salmonjunky
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Last week it was all about the fathers and sons along with some great new friends and a whole lot of fun in the sun. After reporting the previous week that we had never seen such high arctic temperatures that were sustained for so long, little did we know however it was about to get even hotter and brighter. In fact there wasn't really even a single cloud in the sky until the last day of the week - again...
Every morning temperatures would start out around 20 degrees C and then soar to over 30 C. The same was true for the river temps which ranged from 19.6 to 24 C straight through the week. As a result water levels have dropped from 1cm to -11cm on the home pool scale.
Nevertheless, our latest team of nine rods from Spain, Finland, and Russia all bonded together to have a wonderful time. A group of seriously successful entrepreneurs, there were two fathers and three sons, one brother, and some new friends. With the odds stacked against us from the very beginning, we wisely decided to move breakfast forward to 06:00 and then to return the boys back to the camps early at 16:00. Although the top of the home pool has been stuffed with fish, the boys seem to find enough action during the mornings that they preferred to rest up, tie a few flies and socialise during the long bright afternoons and nights.
Considering all the beautiful weather and the relaxed bunch of guests we had, we were delighted to land 76 salmon on the week. Again nearly all the salmon were bright fresh and straight in from the sea. In addition, there were also a couple of memorable tundra expeditions that produced some 35+ trout up 2kg and also a few journeys to the Kharlovka beach that yielded some impressive sun tans along with several nice sea trout and char up to 3kg. One bright sunny afternoon we had no choice but to break something special off before it managed to reach the end of the backing of our measly 5 weight line.
Our Spanish amigos Mario and Lucas made the best of the tricky conditions teaming up for several nice salmon on their hitched sun ray shadows.
And then there was that happy family of Fins. Thankfully Henrik decided to bring two of his boys along with his brother and another good friend. In addition to a couple of more of Henrik's sons that will be joining the Kharlovka youth programme, we have a feeling that we will be seeing them all back again next season.
Markus and Will led the way for the family landing 27 salmon including one personal best and several that were 20+ pounds.
Special mention also goes out to Maria, who managed to get her first fly fishing lesson the beach on the Barents Sea. After warming up with a few hours of casting practise (and a good sized blister on her finger), Maria stalked the beach until she spotted a large fish coming her way. Following a perfect 15 foot cast, she lowered the rod and gave a couple of strips before setting into a sweet 2.5 kg sea trout that ran far out to sea well into the backing before she managed to drag her first fish ever back to the beach for some great photos.
The other big highlight of the week went out to Vladimir who following a pleasant lunch with his good friend Nikolia at the Litza Tent went on to land an impressive 27 pounder with a small single hook that was dressed with a bit of black hair.
And, if you can't beat them - then join them! There are very few spectacles in nature more pleasing then to sit quietly on the granite rocks and enjoy the salmon leaping through the bubbly wrath of the Kharlovka Falls. Sometime each season, between early July and mid August, when the sun, moon and stars are aligned just right in the northern sky, the window opens up for the salmon to leap the falls. Although they were only jumping for a day or two, it was wonderful to see a few Kharlovka monsters disappear into the upper river drainage.
The forecast is calling for heavy rains over the weekend. Hopefully with a few more centimeters of cool water in the rivers and a bit more cloud about, we should have another week in paradise.
Justin
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