Week 37

salmonjunky

New member
Three Rivers report - final week of the season

Continuing on with the successes of our previous weeks, we were pleased to welcome the last 13 rods of the season who travelled far and wide from the countries of Iceland, U.K., Denmark and Japan to arrive to test their skills against nature at its finest.



Although we would normally have expected the high summer conditions to have given way long ago to the odd cold front or to some much anticipated autumn rains, this was unfortunately not to be the case and will officially go down in the records as the hottest and driest season since the camps were established some 22 year ago.

Once again, we had to make the best of what would turn out to be another bright sunny week here in paradise. Although it did sprinkle down for an hour or two on Tuesday, the daytime temperatures remained fairly steady throughout the week at about 15 degree C. As a result, the water temperatures remained unseasonably warm to the very end finishing the season at 11.6C with a extremely low water level of - 21cm on the home pool scale.



Nevertheless, none of this really seemed to matter, for in addition to the awe inspiring autumn colours, and the copious amounts of ripe blueberries and mushrooms, and that crisp clean arctic air, and those magical northern lights, this is also that special time of the year when the big spring salmon awaken and become aggressive again towards our boxes full of large coloured flies. And never forget about that added bonus of the big bright silver Osenkas that stir up the pools and along with our imaginations, as they work their way through the system.
We are pleased to report that our new friends from Japan - Oki, Toki, Yasu, Haku, and Ebi are certainly all believers now! For besides being some of the most well mannered guests we have ever had, this gang all manage to smash their personal bests over and over again during week. And while they will all be going home with millions of stunning photographs of everything and everybody, it was Ebi who had the greatest story to tell.



Ebi's friend Yasu working his magic on the upper Litza

Without a recognisable pattern in Ebi's box, Sasha guide politely asked if these were the only flies he had? So, we quickly decided for travelling all this way that everyone from Japan deserved at least one large snealda to add to their foreign assortments. The very next day we heard the good news over the radios that Ebi's dreams had come on the Litza. That evening, taking special care to be modest and not over exaggerate the situation, Ebi was challenged yet again to explain the back to back to back 25, 33, and 25 pounders he took that unforgettable afternoon out of the Litza Dream pool. Kanpai!
One of Ebi 3 large salmon from the Litza Dream Pool - - - - - - - - - - - - - Oki with a 20 pounder out of the Home pool



Toki with his new 23 pound P.B. from Kharlovka National Park

Other highlights last week included Nick for being honest about his 29.5 pound P.B. that he managed to wrestle out of the Litza falls pool. Jan deserves some credit for having a nice day everyday and for sharing his tasty little red pepper with the rest of us. As did Marino (with his secret Friggi flies) and Hilli Billi Iceland for landing 26 salmon together that included 3 nice fish over 20 pounds.

A special honourable mention also goes out to Niall for bringing his 2 hard working sons Alex and Rory away from their practises to spend some quality time together on the rivers with their friend/guide Big Alex. Although the older Brother Alex started off strong catching his first five salmon ever on the first day and then went on to break his P.B again with a fat 27 pounder, it was his younger, more experienced brother Rory who ended up landing more than half of their tally of 21 salmon which included a stunning P.B. 25 pound Osenka to claim the big silver prize!



Rory with his bar of silver from the Litza Military pool!

While we could have used a lot more water in the rivers along with a few more clouds about in the bright arctic sky, the team had a wonderful time locating 83 salmon on the week which included 8 new personal bests.

However, we all know that there is a lot more to fishing than fishing! As well as the many old friends that we welcomed back to ASR during the season, we have enjoyed forming friendships with an encouraging number of new international guests experiencing the challenges and pleasures of our rivers for the first time. Many have been as captivated by the uniqueness of the rivers and the environment and like all of our new Japanese friends, have vowed to return. A good friend once reminded me that, "The philosophers tell us an essential ingredient of happiness is timelessness which applies to us when absorbed in our wonderful world of fly fishing amongst kindred spirits in harmony with nature."

We are currently in the process of finalizing our fishing plans for the 2014 season. ASR invitations and applications will be sent out by the end of September. On behalf of the entire ASR team, we are looking forward to fishing with you all again next season on the Northern Rivers!

Until the ice breaks!
Justin



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