Falling water but the excellent fishing continues...

We are now into our third week of the season and with all of the ice and snow gone the Varzuga looks in perfect condition. The water temperature is around 10 degrees and we have already started to see clients take fish on a floating line. There are still pools where a sink tip will work well but it should not be long before we are fishing full floaters.

The fishing at Kitza is picking up with the camp manager reporting that he saw a huge number of fish showing on the river yesterday. A fall of about four inches in water levels will make all the difference and at current rates of descent, that should be only two days away.

The fishing at Lower and Middle Varzuga has been consistently superb. Last week at Middle some experienced rods were joined by new faces. The team took 565 fish to the 12 rods with Ross Brawn taking his first ever Atlantic salmon caught on a fly. The team there at the moment has landed 145 in the first two days, so the run continues in earnest.

Lower Varzuga had an excellent week with the team for the first three days taking 251 fish to nine rods, followed by 309 fish to the next nine rods in the second part of the week. Brian Anderson landed many fish in the high teens and it was interesting to hear the experienced and returning rods discussing the increase in the size of all of the fish, something we have seen all season.

Kitza did not reveal its true colours last week with 21 fish to the nine rods for both parts of the week. With the team there at the moment taking the same number of fish in only one day yesterday, it is clear that things are improving quickly. David Arnold and John Hall landed their first ever salmon yesterday which was duly celebrated with a Russian Banya and a few cold beers.

Last week's Pana clients were catching fish but with the late break in the ice this year it was obvious that the main run of fish had not quite made it there. They caught 44 fish to the six rods which is a good score but not what we would hope for from Pana. The eight rods this week have taken 50 fish over their first two days so it will not be long now before the fish arrive there in big numbers.

The river is in great shape and it has been a pleasure to see the wide smiles on those returning from fishing. The number of rods landing their first ever salmon has been a good feature of this season and it would appear as if the Varzuga is being as generous as ever.

Further reports will follow.....

Please contact Lynsey Mair or Louise Mackenny for further details.