The Spanish ahead

The cloud we expected yesterday afternoon got stuck somewhere and only appeared in the evening so we fished the day under a pretty bright sun. No one complained and simply enjoyed the stunning scenery, green birch trees and wild flowers.

 

Middle Camp in the sun yesterday

Pana had another dour day with nine salmon added to the eight of the first evening. Willie G landed a lovely 18lber from Grannies. With the water height up 4” or so over the past week we had hoped for a few more fish to run Pana, but they have not materialised as yet.

However over at Kitza fresh salmon continue to enter the river and our Spanish friends landed 43 – a really good score for their first day of the week. They are very pleased to see the river low as they love true Summer Salmon Fishing with small flies and floating lines. The Greenbank and Beaver Pit beat fished excellently with 18 salmon taken in those pools, leading the score board was Jose M L with 11 fish and Carlos RG with nine. Tom did not report any larger fish yesterday but was delighted to see more fresh fish running off the tide into the lower pools in the evening. I think this group will fish pretty hard, no one made it back to camp for Donna’s delicious dinner until 9 p.m.

Anthony M-J with Misha and a 12lber

Tom and the Spanish group at Kitza were delighted to have confirmation at this morning’s radio call that they had out fished Middle camp with two less rods one of whom is only 12 years old! At Middle we had 29 salmon with everyone catching fish and all the beats fishing well from Generator up to Scotts, although for some bizarre reason Simmonds did not yield anything. Sasha and Vova got their boats right through to Green Bank which is in the centre of the top beat, and also the most wonderful place to make a camp fire and have a pic-nic. Today Hugh has also gone up there with the two teams and I hope will get some good photos for us.

Ian S was top rod last week - here is a covert picture of his fly box!

Jo Arve A from Norway, new to the Varzuga, soon settled in and had eight salmon yesterday and this morning, before breakfast, he took a couple from Generator on his single handed rod and a small skated fly. Anthony M-J landed his first Varzuga first thing in the morning from Generator, a really good cock fish of about 12lbs. We are expecting some rain today, it is mild, fairly still and overcast and seems pretty ‘fishy’. The water has come up a touch overnight as Fridays rain slowly, slowly drains off the boggy tundra; good news indeed and we should now have sufficient water height to continue boating up to Green Bank for the remainder of the week.

All were off pretty promptly this morning – Anton’s back-pack clanking a bit as he walked up to the boats – I think he has quickly worked out that his rods, Tim and Francis, enjoy a glass of white wine with the pic-nic!

Christopher Robinson

A New Week

We bade a fond goodbye to last week’s guests at Murmansk, there was lots of “see you next year” and I noted that of our 28 guests last week only 5 were on their first trip to the river, all of those 5 being invited by existing rods. Which I guess explains why it can be hard to get a slot on the Varzuga in mid-June.

Farewell from the team at Middle Camp

I met the three incoming groups in the usual controlled chaos of the small arrivals area but we were soon out of the airport and on our way to the camps. Shortly after dropping the teams off at Pana and Kitza I flew back over Pana on a supply run and was delighted to see the boats down at the bottom of Lagoon and guests already out fishing. They caught 8 salmon and retired for dinner looking forward to their week.

The view from the dining room at dinner

Over at Kitza the rods too were soon in action and they landed 5 fish, the most important catch being a first salmon for young Jamie R F, who at 12 years old is probably the youngest fisher we have had on the river.

We got into Middle a little later than the other camps, had dinner and then it was off to the river under a wonderful midnight light. Hugh S got us off to a good start with 3 cracking fish from Generator before the whisky came out.

Hugh with one of his three salmon last night

Today has dawned bright and clear with the prospect of cloud cover this afternoon and perhaps some rain in the next 24 hours. The rain of Friday night has shifted the water level up a few inches, not enough to change the boating regime at Kitza and Pana, however here at Middle Camp Sasha and Vova are going to try and see how far up Yovas they can get their boats today. The water temperature is steady at 13⁰C and we are all on floating lines and quite small flies, size 8 through to 12.

Generator Pool at midnight

More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Settled Conditions

Yesterday was a perfect Varzuga fishing day, mixed sun and cloud, a light breeze with an air temperature of 10⁰C – 15⁰C and the water temperature steady at 13⁰C. The heavy rain showers of Wednesday pushed the river level up ½”, but other than that it was a really settled day.

Ian S with one of his 14 for the day

Our guests at Middle were off early with Ian and Doug taking the left bank of Yovas Rapids and Peter and Olivier the right bank which is a slightly longer walk but easier. Despite my saying that there were miles and miles of fishing up there and there was no need to go all the way to Scott’s of course they could not resist it and they started right at the top. Pasha’s and Dunkery were reported to be ‘heaving’ with salmon, and good sized ones as well. The four rods in Yovas accounted for 38 of the 60 salmon we landed at Middle Camp yesterday. Ian was back to the top of the board again with 14 fish closely followed by Doug (his mojo returned) with 11 – several fish of over 10lbs were landed and all talked of them fighting really hard in the cooler water temperature.


Olivier hooked up

A major success was the first salmon for Myriam I – she had never caught a fish before and while we were all out she waded Generator by herself, hooked, landed, photographed and released a lovely hen fish of about 8lbs and strolled back into camp with a huge smile and those slightly shaky hands we all get after a huge adventure. A great feat and one she has shrugged off with remarkable modesty.

Mryiam relaxing after landing her first salmon

Pana reported 20 salmon with the float trip not having great success and the salmon mainly concentrated in the Lunch Pool area. Kitza had another good day with 44 salmon to their team of eight rods. Charles had a super day taking 10 fish from Kitchen including one of 12lb and one of 18lb. In the evening Tom radioed in to say that a big run of fresh fish had come splashing through the pools around camp. The water at Kitza is low enough to prevent any boating other than a ferry downstream as far as Piddling Pool. However at Kitza, like at Middle, once the guests have settled into the low water beat regime they all adjust to it quickly, the fishing can be great and the pools so much better defined.

Doug with the first of 11 salmon yesterday

The week has flown by, it is the last fishing day and everyone is out making the most of this extraordinary river. I await the helicopter due shortly in camp with next week’s food and drinks and tomorrow we leave for Murmansk. I will endeavour to give you a brief update before we leave, but if I fail then normal blog service will resume on Sunday morning.

Christopher Robinson

Sunshine and Showers

A day of all seasons yesterday, at times bright sun and pleasantly warm out of the wind and then hammering cold rain for 20 minutes. The water temperature was settled at 12⁰C which is about perfect and the height although very low was steady with no drop overnight.


Anton and Gregoire with one of 11 for the day

Sometimes the fish gods do not reward the deserving, why I know not and there is sometimes no rhyme or reason to it. Doug and Ian, right up there with the strongest fishers we have, struggled a bit and just could not get into fish. Doug had a particularly lean day with only one salmon, so on return to camp he had a quick 45 minutes in Generator before dinner (this pool is normally as much a guarantee of success as you can find in salmon fishing) but without so much as a touch. Immediately after dinner Gregoire and Jean Christophe had a scamper down the same stretch and landed seven between them. Doug took it well, although we did do a bit of red wine over the de-brief, this morning he is up in Yovas so I just hope the fish gods are smiling on him today.

Peter J at Bear and his second salmon that fell to the tiny skater

In the afternoon I took Peter J down Simmons, nothing happened although it had fished excellently in the morning. With an hour or so to go we went to Bear Pool, which in this low water resembles a small pool on any one of the classic Scottish spate rivers. We tried the small ½” skater and almost immediately a cock fish of 10lbs hammered it, coming clean out of the water on the take – just an electric moment. With that fish landed Peter proved the technique by landing a second fish of 8lbs.

We closed the book for the day at Middle with a healthy 49 salmon landed, Jean-Christophe with six to his name to beating his best daily catch and with Gregoire top rod with 11.

Kitza too fished really well, topping us again with 52. Harry B had a cracking day with 12 salmon closely followed by Richard G with eight. Pana reported a better day as well with 26 although they did not do the float trip which I gather is on for today.

Discussing tactics this morning

This morning has dawned soft and fairly still, it seems quite settled and calm. The water temperature starts the day at 10⁰C and after the heavy showers of yesterday is up a fraction by 3mm or so – not significant really, but when it is low anything will do!

We are much looking forward to seeing the teams on Middle, Pana and Kitza next week. Please be prepared for mixed weather, layered clothing is the answer; this week we have fished in air temperatures from 28⁰C down to 3⁰C. Even if it pours down with rain we will still have low water, so please be prepared to walk a bit where we cannot get the boats through; a day bag you can sling over your shoulder or a small ruck sack is quite useful.

I will leave you with a photograph of the extraordinary arctic light that we fished under after dinner last night, catching salmon with that as a backdrop is really quite special.

Christopher Robinson

Be Careful What You Wish For

We joked yesterday morning over breakfast as the weather changed to the North. Tee shirts went back into the suitcases and the fleeces, woolly hats and gloves came out – Maryke’s rain dance had done the trick and our wish granted. Vova, who is as close to the nature here as anyone I know, shrugged his shoulders and with a wry smile said “Maybe snow”. Last night Camp Manger Misha told us that he would leave the generator on all night, a sure sign that they knew it was going to be a chilly night.

Gregoire with warm hat and gloves this morning

This morning at breakfast the air temperature was barely 3⁰C with a light drizzle and North wind adding to the chill factor. The water temperature has plummeted from 22⁰C on Monday evening to 9⁰C on Wednesday morning.

Jean Christophe with his motivational tee shirt

The howling wind from the North yesterday was a challenge and particularly in Yovas the casting was testing to say the least. Myriam sensibly took a day off from the river and settled down with a book by the fire place in the Lodge. The banya was stoked up to warm up the guests and guides at the end of the day. We stuck with floating lines and smaller flies with success and recorded 41 salmon for the day. Gerard went on to prove he has the hang of fishing and banked three and Ian S again led the board with 11 for the day. Peter J had a memorable battle with a really good, strong fish which was eventually netted by Ivan after various adventures around rocks and estimated at 9lb – 10lb, Peter’s personal best and he was delighted.

Peter playing his best ever salmon

Over at Kitza the salmon continue to be caught throughout the river and Heli Pool is fishing really well, a sure sign that fresh fish are still coming in off the tide. Joshua and Alan showed remarkable stamina by walking right up to Rackmann’s and fishing down from there. Charles W was top scorer with eight for the day followed by the Team Head Richard G with six ; the total for the camp was 38.

The Pana fishing remains a bit of a mystery, they had 20 yesterday and given the experience and knowledge of the team there we would have expected a lot more. It is almost as if the salmon are holding right back in the main river system somewhere and not running up Pana as usual.

Talking of salmon behaviour I had a really bizarre incident yesterday. I have taken to carrying a small spinning rod with a chunky 8cm surface popper for pike when I am out guiding; the Russian cooks love pike and there are quite a few about. Walking back to camp along the reedy margins of the now totally still lake (200 meters below the Banya for those who know Middle) I saw a good swirl about 5 meters off the reeds which had to be a pike chasing minnows or dace. I chucked out the popper and as it splashed over the spot I had seen the swirl there was a savage explosion and I hooked a strong fish. After a good battle I landed a 10lb female salmon, beautifully spotted and almost certainly a second spawner.

The salmon that thought it was a pike

The water depth where it took was knee height and with absolutely no movement. What on earth the salmon was doing there and why it was so aggressive on the lure will remain yet another salmon mystery.

Christopher Robinson

Hot Hot Hot

The hoped for change in the hot weather did not appear yesterday. More bright sun and tee shirt weather I fear. Maryke went off to the point of the Island where she assured us she would do a naked rain dance she had learnt in South Africa. Tim P donned his bowler hat and hoped that pretending to be a judge at a hunt puppy show at the height of English summer might induce the Rain Gods to act.

Tim P

None of the above worked and by mid after-noon we recorded a water temperature of 22⁰C – a record I’m not sure that I ever want to see broken or even matched. Despite this our valiant team fished hard and quite cannily. They ignored the normal deeper holding pools and concentrated on any fast, bubbly water where the dissolved oxygen might give the salmon at least some energy.

Maryke off to do her rain dance

Middle Camp fishers will understand that Party Pool and it’s like, normally hugely productive, were simply non-starters. Generator Pool was full of fish, concentrated at the top in the faster water, yet even with our four best rods fishing it after dinner it yielded only one fish for the day. However it was a highly important fish – Gerard I’s first Atlantic salmon, indeed his first fish ever as he was totally new to this wonderful sport of ours before he arrived here just 48 hours earlier.

19 salmon of the total of 31 at Middle yesterday came from the rapids above Clarkes, the rest from wherever there was streamy water. Successful flies were the usual eclectic mix with quite a few taken on skated flies and the Mediator being a favourite sub-surface fly. Sizes were generally 8 through to 10 and all fish were taken in floating lines.

Toasting Gerard and his first salmon

Kitza too had a quieter day although their water temperature remained at 17⁰C. They recorded 28 salmon for the day with Harry B having six beautifully fresh fish from the lower beat, two of which were just under 10lbs. They were using slightly larger flies and their favourite yesterday was a 1” Stoats Tail.

Up at Pana they recorded a water temperature of 19⁰C and with sweltering weather and a bit of a walk needed, Damian took only one rod downstream below the Lagoon where Henry G banked a well-earned 7 salmon.

Change on the way?

Last night we had a wonderful halo around the sun and we all felt that Maryke's rain dance might be working. Early this morning the wind finally shifted out of the South and we have a stiff, cool breeze from the North East accompanied by good cloud cover. Getting up early Ian S noted the water temperature had dropped to 16⁰C and making the most of it he dashed off to Generator and landed four salmon before breakfast. That’s more like it!

Christopher Robinson

Top Camp Kitza

Doug U got us off to a good start yesterday at Middle Camp with a couple of salmon landed from the top of our island home before his scrambled eggs and bacon. The forecast was saying cloudy and possibly rain and all morning I watched in vain for the sight of just one encouraging cloud - nothing - not a hint of a change, and by lunch time the air temperature was 28⁰C. Double checking the computer for the forecast just increases the stress levels but being a man naturally I quadruple checked. As TIffy would say “put that damn computer away and look out of the window!”

Hugh briefing Gerard and Myriam on their beat this morning

Hugh and I joined Peter J and Olivier D on Simmons where some fish were showing in the streamy runs opposite Eagle Rock. With the water temperature by mid-afternoon at a highly challenging 20⁰C we changed Peter to a tiny skating fly and Hugh took him out in a boat to cover the better lies where the wading is quite tricky. I took Olivier further up and we had an interesting wade (Bambi on ice springs to mind) through the fast water which really was our only hope of a fish. Peter soon hooked a fish on his skater but sadly it dropped off close to the net. We moved a few more but they really were not at all aggressive and there was little to do but call it quits at 6 p.m. and retire for an ice cool beer.

Peter J and Hugh at Simmons

Further up the river in the Yovas rapids the fishing was better and the majority of our 32 salmon for the day came from up there. Ian S described the canyon as “pure wilderness – pure heaven”. Top rod for the day was Rodolphe C with a very creditable 8 salmon.

Pana was difficult to hear on the radio last night and some rods were still out, Damian thought they would be around 25 for the day, in the hot weather most had not undertaken much walking, reserving their energy for the hoped for change of weather.

Olivier with Ivan at Eagle Rock

There were however whoops of delight from Tom at Kitza when he realized they were by far the top camp. His younger rods had walked up to Boat Pool and fished back down while the more senior guests fished closer to camp and down to the Piddling Pool. Fish were taken throughout the river with Ian B landing a beauty of 16lbs from Old Dam. The water temperature never rose above 17⁰C and they were all delighted to put 45 salmon in the book. I can visualize the large grins (gins? Ed) over there as they celebrated out fishing Middle, and with 4 less rods – well done Kitza!

A salmon saying 'thank you' to Gregoire

There is nothing quite like a challenge to keen fishers and our team here were off by 08:45 this morning. I have given up looking at the forecast, a complete waste of time. A glance out of the window tells me it is sunny and warm with a hint of high cloud that might indicate a front coming in – on second thoughts that might be significant so I’d better check on my computer.

More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Summer Fishing on Varzuga

Early June normally heralds the start of genuine summer fishing here on Varzuga. Spring fishing, with intermediate lines and larger flies, changes to Summer kit with full floating lines and smaller flies; skaters and bombers come into their own and single handed rods come out for a bit experimentation and fun. Generally this happens sometime in first week of June, 1st June being my own date in the diary, and one that has been pretty reliable for many years, when I advise guests that they can expect to fish a full floating line with confidence.

Lower Varzuga on 7 May

This year, as you will have noted, the seasons are running well ahead of schedule and when I look at the river level and development of birch trees leaves here at Middle Camp it feels more like late June. The salmon though are running to their own calendar, and despite the low water, fresh fish continue to run – it was really encouraging to see the team at Lower camp on Friday catching tide fresh fish on the Beach and at 39 Steps, the first stopping spots on the river.

Lower Varzuga on 7 June

Talking of timings, the changeover yesterday went well and all of our guests were in camp by 4.15 for a quick cup of tea and some fishing before dinner. Up at Pana they had 7 salmon from Junction and Ivan’s Stream, over at Kitza Bryan P landed a bar of silver within 5 minutes of starting in Heli Pool. Here we had half a dozen before tucking into Maryke’s delicious roast chicken.

Jean Pierre C at Bear on Middle Camp

Despite the warm conditions last week the results were really creditable. Middle Camp landed 467 salmon and Kitza 301. I don’t have the final score yet from Pana, it was not a good as we might have expected given the strong run of fish we have had this year, however the fish do have an uncanny knack of arriving in Pana at the same time as the current group arrive, so we shall see what this week brings.

Jean Pierre's father, Achillie, with a beauifully spotted 2nd time spawner

The forecast looks more changeable this week, I’m not quite sure whether to trust it at the moment as it is saying current conditions are light rain showers, but have bright sunshine and hardly a cloud in sight! No one is complaining though, just enjoying the wonderful green of summer here, and the amazing wild flowers that are in full bloom.

Charlie is back in the office next week after a ‘pretty busy’ three weeks here and I look forward to keeping you posted on the fishing through June.

Now where did I put my fly box with the Bombers?................

Christopher Robinson

The final day of the season at Lower Varzuga

All too soon we have reached the last day of the season here at Lower Varzuga. As ever, it goes too quickly and it seems only moments ago that we waited with bated breath for news from Christopher and the advance team as to what the river looked like.

The floods, ice walls and big water could not be more different to what we are looking at now and it has been a season where, more than ever, we have been reminded that Mother Nature is in control at all times.

Peter M with one from Arileka

Yesterday’s heli fishing experiment was a huge success and the team landed 40 fish between them. Some did better than others in terms of pure numbers but each and every one had enjoyed the day enormously – not just for the fishing but seeing a different part of the river and eating freshly caught salmon cooked on a barbecue, the best way to eat it by far.

Middle Varzuga also had an excellent day and they landed 81 to the 12 rods. John M and Ian C had a stellar couple of sessions and landed 29 between them whilst fishing above Yovas Rapids. Middle is 12 miles above here and had an endless amount of water to fish and crucially, in these low water conditions, has lots of pockets and fast runs where the salmon can seek much needed oxygen.

David P into one with Misha standing by

Pana had a slightly slower day and they had 18 for the 8 rods. The team who are coming next week know the beat intimately and the fish always seem to arrive just as they get off the helicopter – I am sure that next week will be no different.

Kitza had yet another superb day and they had 46 to their team. Our returning hero had 7 for his day to make the long trip fade away immediately. David P and Julian P had 10 each and encouragingly David was at the very top of the beat whilst Julian was right at the bottom so there are fish throughout the system over there.

David P releasing his fish

After a cloudy day yesterday we are back to sweltering conditions and after a pretty heavy party last night the rods were relatively slow on to the river this morning, my guess is that some will be taking advantage of an afternoon siesta.

A very happy Gordon S with a 2nd spawning hen

I am off home tomorrow and so my thanks goes to everyone here for a great season and I, along with everyone else, will much look forward to reading Christopher’s reports from Middle, Pana and Kitza for the next few weeks.

Charlie White

Much better fishing conditions

Having written yesterday’s blog I was nervous that we would have jinxed the weather by mentioning it had been raining – fortunately the overcast, wet and relatively cold conditions continued throughout the day and it immediately had a positive effect on the fishing across all of the camps.

Kitza is really firing now and the 8 rods landed 74 for the day. David P had a superb days fishing and accounted for 19 of these whilst Chic McS weighed in with 13 and Julian P had 10. They were joined last night by one of the rods who had to cancel at the last minute and who has made an Herculean effort to get here so we just hope that the next two days of fishing make his trip worthwhile.

Sergei with one landed by Neil R on Beach

At Lower Varzuga we had a much better day and it was great that the rods finally had a chance to see how good this beat can be given anything other than extraordinary conditions. They landed 41 fish with Peter M landing 9, Howard E with 7 and his fishing partner, Stephen B taking 6 for the day. Despite the excellent fishing yesterday we had already taken the decision to fly them all out today to a stretch of the river above Middle Varzuga where they have taken a huge picnic and will be there all day. All of the rods bolted breakfast this morning and were ready beside the helicopter at 9am sharp for what should be an excellent day.

The team at Lower ready to fly out this morning

Middle Varzuga recorded 76 salmon yesterday with catches spread evenly across all of the rods although Hugo M just came out on top with 9 fish to his single handed rod.  It is remarkable to note that as of yesterday, 2,000 salmon have been landed from Middle Varzuga in just over 3 ½ weeks– truly an exceptional stretch of fishing.

Pana continues to fish well and they landed 32 yesterday with Barrie W taking 9 from the Home Pool. Jean and Keith H did the float trip and had an excellent day without landing the numbers that we had anticipated. 4 fish between them was a good day out but there is no doubt that, before too long, the numbers being landed from that float will rise sharply.

Phil R on Beach yesterday

We still have cloud cover and it there was a bit of a chill in the air this morning – very welcome indeed and no one was complaining about having to put on an extra layer. More tomorrow when I hope to be able to report on an excellent “away day” for our team here along with catches from other camps that will no doubt be helped by these more favourable conditions.

Charlie White

Reading the water

Yesterday was a day for the connoisseurs and one where those experienced in the art of reading the water came to the fore.

Whilst we had a little rain in the morning, heralding what we thought was a new pattern, the sun won out and by lunchtime it was very hot again. This meant that the best of the fishing was in the faster, oxygenated water and being able to identify those likely holding spots improved your chances no end.

Bill Drury on Duck yesterday

At Middle Varzuga the 12 rods landed 53 salmon with John M on 7, Keith J on 6 and Ian H also on 6 doing well. Hugh did a bit of guiding for Achille C and they landed a stunning 2nd spawning hen fish with masses of spots on its gill plates. They have now got the boats at the top of thr Island and are boating from there to Blue Rock – beyond that it is the beautiful walk up to Pasha’s Rest.

Here at Lower, we were given a master class in guiding from Bill Drury and Eoin Fairgrieve who put their rods on fish every time they were with them. Rods came back in the evening delighted to have learnt new skills and having had the chance to use them to land fish. One man who needs little help at the moment is Gordon S who finds fish wherever he goes and finished with 9 for his day.

Dinner at Lower - a very good team

Upstream at Pana, our 8 rods had 38 fish with Matthew P doing particularly well landing 9 of these. Two rods are going to do the float trip from the Old Bridge down to the camp today and I hope that they do as well as we expect them to.

Kitza continues to fish very well and they landed 48 yesterday to 8 rods. Julian P had 14 of these whilst Ian W, not to be outdone by his son Ralph, recorded 11 for his day.

Gordon S with one of 9 he had yesterday

Dare I say it but we have had quite heavy rain for the past hour and the temperatures are much cooler. It is unlikely to be enough to raise the water height by any great degree but it will at least hold it steady and perhaps more importantly will increase the rate at which the water temperature falls.

All of our rods have headed downstream with a picnic this morning and it was a heartening sight to see them needing hats and jackets as opposed to sun cream and short sleeves.

Charlie White

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