It’s
difficult to justify the cost, I agree, but it’s the highlight of my fishing
year and hard as it may seem to understand, for what you get; helicopter
travel, wilderness comforts and truly magnificent fishing on incredibly
beautiful rivers in a true magnificent wilderness; it is actually worth the
price. Compare the cost of catching a Scottish salmon and a Russian salmon and,
per salmon caught, it’s a bargain!
The
second point, ‘it’s easy fishing’. Nothing can be further than the truth. I’ve
been on 12 trips now and can compare the fishing on 10 or so different Russian
rivers. You may have heard of some of them, Kharlovka, Eastern Litza, Rynda,
Yokanga, Strelna, Varzuga and more. These are not easy rivers to fish. If you
think you can go there and gently stroll the river casting an verge line and
catch ‘shed-loads’ of salmon, I’m afraid you won’t. Not for the feint-hearted,
they often require death-defying wading, huge casts and a keen talent in
watercraft. Get it right and you can catch many fish, get it wrong and… well
that’s fishing! To me, Russian fishing is the most demanding and arduous I’ve
experienced, requiring much skill.
Coming
back to the cost issue. I am not a wealthy man and I usually have to pick a
‘non-prime week’ as the dates coinciding with the main early runs of big silver
fish come at a gigantic premium, so I’ve been fishing hard for resident fish
with a few fresh fish coming in from the sea.
I’ve
just returned from my latest jaunt to the hallowed beat of Middle Varzuga in
the Southern edge of the Kola Peninsula, flowing into the white sea.
Normally
the holy grail for large numbers of sparkling fresh salmon of medium size up to
12 pounds with the possibility of a 20 pounder, this was a ‘cheap’ week at the
very end of the short 6 week season and my friends and I were met with the most
difficult of conditions.
An
unprecedented heat wave had hit the Kola and no more so than the rivers of the
South coast. Day temperatures of up to 40 degrees were recorded and the water
temperature peaked at a record breaking 25 degrees! With a tea bag and mug you
could have got a good brew!
After
the first day we realised that extreme measures would have to be taken, so we
‘worked the night shift!’ We fished the river from 10pm till 6pm, it never gets
dark at this time of year but at least the sun was very low on the horizon,
back to camp for ‘breakfast’ of bacon and eggs and tried to sleep in the
roasting daytime.
Awake
for 7.30 (am or pm, we didn’t really know any more!) for a 3 course dinner, or
was it breakfast? and back to the river.
With
slippy rocks and a strong current, the wading was awful resulting in many
‘swimming episodes’ (like bathing in the Med!) and the fish were reluctant to
take the flies.
However,
it shows what a fantastic productive river this is, by the fact that 10 rods
caught 103 salmon that week, yours truly with
respectable 14 fish, all released carefully to kick off back to their
lies quite healthily. We worked hard for those fish, changing tactics, flies
and lines constantly to fish the fast runs, the deep pools and the little
riffles in the optimum way. Anywhere else in the world, I suggest that we
wouldn’t have caught a thing, which goes to show that Russian salmon fishing,
although very demanding is most
productive on the planet.
Other
than the pull of a salmon on the line, other highlights were the companionship
and humour of a good group of guys; excellent care and attention from Roxtons,
the organisers, plenty of grayling and brown trout coming to our flies, a few
fun evenings of ‘pike fishing competitions’ between the Dads and the boys (my
son and my friend’s son came long for their first Russian adventure) and the
close sighting of 2 iconic Tundra animals; a reindeer and a huge brown bear!
An
adventure indeed, a bit of an ordeal also, but ….that’s fishing!
Flies
were fished either on full floating
shooting head or intermediate tip on a 14’ double hander or a 10’#7 single
hander.
Best
flies
Apart
from 1 fish taken on a deep heavy Fancis in
slow pool and few on tiny Golden
Willie Gunns size 15 and 13 most of my fish were taken on a #8 Green Machine
fished just under the surface, favourite
from the Miramichi, Canada. But other succesfull flies were:-
Green Butt
Stoat`s Tail
Bomber Green Salmon Single
Green Highlander
Red Francis Brass Tube
Hitch Green Butt Nylon Tube
Sunray Shadow Nylon Tube
All in small sizes.
Best fun was skating a small sunray
shadow across a fast run and watch salmon coming up, splashing, and occasionally
grabbing the fly!
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