11/06/08 - The latest from the Varzuga

The weather stays cold but the fishing is still superb.

Generally, as we move into the 4th week of our short season we would expect to bring you news of sunshine, falling water and floating lines - that does not fit the bill this year! It still remains cold and while the river is dropping, it is doing so much more slowly than we would expect.

Last week the 7 rods who finished their trip at Lower Varzuga had 252 fish for their three days at our base camp which gave them a final total of 339 over the week. The 10 rods who fished the week the other way around took 113 salmon from Kitza which gave this team a final total of 413.

The 12 rods at Middle Varzuga managed an exceptional score of 843 fish for their week with numerous rods catching their highest ever daily catch. It is amazing to report that the ice walls at Middle were still in evidence, albeit much smaller, by the time this team left the river - a true sign of how cold this spring has been.

Pana was tricky last week with high water affecting many of the normally productive pools. However, the 8 rods stuck at it and ended their week with 97 fish. It is true to say that this team made the most of it and their great experience of the river helped them in quite extreme conditions.

The first three days of this week have seen the team at Lower Varzuga take 135 fish to the 10 rods who have enjoyed the comforts of the camp as well as the fishing. The 9 rods at Kitza took 66 before moving over to Lower Varzuga. Middle Varzuga continues to fish very well and the 12 rods have so far accounted for 196 fish.

Pana remains difficult and the 8 extremely experienced rods have taken 60 fish for the first half of their week but they reported seeing quite a lot of fish at the bottom of the beat yesterday so with any luck the main run will arrive soon.

While it is always dangerous to predict the weather in the Kola, it does seem likely that next week will still not be what we would term 'summer fishing' and sink tips, intermediates and even full sinkers will be effective at Kitza. In terms of fly sizes, at the moment the rods are taking fish on light plastic tubes and flies in sizes 4-8 on the Varzuga. On Kitza, aluminium and in places, brass tubes are still the most effective.

As per last week please find a personal account from Christopher Robinson, who is on the river for the second week running:

"I gather it was 28 degrees C in London on Monday - well, on the Varzuga the air temperature just scraped up to 8 degrees C! We should not complain I suppose as we had heavy snow showers all Sunday morning and a biting North wind. The forecast looks a little more encouraging for the remainder of the week with the prospect of a day or two when we should see the temperature up to 10 degrees C.

On the Varzuga, the water levels are now suitable for floating lines and we have had a few fish on flies skated on the surface. However to fish this way with confidence we'd like to see a little more warmth in the water. As long as the water remains stubbornly at around 6-8 degrees C, intermediate lines will be the method of choice.

Upstream at the Pana camp, the rods have been picking away at the early arrivals while they wait for the main run to get through to them. Normally we would have expected to see fish in numbers a couple of weeks ago but this year is the exception. The benefactors will be those fishing in mid and late June who should find ideal conditions.

The Kitza is coming into shape, it is still high and cold but a great deal more manageable in the past few days, fast sinking lines are the best bet. Head guide Ura reckons that we should have excellent conditions and no shortage of water right through June.

While the weather might have been unusually uncooperative, the fishing at the Varzuga camps has been excellent; we have had a strong run of fish this year and they continue to run in from the White Sea in numbers. The cooler water, while preventing the use of floating lines to any great degree has slowed the fish up somewhat allowing the Lower and Middle camps some truly excellent catches, taking 552 and 843 respectively last week.

Even though Pana and Kitza have under performed to date, overall the results have been excellent with 3,011 salmon caught and released to 90 fishermen and women in our opening three weeks. Not bad! And although I'd welcome the warm air you have at home I know where I'd rather be this time of year whatever the temperature!"


Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Charlie White or Lynsey Mair for further details.