07/07/08 - Final report from the Varzuga

It is always a sad moment to write the last email report from Varzuga and this year it is perhaps even more of a wrench. After the late spring, the river height remains just above summer level and the fresh fish are still splashing through the Generator Pool here in Middle Camp. The meadow is a blaze of wild flowers and the grass bright green. In a bizarre contrast there is still an eight foot ice wall perched in th e shade at the top of the island to remind us that only six weeks ago we started fishing in a snow storm.

With the river still in perfect condition it is not surprising that I can report great fishing. In the last few days the eight rods at Pana have been recording 80 to over 100 salmon a day: at Middle and Kitza the catches have remained steady at around 40 fish per day.

Here at Middle we have hit some pods of bigger fish and quite a number of really strong fish in the 10lb to 15lb range have caught our guests by surprise.

The boats are now out, sad farewells being said and we wait for the drone of the helicopter that will herald our unwilling departure to a world far removed from the peace and quiet of this wonderful river.

We finished our short season with well over 6,300 fish to our rods which is an average of over 34 fish per rod per week which demonstrates that, regardless of what nature might throw at us, this wonderful river will still produce excellent fishing.

We will post the annual Varzuga review in due course but in the meantime a big thank you to our guests this year and of course to all of our camp staff and all of the Russian staff for their hard work and humour over the past weeks.

Should you have any queries please contact Charlie White or Lynsey Mair for further details.