Old friends

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

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

Ken L with a chunky fish landed on Friday

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

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

Midnight last night

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

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

Rods raring to go this morning

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

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

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

Charlie White

Stable River

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

Lunch Pool at Lower Camp yesterday

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

Signs of Spring

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

Geoff F and Sergey setting off this morning

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

Jonathan B with a bright spring salmon at Lunch Pool

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

Kitza from the helicopter yesterday

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

Christopher Robinson

Level Pegging

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

One from the boat at Birthday Pool

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

Laura in action by the banya in Bear

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

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

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

Digby and Sasha

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

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

More news tomorrow from Varzuga.

Christopher Robinson

Kitza

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

The road to Kuzomen

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

Loading stores into the Kitza boats on the White Sea coast

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

Kitza River, looking upstream from Clay View yesterday

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

Robin M with another springer from Morskoy

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

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

Christopher Robinson

Off To The Races

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

Robin M with a cracker at Lower Camp

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

Digby F at Middle with a lovely fish from Clarkes

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

Terry and Laura at Middle

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


Heli pool at Lower this morning

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

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

Christopher Robinson

The First Day

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

Ken and Geoff at Bear Island

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

Generator Pool at Middle Camp

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

First salmon for Tim D

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

Jonny and Laura H

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

Christopher Robinson

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

Middle Camp and arrival helicopter in the background

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

Midnight last night

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

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

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

Michael H ready for action this morning

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

Christopher Robinson

Settling In

We had a domestic day here at Varzuga and are settling into our camp routine. We have had a really busy and constructive 24 hours setting up both the Middle and Lower camps. Terry and Donna went back up to Middle Camp with two boats loaded with supplies; here at Lower Camp Glenn, Bill and Ollie Maxwell (the Kitza camp manger) got on with giving our boats and engines a really good service. We had towed Skylark back down here on Wednesday, the big boat from Middle who after many years of loyal service had an engine issue late last season, and she now has been given a well deserved re-fit and is ready to go back up this afternoon.

Unloading supplies at Lower Camp - note ice free bank at Larder Pool opposite

Tiffy and Maryke got on with sorting out the advance order of food supplies which arrived in the village by truck yesterday. It is now all ready to go out to the camps today and finally the main lodge sitting and dining rooms can be tidied up ready to greet our first guests tomorrow.

Our helicopter arrived last night and in an hour or so I will return with it to Murmansk – inevitably the girls have given me a shopping list - and so has Glenn – so I guess I face another happy afternoon in Murmansk chasing down the last pots of curry paste (and fresh herbs!) for Donna and Maryke and some more spark plugs and spanners for Glenn.

Terry and the team at Middle Camp

The river too is settling in – good news – I suspect that the big spring flood is just starting to drop off. Bill reckons the river is down a centimetre or two this morning and it is looking much clearer. It will be pretty high when we start fishing on Saturday evening, but within a day or so it should now drop back to a much more manageable height. The salmon will be here, Terry is very enthusiastic about the prospects at Middle, a high river but little or no ice left and yesterday evening Generator looked really inviting.

Maryke and Tiffy sorting supplies - the dining room will be clear by tomorrow!

At Lower we will have fewer options until the river drops a foot or so, but there is more than enough room for our 10 rods – I’m pretty confident that by Sunday morning we will have a much more benign and accommodating river.

I fly to Murmansk shortly and the next blog will be on Sunday morning and I look forward to updating you then.

Christopher Robinson

Rain

Yesterday, Wednesday, we had the weather we really did not want. Rain. We have a lot of snow this year in the watershed and, ideally, we’d hope that it melted slowly over the next few weeks. Nothing shifts snow faster than rain and by mid-day it was overcast and damp with steady rain right through to the late evening.

Middle Camp yesterday morning

The river is now really high, pushing through the withy bushes in Heli Pool at Lower Camp. The forecast looks a little cooler and with little or no rain for the next few days, so the river should settle down by the weekend. In any event next week we are going to be fishing a high, cold river - true Varzuga spring conditions and although not an ideal height we will find the fish. We will not have all the beats in play at this height, but the salmon will be tucked into ‘laybys’; I chatted with head guide Feodor this morning and he felt that Heli Pool, Bear Corner, Janaways and Sviats should all produce fish. When the river comes off a couple of feet we will have much more room.



Donna at Middle

Terry, Donna and I went up to Middle Camp and met the team up there who were opening the camp up and getting the boats in the water. The camp looks in good shape, Misha has made a new table for the extended veranda, quite a bit of woodwork has been painted and Donna has made new curtains for the Main Lodge. We have the same guiding team too and they seem to be itching to get going on the river.

Sasha, Daniel and Vova at Middle, Lower Bear in the background

At Middle we ran up the river as far as Beach and the banks look clear of ice – at this height of water almost all the ice is washed out and some spots looked pretty fishy. Peartiha, Snake Pit, Lower Bear, Fortress and of course Generator all looked good. Today Terry and Donna will run back up to Middle and will continue opening up. Sasha and I go shortly to the village where more supplies have arrived. It is all coming together quite well at the moment. Our helicopter is due to arrive this eveing and we can start moving more supplies and kit about. Next week we go over to Kitza - Ura reports a high river over there, but a good clean out of the ice.

Getting ready for our first helicopter

More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Big clear out

We are getting a really good wash out of the winter ice this year. It was a mild day yesterday with some rain and drizzle in the afternoon. It did not freeze overnight and the river was still slowly rising in the evening, so before we turned in for the night we hauled the boats up as far as we could and made them fast to a strong silver birch. This morning the river can be called ‘high’. Under a mild, grey sky the snow is slushy and disappearing fast. To put it all into perspective - the river is a foot or so lower than the big river we had in May last year and now running much clearer. Ice is still coming down, but there is much less of it – the river is cleaning out pretty fast.

Going shopping!

Each year the melt is different. So far it seems a ‘normal’ ice melt and there is a tangible relief amongst all of us that we have had no ice blockage on the river or any flood in the camps; you really do not know just what dice nature will throw – so far it seems a throw in our favour.

Yesterday the ice continued to come down, sometimes the river was clear for a few minutes then we would get some really quite big stuff passing silently by. Big Misha, the Middle Camp manger, told us to wait it out until today and looking at the river this morning we should probably be able to get through to the island camp. So I hope to get some photos for you from Middle and get them on the blog tomorrow.

Spring painting

There were gaps in the ice flow coming down yesterday and a run up the village seemed OK so the Girls Team went up to see Marina in the store while the Boys Team remained in camp and got on with sorting the boats and engines out. We now have five more boats parked on the slush and brown grass ready to go into the river. The Girls Team came back with welcome supplies and there is now a large pile of bags all tagged up and ready to go out to the various camps as soon as we can get going on the river.

Maryke making bread

I have no ‘hero shot ‘ with a salmon in hand for the blog today; we have not had a cast yet although a couple of rods have been put up and sit waiting on our office veranda. There is some itching amongst us to have a cast but actually no one is any rush, we have a full season to come – just give the river a couple of days to settle in and then the fishing can commence.

Dragging the boats to the river

If you are coming out on 16 May expect a high, cold river. Proper spring conditions. A selection of sinking tips will be useful and my guess is that a largish fly, say 1 ½" to 2 ", fly will do the trick.

More tomorrow and hopefully a picture or two from Middle Camp.

Christopher Robinson

Welcome back to the Varzuga Blog

Welcome back to the Varzuga Blog! We will try and post a report from this remarkable river every day through to the end of our season in early July. We squeeze it down a somewhat tenuous internet connection so apologies in advance if we have had to reduce down the size and quality of some of the photographs in order to post the blog from ‘the middle of nowhere’.   

The Varzuga breaking on Saturday

I met the advance party at Murmansk airport on Sunday evening and after the time honoured reunion celebration with Russian champagne in plastic pic-nic mugs in a bright but windy car park we set off for Varzuga. Arriving at midday on Monday we found the river unfrozen and flowing freely, albeit with plenty of ice coming down. We had had reports over the weekend that the ice was breaking and as always it was a great relief to come over the hill into sight of the village and to see, in the distance, a long dark ribbon of open water rather than a frozen, white landscape.

Feodor and the team of guides had two boats in the river but getting to camp by boat took a bit of time as we waited for patches of clear water between massive rafts of ice. By mid-afternoon we were all installed with our kit in the familiar and warm surroundings of the Lower Camp – Sobacci as it is known by the locals.

Sasha, Tiffy, CR, Donna, Terry, Maryke, Ollie, Bill and Glenn

The weather is pretty mild for the time of year; overnight we had a light frost and this morning the air temperature is a balmy 8⁰C with little or no wind. The river came up about 8 inches yesterday and has settled overnight – it is high, and for us that is just perfect as there is a steady stream of ice coming down and we are getting a really good clear out which I hope will leave few of the precarious ice walls on the banks of favourite pools that dog us some years. 

Waiting for a gap in the ice flows

If the normal pattern prevails the river will stay high for a day or two yet and then slowly settle in and the fun can commence. Today we will get up to see Marina who looks after the vast store in the village where our supplies are kept – and, if the ice flows diminish, this afternoon we will take a boat up to Middle Camp to see how that looks. In the meantime there is masses to do here and the camp is a hive of activity; the rest of the boats are being dragged to the river, and the lodge being prepared for our first guests who arrive on Saturday.

Heli Pool this morning

‘So far so good’ as they say – I look forward to updating you tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

A Vintage Year

2014 proved to be our best year on the Varzuga since we first arrived there in 1991. 8,916 salmon to 174 rods was a remarkable result over a shortened six week season, shortened as a result of having to cancel the first weeks at Middle and Lower camp due to ice. Apart from one very hot spell right at the beginning of the season (which was bad timing for us) the weather was on our side this year. Overall it remained cool and settled, adding to our good fortune and our guests enjoyed both excellent conditions and a really strong run of salmon and grilse.

Christopher Robinson and the advance party arrived at Varzuga on 5 May but found that the river was still frozen. With the forecast remaining cold, it was immediately clear that the first week of fishing at Lower and Middle camps could not go ahead. By the time we started on 17 May, the river was perfectly clear and an excellent height but then the weather changed and three days of unseasonably hot weather led to an unusually fast snow melt and a high river.
 

The first three days at Lower camp and Kitza were tricky in the high water but the river settled in towards the end of the first week and although Lower and Kitza had below average catches the Middle Camp started strongly with 866 salmon landed to 12 rods. Pana opened a week later on 24 May and in the high water up there the team also experienced tougher than usual conditions. Lower down the river the bonanza really kicked in from about 22 May onwards and over the week of 24 – 31 May the 32 rods in the three camps landed 2,070 fresh spring salmon. It was particularly rewarding for us to see some excellent fish caught by the increasing numbers of lady fishers in our groups.

 

Once we were through the hiccup caused by the hot spell and fast snow melt, the season soon developed the regular pattern; slowly dropping and warming water. For the third year at the Lower Camp, we held our instructional week with Bill Drury and Eoin Fairgrieve and again it proved a great success. The 11 rods had two of the finest casting and fishing instructors at their side plus plenty of fresh salmon running the river to reward their improving skills; they landed 319!

 

The mid-season weeks, which offer true summer fishing are much sought after, so much so that between 7 and 21 June we had 52 rods fishing in three camps but only three of those rods had not fished the Varzuga before. With rain on 16 and 17 June to top the river up we had perfect conditions right into late June. There were some remarkable scores, notably Pana recorded its record week with a staggering 876 salmon to eight rods.

Kitza, with the lake system upstream to keep the water height and temperature steady, fished wonderfully until we finished there on 21 June. The last three weeks were very consistent with catches of 407, 391 and 413. As always Kitza had a number of fish in the 20lb range with three of that size landed in the last week.
 

 

Middle Camp also continued to fish consistently right to the end and to give some sense of that it is worth pointing out that in our final week of the season we landed 485 fish to 10 rods. There simply is nowhere else that this is possible and is one of the reasons why we continue to only offer such a short season – we wish to focus on the best of the very best.
 

 

It was a truly vintage season and for us it was very rewarding to see so many returning guests making the most of it and really appreciating just what an amazing salmon river the Varzuga is. A big thank you to our many Russian friends from Varzuga and the local area who make it all happen and of course to our Roxtons staff both on the river and in the office.
 

Next year we will start fishing on 16 May, and we look forward to opening up the blog shortly before that. If you would like to join us next year on the Varzuga do please contact me.

Charlie White

P.S. We have a couple of rods available to join weeks hosted by myself and Christopher Robinson this coming September on Varzuga. Whilst it will be our fourth year doing these weeks, they are still exploratory and must be approached with an open mind but for seriously good value Autumn fishing they are hard to beat.