When Lunch Becomes Important

I’m not quite sure what happened yesterday – the river just seemed to be very quiet. The weather was fine, we had quite a strong south wind all morning which made the lower beats at Middle Camp tricky to fish but apart from that it was wonderful Kola day. A blue sky and quite bright with puffy clouds; the margins of the Varzuga are now turning bright green as the water level drops and the river is beginning to look at its best.

Archie R taking a relaxed approach

The team here at Middle Camp fished hard for nine salmon, two of which were really chunky cock salmon of between 12lbs and 14lbs landed by Lars B and James F. Undaunted Freddie, Ollie, Archie and Lars set off after dinner, once the sun had dropped down, to try Bear and Generator and they finished about one thirty last night. At breakfast this morning they reported only the odd pull from a lethargic salmon or two. Not one of our greatest days at Middle Camp.

Hugh S

Kitza too did not hit the jackpot and managed to put 11 salmon in the fishing records. Ahead of Middle for the day, which I would expect at this time of the season, but the numbers of fresh salmon coming in this year seem to be well down. On Kitza the last poor run was in 2009 and this week may echo that.

Archie, Ollie and Freddie setting off after dinner - note Archie's hat which we call the Ascot Hat

Pana had a tough day as well with only 4 landed by the afternoon – they were going out after dinner once the bright sun was off the river and I’ll hear this evening how they got on.

When the fishing gets tougher Donna knows she has to pull out every stop on the cooking front – it is always excellent I know, but there are times to go the extra mile or two. We loaded the boat full of food and drinks and she produced a delicious poached fresh salmon on the bank for us with salad and all the trimmings.

Donna setting up lunch on the river bank

Today is another Kola day – a high sky, quiet bright again but with enough cloud about to feel confident in the fishing, we have a stiff wind from the SW which might be troublesome on some beats – but not a mosquito in sight! I’m not sure that the numbers of salmon landed will pick up enormously – but here is hoping for a few more than yesterday. The water temperature is up to 16⁰C and the level has dropped a good deal this week. I suspect we will make the change to mostly floating lines next week.
Tomorrow we go to Murmansk and back to reality outside this wonderful wilderness. I look forward to updating you on Sunday.

Christopher Robinson

Breakfast in Waders

Each week amongst our guests there will be one or two irrepressible enthusiasts who, whatever the fishing conditions or results, will remain ever optimistic. Last week it was Ian S and Chris M, the latter broke the record and was tackled up and in his waders exactly 15 minutes after the helicopter planted its wheels on our pad.

James D with one of his 5 salmon yesterday

This week we have Freddie P and James D. Varzuga blog readers might recall that last year, through this blog, I warned Mrs P back in England that she would need a strong pair of garden shears to cut Freddie out of his waders when he arrived home. Our salmon numbers are down this year, inevitably so after the record of last year – so it takes people a little time to adjust to having to work a bit harder and maybe fish better to make the most of it.

Peter D fishing Generator

But born optimists such as Freddie and James seem to attract the salmon and they are both joint top rods at the moment. James, wanting to make the most of his six days fishing, went out late last night and had two salmon from Bear – which in this dropping water is beginning to take on that lovely defined, easy to read look to it. Freddie came to breakfast in his waders, ready for action – and then stayed out late while Donna kept his and Ollie’s supper warm on the hot plate.

Breakfast in waders

We had a better day at Middle and landed 26 salmon, it might have been more and Ollie L had a ‘mare of a day losing three apparently well hooked fish. Kitza struggled and I’m not sure why as often in late June it will fish the best of all the camps, they managed nine in the book. Pana reported in with 21 – their middle beat, normally a banker seems not to be fishing that well. However Tom R and A M-B hit several pods of really fresh grilse coming through Ponozi and managed to lose 11 of them!

Fishing Party Pool

If you are coming out to Middle Camp on Varzuga next week here is an update on conditions. The river is dropping in nicely; the water temperature is pretty steady at around 14⁰C. The weather looks reasonably settled. The mosquitoes are here, but not too bad and the Middle river is open enough to attract any breeze. However you do have to be prepared for them if the wind drops. The top beats, which have not fished that well in the high water should be much more interesting next week.

I’m off to dry out the dining room chair cushions – Freddie in his wet waders again. More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Bigger Fish

Although it felt more ‘fishy’ yesterday it did not pan out quite as expected. Freddie P had an annoying morning landing two but losing four, a theme that was to be repeated for several of the team. We met up for lunch at Snake Pit, James F had landed a really good fish, measured at 32.5”, at Fortress using the Dee Sheep and Tim S had lost a couple, one also seemed to be a large fish.

James D playing his lunch time salmon

We compared notes, Freddie had been using one of my small’ish but heavy Red Frances tied on a tungsten tube and it was agreed that getting down a bit to the salmon was probably the answer. There was a degree of re-rigging tips, James D put on a 10’ medium sink tip and went on the rocks in front of us having lunch to try it out. He pretty soon hooked a nice salmon of 10lbs which was dually netted by Sasha.

Archie R and Hugh S

My box of Red Frances and Dee Sheep was looking fairly bare by the time we finished lunch and I joined James F and Lars B on the lower pools. Party and Birthday seemed very quiet, not many fish showing and it proved to be a dull afternoon for all except Hugh S who landed his biggest ever salmon which was estimated at around 14lbs. We ended the day after dinner fishing Party from the boat where Lars lost one on the tail – it was one of those days and we could only put 15 salmon in the book to take us to 52 at the mid-point of the week.

Hugh's biggest salmon

Kitza too had a dull day with only 13 recorded and eight of those fell to Richard M and John H who hit a pod of fresh fish running through. Pana had a very good day and Toby called in this morning to report 26 salmon yesterday to the six rods including another big fish from Ponzoi – an 18lber for Andrew C-M.

The smile says it all

We were a bit slow off the mark this morning due to the International Relations Gathering that finished rather late I hear.

More tomorrow

Christopher Robinson

Sunshine

We enjoyed our first really warm, bright day yesterday. The sun shone down all day, there was a light breeze to keep mosquitoes away and it was proper shirt sleeve weather. The bright sun did not help the fishing much but after two weeks of poor weather it was a chance for the staff here to enjoy a taste of summer.



Freddie P fishing Scotts

Ollie L, Freddie P, and Peter and James D fished the top beat and landed eight salmon between them in the morning. The afternoon session was tougher although not for Lars B who had his best day salmon fishing ever with four to his name. James Fox, who normally is close to the top of the leader board had a blank day, most unusual for him. After dinner I took him out in the boat down to Party Pool and he soon hooked and landed a salmon – like Archie on the previous evening he was using my recommendation of a Dee Sheep on a ½" brass tube fished slowly and deep on a slow sinking tip.

Sonya, Genna, Natasha and Arina enjoying the first day of summer

With the water temperature up to 14⁰C after yesterday’s sun the text book would indicate floating lines and smallish flies but with the current water height we feel at the moment you need to get down a bit to the salmon. And with a smaller run of salmon this year no one yet is really experimenting with surface flies. With the river level on Varzuga dropping in now we might be able to change tactics later this week.

Hugh S yesterday

Over at Kitza Ollie reported that the river continued to rise most of yesterday and it was not until the evening that he felt that the rise had peaked. It made for another tougher day there and the team landed 12 for the day, with Richard S catching his first salmon on a fly.

James F at Party Pool after dinner

No news from Pana – the radio reception is poor to non-existent. Last week the team of eight at Pana landed 277 salmon. Here at Middle we had 194 with four people catching their first salmon ever. The eight rods at Kitza had 173, sadly they were missing Jonathan G who was hospitalised at the last moment – all of us here wish him a speedy recovery and we look forward to having him back on the river next year.

Nice cloud cover today, a medium breeze – it feels like a better fishing day.

Christopher Robinson

Midsummer Birthday Party

Midsummer! I can hardly believe that just seven short weeks ago we were navigating our way through ice bergs to open up the camps. Yesterday was our first still day for quite a time, warm too and the air temp climbed up to 19⁰C. Time for the sunscreen. The Varzuga has steadied off and dropped a fraction, but only a fraction. Over at Kitza the lake system delayed the rise and it was not until yesterday that it really kicked in and their river height rose 6" over the day.


Midnight - Midsummer

It was a tougher days fishing in all the camps; but there were bright spots and happy experiences. Archie R caught the first salmon of his life, followed shortly by a really nice pike which disappeared into the Russian kitchen faster than lightening. Pana reported 21 for the day; they had landed 15 on the previous evening on their arrival and the difference in scores tells you that for some reason the salmon were just not co-operating. Kitza struggled in the rising water and finished with 18, Ollie reported a happy team and I think there is a good degree of relief that they will be able to boat right up to Rackmanns all week. Along with Yovas the top of Kitza ranks as quite the most magic place to fish for salmon.

Birthday Party

At Middle Camp we had two Birthdays to celebrate. Young Sonya was nine (she has been on this remote Island Camp with her grandmother, Luda, for the past eight summers!). Natasha too had her birthday, she is the wife of Pasha who now guides on the Kola river but who used to guide first at our Lower Camp and then was head guide here at Middle when I set the camp up in 1995. Luda made a delicious cake, Donna wrapped the presents brought out from UK and we had a proper birthday tea party – supplemented with a Georgian red wine for the grown-ups supplied by Igor (Sonya’s grandfather).

Birthday Pool

Birthday and Party remained the theme. I joined Ollie L and Freddie P on Birthday Pool where they had a double hook up and Freddie landed a really nice salmon right on the tail. After dinner I took young Archie and Hugh out in the boat to fish Party Pool and also to experience midsummers night just a few kilometres short of the Arctic Circle. And what a wonderful sunset/sunrise it was, the sun just kissed the tops of the fir trees way up the river at the top of Generator Pool and above us a massive high sky developed. On cue Archie hooked the second salmon of his life, it was netted by Hugh and we returned to the Lodge content and delighted that we had made the most of fishing under the midnight sun on midsummer’s day.

Party Pool

Happy Days

Christopher Robinson

Rising River

We welcomed our three new teams yesterday at Murmansk, and headed of for Kitza, Pana and Middle Camp. I was able to spend a few minutes at both Kitza and Pana on the way through and both rivers looked in peak order. There is plenty of water to get the boats to all the beats and it should stay that way this week.

The very damp Varzuga watershed

Flying over the tundra on the way in I was struck by the amount of standing water in the Varzuga catchment area; acres and acres of damp bog glistening in the sun and the feeder streams all running. Up at Pana the river level steadied off over night and this morning it had dropped a fraction. Further downstream here at Middle Camp the level was up again this morning by a couple of inches. The forecast is not too bad and hopefully we will see the level drop off this week.


Preparing the pic-nic lunches this morning

Yesterday we were later into camp than usual and we did not have quite the normal time of bonus Saturday evening fishing. Hugh S and Peter D both landed a nice salmon each from Generator Pool and after a long days travelling most (but not all!)went to bed reasonably early. Lars B from Norway started us off well with a salmon before breakfast.

Lars and James setting off with Danya

It is fairly still and muggy this morning and the wind that dogged us last week is absent and all got under way pretty promptly in the boats at 9 a.m. Four rods will fish the very top beats in Yovas canyon; Terry will go up there this morning and will join them for lunch at Royal Dee. Donna and I will take the main lunch out to the rest of the team fishing the lower beats and we will meet at Snake Pit.

Tomorrow I’ll try and round up last week’s results.

Christopher Robinson

The Champagne Shrimp

One of regular guests, Ian S, is both an excellent fisher and a canny designer of flies. Last year he introduced the Percy Special to Varzuga with great success. This year his new fly is called The Champagne Shrimp. In my view it is just a variant of the Percy Special, in his view a masterful new creation crafted after hours of deep thought.

The Champagne Shrimp

Well, whatever the creativity behind it, it works – very well – and rare copies of the Champagne Shrimp are much in demand at the moment. Unusually Ian did not top the leader boarder yesterday, Gregoire was top rod with seven salmon, and our total for the day of 48 was pretty evenly spread amongst the team. A much better days fishing overall, the wind was down for once and it felt much more settled and calm.


Harry P at Pic-Nic

Sadly that cannot be said of this morning – we have a strong upstream wind again and there was quite careful consideration of the beat map at breakfast as we tried to work out where the most sheltered pools would be. Ian and Chris had both caught salmon before tucking into their scrambled eggs which at least gave us hope that even in the wind we should have another pretty good day.

Bear Pool yesterday

Richard G and his team over at Kitza yesterday had 26 salmon, and up at Pana they landed 41. The water height is still steady, no sign of it dropping – yet. And with little sun this week the water temperature remains at 11⁰C. A very steady river just now and I think that accounted for our improvement in numbers landed yesterday.

The Middle Camp guests

This week seems to have flown by, tomorrow we depart for Murmansk and in the evening there will be the Saturday evening rush to get into waders and down to the river. The cooks know the form; you do not plan soufflé on first night.

More news on Sunday!

Christopher Robinson

Stable River

When we approach the midweek point there will be a flurry of calls to the office in Hungerford from the coming week’s guests all asking Lynsey what the conditions will be for the coming week. To save Lynsey giving you the correct, predicable answer – "bring layered clothing" - here is an update.

Domingo PS on Pana on the first week

The heavy rain on Sunday and Monday has not really moved the river, it just seems to have helped maintain it at almost exactly the same level. The water temperature too is stable at 11⁰C. I use this link for the forcast - I suggest you treat it as a useful indication of the trend rather than an exact prediction http://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:00000.1.22324

Predictions on conditions up here are notoriously difficult – we once had snow on midsummer’s day. At the moment the weather looks settled and with late June fast approaching it ought to be warmer. With the warmer weather will come the mosquitoes, and with so much standing water this year it could be a vintage mosquito season. So if you are coming next week please bring mosquito defences – certainly you should bring a spray and if you don’t like them a net is helpful.



Chris M at Middle

The water level is going to be higher for this time of year than normal. At Pana and Kitza it is about at the perfect height just now and all the beats on both rivers are accessible. That could change quite quickly, it really is impossible to tell how quickly the water height will drop – a week of warm wind and sun could change things fast. At the moment at Middle Camp, as I have mentioned a few times before, we could do with lower water. Good examples for those of you who know Middle would be Robinson’s Folly and Bomber Ally where fishing from the gravel bar in mid river is still tricky/impossible unless you want a bit of a swim to the White Sea.

Rodolphe yesterday

We have not done much surface fishing – the best method at the moment is a slow sink tip, or an intermediate tip, a fairly short leader and a #6 or #8 double hook fly. Personally I would use a floating line and a ½" brass tube – but that is just me – the 12 rods here do not agree (and they are catching salmon)! In any event bring an intermediate tip.

Onto yesterday’s results – up at Pana they put 42 salmon in the book. David M had another really good fish, 17lbs from Ford (they had 52 on 16 June which I was unable to report as the Corn Flour order was deemed more important!). Over at Kitza they landed 32 salmon to eight rods with Josh leading the board with 10. Here at Middle Camp we recorded 36 – very consistent – with Ian again top rod with eight.

Sonya helping out on camp duties

We look forward to seeing our new guests next week – in the meantime  - hat, gloves, an anti-mosquito spray, layered clothing and an intermediate tip!

Christopher Robinson

Family and Friends

There is more to a fishing trip than just the fish. Yes, I know, landing a few salmon is what brings you to this remote, wonderful wilderness - but it is also about family and friends and just simple fun and happy times.

Father and son

This week we have long standing teams in all the camps. Up at Pana Charlie T has taken on his father’s mantle and the team, in various guises and with a few changes over the years has been with us since 1991. Likewise here at Middle Camp G de S and Rodolphe C and family have been here since 2003. Over at Kitza too Richard G and the team have many, many years under their belt.

Ian S - a grey, damp morning

Yesterday morning was pretty grim; cold, windy, grey and damp. Terry decided that lunch should be back at the Lodge and we all dried out by the fire for an hour or so. The banya was started up and by the evening the weather had cleared a bit, enough for us to have one of our casting evenings, testing and experimenting with all the rods down by the boats – while in the background Harry and Guillaume were trying for pike with my spinning rod.



Harry and Tim

I do not have a score for you from Pana, the radio reception last night and this morning was poor, Toby sent through a text from his Sat phone – so I know that Beanie wants corn flower for next week, but he forgot to tell me how the fishing went! One assumes it was pretty good.

Banya Time

Kitza had another solid day with 36 salmon landed and we matched that exactly here on the Middle beat with Ian again leading the board with eight and Michel L landing his first ever salmon. Not our best day in pure salmon fishing terms but a really relaxed and fun day with family and friends – what more could you wish for.

Christopher Robinson

Weather

Sunday was a perfect Kola day – blue sky with high, fluffy white clouds and a light wind. Just heaven. Yesterday was somewhat different – grey, closed in and really wet and windy. Terry organized the banya to warm people up on return and once rumour of its lighting reached our damp guests most made an early return to the warmth back at camp.

Sunday weather

The wind in the morning was such that Ian and Chris gave up trying to fish Party Pool – it was a real struggle even for Ian who knows what he is doing – so they moved upstream to the relative shelter of Clarkes and R’s Folly.

 

High water for mid June - fishing Robinson's Folly yesterday

I met them there after lunch and our plans of using surface flies were soon dashed. Firstly the river is still too high to fish right on the surface with any real confidence and secondly the weather was so foul that it seemed like a day for heavier flies and getting down to the fish. Chris ended up with eight salmon for the day – his best ever days salmon fishing.

Monday weather

By 17:30 most of the team were back in and heading either for the Lodge fire or the banya. Overall it was a better days fishing than Sunday and we landed 33 salmon. But it was a bit spotty, some did well, others did not. This theme was repeated in both Pana and Kitza. Up at Pana they landed 46 fish, Charlie T had a bonanza with 17 of them; Nicholas B had a wonderful salmon of 17lbs from Tern Pool. Kitza reported 36 salmon for the day, again the catches were not very evenly spread, Richard G had 12 of the total.

Chris with one of his eight salmon in the day

This morning has dawned damp and cool. The air temperature is 7⁰C and there is an uninviting chill to the day. That said our spirits were lifted at breakfast as Ian S came in with the good news that he had landed two and lost two in Generator in an hour or so. The river is still steady, no real rise yet after yesterday’s rain and 11⁰C. With this water level and the ground really wet it is looking good for next week from a boating point of view – but I still cannot help wishing we had a tad less of it!

Christopher Robinson

Water Height

Pana and Kitza are enjoying the extra water this year. Ollie over at Kitza reported 28 salmon for the team yesterday with the additional great news that Mark L, who had not caught a salmon before, landed five on his first day of salmon fishing. The water level is perfect at Kitza, the entire river is accessible to our jet boats and with some rain forecast over the next 24 hours they should be fine this week.

Danya with one of J-C's salmon at Party Pool

Up at Pana they had another excellent day with 48 salmon on the bank to add to the 21 they caught on the first evening. The water height means that they should be able to boat right down to Ponzoi all this week – hopefully for longer than that, but it will depend on just how much more rain we get.

Tim P and Vova at Clarke's

Here at Middle Camp I could do with less water! It is well over a foot higher than I might expect at this time of year – not a massive difference I know, but our upper beat at Yovas is so much better in low water. Ian S, who knows the river as well as anyone, went right up to Scots yesterday and with Chris M fished all the way down to Blue Rock. Ian had five salmon but felt that the water was just a bit too high to really make the most of it.

Harry P and a cracking hen fish yesterday

We landed 19 for the day, not a great score for the Middle Camp, but good to see Harry adding a further two to his fishing book having caught his first salmon the evening before. We have changed tactics a bit and today will try slightly larger, heavier flies – that said Ian and Chris are determined to try skating and have booked me for the afternoon session. I have the tail-out on the left hand side of R’s Folly in mind for them. Normally I’d put money on that place – but in this height I’m not quite as confident as usual. I’ll let you know how we get on.

The vast watershed and wilderness around us on Varzuga

We will see what this new weather system brings us in terms of rain over the next 48 hours, after that it looks pretty settled. I know that those coming to Pana and Kitza next week will be happy with another good dump of rain. Here at Middle we have had enough thank you!

I’ll keep you posted – now I’m off to dig out the box of Bombers and Sunrays to prep for the afternoon with Ian and Chris.

Christopher Robinson

The First Salmon

I got back up here on Thursday morning, 11 June; almost to the hour a month ago on 11 May we were waiting for breaks in the ice to boat down to the Lower Camp. What a contrast! – it is difficult to imagine when you are back at home just how fast the seasons change in the far North.

Varzuga village - 11 May

Murmansk airport was busy, very busy, yesterday. We are approaching the peak of the Kola season when all the rivers on the peninsula are up and running and the camps are fully booked. The airport bar was really noisy – lots of friends chatting away while in the background we made sure the 80 or so fishers got on to the right helicopter with the right baggage.

Varzuga village - 11 June

Our 28 guests were all in the camps, Pana, Kitza and Middle, by 4.30 and here at Middle Chris and Ian beat the record and were in waders and kitted up within 15 minutes of landing. Harry P, who had not fished for salmon before, was not far behind them, indeed Tim, his dad, had not had time to put his waders on before Harry was off to try Generator Pool.

It is a one of those wonderful moments in life when your son or daughter catches their first salmon. And all the better if you are there to witness it. Harry achieved his goal within an hour or so of touching down here. His smile said it all and Tim was a very chuffed, proud father – albeit it a bit damp, without waders on he had taken his shoes off, rolled his trousers up and helped Harry beach the fish. A great moment in life.

Harry P with his first salmon

Stefano M too had his first salmon pretty quickly and we settled down for dinner with a handful of fish already landed, two were ‘first salmon’ and there was lots of enthusiasm for the coming week. The water level has steadied off and will now continue dropping unless we get heavy rain. It remains quite a bit higher than this time last year, good news from a boating point of view but not quite ideal conditions yet for the Middle beat in June which, in my view, is at its best and most interesting when the river is lower. That said Kitza and Pana want higher water, the better to access all of the vast amount of fishing they have at their disposal.

One wet but very happy Dad !

The water temperature is 13⁰C this morning and the weather seems settled – floating line conditions. However with the higher water most are sticking with intermediate tips for the moment, but there was talk at breakfast of trying Bombers and surface fishing. I guess everyone will give the standard fly patterns a mornings work before experimenting once they have a few fish under the belt.

I have to post this blog down a painfully slow connection - so the photos are quite compressed, but I trust they will give you a feel for life and fishing up here. More news tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Final day at Lower

I am aware that regular blog readers will have heard all of this before but the season here has just flown and I can hardly believe that we are now packing up bits and pieces to move our base camp to Middle Varzuga, which will run for another 3 weeks.

Lower Varzuga will close down today which always seems a shame particularly as we had a much better day yesterday and recorded 37 fish for the team. Grant I and Phillip T were the top rods with 7 fish apiece but it has been the dedicated instruction and help that everyone has had from Eoin Fairgrieve and Bill Drury which has been most talked about.

Eoin with a fish from Jannaways

They are both utterly atypical in that they don’t grab the rod from your hands and show you how they would do it; rather they stand back and just offer the odd really helpful hint that allows everyone to seriously improve their casting, wading and all round fishing. This instruction combined with prolific fishing is something that we believe is unique and we will be running the "Ultimate Atlantic Salmon fishing course" again next year.

Keith C taking a slightly more relaxed approach

Pana is dropping quite nicely now which is opening up more of the river and the 8 rods there finished with 42 for their day. Ponzoi was again the most productive beat but the home pools and above that are all fishing well.

Kitza has been the model of consistency and 30 fish to the 8 rods was the score yesterday. With lots of water in the system, we should be able to boat to all of the beats until the end of the season and this will give everyone the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful upper stretches of the river.

Maryke with her annual fish of the season late last night

Middle had another great day and put another 85 fish in the record book. JP C and Ian H were the top rods with 11 and 13 fish respectively. This camp has the longest of our seasons as it holds the fish so well and things are looking very good for the latter part of the season.

Stephen C in the seemingly rare sunshine

Today will be a busy day as we make inventories, plan for next season and ensure that we have put everything neatly away. Bill Drury and I will be back in September for two weeks to target the Autumn run and there are still a couple of rods left for the week of 26 September to 3 October, please call the office for more details.

He is as old as the hills but we hope to see Karai in September

I am of course looking forward to going home but there are very few places in the world as special as this and I know I am very lucky to be part of it.  We will raise several glasses tonight as we celebrate another very successful season and thank all of our Russian friends who make the experience so wonderful.

Charlie White