Share and enjoy!

Fresh fish from Klovstein

Salmon and Norway  are too things that really stick togeather quite strong, and for me its not about farmed fish that can destroy the whole thing in the near future, but about wild ones. This year I had a chance  to visit our EFFA Master instructor Hans Spinler at Orkla in middle of the August – week 33. Of course, as one may suggest it was hard to refuse! In general, Trondheim area, where Orkla enters the fjord, is well known for salmon fishermen since around 1830, when gentlmen from Great Britan came here to catch fish of the liftime! Still you can find reports about 200 fish in 20 days and so on if you are keen salmon fishing historian.  Impressive… However, it was not yesterday – times have changed, but, yep, still Norvegian rivers in this area such as Orkla, Gavla, Namsen (enters different fjord) and also Verdal, are amongst the best world wide and have a plenty of fish to catch. First three mentioned rivers are in top 5 during the last years in Norway. But what is more important – its not about the numbers, but about the size – annually there are reports about fish ower 45 lb and 20lb fish are quite freequently landed. In Orkla, The largest salmon caught and registered weighed 25 kg,  so – it is worth to try!

Beat’s and other things to know

Orkla - upper part

Good thing about Orkla, and I think also about other Norwegian rivers, is that run continues during the whole seasson – from June till the end of the August, so you can expect fresh fish almost all the time! The Orkla runs through the idyllic Orkla-Valley, about 50 km away from Trondheim and pours into the fjord of Trondheim near Orkanger. The salmon usually come up-river to 88 km that means a lot of water for fishing! After the tackle sterilization, Hans introduced me to fishing.

Fishing at Klovsteinholen

In the Norway usually you can not fish entire river, and rivers are divided in to beats or pools -  200 to1000 meters long river stretches that belong to… To somebody! Heh, here starts the trickiest thing. If you are newcommer to this area, and you are not familiar with the river, it can be quite hard to understand where to fish and where to by licences. In general Orkla have a lot of good pools, but only few of them are easaly to access. Lets say these are public pools! Licences for these pools are not so expencive, but usually public water is not so good and you can expect several fishermen fishing with different tackle – fly, spin and even worm that is popular and quite productive there. So in general its of corse worth trying, but there are better places to fish.  Everything changes in so called private beats (pools) whre rools usually are diffrerent. Local farmers are the owners of the river, and they are renting streches to clubs and other organisations who are offering fishing. So the prices are different but in fishing is better in so called private beets. In some placess, like in Hanss beets, flyfishing is the only name of the game and just a few fisherman are fishing in the same time. So if you have a plan to visit Orkla, or any other Norwegian salmon river, besides bying oficiall Norwegian state permit (200 NOK), find out as much as possible where, why and how. Otherwise.., yeh, you know it by your self.

Fishermen in upper Orkla

OK, good news where, that Hans have 7 pools, and because of his reputation and relationship with locals (he is from Switcerland) these  where amongst best ones. I liked the fact that pools where different. Bakka, the lowest one, was about 3 km away from the Fjord and was “tide water” pool,  when Klovsteinholen and Brusholen was in middle or even upper part offering fresh salmon and also holding fish. I will not spend my time characterizing one pool after another, because they are well described in Hans home page, so you can see by yourself and reed more about them here.

I just would like to add that all of them are worth trying – just take a look at the biggest fish landed.

Rooles

General rooles are simple and correct.

Bag Limit: 1 Salmon or Seatrout a day.

If you catch + kill one fish, fishing must be suspended for that day.

Maximum 10 Salmon a season.

Minimum legth for Salmon: 40 cm.

Minimum length for Seatrout: 40 cm.

Maximum 3 hooks/rod. (one treble or one double and one single hook or 3 single hooks.

Sinkinglines maximum rate 3.

After each cast, the fisher moves 2 m farther downstream.

Never move in to the river in front of a fellow fisher – allways start behind him.

The last two I would like to introduce to our salmon fisherman – especially to spin fishermen! And also even more important thing – peopple here follow these rooles more like we do in our country…

Fishing

Lucky me!

At the arrival day – august 14, Hans met mee with the nice silver bar around 10 punds in his car –  so fish where there in the river waiting for our turn! Those who think that salmon fishing  here or in Norway is easy thing, and you will have one take after another, most propobly have never fished here. Salmon fishing is lot more than swinging your line ower the perspective spot – you will learn it fast here! I know quite a lot of stories about fishless trips, so you better get preparred. On the other hand, almost in all beats salmon was showing time after time, so everything was in fishermans hands.  If you would like to rely only on luck, that of corse is important part of the salmon fishing, then following things may be not interesting for you. For me luck is relevant, but it is only a part. In August when the water is lower and bit warmer around 14 degrees your presentation skills are highly important. You have to change the angles and speeds in order to get the most exciting swing, that will provoke the heavy take on the other end of the line. Now floating line is more less only thing you need, so it’s the best time for learning. Some times you can go deeper with polyleeder, and usually sinking lines are not needed.

Blasmo - on the move!

My suggestion to begginers: give it a try at August you will learn lot more than in early June when your sinking line is swinging your fly in uncontroled manner (uncontroled for begginers…). And here I would say is a lot to learn from Hans – he know the pools, tactics and how, when and on what fly! He also showed some important things to me – so thanks again.

Hans with the nice fresh fish!

Hans is familiar with atlantic salmon for about 30 years, and during last 20 he is bussy in his Salmon Fishing scool in Orkla.  His experience is worth to consider, and it is not just a few weeks anually, but lot more. For me it means something… Besides that Hans is a great caster who really master and understands Underhand technique. So, after fishing for one week in Orkla, when I gathered my experience and things I understood from others I came to following suggestions, that helped me and I think was also important part of Hans tactics (he landed more than others that week):

1.    Present your fly in a manner that is not too slow  – let say fast enough for the fish just to see it, not more! Or almost forget about takes.

2.    Move, move, move! Its no use to make a lot of casts from one point – fish will take most likely on first propper swing, and you will rather disturb the fish by casting rather than provoke them. You would say well known, ok, but frequently forgotten truth!

3.    Present your fly gently, in a quiet manner, and try to be constant with presentation. May be we miss the take during that one bad cast.

4.    Take a rest and give a rest to the pool – it will recharge you and fish. I had never a take when I was pushing hard with my fishing…

My biggest one!

5.    Change and think if you have no success – flies, go deeper with line or leader, increase the speed of presentation and so on! There are days without any takes for everyone, don’t panic stay calm.

6.    Be out when its cloudy and rainy – for me these where the best days when I landed my biggest fish. Also, I must admit, that Hans landed his biggest fish at sunny days (evening and morning accordingly).

7.    Have a plan, belief and never, never, never give up!

I had a days without fish or with a small grilse, and so? It‘s salmon fishing! Now it is easy to say, but at that time every morning when I had a breakfest, I looked at 14 kilos Hans salmon that was hanging in dinning room and I knew by the hart – my time will come… So again never never give up! At that morning, almost it was the last day, i wake up at 5:30 was calm and relaxed. I new that this is the day …

Happy man!

Flies

I know that a lot of peoople think that fly is key factor in salmon fishing – its important but not as much as the way how you fish with it. Anyway, one week is not enough to say these are the best ones, but I believe that flies from Hans page are correct ones, so take a look here. No doubt – in low water conditions in generall smaller flies can be better, but also I can not ignore the fact that a big black creatures where deaddly too. In general Sunray shadow, Blue Norseman,  Phatagorva, Green gighlander, different shrimps, micro tubes and bombers are most popular here, but also we should not forget about suns of the gun, general practiotioners and, jeh, so on! As Hans like to say – some like spagettty, but some cutlet.

Tackle

My Opti setup, Polset pool and Blue Norsman

During the whole trip i was fishing with 12.4 8wt LOOP Opti Rod and Runner reel on it. For me it was perfect, but usually rods between 13-14 ft are most popular at late season and low water conditions. Please notice, that during the June 14-15 ft rods would suit better, because distances increase and also sinking lines are  important tools at this time. Also bring some polyleaders with you and good monofilament in between 0.37 and 0.50. Not so much, is not it?

Recommended Links

Here are the links that I think can be helpful if you are about to visit Norway and Orkla in particular next year. Also it is quite possible that I will have a courses there next summer – so stay tuned, I will put some info later! So here are the links:

Hans page

Orklaguide

Jurij Shumakof experience at Gavla

*Big Salmon Fly fishing in Orkla!

Nice autumn addition...

Lovely dinning room at Aunemo and and Hans 14 kg

That is what its all about!

Just back from what seems to be one of the Europe’s least impacted areas -- Lapland. It does not matter, if its Norway, Sweden or even Suomi -- if there is some wilderness left in old world thats definitely there! Mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes, crystal clear water and specimen fish are just what all fly fisherman are dreaming about. This time our trip was focused on, yet for us undiscovered mountain area, where trout was the name of the game. Then after, we moved down to valley to catch some grayling too. In the mountains, it is all about how lucky you are with weather and how carefully and cautiously you are with fishing. Trouting in this areas is like hunting -- some times you have just one or two casts -- not more. These trouts are hard to find and easy to scare -- thats why this type of fishing is what i like the most! Various types of caddis flies during the day, when water warms up to 13 Celsius, and some black streamers for night (water cools down to 7), is just what you need to be successful! Trout are not so choosy as graylings are. Down in the valley with right fly and proper presentation you can land one lady after another, but if you are not precise with your choice -- prepare to blank! Thats the graylings -- fly matters here!

As always, also in this trip, we had up and downs, but in general all was even better than one can expect… To tell long story short I added these  videos.  I hope you can enjoy at least some part of what we experienced this year!

Race with the trout:

Trip retrospective:

Tight lines,

RR

Typical Latvian

Its getting better and better! During the last 3 years our trout stream population have increased in numbers, at least in rivers where I love to fish. Of course, there are no scientific evidence and these are only my observations, but if you constantly land more trout than year before with the same fishing techniques and tactics, this is the only logical explanation one can give. And the best time to judge how many trout are in the particular river stretch is during the mayfly time! One, two or , wow, even more fish in the same corner quietly picking up mayflies in a drift, is just what a dryfly fishermen can dream about.

Kristaps on the move

And if you know the spots where to go you can find several such a places in a same day. During the May and June I landed and released four  trout from one particular spot, and these where above average size. So what does it tells? At least that there are some trout left, so lets hope that next year it will be even better!

This one is fat...

A bit of flies, rise and techniques… Mohican mayfly is well known and established pattern in this game, but during the last years I have found that slight modifications from old Oli originals, are necessary, to improve the fishability of this fly. First I’m using microfibets instead of deer hair in the tail part – fibbets are translucent and not so bulky as deer hair. Also I replace deer hair in the wing part with polyyarn or more often CDC – that is best dry fly wing material for me. And finally more important, for the big flies, I’m not using capes for hackle anymore. I think than natural mayfly legs are much thicker than cape feather can imitate, and more important,  it does not give enough stability support for your fly. Instead of capes I brush and make a legs from deer hair – it looks much more realistic and gives more support to your lovely mayfly. I hope I will find a time and give the illustration how to tie such a fly in the near future!

Feeding lie

Many of us tend to think, that trout rise is aggressive  an noisy. Yeehhh, there is such a happy moments, but more often you can detect the rise only just by a little movement on the water. And usually its not so obvious! That’s the reason why I’m working more with my eyes than fly rod most of the times. At the very beginning of dryfly season, in the May, water was a bit muddy in our rivers, but in the same time there was a plenty of mayflies around. What does it means for the trout? It means – adaptation… During this period mainly I found trout rising in a shallow water or very close (5-10 cm) to bank. There is some logic‘s behind such a behaviour, because water was too muddy for usual feeding lies and trout addapted accordingly. In one of the pictures (feeding lie) you will see the particular trout feeding lie on the other side of the river just 20cm next to the bank. Isnt it adaptation? So, we must be cautious…

So full with may flies - almost like cod!

Last but not the least… I was trying to full one nice browny with already approved fly, but even  after 10 perfect dead drifts she (I noticed sex a bit later…) refused to take. Then I changed a tactics and presented my mayfly with pendulum parachute – uuuupppppssss, the fish was on! After just one cast… It seems that it was not possible for trout to abandon such a landing of  a hudge „mayfly aircraft“. To make long story short I must say that actually presentation produced the take, not only the fly! And few days later same technique produced another trout. And you not what? These are the most breath taking moments we all are after, when trout atacts your fly immediately after the presentation. So, you better be prepared!

Here its only catch and release!

At work

Yepp, bit late, but its better now than never. Here is the report from our seatrout trip! You can never know… Last year we where bit late, so we have planed our seatrout trip few weeks earlier this year. It is allways hard to predict when to come, because weather can change pretty fast. In the best case we expected that whater will be arround 6 degrees at arrival and will warm up constantly during the trip. From the wery begginig, actually it was friday’s evening, things seemed pretty good.

Instead of pesimistic spin fishermen, who have not cought anything during the last days, four guys, who where drifting in pontoon boats, landed some moderete size sea trout, during the day time. So we where after to land some silvery fish too! Located in the well known spot, actually last years most productive one, we started fishing with best hopes!  First casts are always most excitatory – you are styripping your line in with the feeling that take is around the corner! One strip then another! But this time it was not so… During the next two hours, that we had, I lost only one fish. After the genttle take my leader came apart in a few seconds, and unfortunattely without any fight.  I hooked this sea trout on a dark orange eyed sandeel with the moderate strip speed. After strike, fish made few turns on the surface and was gone. That’s it – my 8 lb 3X Varivas fluorocarbon apparently was not strong enough, and what was even more interesting, I can not say that fight was tought? So, quite a mystery I supposed at that time, and was quite uppset, because it was the only take that we had at that evening.  Even more it is allways bad if you loose the fish because of the tackle! Mikus measured water tempereture – with the on shore wind it was around 4.5 degrees, that was so not too bad for beggining. Few weeks erlier we where not shure about the ice – this year it was quite cold in our reagion. So, these news where prommising.

Thats the place!

Next morning started brilliantly in the terms of  feeling – small lasy waves, light breeze from the sea and… When I just approached my spot I recognized nice seatrout tale on the surface. I decided that it just have arrived, and made a cast in between the fish and the bank. First strip then another one – hands where waiting while hurt was beating faster and faster… I was fishing with rag worm at that time, and either the fish was away, ore my slimshape wormy was not impressive enough. After the second cast even closer to the shore, I checked some deeper spots, but again with out any luck! F..k! This was the chance, and I missed it! During the next two hours I have not seen anything except, one fish, that passed next to my knees. All other guys also blanked except Mikus, who landed  45 cm Kelt, on pinky Grey Frede, that was fished on intermediate line. At least something. After the lunch we proceeded in the same manner, withut changing the location. Around 18:00 I finally had a take. Yes, I even shouted, but… Same story than yesterday’s evening. Second take and second time my leader came a part. I was… Hm, I don’t know how to express this without a bunch of damn words. Anyway – it was my mistake, because I have not checked the leader. After this second incident I emediattelly changed my leader to 1x 12 ft with 12 lbs test. This one was strong enough for almost any fish we can expect here! Keep on working – saltwater fly fishing in Baltics sometimes is like a hard work, when you need hundreds of casts for just a one take. But not this time! Casting was useless and we had no takes during the following hours and apparently fishing was not at its best! Ok, you can always be more or less succesifull, but even if locals „who know the things“ fail it meens sometning. Mikus told us that that temperature decreesed to 2.5 degrees, what was a result of the wind change. Here are the true example how big influence wind has on sea trouting – especially in the cold spring days. Apparently that’s thrue – wind meens a lot!

Still searching!

Mmmmmm… Its serious… I mean waves! Next morning on shore wind provided good weather for surfing! I even had no chance to reach the nearest stones from where we where fishing day before, and, even more, they where within easy reach yeasterday! Apparently water was a bit colored too. Two hours of fishing with out any takes and even any sign of fish led us to decition – we should move on and check the closer coastal line! Just to look for another spots and to learn this area better. At the evening, when it was allready quite dark, we where trying our luck in the perspective spot full with large boulders in sothtern part of our reagion. Wind was down a bit so we faced not so strong waves and it was possible to settle down on the large boulders closer to the shore. Meanwhile wind still was unpleasant for casting, and because of that, Ansis, a newcommer to our team, moved a bit north to the spot where he was able to cast over the right shoulder. The place was perfect for fishing too – large quiet pools in between big boulders was hiding apparently some deeper holes. After half an hour another newcommer, Eriks, a great gentlmen by the way , brought some fast food for us, so it was time for a break befor finnal battle. Ansis – who was still in the water, refused to come out and Eriks told that he’s enough… Hmmm, it was quite a surprice, because we had nothing during the day time. Only after an hour we realised that Ansis was showning that he is standing to deep to get out fast, and that’s actuaslly the only reasson why we finished his burger too.  „He will have a fish“ , I stated. By the way Ansis was quite ill at that time: high temperature, strong cough cured with the Latvian balsam, strong cigarettes and temperature killing Coldrex was his halmarks during the whole trip. When we where comming back for last half an hour to the sea, I recognized that Ansis forgot his landing net on the bank! „It will be tricky“, I thought at that time. And it was not log after…

86 and Ansis

Heyyyyyyy! Heeeyyyyy! Youhoooooo! I turned around and recognizd, that his rod had a deep bend and I was shure that fish is above average. Kristaps, who was standing closer, immediattelly jumped off his boulder and was in the rush to help Ansis with his monster of the dark. Yep, it was not easy to see anything at that time at all! I only recognize that Kristaps was down to elbow in the water, and it took some 10 minutes to land this sea trout. To me honest not to land, but to squeeze in betwwen landing net and chest – yest, the fish was much larger than Kristaps landing net! First sea trout for Ansis and 86 cm – isn‘t bad, even if it is a kelt. If I remember correctly it was arround 4 kilos! Such a long salmo trutta should weight around 7 or even 8 kilos before spawning. It is interesting, that Ansis had a shrimp pattern on the other end of the line, while we where fishing with sand eels at that time. Also the retriewe was slower, and who knows, may be this was the kee to success. One can always say that it is luck, but in this case Ansis was pushing hard, and sooner ore later it shoud pay off.

Kristaps and his 1st!

During the last day weather was a bit better so where the results. At the morning Ansis landed another one, yet bit smaller, but still beautifull kelt (you can watch how he releases it in video part), and during the afternoon I had a fish on for few minutes, but lost it and finally Kristaps landed his first sea trout in the sea! Congrats – he deserved it also because he helped a lot with landing yesterday!

Of course, after all, this was not the trip we where dreeming about in terms of fish landed, especially for me, but I know that 2 local groups blanked during the same week in the Danmark. And there where goood fishermen with the best local guides… So, maybe, and most propobblly, low water temperature was the reason for such a low fish activity, but anyway we had a lot of fun and some experience two.  My conclusions from this trip:

1. I will never use thinner tippet as 2x or 1x for spring seatrouting.
2. We should not miss a chance if we have one.
3. Never give up!

We will be back!

Delights...

First bow

Its all about temperature… And higher is better, because its spring after all. Last weekend I was exploring some Northern Latvian trout streams, with the aim not only to land some fish, but also to experiment with some new trout flies I have tied specially for this season. As you might remember last week was quite hot and dry, by this waking waters from a long winter sleep and definitely this was the time to get in a waders. Quite a lot of options at the moment one may suggest: chub, asp, sea trout and salmon kelts in Salaca, as well as some trout in our tiny rivers. And also pike season is around the corner! But this time for me it was all about the trout and tiny streams.During the snowy winter time I have tied some flies for the spring and besides all time classics (Woollys and Mudlers) I prepared some new stuff to experiment with. So, this was the moment these flies where waiting for.

Saturday still was quite hot, with the few clouds and a light wind breezes. Water temperature in the Pededze was around five degrees at the morning, that was promising, as well as the level. It is not wise to wake up early and start fishing as soon as possible, because water temperature at he morning is low and it increase during the day time hopefully will boost the trouts activity. This is opposite to what you can expect in the summer, when its too hot during the day time.

I started to fish in the Pededze and already in the first corner my bright colored wooly produced some nice fish that escaped after few moves. Not too bad for the beginning! I moved on downstream, but without any success in following hour… Hm, there should be something wrong! And it not the fly, or tactics either – I have changed speeds and angles of the swing as, but with out any success. May be water in the Pededze still was little to cold for high fishing and nasty takes. Virgulica, a small tributary definitely was a bit warmer, because it is smaller and during the hot days warms up faster.

Another bow

Virgulīca is like an alpine creek – only 2 to 5 meters in width it is fast and rocky with bushy banks and lot of sheltering lies for trout. Already in the first spot descent fish attacked my bugger but with out any success. I moved on a little and had another take – this time successful! Nice, average size char was fighting the current with my fly in its mouth. Then another one and after a while Golden trout. F..k, what is this, some one may wonder. Yep, there is hatchery around the corner, so all these beauties has escaped some while ago I suppose. More surprisingly this spot produced another fish during the next minutes, so apparently it was an evidence that trout is seeking for the warmer water, and has entered the Virgulica recently. I reached first pool upstream from Pededze, that definitely was first stopping point for the entering fish. Nice cast under the bush, my fly swigged deep in a black water, and…  Yes – h e a v y   s l o w l y take! Its all about the scale in the small streams. It is nothing special to land a kilo + fish in big river or in the lake, but to see such a creature in small stream is something special. This time it was nice rainbow mail with the ugly sight and behavior – truly nice fish. But, historically, these ones where hatchery breaded, and as a fishermen I am always after wild ones. So, brownies was the name of the game this time! I changed from ugly colored buggers to my newly designed flies. Under the overhanging bush, deep in the dark current, where all types of food are passing by, is the spot that is just what decent trout is looking for. First I checked lie in the front of the big boulder, but without any success.

Almost there...

Then I swinged  my fly deep under the bush and, yes, finally I had what I was after. Nice browny showed his orange dots on the surface and after a while I admired him in my landing net! Wild and fully recovered after spawning he reflected all the beauty you can get out of cold small stream in early spring. During the following hours I landed few more fish: nice rainbow over 1kilo, and few more brownies up to 38 cm in the upper part of Virgulica. What a beautiful day!

At the evening water temperature reached 8.1 degrees , in comparison to 6 degrees at the morning. Amazing! Next morning clouds covered the sky and strong northern winds brought colder weather here! Unfortunately water was colder too – 6 degrees during the day time, with out any significant increase! Fishing was of coarse not so good as day before, but, surprisingly, brownies was less effected by the temperature than others – I caught 5 browns and only two chars, without seeing any bow or something else. Environmental hardiness of these brownies sometimes is just unbeatable!

I ll be back with sea report after a while!

Greetings.

Only C&R

A bit smaller yet beautiful brownie

Autumn Bow

Autumn and early winter  of course is spawning time for Salmonoid species – not only for those  from sea but also for freshwater trout. Week ago, I was visiting Armands place in the Northern part of the Latvia, to see how he is doing with his hatchery and to catch some fish. I would say, that this is one of the most beautiful hatcheries I know- located close and taking water from Virgulica creek , it is perfectly suited for hatching different salmonoids including Brown trout, Arctic char, Grayling and even White fish. So, those who are not shure about their fishing suceess, can prepare some nice pictures of fish from the hatchery.  I don’t know a lot of places in Baltic states  where you can see 2+kg brownee or char. I was even more lucky – Armands prepared such a fish for evening, that of coarse was best addition to whiskey, that we shared during the evening talks. Because the different reasons, this year was not so good for business, but don’t worry, numbers of trout and grayling still is enough to supply the rivers and lakes, where Armands  is in charge of stocking.

Opportunities near his beautifully located house are plenty: big stream, small stream and plenty of pounds, offers different opportunities for almost any fly fishermen.

Checking the corner...

During the late autumn, sometimes even in mid November, you can expect some snow here, that virtually makes day longer and fishing somehow funnier. However, the nasty hands of global warming, are also putting some fingerprints here, by changing the snow to rain and freezing temperatures to muddy river banks. Water level in the bigger stream Pededze was a bit more than enough for fishing,  so I focused my fishing activities to Virgulica – small tributary, which holds wild trout, grayling and rainbows. No doubt rainbows are foreign species that are stocked all around the places in Europe, and because of that in general are not so interesting objects for fishing. But here as well as in few more places in Northen Latvia it is little bit different… First reason – some part of fish was stocked years ago, and is feeding constantly on their own, and second, even more interesting, they have spawned successfully few times, so you can expect a take from 100% wild bows. So, its worse to take a try with a fly rod in your hand. Because of the spawning time I was fishing only in the spots where I was not disturbing brownies, with the aim to see how  nice the bows are in winter here.

Brownie after spawning

Fishing was high in spite of the low temperatures, and more surprisingly there where no rainbows in between first five fish I landed. Guess what? Yepp, the brownies. Most likely they where hungry after spawning – even the smallest fish was quite slim, but apparently fast enough to be quicker than rainbows. I did not landed trophy sized brownies, but biggest one was big enough (around 40 cm) to put a decent bend in my beautiful Opti stream rod. When first activity calmed down, I felt a gentle touch to my minnow type streamer, but with no afterword… Hmm… I made another cast, waited a bit more to let the fly sink deeper, and after the second strip – yes! It was a nice take. Completely wild black colored Rainbow was fighting with attitude until I was able to land it. You can not see such a healthy bows in many waters in our region – beautiful tale, powerful body and natural water type color. Armands tend to think that there are few wild rainbows here, so this was maybe the one. During the next hours I landed few more fish, mainly taken on grey minnows, size 8, so I was happy about this short winter day. All the fish was safely released, and lets hope to meet them again next year.

Absolute beauty

At the moment I have launched a Catch and release contest, so get ready for the next year. Authors of best videos will receive awards from LOOP  and certainly size matters here. More info here.

Also for my Latvian friends – I am working to implement a forum in Latvian for 2010, so come back soon to discuss.

All the best,

Reinis

Releasing the esox mammy

Starting from nothing but the good map (Thanks to Noris) we where  facing the sea with the fly rod in our hands,  looking for descent fish and deeply bended rods. Bended by pike of coarse!

Getting started

Small harbour and typical shera garden

First evening came with first impressions. In general waters in between sheras was like a endless lake system with the reeds or stones, and of coarse no sandy beaches. Just as expected – this was not our first year here in Sweden. So, we where looking for the spot that is shallow enough to wade and located close to deep waters. Location close to deep waters  would increase the chance to hook really big ones. In my opinion pikes, because of different reasons, are usually laying close to the places where depth are changing suddenly.

The place where we started during the first evening, gave us first impressions – shallow water located far from main sea in between the reeds was muddy and hard to wade.  And opposite  – spots located next to the  stony banks was too deep to wade at all. To be honest, this was not surprising, because from the very beginning I knew that spot search would be essential part in a way to success.  At the evening we continued  search in the map, looking for the shallow places located closer to the main sea. In principle it is not hard to distinguish see depth close to the bank, if you know the topography.  If there is flat land, the sea will also be quite similar and opposite – if there are a hills or cliffs don’t expect to get a wadable waters there.  So during intense discussions we found tomorrows spot.

First attempt!

That`s the place

For sure – next mornings  hopes and expectations was skewed by weathermen. Temperature during the night time was few degrees below zero, and there was only few clouds in the sky. Good day for walking in park or sightseeing, but not for piking. Even worth, a light breeze from the North was not promising at all …  Besides the weather, discovered spots was beautiful – stony, weedy sea bed with a lot of places to hide, some sudden depth change in between flat sections and above everything perfect place for wading. That was exactly the place we where looking for.  But… After six hours of fishing we had nothing more than few lazy takes.  Apparently fish was not active!  Few hours before finish we met  two swedes jerking from a solid boat. They where kind enough, and brought us on the opposite side of the bay, by this saving some hours of walking back to the car. But unfortunately for them, we where the biggest catch of the day.  After the short discussion we figured out that they blanked too and constant lure change was just a poor answer to pikes lazyness. So, if they not take today, they will tomorrow.

Getting better!

There where no significant weather change during the next 24 hours, so situation was quite the same in the next morning. We decided to investigate one more perspective place north from our camp. From the first look this place was similar to Baltic lakes, with a lot of reeds and weeds in the water.  Just a solid stones and cliffs was constant reminders that we where on the shera garden. Surprisingly here was much easier to wade, than in similar spots with reedy banks.  Second cast next to the bank, reeds moved a little and finally small pike around 1,5 kilos was trying to bend my rod. If there was one at the  beginning others will follow.  I continued to fish the reedy section and finally was in the touch with the  fish. During the following hour i landed few pikes and missed some takes too.

Pike is not food, but however...

Unfortunately i did not notice any decent crocks weighting more than 3 kilos, but it was just a beginning.  As all good things end some how, also this perspective spot ended with revelation that we must move from here.  Other fellows did not found appropriate and productive areas so we decided to move. Such a decision was made because wading in the other spots was shity hard, and fishing was possible only from boat or float tube.

In my opinion moving away from here was a bit of a mistake – i had a float tube as well as Noris,  so at least for us it was a good chance to investigate these waters. But, hence we decided not to split, we moved from here all together as a team, continuing for the spot search till the end of the day. Some pikes was landed, but not in the size we where after.

I gotta feeling!

Wind gusts 25 meters in a second at the beginning of November, seems to be the worth weather for fly fishing. At least some one may suggest so…  Serious wind, big waves was what we where facing next morning. Perfect, if we would know the place better I supposed. Wind can be very helpful in pike fishing, because sometimes by escaping the waves and searching for calm and warm waters pikes concentrate in certain spots in enormous density. I had an experience in such a situations before, as well as others, so we where hopeful to get the bingo again. Re searching the map and looking for correct wind direction with a compass we found a new promising spot some 50 kilometers from our camp.

6 kilo crock

Bending around the small peninsula, wind was blowing water directly in this perspective bay, forming the quiet spot with a bit calmer water – just the perfect place for pike party. And by coincidence – it was nice place for wading. During the day we examined different parts of this area, with the growing feeling that big ones are around the corner. I was fishing with sink tip line and suspending fly that gave me a lot of possibilities during retrieve – fly was slowly rising during the stop, and jerking down and a side wile stripping. It was already four a clock at the noon, when I reinvestigated the spot that we tried during the morning hours and that gave us few pikes nothing more but up to 2.5 kilos. Wind was blowing constantly so there was a hope that fish would gather here all day long. For sure pikes was active, I hooked one fish just immediately after few casts and another one in following minutes. Size was increasing too – biggest one was around three kilos, still not the size we where dreaming about. Hence here were a lot of potential holding places for big pike I was fishing slowly and carefully. Another cast over the deepest spot and finally – yes a nice touch! I paused, the pike attacked the fly once again and we where connected. Some 90 centimeters of powerful green steel was bending my rod until I landed it. Around five kilos I suspected. Not bad but there should be more. Acting in a same way as before, I landed and released fish around 4 kilos, just from the center of the bay. Another one jumped out of the reeds, missed the fly and was gone. Not bad, for 30 minutes of fishing. It was already quite dark when I still had a feeling that there should be bigger fish in.  Because of the approaching evening I changed the fly to similar but brighter one and moved on. Essential part of the game here is the feeling where to cast, when to pause and yeh, when to finish. Within next few meters I recognized significant depth change where the small ditch was entering the bay. This should be the right place I supposed and landed the fly precisely where I wanted. Water moved a little and… no not yet another strip, fly is suspending and – significant turn indicated the moment when to strike! Wow, that one  was bigger -for sure! A big pikes does not run like hell, they are like submarines cruising down below not allowing observing them until they are exhausted.

Mmmhhh...

When I landed this beauty I recognized that fly is deep and with in the gills, that was bleeding like hell! Fuck, I need to take it in spite of the fact that we already had some fish for evening. Measured at home it was 95 cm and 6 kilos – decent fish but still not the one.

Other fellows also did well by landing one 3.5 and one 3 kilo fish. Noris missed bigger one, because his mono titanium wire came a part. What a pity! That’s the reason why I don`t like mono wires and use a braided instead. My religion for pike is braided titanium, and so far I don’t have any bad experience with them.At the last evening it was time to prepare some nice meal and flies for tomorrow. I knew what I would like and tied it just after the dinner. It should work – no doubt.

Last move!

During the night time nothing was changed in terms of the weather, so we moved to the same spots for the last time. Hence I was the luckiest so far I gave a chance to others and wished all the best when they started to work on my yesterdays beat. I moved little bit North to potential spot recognized from map. Unfortunately in real life situation was different – there was significant depth change just next to the reeds, so wading was dangerous and fish most likely was not here hence wind was blowing the waves in the shore. I moved back and recognized that guys have left, so it was my time to reinvestigate the yesterday’s spots. Approaching was quite difficult here, hence you must walk throe wide sections of reeds and you will never know where you will get. Besides that wading is a little dangerous hence you can easily stuck in some deep and muddy ditches in between this yellow forest. When I finally get to the water I recognized that  somebody was here before – Noris most likely. Anyway, there is always some fish left, so I started to work as careful as possible. Same technique with slow retrieve was good enough for that day too. First fish that I landed in between 5 or ten minutes was something special. But not because it was big – actually it was around 2 kilos. This fish was seriously injured – I suspect that this pike was missing some 30 % of the scales and had some 3 different jaw tattoos on her back. What a survivor! Deep respect, and she did not refused to take my fly! But, what was more interesting – all the injuries was 100% fresh and most likely yesterday was a nightmare for small pike in this bay! So, it was a chance I could not miss…

What a beauty!

At the moment it is quite hard to count precisely how many pikes I landed that morning, but there was quite a few. Within two hours there was some three or for 5 kilo fish one around 6 and several nice pikes around 3 kilos. I did not recognized any small fish here (Not surprising!) and all crocks I landed was laying in the area not bigger that 1 ha. My blood pressure jumped a little, when I recognized that one five kilo fish had a nice triangle tattoo on here back from bigger sister. Of course I was happy about what happened, but still I needed the fish of the trip. 5 and 6 kilos are nice ones but, sometimes you need more. Eriks was watching the action from another bank, and we agreed that after 30 minutes we should finish. Ferry would not wait for us, even if the reason is so important as pike fishing. From the very beginning of the trip I had a feeling that sooner or later I will get what I was after. All morning I was fishing the same spot as yesterday and same one Eriks tried this morning. No chance you say, may be, but not in the case when you have deep belief! When I landed my fly just a few feet from the place where I hooked a 6 kilo fish yesterday I knew, that somebody will stay in this empty living room next to the reeds and deeper water. First strip, water moved a little and I was waiting. You know that feeling when blood freeze for a while until everything starts. Descent take and fight was started! Unfortunately my running line tangled so seriously, that I decided to spool it on, so I had only 20 meters of line to fight the this crock. It took some 5 maybe 10 minutes to land it and yes, this was the fish I was after. I carefully handled it and asked Erik to come over for photo session.

This is it - 104 cm!

Fly was so deep in the jaws that only 3 centimeters from 25 cm titanium pike wire was hanging out. Thanks good my pliers were long enough! Wee took some pictures and measured the fish – it was 104 cm and around eight or nine kilos in weight! Magnificent. Thank`s Erik for pictures! When we released the crock i recognized, that it is enough! Mikus also landed one pike around 4 kilos, Noris had some nice takes so everyone was happy. At least we found what we where looking for!

The moment...

Few things for those who would like to try!

Our team and appropriate car

Instead of possibility to wade, please take into account that water was quite low this year, so it is better to bring or rent a solid boat. You will always have a chance to jump out of the boat and wade a certain sections if you would like to!

Take a good map of area where you are going to fish, and think about the weather impact on certain spots.

Bring a different density lines with you – some places require floaters others not.

If you wade in the dangerous spots dont go on your own!

Always believe that luck is just around the corner, and dreams will come true!

Those whou are not shure about what flies should click here.

Esox Lucius

So, its Pike time, and i`m going to Sweden for the last time this year to chase a big pikes in shera garden, so i decided to put some info here about flies and other essentials to be successful.

Fly Mystery

Many newcomers to pike fly fishing think that good fly is major key to success. I would say in proper hands yes… What i mean with it, that pike fly is not just another fly…  At least for me, pike flies are like a lures for spin fisherman. When i am thinking about new flies I,m  always thinking about how they would swim, look and of coarse  how i must play with them. There are heavy (jig type) flies, suspenders,  deceivers, classical strip bunny’s and many more, each with its own behavior. Late Autumn pike fly for me is big or very big fly that i can play as slowly as possible.  It should move around like a jerk or even dead fish so that pike will get crazy as soon as fly appears. But… And this is the big difference with summer piking, that during the late autumn, pike are not so aggressive on takes. They can watch your fly for ten and even more seconds  maybe follow a little, and sometimes its all what you  expect.  Key to success is to be as slow and as interesting with your strips as possible. That is the reason why may flies are not heavy, at least if i`m fishing in typical mid depth spots.  After the strip  fly should not go down like a hammer, so you can wait and then play with it again in the same layer. Pike is nice fish for us, not only because it is big and take our flies time after time,but also because these fish are always looking up. Even if  your fly is hanging just below the surface in the deeper spot, you can be 100% sure, that if the pike will like how your fly is dancing it will rise and take.  So if you are out, prepare the neutral density flies, so you can adjust to the layer you would like to fish, without grasping the bottom all the time.  I adjust float ability of my flies by adding the  foam,  dear hair or sometimes other material that are tooth resistant. Also it is quite important to use a body materials without natural wool in them. Not only because these flies  become extremely heavy hence absorbing a lot of water, but also because pikes tooth can stuck in the wool and by this prevent a proper hook up of the fish. During the last years i use mainly synthetic materials for  my pike flies, and from natural ones i still like  the buck tail, ostrich or big feathers from a capes. Here I have attached some flies i`m currently using, so you can judge by yourself what is what.

Landing the monster

Aigars with the decent pike and my grip

OK,  finally you have a monster on the other end of your fly line, how you are going to land it? If you are an expert you can land the big croc with your hand by grabbing it by the lower jaw (from below of coarse!), but if you are a novice or you dont like to risk you can use the boga grip. These tools, especially made for salt water big game usage, are pricey and cheaper ones designed for pike are sometimes hard to get. Last Autumn i found a solution by redesigning some  plastic tool from carpenters shop. It was just  30 cents worth and was handling a pike only a little bit worse than original ones. To redesign it you should remove the orange plastic jaws, cut the sides like in a picture, and mount them back.  So, you are ready to get first 30 ponder  with the 30 euro cent boga grip!

You better get prepared, crocks are waiting!

Here come the flies

Redesigned and original

How I cut

Yellow slimshape

Ostrich prey

Pinkhead

Piky

Common Popper

Diving perch

Acid Tiger

Redhead

Black devil

Yellow diver

Another pike box

Arriving

When I arrived on 13 of June in Varzina, I recognized that this beauty is like big trout stream in northern Scandinavia – wide river with small islands and different sized pools in between them. Hence this year was my first experience in Kola and I have prepared some flies, I was interested in water color first. There is no such a thing as typical kola peninsula salmon fly – there are blue crystal clear waters like in river Sidorovka, and more tea type like in Kola and Panoi. Here in Varzina water has a slight touch of tee, but in general it is crystal clear. So orange and yellow colors should do the job, one may suggest. I have prepared a different tube flies for this trip, and more less these flies where quite big and bright, hence I was going to fish at the opening week this year, when water temperature are low, yet level is quite high. Unfortunately, when we arrived, water was already 6 degrees Celsius, and level was down for some 50 cm in comparison to typical level you might expect in this week.

Varzina - view from lodge

Fishing in Varzina is diverse and here the size not numbers meters. This river does not have so many fish as the rivers in southern Kola, but the size differs. If 3 kilos is nice fish for Southern river, than 7 kilos is average here. Maximum size you can expect here is around 16 kilos, but of coarse everybody know record – 30 kilo fish landed by some Englishman quite long before. Believe it or not, it is of coarse your choice…

About numbers – if we count fresh fish you can expect one or two per day, and of coarse there is blank days for everybody too. Meanwhile Kelts and autumn runners can bend your rod, so you should have something at least every day that touches your hook. In the lover part next to the camp, you can reach all pools by walking and they are located next to each other. As you can see in pictures some pools are narrow, and river is not more than 15 meters in width, while in the other places river is wider than 50 meters. In the upper part situation is different – river has more less constant width and pools are located in between long rapid sections. Guides are 100% percent sure that you can expect salmon takes here all year around. So let’s check it out…

First Experience

Fishing in Varzina river is well organized and scheduled – we where 7 persons in this group and head guide A. Danchukov, a nice person by the way, divided us into 4 groups. Fortunately Jegor, from Russia, was one on one with guide, so he had more freedom to choose where to fish during the day. So, I was together with the Canadian – Hugh, he had just arrived from Kharlovka, with the hope that here fishing would be better. He landed only 4 fish in week and meanwhile M. Frodin only 14. For sure spring run was on it`s way in Kharlovka, and as guides told at the very beginning, in Varzina situation was the same – everybody was waiting for more fish…

Every morning until lunch, we hade a chance to fish one or too pools from one bank, and then we where moved to different pools to fish until dinner at 7. After dinner usually people are tired by different reasons, and are shearing the drink in lovely bar with the best possible river views. But, of coarse you can take a chance and go out for night fishing.

Hugh with the trout!

First morning was tricky – after some arrival celebration and drinks at the evening, I was feeling poorly, and half an hour walk to Hollow glass pool does not change my feeling a lot. Hence the sign was broken there was possible to read only 3 letters – …ass pool! Apparently somebody hand a same feeling here. By the way, pool was beautiful – in between long rapids small tributary Pahta was entering in to 50 meters of deep dark water. There definitely was some fish in the current. Whether was “perfect”, wind was blowing like hell, and hence, by mistake, I picket up wrong rod my tackle was unbalanced.  After two hours of struggle, with no success, I was back in camp to change the tackle. Also Hugh did not succeed and we both did not recognized even any fish. It is always like this – if the beginning is bad wait for good news in the near future.

After lunch we where fishing Golden pool and I picked up smaller rod – 12 ft LOOP Multi, loaded with 31 gram shooting head system. Now it was much better. Especially nice soup during the lunch gave me this extra boost that was more than necessary. Back in touch again, and I have a feeling that first fish is around the corner.   In Golden, Delta and Silver pool it should usually be enough to fish with in 20 meters, so I was feeling perfect with my setup. Intermediate/sink2 head was presenting my Phatagovra just like I needed until – boom! Yes, first fish is on! Fighting with a lot of power but not leaving the pool, salmon was struggling some 10 minutes until finally entered the guides landing net. 94 centimeters – and around 8 kilos – these are the craziest fighters here in Varzina – fast and furious. After fifteen minutes another take in the pools exit, close to the bank… This time it was nice browny around 1,5 kilos, that of coarse is nothing fun on double hander. I am mentioning it only because Varzinas upper lodge is famous for its brown trout, where the length of these creatures can be up to 80 centimeters. Fascinating!

First fresh fish - 94 cm 8 kilos

First day was the best day for my casting student Igor who landed amazing 108 cm and 14 kilos fish in the Fin pool. Unfortunately, he did not put a drink to everybody at the evening, and you know what happened after… Broken rod and no fish for few days! Except Hugh and Vladimir, all others had a fish and Sasha, Bosnian for states, even more. Varzina is river that you must know to be highly successfuland it was forth time for him here. Pools are different and some times fish lay in certain places which is hard to find just by watching the river. Experience here is essential in these spots.

Next two days was at its glance! Weather was nice warm, calm and pretty hot for the spring – temperatures above 12 degrees. At the second day we where going with the chopper to Finpoolof. Of coarse with the hi hopes and expectations, hence yesterday there was few nice fish landed. At 10 o clock quite bright sun served tricky conditions for us, that was unexpected by the way. During the first 3 hours until launch time no fish where landed at Finpool! Wow – it just cannot be true! By the way I must admit that we so only too or three fish rising at the exit. So what is happening here? Even Guides was frustrated… Ok – after the launch we switched bank to the right one. I was fishing with quite big orange Buck tailed black Temple dog, meanwhile quite convinced that take is around corner! After half an hour first cloud covered the sun and – boom. Yes, fish is on. First minutes of fight showed that this is not a bad one two! When it appeared first time on the water I recognized the length – around one meter, and it had a mark on the back. Ok, we should land it. Ilja, nice guide from St. Petersburg, was on its move and finally fish was in the net. It was not a Kelt, but little bit slimmer than first fresh fish that I landed yesterday. Anyway length was around 1 meter!

From the Fin pool

From the mark on the back Ilja recognized that this is so called autumn run that stay in river for winter and would spawn next autumn. Varzina is Spring run river, and these fish are not so common here, so I can say that I was lucky. If I remember correctly Vladimir landed 4 kilo fresh fish during my fight and it surprised a little, hence the size of the fish should be bigger at this time of year. Hugh had a take, but missed the fish, and after half an hour same situation for me. I think, that during the first two hours sun was blinding the fish hence it was shining directly above the pool, and all the flies was presented in between fish and sun. At the moment when clouds appeared immediately came first takes. I was constantly fishing with same setup and 20 minutes before finish, another take. Yeh, again nice fight and …, another nice autumn run fish with the mark. No it cannot be that I landed this autumn salmon second time in the same day? Length was the same, but fortunately mark had different numbers. I landed this fish two minutes before we where supposed to leave and get to chopper, so I was lucky!

Night fishing

Hence day was hot I was out for night trial after the dinner and sauna. Yeh, last night I blanked, so I must have a fish this night. During early June Ice pool is not as productive as later in season, at least guides was sure about it. Best way is to check it out I supposed. During the night time you are out on your own, so you must be ready to land a fish on your own. Ice pool is quite wide, I would say like Finpool, so you must be able to cast long distance. I was fishing with Opti 14 ft and Int/sink5 adapted head. River was quite quiet – fish was not rising and I had no take during the first half an hour. Patience is a lot in salmon fishing and at the very exit of pool, deep in the V I stacked to something. Stone, no it moves! Partridge salar double gave me a confidence that everything should be ok. First run for 20 meters and I managed to stop it. Fortunately here was a place with an open gravel bank and after some ten minutes silvery tuna shaped salmon was on the solid ground. Yes! I would say it was around 9 kilos and 95 cm. Hook was at the jaws corner like it should be, but my black temple dog was smashed during the fight. Ok, I can take another fly… Constantly moving downstream after 20 minutes I hooked and landed another fish – 2 kilo grilse. Quite a surprise – grilse should not be here at this time.

Releasing the silver host

Next evening I was out one more time with no success, and now I can agree with the guides, that during the early season day fishing is more productive in Varzina.

Third day was my best day in the trip. Until the lunch I was fishing in the Penka (small Varzinas tributary) mouth. At that moment already I was using smaller flies with a touch of green color. At the morning landed two fresh fish, than one kelt, and finally missed nice fresh fish during the landing – it was almost in the net! After the dinner we moved to Delta and silver pool. At the 3 cast I again missed 9 kilo range fresh fish during the landing and after an hour landed another one on my own. That fish on particular was my biggest in this trip. I measured it next to the rod and later we decided that weight should be around 9,5-10 kilos. Not bad. Also during the day I had quite a lot takes, so it was perfect.

One from Penka

Meanwhile Hugh landed nice trout, but that was unfortunately his only fish that day. Hence I was lucky, I was expecting that everybody would have the same success, but no, it was a bad day for everyone except Jegor who landed two nice fresh fish. One day you have a luck other don’t. This was my best day and after it water temperature dropped to 6 degrees and I landed few but also missed quite a lot fish in the last days. In the last days evening I hooked nice fish on the Hollow glass pool and had a fight for 15 minutes. During the third attempt to get into the rapids my owner treble finaly bended and I was fully disappointed. Because of this fish I must return to these places. Others had a little bit more luck, others less, and results was average in general. Finnaly at the last day Jegor landed his fish of the life – 107cm long 29 ponder. Congrats, really nice fish for Varzina.

Flies

People where using different flies here in Varzina, with one similarity – most attractive ones was not overdressed, and was not dense. Varzinas classic is Golden Killer, Snealda, Sunray shadow, Temple dog. Jegor for instance, was using flies from Mickael Frodins stables – nice and typical scandi tubes. For me a little surprise was green color that performed so well her. Bosnian from states Sasha told me that this is his favorite color here, and hence he is here for 4 time, it makes sense. Anyway, guides have some flies and you can by some classic patterns at the lodge, so even if you decide to come without any flies – you will not get lost.

Tackle

Diverse… i know that most of the people who are fishing in Varzina uses 15 ft rod as the main one, and they are convinced that this is the propper choice, because there are pools where you should cast a long line.  In general I can agree with that, but in some places such a long rod can serve a problem. I have mentioned before that in Golden and Silver pools, small rods serve better, so my suggestion is that best choice is rather in between. So, I was fishing mainly with 14 ft LOOP Opti 9-10 and was happy. I think this is very versatile rod in terms of lengths and action.  Distance was not a problem with this rod and it was small enough to fit in compact banks of smaller pools too. So my first choice is 14 ft, but also 15 ft in combination with 12 ft is can doo the thing for you.  Hence conditions change quite fast here, i would reccomend to use med-fast or even fast action rods in Varzina, especially if you are fishing with sinking line and big  fly like the Snaelda for example.  About lines… As it was told before, in Varzina you must adapt quite fast, so for me it was not enough with one line. Where tributary Penka  is entering the Varzina there is no need to fish with super heavy stuff so floater with intermediate tip can serve well. In Fin pool there is another story and i was fishing with intermediate/sink 5 shooting head. In general guides recommend floater with fast sinking tip and i can agree with that. But if you would like to much your line perfectly for conditions, one is not enough.  Mostly i was using LOOP Opti adapted line system with short tips – it is gentle yet robust fly line, that handles big flies with ease in the same time.

Lodge

Camp from above

Yeh, and few words about the lodge. I have heard that this is the most beautiful lodge in Kola, and there is some truth in it. Located up on the high bank, there are scenic view on river Varzina and Penka. You can watch rising salmons in the Penkas moth during breakfast and dinner. What can be more exiting than that! Sauna and houses are clean and tidy so you can have a good rest after the fishing or take a relaxing drink in a bar. To say it short – everything is fitted to focus your mind on fishing.

When to come.

It seems that from15 of June till 15 of July is “hottest” time here in Varzina. You can expect a little bit more silvery and bigger fish at the first week from 15^th of June, while in the July there is more fish, but the size decreases a little. Anyway, whenever you would come, you should be ready for deep bend in your rod. I hope, I will be back again some day!

Biggest thanks to Sportfish tour operator on river Varzina.

Hugh with a fish

Small yet silvery

Sasha and Vladimir - before final battle

500 meters up from Finpool

This fish had a lable from Kharlovka!

Ilja with another fish from Penka

C & R only