Beat Number 5

At Kitza yesterday there were two notable fish amongst the 24 the team landed, the first being a lovely sea-liced 10lber caught by Jose M L in Upper Beaver Pit (one of eight he caught yesterday). We seldom find sea lice on our fresh run salmon until mid-June but from now onwards, and particularly when Charlie will be back up here in September, they are quite common; the White Sea is just too cold for them to multiply in any numbers until around mid-summer.

Peter J with one on the small skater

The second fish of note from Kitza yesterday was the largest of the season, estimated at 18lb – 20lb and landed by young Jamie (aged 12) from Kitchen Pool after a nerve wracking 30 minute battle. There are some photos which, time permitting at Murmansk tomorrow, I hope to download onto the lap-top.

Jo and Daniel

Pana reported 27 salmon last night, Andrew C M was top rod with 7 fish from Lansdowne through to Ponzoi.  The radio reception was poor this morning so I do not have an update on that but it is good to hear that they are still getting down as far as Ponzoi and I hope they manage it again today, their last day.

Here at Middle the salmon were just not in the mood and we struggled a bit to move them. We ended with 14 salmon landed with the catch pretty evenly spread and no obvious leader on the board. Under a bright, bright sun we tried all sorts of tactics including switching back to intermediate tips and small brass tubes, Red Francis and Snaeldas etc. Peter J had a frustrating time that summed up the day, losing four on the trot fishing ‘slow and deep’ in Dunkery, then landing two on a tiny skater with a single handed rod, then in the evening losing two more at the net in Generator fishing pretty conventionally with a floating line and small brass tube.

Hugh and Myriam at a Beat 5 lunch last week

This week we have had a beat rotation at Middle Camp with five beats and five pairs of rods, the pairs moving down one number each day. Beats 1 and 2 are in Yovas at the top and much sought after, however Beat 5 includes Generator (one of the most productive pools and easy wading) and, as a bonus rather than a pic-nic on the bank, the pair of rods have lunch in Camp. Everyone loves Beat 5; great fishing with the prospect of a really good lunch and then a rather leisurely afternoon in Generator and Party Pools where the wading is not likely to be too much trouble if that extra glass of wine has been consumed.

Maryke, Francis and Tim S at yesterdays Beat 5 lunch

For our last day this week we drew lots for the Beats, all hoped for Beat 5 and it went to James and Jo. Good news for Jo who has been nursing a really sore throat and heavy cold all week; this morning he said, with the true focus only Norwegian salmon fishers have, “now I go fishing”. He is the sort of person who might get on the helicopter tomorrow in his waders. Maryke has their beers chilling in the fridge and is preparing a delicious quiche and salad. It looks very good indeed I think I shall declare myself a ‘Camp Administration Morning’ and join them for lunch!

Francis and Misha, one from Birthday Pool yesterday under a blazing sun

Tomorrow we go to Murmansk fairly early, I look forward to resuming normal blog service on Sunday.

Christopher Robinson

Kitza fishing excellently

Kitza had another wonderful day yesterday with 49 salmon to their eight rods, well out-fishing (again) the other camps. Jose L A led the score board and was delighted to land 13 for the day, 12 of which came from Third Island down to Old Dam. The water height continued to rise during the day and by the evening radio call was up 2.5”. Tom reported fish throughout all the beats but said they were a bit more concentrated in pockets and if you found them you did well.

James F (right) and Daniel

The team at Pana had 19 salmon for the day, nine of them coming from Ponzoi and five from the float trip, again not a vintage Pana day but all were happy to be doing better than the previous week.

At Middle Camp the rise in water started to steady off by the end of the day and we had hoped to really get stuck into fish but for some reason it did not happen and we ended with 19, level with Pana which pleased them up there. The upper section in Yovas did not produce the usual numbers but on the other hand the lower beat around Camp did really well; Jo and James had four each, including a brace from Party Pool which, in this higher water, is now back on form.

Tim S with his big 'un from Dunkery

On the upper beats the lower number caught was more than compensated for by the larger fish landed, notably a really good cock fish of 16lbs or more landed by Tim S at Dunkery Corner. We had another encounter with a really large salmon earlier this week in the same pool that eventually took a massive run down stream and straightened the hooks.

Peter D in Generator

With the water level now well up we have been able to re-position the boats back at their normal parking space by the camp which saves the stroll up to the top of the Island. There is not much rain in sight on the forecast and soon the river will start its normal steady drop and we may have to adopt our low water regime at some point. Not that that is any great hardship as I believe that many of the salmon pools at the Middle Camp fish better in really low water rather than in the in-between stage from normal to low.

Christopher Robinson

River well up

Kitza had a good rise in water yesterday, the heavy rain of Monday pushing the water up 7” in 24 hours, which for Kitza with its lake system, is quite a fast rise. They saw plenty of fish but suspected that the rising water put them off the take a bit, even so they produced a good result with 26 landed, Carlos with 7 of them.



Peter D in Generator

Pana too had a fast rise in water, also up 7” on the day. This enabled Dima to get his boat down to Ponzoi later in the the afternoon with Willie and George where they quickly picked up 3 salmon each. Ponzoi will now be back on the beat rotation which all up there are understandably delighted about. They landed a total of 23 for the day, Guy being top rod with 7 fish from the tail of the Lagoon and just below.

Francis with one of his eight salmon for the day

Here at Middle Camp the water continued to rise, albeit much more steadily than at Pana and we were up a couple of inches for the day. The slower, steady rise did not seem to effect the fishing too much and a good day was had by all with everyone catching salmon and 36 in the book by the end. Hugh went up to the top with Tim S and Francis where, after some deep wading to get to the right spot, Francis had four salmon in five casts from Pashas Rest; he ended the day with a personal best score of eight.

Anthony also had a good day, two nine pound salmon in the morning, a snooze on the bank after lunch and his degree results from Reading University in the evening – a 2:1 – he was justifiably delighted and the party continued well into the early hours.

The last photo of Tim I playing a fish that we will take!

Tim I now has a horror of cameras, when he hooks a fish we get a camera out and the fish promptly jumps off. This has happened too many times and he lost another two with me yesterday afternoon. So the above is the last photo you will see of him playing a fish on this trip, we will keep our cameras in our pockets until the salmon is in the net.

Looking upstream from Pasha's yesterday

Quite chilly this morning, the air temperature was only a shade over 5⁰C at breakfast, but it looks settled and with the fresh water in the river we could have a good days fishing.

Christopher Robinson

Rising River

A muggy day yesterday with heavy clouds threatening rain. At 4 p.m. there was a bright flash of lightening and a massive clap of thunder right over Generator Pool where I was with Peter D and Peter J. Being thoroughly British, neither of the Peters' wanted to be seen making a hasty retreat from the water; their guide, Sasha, sensibly saved any loss of national face by declaring it time for a cup of coffee.

Peter J with a good salmon taken on the small skater

Peter D showed that uncanny ability to find fish that regular guests on this river have and had seven salmon from Generator whilst Peter J did well with four, his last of which was on the small ½” skater – a first for him. Generator is the most extraordinary pool, it does not look much, indeed there are many other places here that look more appealing to the salmon fisher, however it produces salmon consistently in any height of water. At the moment, in low’ish water, we are catching salmon from right at the top by the mid-stream pyramid rock all the way down to the direct track from Camp to the lower section – a distance of just under half a mile. It is also the most perfect pool for a skated fly and a great place to experiment. Fishing Generator with a small skated fly after dinner, with the arctic sunset/sunrise at midnight as a backdrop, is pure salmon fishing heaven.

Scott's at the top of Yovas yesterday

Middle ended the day with 31 salmon taken well spread out throughout the Camp Beats although no one fished Simmons yesterday so that is well rested for Tim and Michael this morning. Kitza again out fished us and on the radio Tom is sounding rather smug nowadays! The team had 34 salmon for the day, the water level remains steady and the fresh fish continue to run in from the White Sea.

At Kitza young Jamie, aged 12, has taken to fishing like a duck to the water (I may have mixed metaphors there) and after landing his first salmon within an hour or two of arriving, managed to net four yesterday taking his total to eight in two days. These are the sort of figures that make people at home choke over their early morning coffee as they look to see how we are getting on - and, I hope wish that they were here and not in the office.

Sonya (aged 7) helping me measure water height

Pana had a much better day with 27 salmon, a good day by any accounts but not great for Pana I know, but there was an audible upbeat tone to Damian’s report over the crackly HF radio last night. Guy R and Willie G had had seven fish from the float trip and had had much more action than that number would indicate. The water on Pana is up 6” since this team arrived on Saturday evening and today they will try and boat further down river.

Tim I in action with Vova

Here at Middle the river has risen steadily by an inch or more a day since the rain of Friday; yesterday the guides got the boats all the way through to Scott’s right at the top. We have had heavy, steady rain since dinner last night and we went to bed with the rain pattering on our tin roofs, just the sound needed to send a salmon fisher off to sleep content that all will be well. This wet spell should secure us enough water to keep us topped up well into next week for Rob W’s group. The water height here moves so slowly, a great advantage as we do not often get radical changes, but difficult to predict as the high ground is some 100 miles to the North and we do not know what is happening up there in terms of rainfall. So, as usual up here, it will be ‘all change’ and we will adjust to the new water levels over the next few days.

Christopher Robinson

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