Alan; 21, 17, 16 & 7lbs

DATE: 13th July 2017

Air Temp: 28’C

Water Temp: 16’C

Water Height: +.20m

Number of Rods: 13

Number of fish Caught: 22

Biggest fish:  21lbs Alan Marshall

No 30+: 0 

No 20-29lbs: 1

No 8-19lbs: 18

Grilse: 3

Weather: 

Bright sunshine all day, cloudless skis and very strong downstream wind.

Managers Comments: 

Another very hot day on the river, however we did have a very strong downstream wind. The wind was certainly welcomed, the increase in wind meant a lack of mosquitoes, certainly a bonus. 

Guide Vova, with Alan's fish 

Water temperature is rapidly increasing at the moment, it seems to have made the fish very aggressive fighters, certainly the ones I have seen being hooked this week have been serious torpedoes charging around the pool. I walked up to see Clive and Phil this morning, as if on cue, Phil hooked into a lovely 17lb fish that cartwheeled all over the pool. Phil then proceeded to hook a couple more in the pool… He conveniently, managed to provide all this action in the 20 minutes  I was there with a the camera. Good timing!

Alan with yet another fine specimen 

Leo had another successful day on the river on the fishing front, however in all the wind we had today, his cap blew off downstream. A quick manoeuvre meant putting his rod down and running after the cap… He dived into the river and with great pride he told me, he got it first time. However he hadn't quite thought out his plan, by time he returned to his rod, it had also tried to make an escape down river! After a bit of searching, the rod was eventually recovered. Not so smooth Leo!

Alan and George have had a fine week as fishing partners and together caught equal numbers of huge fish, and some quantity too.Yesterday at 7 Islands Alan had a day to remember, four fish to the net; 21, 17, 16 & a 7lbs grilse, also plenty other action. Good to see some action up the top end of the river and Alan’s partner George managed to avoid the blank with a beautiful fresh 18lb fish. Well done you two for an epic week, let's hope you have one last good session tomorrow.

Long tailed sea lice still!

Again a steady day on the river, some wonderful fish being caught, we are now starting to see all varieties of fish, big, small, old, fresh, the lot. Fish are still most definitely on the move, running fish were a common sight today. I do hope we get a full seasons worth of a run and that we continue to catch really fantastic quality fish.  

Toby Burrell

Fly line lost

DATE: 12th July 2017

Air Temp: 27’C

Water Temp: 15’C

Water Height: +.10m

Number of Rods: 13

Number of fish Caught:  24

Biggest fish: 25lbs Sam Amos

No 30+: 0 

No 20-29lbs: 3

No 8-19lbs: 12

Grilse: 9

Weather: 

A grey day, lots of cloud cover, windless and extremely warm.

Managers Comments: 

More of the same again today with a fair bit of action all over the shop. The fishers at the bottom section of the river reported endless sightings of fishing jumping and rolling. Sure signs that they were running hard. Interestingly the anglers further up the river saw almost nothing other than the ones they hooked up with. 

James with a fish on in the evening light

Sam Amos had a day to remember in Lyliok this morning, landing three fish in the pool at 25lbs, 15lbs & 15lbs. Three exceptionally good quality fish. Sam got all three fish on a Jock Scott, and old fashioned salmon fly on a single hook. Great to see someone using the old traditional equipment with some success. 

Leo with his 24lbs fish.

Digby who was fishing up river in 7 Islands had an exciting day, sadly never managed to get a fish to the net but a hooked a couple early on that put up a good tussle then shook the hook. A third fish took, and proceeded to take all his line and consequently breaking at the join leaving him with all his backing and nothing else. A shame he didn't manage to get a look at the fish but another good fishing tale for him to go home with. 

I think I'm safe in saying that we have finally seen the end of this years kelts! The last one caught was last Friday, almost a week ago now.  Surely that must be it!! Kelts in July, a very odd thought. Also the amount of snow still lying on the banks, I think a lot of it will be there until the next snow fall. Snow on snow. A very odd year in the Kola but now things are finally starting to get back on track. We are just hoping we can start to find the odd bigger fish soon.

Toby Burrell

Lyliok Ping Pong Ball

DATE: 11th July 2017

Air Temp: 22’C

Water Temp: 15’C

Water Height: +.25m

Number of Rods: 13

Number of fish Caught:  28

Biggest fish: 23lbs Sam Amos

No 30+: 0 

No 20-29lbs: 2

No 8-19lbs: 18

Grilse: 8

Weather: 

A grey day, lots of cloud cover, windless and slight drizzle 

Managers Comments: 

Another hugely successful day on the river, everyone coming back to camp with huge smiles. Excellent to see and great fun. The fishing is still getting better yet, numbers wise this is our best day of the season so far. 

We are catching a huge variety of fish, everything from two week old fish to sea liced fish. I think that a good number have been sitting right down at the bottom of the river waiting for the right time. Whatever it is that gives the salmon the incentive to run has certainly just happened and all fish fresh, and old have started to move on up.

Evening sunset

As is typical with running fish we are losing an awful lot, also each angler is having a good number of pulls through out the day which often don't materialise into anything else. Sam had an entertaining moment with a grilse in one of Boulder Alley’s pots. The fish took seven times before it eventually grabbed the fly properly and we landed it. I think having lots of pulls and shaking off a large proportion of fish we hook is due to the fact they are running hard. Which is course is no surprise, with such a late season the salmon will be keen to get up river. But plenty of action is a good confidence booster and very exciting.

Another fantastic day for George and Alan down in Lyliok and Crows Nest, eight fish between them and plenty of other action. Alan had an epic fresh fish in the tail of Lyliok, a beautifully marked 20lb fish. 

Alan's 20lb fish

Lyliok once again provided a wonderful evening for the night time fishers. I went down tonight with the team and acted as right bank night guide. I thought this would be fantastic, I’ll get a nice relaxing evening on the river bank. I'm pleased to say, it was quite the opposite. I felt a bit like a ping pong ball bouncing between James and Leo netting fish after fish. Two hours of fishing for five fish with a little bits of action in between. I'm now a pro at wading the Lyliok stream! 

Fish always measured and weighed

Still using a variety of gear that all seems to be working, generally speaking for most anglers and much closer to the surface now. Full floating lines with an intermediate tip or slow sink. Flies have again ranged from tiny little doubles to large Snaeldas. Fresh fish don't seem to be fussy!

Toby Burrell

Lots of sun, lots of fish.

DATE: 10th July 2017

Air Temp: 28’C

Water Temp: 15’C

Water Height: +.3m

Number of Rods: 13

Number of fish Caught:  20

Biggest fish: 25lbs George Shaw

No 30+: 0 

No 20-29lbs: 2

No 8-19lbs: 17

Grilse: 1

Weather: 

Bright and sunny, all day with very little wind and extremely hot.

Managers Comments: 

Every day now we are picking up the scores, as more and more fresh fish pile in. The spring is finally here! It's taken a record amount of time to arrive, but finally now all the flowers are out, the trees are green and the birds are here. We caught our last kelt on Saturday and hopefully that was the end of them. Very bizarre to be catching kelts in July, however it was just another sign of how incredibly late everything is. In hindsight, the salmon were right on time, they arrived in numbers just as the kelts disappeared. 

Phil with an 18lb fish 

Today was another good day on the river, the bright sunshine and blistering hot sun didn't give me the highest of hopes first thing this morning. But I was very wrong, every team had plenty of action, a lot of fish hooked. 

Yokanga grilse are chunky!

George had a fantastic day in Lyliok, hooked 8 fish landed 4 of them, all between 16 and 25lbs. He also lost one out the rapids reporting that his reel burnt out! He said it smelt like a car clutch going, nothing he could do to stop the fish. His partner Alan had a lovely fish of 17lbs out the top of Lyliok pool as well.

Beautiful colours

Leo had a very exciting afternoon, hooking into plenty of fish and having numerous pulls but sadly didn't mange to land one, James his fishing partner, also had the same problem, but did mange to get two to the bank in the end. 

George's 25lber

We are now on to full floating lines and the odd intermediate tip. Fish are being caught with flies of all shapes and sizes, Andy had a 22lber from Beach with a size 8 Stoats Tail. Leo hooked fish on Schneldas and small Cascades, George managed his on a small Ally Shrimp tube… No real pattern and all varieties. The beauty of having a river with a good number of fresh fish in it. 

Toby Burrell

A Furry Fishing Partner.

DATE: 9th-10th July 2017

Air Temp: 17’C

Water Temp: 15’C

Water Height: +.4m

Number of Rods: 13

Number of fish Caught:  17

Biggest fish: 18lbs Phil Walker

No 30+: 0 

No 20-29lbs: 0

No 8-19lbs: 15

Grilse: 1

Sea Trout: 1

Weather: 

Bright and sunny, an hour of cloud first thing this morning. strong upstream wind.

Managers Comments: 

Yesterday the guests arrived in good time after a smooth ride out to the lodge, a quick lunch, then out on the river. Rods were rapidly assembled and they headed out. I wandered out to go and see how everyone was getting on, as I walked over to Pump I saw Clive was into a fish. Very quickly off the mark with a nice fresh 14lber. 

Fresh fish on the release

There were a couple others to land a fish on the first evening, Fredrico went to visit Lyliok and hooked four fish on the trot but sadly didn't manage to get one to the bank. But he did manage one in Lyliok this evening finally after losing six fish so far! So all smiles now after a frustrating start.

Geoff's fishing partner for the day

Today was a steady day, with the drop in water and sign of running fish, we are able to head up river this week to some untouched waters. Now we are fishing from Cliff down to Crows Nest. A huge stretch of water for 13 rods! Geoff was up at Cliff. He managed two salmon and a sea trout. He also had a furry fishing partner come to join him for a long while. Having been no helicopters and fishers up there yet this season, the bears still seem to be around. 

Geoff with a fresh fish from Cliff

All in all a reasonably successful day, every rod in camp is off the mark which is fantastic news. Hopefully we can continue to tick away at more every day.

The gear that seems to be working with some success is full floating line with a short slow sink tip. Now on to smaller doubles, size 6 and 5. The Cascade and Ally shrimp have been causing some damage. 

Clive with a beauty 

If you are joining us next week perhaps some smaller doubles will be a good idea, the river is dropping fast!

Toby Burrell

Week 1-8 July

DATE: 1st-8th July 2017

Air Temp: 14C-26C

Water Temp: 7C-16C

Water Height: 1.1m - .4m

Number of Rods: 16

Number of fish Caught: 54

Biggest fish: 30lbs Keith Webster 

No 30+:  1

No 20-29lbs:  10

No 8-19lbs:  37

Grilse:  6

Total weight of fish: 798lbs

Weather: 

A mixture of all seasons through out the week, bright sunshine, heavy fog, strong winds and rainy afternoons.

Managers Comments:

Now looking back on the final scores, the week just past was definitely a successful one. It certainly did start off low and then seemed to crescendo into a fantastic finish. 

 A Drink In the Evening sun

However having said that it was a slow start, some of the really good quality fish were taken early on. Keith had an epic 30lb fish from Home Pool in the first evening. A specimen that is hard to beat, a bright silver hen, only hours from the sea. Congratulations Keith on catching a fish of a lifetime and I hope it's the beginning of lots to come! 

Keith's 30lber

As the week progressed we certainly started to see more fish, they were fairly scattered around for the first half of the week, but by the second half we began to see a pattern. The bottom beats on the river were producing the fish, exactly what you want to see when still waiting for the run to come in on this bizarrely late season. 

Charles' beauty from Beach

In the tundra spring is an incredible feat to watch come and go, it's such a fast process here because of the short period you can physically see it happen. This was one of those weeks. Upon arrival the tundra was totally brown and grey. Now however, the whole place has come alive with bird life, greenery and a fantastic blossom of flora. It really is a whole new place from five days ago. A really magical thing to see the change in season in such a short period of time. It would seem that the fish are also running on a similar scale and turning up as fast as the spring has. 

Keith Chucking a good line in Lyliok

Our last day of the week was a spectacular one and we hope that this is the beginning of a fast and furious salmon run. It certainly felt like fresh fish coming up in numbers.

Andy with a good hen

 

A big thank you to the team of rods, what a fantastic week we had, lots of laughs in the bar every evening. A truly great fun group of people. Travel safe and see you next year!

Toby Burrell