Yokanga Gold 2014

Rutland's going through a tough spell. What with the heat and the bright sunshine, the fishing has gone from ballistic to tough and this is carrying on now. Perhaps the storms which are forecasted will clear the air the fishing will improve... It will, that's the nature of fishing!
I managed to escape again in July for a week salmon fishing on the Yokanga river, in the Kola Peninsula, Arctic Russia.
Luckily, we were able to swap a late week for an earlier one when the big salmon are aggressive and take the fly well. Nerves/excitement/worries/hopes were all emotions we felt as on landing in Murmansk for the early morning helicopter fight into our camp. News had just come in that the day before the river record was broken with a huge 46.5 pound silver salmon!!
Maybe, just maybe we'll hit it right.
After a fun night in lovely Helsinki, where we nearly lost our new friends who were due to fish the Rynda and our very own camp manager (they did turn up looking a tad worse for wear) we rose at 4.45am ready for the charter to Murmansk to pick up the Helicopter.
Arriving in camp we swiftly unpacked ready for a snack (huge feast more like) and a few hours fishing in home pool and Lilliok, one of the Middle Yokanga's most productive pools.
The little river Lilliok enters the Yokanga here and many fish stay a while or travel up the Lilliok and return to the main river, so there's always a good chance of a taking fish or two.
Sunday heralded the start of the fishing proper, and what a week we had.
16 rods landed 285 salmon up to 35 pounds and lost nearly as many. Beautiful silver salmon were caught every day and by the end of the week the fresh aggressive grilse had started to arrive to give us even more fun.
My figures were a very respectable 22 fish up to 20 pounds and the food, service, ambience, craic, rooms were all first class.
I had thought that this would be my last Russian salmon trip due to the physical severity of the fishing and the cost. However, this is a manageable river to fish. Beautiful pools and the beat you fish for just one day here, you could take a week or  2 to fish it all. We walked past pools to die for with the guide saying...'this good place but we go to even better place' and he's right!
This is one hell of a river, comparatively easy to fish (still demanding good casts and good watercraft, the better fishermen tend to catch the most fish) but not as physical as some other Northern Kola rivers I've fished, and you get the option of fishing from a boat occasionally..perfect!
See http://youtu.be/7Dsw0qy1TGE  for my little video of the week.
So, I have to go again next year, there's a 30 pounder with my name on it!
Anyone wishing to join the gang, and this is probably the best salmon fishing opportunity













 on the planet, please contact asap, July 4-11th 2015. Join me and the hang next year..oh the cost, well put it this way, if you've been salmon fishing in Scotland for years and years, this trip 'per salmon' is a bargain! and you never know when you might NOT be able to go, so I say go for it, while you can, contact me on robwaddington@onetel.com