicious picnic on Jannaways, we walked down to the Beach with Jonathan D and Simon J. Leaving Simon on Red Rocks, Jonathan went on to the Beach where the river was simply alive with salmon showing everywhere. Between the two of them they played 14 fish and landed 8 – a great fun session in a day where we recorded 49 in total.

Joe M yesterday with a fish that was weighed at 15lbs

At 7pm we flew over to Kitza and it was obvious from the grins on everyone’s faces that they had had a pretty special day. They boated up to Rackmans which is a long way up but with channels dug through Tricolore, they got up there fairly easily. The 9 rods then proceeded to have a bonanza - 84 fish were recorded which I think is a record for a day at Kitza. Andrew W-D landed 21 of these with Bruce B and John G contributing 13 and 15 respectively. Being lake fed, the Kitza tends to hold its water for longer than the tundra fed Varzuga and all of the clients who are now here at Lower were hugely enthusiastic about the fishing and the stunning scenery over there.

Upstream from Kitza camp last night

Pana also had a cracking day with the 8 rods landing 50 fish. Benjamin B netted a 16lbs fish from White Rock and the float trip was a great success. The two rods landed 14 fish between them and caught fish all the way from the Old Bridge back to the camp.

Another very hot day has dawned today and everyone has gone out with big smiles and hopes are high that the fishing remains as consistent as the weather.

Charlie White

The weather doesn’t change but nor does the fishing

It feels as if we are in the middle of a major heat wave up here at the moment. Day time temperatures of around 20 degrees and bright blue skies give the impression that we should all be donning shorts as opposed to waders but fortunately the fishing remains excellent and putting on waders is no chore at all.

The team at Pana landed 50 fish yesterday with Jose FM putting 13 of these in the book whilst Pablo PR had a beautiful fish of around 16lbs from Ivan’s. They are boating down to Ponzoi at the moment but for how much longer the head guide is not sure. This would normally be slight cause for concern as Ponzoi can be very productive but the fish are all around the camp at the moment so it is not such a pressing issue. Two rods are going up to the Old Bridge today for the stunning float trip back to camp and it will be very interesting to see how they get on.

Mark M with a cracker from the Beach

The 9 rods at Kitza had another excellent day with Peter H landing 13 fish from a total of 51. They too are going up river this morning to take a picnic all the way up to Rackmans and beyond to see if the fish have reached the higher beats yet. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole river system and regardless of how many fish they catch, I know it will be one of the highlights of the week that will be discussed over dinner here tonight once we have done the mid week changeover.

Bob M with one from the Wires

Middle continues to be very productive and they landed over 110 fish yesterday. Quite a few rods were out after Hugh had gone to bed and many were up before breakfast this morning so final numbers are hard to ascertain but it was obvious they had all done well. David C had 7 in the morning from Green Bank followed by 8 in his afternoon session on Royal Dee whilst Chris C landed 13 from Snake Pit down to Peartiha. Brian W also weighed in with 11 fish for his day showing that there are fish in all of the beats up there.

Michael G on Heli with Colin S

At Lower the team put 44 in the book with some really nice fish landed. Bob M has been coming for a few years now and put his knowledge of the beats to good use, landing 14 throughout the day. We are splitting the teams up so that we can cover the river as best we can as boating below Bearlets is now no longer possible. 5 of us had a picnic on Bear Island yesterday and as we watched Arctic Terns dive on the smolt run it was hard to think of a better place to have lunch.

Sobacci Rapids yesterday - hard to believe that 20 days ago it was a raging torrent

Another boiling day today means that we are short on suncream but we remain long on cold beer and fish in the river so we have things in the right order.

Charlie White

Great fishing and a few firsts

We had a really good days fishing yesterday across all of the camps – the morning was better than the afternoon for reasons we cannot work out but everyone caught fish and with another day of bright sunshine it was a lovely day to be on the river.

The team at Pana landed 40 fish to their 8 rods with Carlos MA landing his first ever salmon and then going on to land another one in the afternoon. As is always the case at Pana, they landed some really good fish with plenty in the mid teens. The water is dropping a couple of inches per day and they are fishing floating lines already which is early for Pana as it tends to be slightly cooler up there.

Harry M with a good fish from Bear Corner

The 12 rods at Middle have really hit their stride early on in the week. They landed 57 fish after the helicopter landed on Saturday evening and had another 121 in the book for yesterday. I asked Hugh if there was anyone who we should highlight having done particularly well. He said he would double check in the book and 5 minutes later read out 12 names! In the end we should probably pick out Robert H with his 15 fish for the day.

Simon J on Jannaways

At Kitza there was another first ever fish and this time it was Lucy M who was the star performer. Having done little to no fishing in the past, Tom took her out for an hour’s lesson in the morning and left her to get on with it for a while. 20 minutes later he came back to find her white with excitement having hooked and landed her first ever salmon. In fact, it was her first ever fish full stop. As with Carlos, there was no stopping her and she landed another in the afternoon to cap off a great start to her fishing career. Kitza fished really well yesterday and the 9 rods finished with 63 fish – their best day of the season so far.

Mark M into one of his 9 fish yesterday

Here at Lower we had a really good day and the 10 rods landed 56 salmon. Mark M had 9 of those which was a particularly good effort as he and his son Harry had been traveling for the best part of 48 hours by time they started fishing having been affected by the problems at Heathrow. Simon J also did very well on his first full day of salmon fishing with a fly and had 7 in the book before calling it a day. He was out early this morning and hooked 5 fish before breakfast but each had got the upper hand on him and he was determined to convert more of his chances later on today.

Low water = busy mechanic. Glenn at 10pm last night

Boring though it is to report, it is another bright day today. Slightly cold but the huge blue skies above us show no sign of changing – it does not seem to be affecting the fishing in any sense but we could do with some rain to make boating up and down the river that much easier.

Charlie White

Changeover day

Yesterday was a busy for day us and clients alike. We flew out of the camps at 8am and it was great to catch up with all of the clients before they flew home. It is always fun hearing the experiences that everyone has had throughout the week and it was particularly gratifying that so many people are already looking forward to returning next year.

All of the camps fished well last week with Michael E and his team, who started here at Lower, finishing with 386 fish to the 10 rods. We picked them up from Kitza in the morning and it was not long before one or two were fast asleep having had a particularly good and particularly late party on the last night.

Alan M on the Wires on the last afternoon

The team who started at Kitza and then finished at Lower recorded a total of 295 to their 10 rods. Our last night was not quite as wild as many of them fished late into the night to make the most of their time. After supper we were fortunate enough to have Valentine come down from the village who entertained us with his accordion before waders were donned for those final few fish.

Valentine and his trusty accordion

The team at Middle finished the week with 556 salmon for the 12 rods. Peter W landed over 100 of these with his fishing partner also doing very well. Peter A hooked a huge fish on Pashas on Friday which took him 200 yards into the backing before a rather violent “ping” signalled the end of the affair. A great week was had by all and we hope to see many of the same faces this time next year.

With the Heathrow incident we have had clients arriving from all sorts of different directions but everyone is now in their respective camps; tired but happy to be here.

Mark B on Middle

It was very good to see our Spanish team, who are returning to Pana, as we always look forward to seeing them. They normally relax on the first evening and don’t fish but having spoken to Damian this morning it was clear that the temptation of seeing fish moving just outside the camp was too much and they made an exception this year. 9 fish were put in the book to give them a great start to their week.

Having dropped off the very experienced team at Middle, who went straight out onto the water and had several fish before dinner, we then picked up the clients going to Kitza and Lower. We got to camp later than expected but Simon J went out straight away and landed his first ever salmon on a fly. To prove it was no fluke he got up early this morning and landed another bar of silver before breakfast.

"Your license please" - meeting the guides this morning

It is a different day altogether today with a cold wind and high cloud cover. With water temperatures creeping up to 10-11 degrees everyone has gone out armed with small intermediate tips and a fairly light fly. We can only hope that the fishing this week starts in the same fashion as we finished the last.

Charlie White

Dinner at Middle

After a much better days fishing in all of the camps I went up to Middle Varzuga for dinner. It takes just under an hour to get there by boat and in cold and wet conditions it can feel a long way but last night was the perfect night to go up – cloudless skies and very warm.

A fullish moon and the church in the village at midnight last night

The team at Middle were all in good spirits and many of them have been coming for countless seasons. The common theme was that not many of them had seen the river this low at this time of the year before and they were all enjoying fishing different parts of the beat than normal.

They landed 88 salmon yesterday but it is hard to pick out any one rod as everyone had caught roughly the same numbers and had all done well. They reported that when you found fish you could land 2 or 3 in the same place but that you had to keep moving in order to find them which is exactly the advice I would give to anyone coming here. You should fish quickly and locate the holding spots.

Joe O'D with new guide Ivan at Middle

Kitza had their best day of the season so far and finished with 58 in the book. Ed M had 9 for his day and Hugh N had a really good fish of around 14-15lbs out of Reel pool. Tom was rushed this morning as several clients were out early in the morning and were grabbing a very quick breakfast before heading out again – the last day of the week tends to have that effect.

Greig T during a scorching afternoon

Here at Lower we ended with 66 fish recorded with lots lost as well. John M had 12 fish to his rod whilst his brother Kenny broke his own personal record by landing 6. The beat was producing fish from the top at Wires to the bottom at Morskoy Island and at the end of the afternoon session it was great to sit in the sun and have a cold beer after an action packed day.

David B with a lovely fish from Morskoy

The last day of the week always comes too quickly but we have some longed for cloud cover this morning and hopefully we will finish on a high. We will leave for Murmansk early in the morning so the next blog update will be on Sunday.

Charlie White

Up to Pana

Yesterday we flew up to Pana to help the new camp manager and cook set up the camp. It was great to see Tolli looking so well and the camp looks in good order. The new showers and plumbing are very smart and all 5 boats were in the water just waiting for someone to need them.

The water is quite low for this time of the year and Hippo Rock was well out the water but encouragingly, as we were moving kit into camp, we saw a few fresh fish showing just off the bank – it took all of our will power to focus on setting up the camp and not our rods.

Hippo Rock in the centre of the picture

I flew back into camp just as dinner was about to start and it was clear that some rods had done very well but others had struggled. On catching up with Hugh and Tom this morning, it would appear that everyone had a tougher days fishing yesterday but as Christopher wrote last week, tough is a relative term on the Varzuga.

We finished with exactly 50 fish in the book with Joe L accounting for 7 of them and he lost another 7 as well. Greig T and Alan M continue to be a fishing partnership to be reckoned with and they were both out this morning before breakfast where Greig had 4 and Alan added another to his growing total. John M also landed 4 fish this morning to set the day up nicely.

Damian and Charlotte

Kitza had 30 salmon for the day with Caleb S taking top rod honours by landing 10 of them. Tom said that they had a difficult morning but the afternoon session was much better with many more fish showing throughout the beat.

Middle recorded 79 with John R taking 10 of those. He also had a cracking fish of around 16lbs from Simmons which was measured at 34 inches. Martin L had 7 for his day and there were some early risers this morning out on Generator and Bear.

David S on Lower Sviats

It is a beautiful but very hot day today – the water is creeping up to 10 degrees and we are beginning to arm ourselves with floating lines - everyone was scurrying around after breakfast looking for Sunray Shadows and Collie Dogs and I hope we will see the first fish caught on a skated fly before too long.

Charlie White

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