Thursday 11 August 2016

A 25lber

Date: 10 August

Air Temp: 18’C -22’C
Water Temp: 16C
Water Height: -22cm
Number of Rods: 14
Number of fish Caught: 10
Biggest fish: 25lbs - Heikki
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 1
No 8-19lbs: 1
Grilse: 6
Sea Trout: 2

Weather: Incredibly strong down stream winds with bright sunshine.

Managers Comments: Today was a tricky day, bright sunshine and just to make it a little harder we had gale force winds.

Heikki with his fish from the Lake

Just trying to put an upstream mend in was damn near impossible. Even trying to balance yourself on a rock was a struggle with the wind. However the team persevered and returned home with some good results.

Hannu N and Heikki H had a good day in Poachers and on down to camp. They managed to land 5 fish between them, the biggest at 25lbs. Heikki had the 25lbers out of Lake, mid pool. He caught it on a size 8 fly - we haven't managed to come up with a name for it. But it is a sort of mixture between and green highlander and a Willie Gunn. Only a very small bit of buck tail on a green and silver body. Most of our fish that have been caught over the last 10 days have all been on floating lines with sinking tips but today however four of the eight caught were on full floating lines and very small flies. Perhaps a change of tactics is in need with the dropping water.

Heikki's killer fly

A good result today putting yet another 20lber in the book. Well done Heikki, hopefully its the first of many to come on the Yokanga. Let's hope the winds calm down tomorrow and we can get couple more monsters on the bank.

Toby Burrell

Wednesday 10 August 2016

Scorching Day

Date: 9 August

Air Temp: 18’C -22’C
Water Temp: 16C
Water Height: -21cm
Number of Rods: 14
Number of fish Caught: 1
Biggest fish: 6lbs Pentti Kuusela
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 0
No 8-19lbs: 0
Grilse: 1

Weather: Another scorcher today with bright sunshine and very little cloud in the sky. A strong downstream wind.

 Incoming heli 

Managers Comments: Not an easy day again today, we are really struggling with these conditions. There are very few fresh fish entering the river now at this late stage in the season and the older fish certainly don't like this bright sun in their eyes all day.

The team!

One half of the team headed back to Murmansk this afternoon meaning the only got a few hours fishing. Seppo K did manage to hook into a nice fish but sadly it was lost just before the net. A shame to have lost his first salmon but I'm sure that now has him hooked.

The other six rods that have joined us for the second half of the week all arrived safe and sound last night, both Juha and Juhan headed out to Lyliok but sadly with no success. It is getting increasingly more and more difficult to fish after supper with dark nights riding in earlier every night.

Ready for action in Poachers

Our saviour today was Pentti K who managed the only salmon for the team. A grilse out of Lower Norcamp, a good effort to get hold of him in the midday sun. I hope he can do the same tomorrow if we get similar weather.

Toby Burrell

Tuesday 9 August 2016

Bright sunshine

Date: 8 August

Air Temp: 16’C -18’C
Water Temp: 16C
Water Height: -20cm
Number of Rods: 14
Number of fish Caught: 2
Biggest fish: 11lbs Yrjo Ojaniemi
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 0
No 8-19lbs: 1
Grilse: 1

Weather: A very warm day with bright sunshine all day and hardly a cloud insight.

Managers Comments: A very tough day today which was half expected with this very nasty weather - well nasty if you want to catch fish, rather good if you want to catch a tan!

The fishing at Poachers was very tough indeed today, although I am told lots of fish were showing. The two fishers did have some excitement with a very curious bear. Yrjo and Juha were both fishing away when a rather large brown bear started wandering down the bank towards them. In panic, Yrjo shouted for the guide to bring the boat over, Sergey paddled over to his rescue. At this this point the bear was sitting only metres away just casually watching them. Landing on the opposite bank they thought they were safe and out of harm's way. Not so lucky… the bear then jumped into the river and swam across. After a bit of yo-yoing back and forth keeping well away from the beast, it soon got bored and disappeared off into the tundra. Lots of excitement for both Yrjo and Juha and to top their day off Yrjo had a nice 11lber out of beach on the way home. Both full of smiles when arriving back at camp, a day never to be forgotten.

Elsewhere on the river was also a real struggle for our guests today; they have all said that there were plenty of fish showing but nothing was encouraging them to take.

Hopefully we shall lose this sun and they will come on again. A small bit of rain forecast for tomorrow, let's hope it comes. A good night sleep is in order read for action tomorrow.

Toby Burrell

Monday 8 August 2016

28lber for Ari

Date: 7 August

Air Temp: 13C to 17C
Water Temp: 15C
Water height: -20cm
Number of rods: 11
Number fish caught: 7
Biggest fish: 28lbs Ari Lahti
No 30+: 0
No 20-29: 1
No 8-19: 2
Grilse: 3
Sea Trout: 1

Weather: 
A bright day with the odd wisp of cloud.

Manager's Comments:
A slightly slower day on the fishing front today but nevertheless a glorious day on the Yokanga. Island pool has provided well today by coughing up four fish for our two guests, Ari L and Pentti K. Pennti had a lovely fresh grilse of about 7lbs and another nice 12lber. Ari has had an enormously successful day by landing his biggest fish to date, 28lbs. A truly monstrous fish.

Ari's monster from Island

Ari’s fish took him high up in the Island pool draw in the the slow water. Fishing from the boat they immediately rowed up into the pool well away from the rapids to increase their chance of landing the fish. Although the fish had been in the river for a week or two it still gave an almighty battle. To begin with Ari felt rather helpless as the fish was torpedoing up and down the pool, even with a 15ft rod a fish like that does feel a bit like you've taken a knife to the gun fight. But Ari stuck it out and 35 minutes later he landed his 28lber. Well done Ari, a great fish to get and great start to the week.

Ahti M also had a nice 18lbers out of Upper Norcamp this afternoon. He got it out of the first main draw in upper Norway, a fantastic spot that has yielded many a big fish over the years, and this season. A really fantastic big fish spot!

Another nice Yokanga fish 

The weather seems to be warming up again now, let's hope that it only lasts a day or two!

Toby Burrell

Week 30 July to 6 August

Date: 30 July-6 August

Air Temp: 8’C -17’C
Water Temp: 14C-16C
Water Height: -17cm to -20cm
Number of Rods: 11
Number of fish Caught: 74
Biggest fish: 25.5lbs Erik Cullin
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 5
No 8-19lbs: 27
Grilse: 42

Weather: Much more steady temperatures, showers on and off all week and usually warmer afternoons. River levels staying at about -20cm all week.

Antonio with Red Sergei and Old Vova
 
Managers Comments: Fish numbers continued to rise this week. I think with the weather and water levels finally steadying up it has allowed the fish to settle and bring them on the take. The water temperature has certainly been far better this week keeping at a steady 14 degrees which is much better than our pervious 16, 17 and even 19 degrees.
 
Michel and his fish
 
Everyone has put in a fantastic effort this week and we’ve come out with some good results. Michel G was our top rod for the week. A fantastic result, especially as it is only his second time fly fishing for salmon. He has really sussed it out and anyone would guess he has been doing it for years. He did, however, manage to hook his inflatable boat at the start of the week! Luckily his guide, Pasha, managed to get them to the bank before completely deflating. I think quite a shock at the time but amusing in hindsight. But Michel has done very well and with a 20lber in hand I'm sure the success will continue for years to come.
 
Daniel about to release another
 
Daniel S also has done very well for his first time ever on a salmon river. He got off to a flying start with a nice 21lber and 12lber on the first day. His first salmon is a fish that many fisher man spend a lifetime looking for. One of the fantastic traits of the Yokanga is that these mystical silver monsters can become a reality and every pull, every knock could be the one. Tremendously exciting.

Big smiles all round
 
The biggest fish of the week goes to Erik C who had a lovely 25.5lbs fish out of Crows Nest in the last few hours of the week. Erik and his fishing partner Tor have had a good week, landing plenty of fish between them and a handful of nice salmon. The week’s team has been a mixture of Mexicans, Swedes and Brits. It has been another great fun week with the Swedes introducing us to some traditional Swedish fishing songs in the evening and the Mexicans bringing plenty of Tequila to the table which certainly spiced up our evenings. A fun week, thank you all and hope to meet again somewhere in the fishing world.

Tight Lines!

Toby Burrell

Sunday 7 August 2016

25.5lber on the last day

Date: 5 August

Air Temp: 13’C -17’C
Water Temp: 14C
Water Height: -20cm
Number of Rods: 11
Number of fish Caught: 13
Biggest fish: 25.5lbs Erik Cullin
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 2
No 8-19lbs: 3
Grilse: 8

Weather: Extremely heavy rain showers on and off all morning with a nice cool sunny afternoon.

Managers Comments: This morning’s weather left most rods very wet on the banks of the river. We had some serious rain showers that really soaked us through to the bone. Luckily, however, it was fairly warm and we were saved by the sun breaking out by about 2pm.

A fat hen fish from Home Pool
 
The fishing was mixed again today. There do not seem to be any consistent hot spots at the moment. Every day the fish that are caught are in very different places. Erik C had a wonderful fish out of Crows Nest this afternoon. The fish took him right in the last draw of the beat. He was unable to stop the fish rocketing off down the rapids toward Gremikha. Erik was forced to run after his fish at high speed, not easy on those big boulders. By the time he had made it to the bottom of the rapids there was still 100 yards of backing out. He then managed to get the fish under reasonable control where upon his fishing partner had come to help. They managed to net the fish, weighing in at 25.5lbs. A fantastic fish with an epic fight. A real Yokanga experience and certainly a fish that will be remembered for a long time. Well done Erik.
 
Endless options

Raul and Daniel S both managed a couple of fish each out of Lyliok, also this afternoon just as the sun broke out. So a nice way to finish the week with Daniel doing especially well with this being his first time on a salmon river. He has come out with an exceptional result and a 20lber under his belt.

Some success on a rubber legged  nymph
 
Michel G once again has come home with a large tally, landing another four fish for the day and losing a couple more. All from 7 Islands, he caught his fish on a surprisingly large black and yellow skull head. A fly that worked well last week and still seems to be providing plenty of action.
 
 
Michel G with another nice fish from 7 Islands

Mark H managed a couple out of Beach this morning. I went up to join him in the later part of the day and we had a very entertaining couple of hours down through Boulder Ally. We decided to put on a hitch and see what we could produce. We managed to find one pot that seemed to have a few fish in it. Sadly we never managed to land a single fish but we had a very exciting time with the hitch and plenty of action. Both an amusing and frustrating afternoon.
 
All in all a good day on the river and well done to those who managed some fish.

Toby Burrell