Aardvark McLeod

Last weekend once again I found myself over the North Atlantic heading to the land of fire and Ice. Iceland has had a mixed season this year with some exceptional fishing at the start of the season tied in with some trying times through July an into early August. On the West Coast at that point it had not rained properly in five weeks and many rivers such as the Nordurá, Langá and Laxá I Kjos have had a tough time due to exceptionally low water conditions.

Amidst all this doom and gloom many fishermen have thrown the rule book out of the window, changed their fishing patterns and techniques to match having some great success. Peter Baxendale’s team chalked up 104 salmon on the Langá in a river two entire feet lower than last year. How? Single handed trout rods, 8 lbs leader and size 18 Red Francis flies. Dickie Nicholson’s team followed suit on the Laxá I Dolum with over 100 fish to the six rods for the week. All of this happened in blazing sunshine more akin to the south of France.

The North coast is having some of the best runs of fish since 2005, and Laxá I Adaldal has seen some monsters hooked, landed and lost. Neil Parkinson lost of fish of over 25 lbs, but landed one of 19 lbs, but by this time due to the hot conditions and the southerly wind the Laxá I Adaldal had been badly affected by blanket weed flowing from Lake Myvatn. In the first week of August Malcolm Scott and Lilla Rowcliffe, regulars of the Adaldal had persevered despite the weed, one to single hooks and landed fish of 19 lbs and 16 lbs respectively. Malcolm lost a monster that the guides estimate well over 25 lbs.

The ever increasingly popular trout fishing on the top of the Laxá I Adaldal at Myvatnssveit and Laxardal has been a huge success this season. Top rod so far has been Andreas “The Heron” Topintzis who is the secretary of the Salisbury and District Angling Club with 38 fish in 3 days up to 7 ½ lbs. The other high scorer was our very own Chris Yrazabel, owner of sight Cast in Los Roques who swapped his 8 weight for a 5 weight and had over 60 in 5 days. Chris always fishes for trout in his off season and normally fishes in Patagonia. He called me from Caracas on his return to say that it was better fishing than 8 Patagonian trout lodges he had visited in terms of size, numbers and aggression.
This is the time of year that I assess all the feedback received from our anglers and sit down with the directors of the Angling Club to discuss improvements that can be made for next year. It is a shame that the only place to find them at this time of the year is on a river, which makes a perfect board room! My first port of the call was Reykjavik for a quick chat with Pall, and then on to the domestic airport for a 45 minute flight to Akureyri, the main northern town. By 2130 I was safely in the Ness Lodge on the Laxá I Adaldal with Halli, the director of Angling at the Reykjavik Angling Club. It was lovely to see so many old friends.
The following couple of days reminded me of just why I love this river so much. The conditions were perfect, overcast and cooler than the previous few weeks. The weed from Lake Myvtn became minimal almost instantaneously, but there are a few ways to combat it. Using knotted tapered leaders is a good way as the blood knots on the cast catch any weed first and allow the fly to fish freely for longer, and the second is to use small single hooked flies. These are tied on Salar singles which are brutishly strong, and combined with 30 lbs leader fished on a loop allow the fly to swing freely.

In summary my first fish was a cracking 16 lbs hen fish from the lowest pool Höfdahylur that came out of the water like a torpedo to hammer a stripped sunray shadow. I do love to fish this method as the takes are extremely exciting. The Adaldal is a wide and calm surfaced river, so follows are easily seen as large bow waves push across the river. A square cast followed by small strips seems to irritate them the most.  I then took a 12 lber from Grunahyjir or “Pinnacle Pool”, a 10 lber from Birgisflud about four feet from the bank and lost another good fish just below it in the run. There was a large amount of activity on the river with almost constant action. I think with the slightly cooler conditions the fish were feeling less lethargic.
The following day Halli took me to top of a very wide stretch called Vitadsgafi. Here the river is wide and relatively slow moving with an island on the far bank. We saw a large fish move in the middle of the current a long way out. With the calm water I was concerned about spey casting and disturbing it so I stood on top of the bank, tucked my 14’ rod into my hip and double hauled the Rio Powerspey out into the middle of the river and began a small strip. After the second cast there was a huge bow wave that followed the small size 10 Nighthawk and then everything went tight. In my excitement I initiated a saltwater strip strike….. and pulled the fly clean out of the fish’s mouth……school boy error.. Halli, who had been lying on the bank next to me nonchalantly looked up and said,
“Don’t strike the salmon… that fish was over 20 lbs…  idiot!” before returning his gaze to where the bow wave was disappearing across the pool. Knickers. I have never been very good at fishing for salmon in calm water and have always struggled with very gentle takes. Having done so much saltwater fishing I always get carried away. Ah well….

In the afternoon I pulled a nice grilse of 5lbs from the hole in front of Kirkjuhólmakvísl and another 12 lber from a large laval hole in the middle of Pressthylur. This again I attacked by standing on the bank and double hauling the fly out into the hole. I think the gentle presentation of the fly dropped on its nose worked well in the quiet water. You can wade out a way, but again entering the water creates disturbance which in the calm of an evening in my opinion has to disturb the fish.

My last morning I was left to my own devices on Höfdahylur again, and this time I started much higher up the pool in the widest section. I had seen a salmon head and tail there the first time I had fished it, and almost as soon as I arrived on the pool the fish showed again in greeting. The high bank provided an excellent vantage point and again I used the double haul to out the fly right out in the middle of the river where I had seen it “rise”. This time I was employing a black and blue cone head tube fly. I stripped it across its nose and was immediately welcomed by a colossal push of water and the fish hit the fly hard. I think I really upset it as it went charging down the pool putting me well into my backing. I was giggling as I followed it a little before applying some sideways strain and piling the pressure on. I have always had the attitude that if you are attached, play the fish as hard as you can. It is better for the fish, and if it falls off, it falls off. More often than not though the shorter the battle the more likely the hook will hold.

I scrambled down the bank into the water and managed with a little slack line to lift the hen fish’s head and hand tail her. After a few quick shots for Habeus Corpus (proof of body) I revived the fish that went back strong and sat giggling to myself until Halli arrived. After that experienced I put my rod down and did a little guiding for my fishing partner, Mjoll (pronounced Mjertle, the manageress of Nordurá, Langá, Hitará and Laxá I Dolum lodges on the west coast), and got her into a couple of smaller fish higher up. She fishes the Laxá I Adaldal every year, which considering she manages so many of the famous west coast rivers says a lot.

At lunch time Halli and I loaded up the car and drove across the North coast to the Western Rivers. I wanted to see the whole of Laxá I Dolum which was new this season. Rain had finally arrived on the West coast and Laxá I Dolum had had 27 fish in the evening session before we arrived. It was raining hard and already the feeder streams were swollen. The river was still low to where it should have been, but was already beginning to look healthier than previous weeks. Laxá I Dolum is a 26 km private river perfect for an intact party of 6 rods. It is one of the few rivers in Iceland that has such a small number of rods to fill it, and has a fascinating character. For more detail please see Charlotte’s report from earlier in the season.
We moved onto to Nordurá to meet the board members of the Reykjavik Angling Club and had a very enjoyable evening catching up and discussing this season and the laying the ground work for next season. There will be some exciting developments for next year. Iceland continues to enthral me, and every time I go I learn something new, discover and new place and learn more about this fascinating country. It really is the Atlantic Salmon capital of the world as no where will you find such a high concentration of top quality salmon rivers in such a small area. The fact it is only 3 ½ hours away from the UK just makes me want to go more.

Having experienced low water conditions in July last season at Langá I was somewhat horrified, on arrival this year, to see the even lower level of water in the river. I was quietly thinking to myself “what on earth do the twelve guests think I have brought them to?” Well I need not have worried as the river was stuffed full of fresh fish. In fact the run of fish was deemed to be 40% higher than last season. The weather was more akin to Majorca than Iceland and, at one stage, in the shallows the water temperature rose to 20 degrees C. Guests all said “if this was Scotland we would all be on the Golf course and only going out at dusk”

Well Iceland is different and the fish were very obliging and took in the brightest of conditions. We were all amazed at how small a fly they would take: a large number were taken on size 18s and tiny hitched tubes with a number also falling to micro cone heads. The middle beat fished best followed by the lower section; especially after a high tide. Indeed a number of salmon (and a couple of seatrout) were caught in saltwater). A large percentage still had sea lice on and were extremely sporting on light tackle. Those fish that had made it to the top beat were to be found in deep holes with many having already made a dash for the lake in the headwaters.

The lake tends to keep the Langa topped up with water through the season. However there had been little snow last winter so water was not so plentiful but still better than many neighbouring rivers which were definitely suffering in the adverse conditions. I was hoping for an average of 15 fish per rod for the week given reasonable conditions so we were all thrilled to have averaged 13 in ultra low water totaling 104 fish for the group. Most rods lost a similar number so there was plenty of action. I am looking forward to a week of medium water with overcast skies – that could be truly awesome! Four of us had been before and our average catch for the two years is 14.5 which is pretty respectable for poor coditions.

Iceland is not just about the fishing! The Langá Lodge, although architecturally no beauty, is most comfortable with twin bedrooms (single occupancy) with their own en suite facilities. The sitting room overlooks the river with stunning views of a glacier and hills to the North West. The staff were charming and highly attentive to our needs. The Chef was sensational and our well travelled group felt he provided the best food of any sporting Lodge that any of us had ever been to!

The bird and wildlife were plentiful with arctic foxes and mink spotted along with merlins, golden plover, skua, ringed plover, drumming snipe, whimbrel and bar-tailed godwit to name but a few!

A big thank you to the proprietors, staff and guides of SVFR – we will be back!”

Leaving Langá and getting to Dölum was like playing pass the very large parcel: Óli (the head guide on Langá) drove me down to Borganes where I met Hjόrdes who was driving north to Laxá I Dölum to join her partner.  He is a motorbike policeman in Reykjavik most of the year and normally spends his summers guiding on Nordurá.  His spending this season up at Laxá I Dölum and he is also on the Board of Directors of the Reykjavik Angling Club - with that in mind I remained on my best behaviour for at least 10 minutes.

The drive north to the lodge was uneventful (no pirates), the scenery stunning and the time passed swiftly chatting to Hjόrdis.  The waterfalls above the lodge are a fantastic backdrop to the lodge itself.  There is no mobile signal at the lodge, no wi-fi, no TV and no radio: all of which is wonderful but you do pick up a good signal a few minutes away from the lodge.

I fished the evening session the day I arrived and being very early in the season, we fished the lower beats, rotating around up to pool 10 where we could see, from the hill, a big fish hanging in a pool by the near bank.  Despite several changes of fly, and angle, this particular salmon wasn’t interested at all and we left him in peace and headed off to fish the lowest pools; 1 to 3 which are below the bridge and then 5 and 6 which are higher up, above the bridge.   This lower part of the river is typically rocky but not difficult to negotiate as long as care is taken.  A wading stick would not be a bad idea for balance if, like me, you are a tad clumsy.  However, my new Hardy EWS wading boots, with their tungsten tipped studs, had fantastic grip and made my progress much easier. At this point in the season the water levels are relatively low and water to knee height was normal.  From the lowest pools you can see the sea and from the headland, looking down, we could see the salmon entering the river and beginning their arduous journey up its 25 km stretch.   Casting at one particular boil, had a salmon on in quick order but unfortunately it shook the hook and was off.  As the weather drew in and the rain strengthened, it became harder to spot those telltale signs but fishing the hitch, Árni had another salmon on from the same section of the river.  Sadly the story was repeated and after a bit of muttering, Árni decided to change tactics and go up a size.  The pools on this lower section are deceptively deep and in one, on the far bank and gliding in and out of the white water, we saw five beautiful, big fresh bars of silver just waiting for a well placed fly.  Sadly our time on these pools was already up and we had to move on.  However those salmon eluded the two Icelandic farmers fishing there after us … which made us feel a tad better about having to walk away without even one cast at them.  Small minded?  Damn right.

Last week 12 – 19 June was tougher than previous years (this was my seventh visit) mainly due to the low water temperature and probably an overall smaller run of salmon this season. Although the weather was pretty variable eight out of the eleven Anglo - Scottish – Franco - Italian party had experienced a lot worse Ponoi climatic conditions in previous years.

The water temperature was only 8C when we arrived and it crept up to 11C by the time we choppered out. This was our biggest problem - but having said that Ian Henderson hauled out 7 or 8 fish with his Green Highlander on a full floating line the first evening. We got to 70 fish in swift time but the fishing suddenly slowed up mid week with the reliable Home Pool only yielding 2 to three fish per session. Towards the end of the week the weather steadily improved and so did the fishing with a total of 279 being landed.

Paddy Davison was thrilled to catch his first Russian Salmon in his 70 something year and Richard Munro Ferguson kept up his good work at catching big fish. His Home Pool 20 + pounder was bright silver but not as large as his 25 + pounder from Beat 4 some four years ago! Bernard Lunel was in fine form and caught well above the average closely pursued by his charming Italian fishing partner Andrea Borziani from Genoa. Team Scotland (Messrs Henderson and Mackay), with the arrival of a grandson and an MBE (in the New Years Honours List) respectively, had their health toasted on numerous occasions during the week. Despite a slower week than normal the party worked and played hard and all thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The underlying six year average for this week is still in the high 40s which is virtually unrivaled in Salmon Fishing circles.

A prime Varzuga week might be more prolific but you certainly won’t catch fish of 20, 18,16,15,12 and 10 pounds there! Anyway it is not all about the numbers it is about the uncertainty of what size fish your fly might be covering and the camaraderie in the Mess Hut and tales of the “big one” that got away! Most of the rods have already said ‘see you next season Bax’ back at Acha.

A new Russian salmon fishing operator called Salmon Junkies has just become operational for the 2010 season. The company is owned and run by Danish salmon fishing enthusiast Steffen Juhl whom many UK fishermen will have met on Russia’s Kola Peninsula. Steffen has managed various camps on the Peninsula for eighteen seasons and he intends to initially focus his new operation on spring and summer weeks at the Acha Camp on the Ponoi and a mainly autumn program on the river Umba. We are pleased to announce that Aardvark McLeod will be his exclusive UK agent for these rivers.

Our expert on Russia, Peter Baxendale, says “I have worked with Steffen Juhl for eight seasons at Umba, Acha and Brevyeni and there is no doubt he is the most knowledgeable and efficient operator on the tundra”. Steffen is looking to offer good value for money with sensibly priced programs that will come in a lot lower than some other operators on the Kola. The spring weeks at Acha average between 40 and 60 fish per rod and you get single accommodation in a timber cabin rather than a tent. The autumn at Umba should see rods catch 10 to 15 fresh run bars of silver per rod at a cost of under £3,600 per rod offering the best value for money salmon fishing on the Kola.

Acha Camp, Ponoi River

As one of the world’s most prolific Atlantic salmon rivers the Ponoi has long captured the imagination of those who have spent weeks on the water in Scotland for not much return. Acha Camp certainly lived up to its reputation this year by producing 407 fish to 6 rods in one of our June weeks giving an average of 67 fish per rod for the week.  Jet boats are used to move between beats, but it is not necessary to fish from them if not desired; wading is the preferred method for most British fishermen. Prime weeks in June will be from £7,470 per rod including international flights and hotel in Helsinki.

Ponoi River – Acha camp – Weekly 10 rods
22–29 May
29 May–5 June
5–12 June
12–19 June
19–26 June
26 June–3 July
3–10 July
10 –17 July
17 –24 July
24 – 31 July

Umba River
The Umba River rises north of the Arctic Circle in the middle of the Kola Peninsula and flows due south through tundra and taiga until it empties into the White Sea. The system is lake and swamp fed and a lack of water is never a problem. With a long season, late May until early October, the Umba and its tributary, the Krivetz, have up to five separate runs of barrel shaped salmon each season. The river is accessed from Murmansk by a four hour road journey in a comfortable VW minibus and the programme is not reliant on expensive helicopter flights. Prime weeks in September will be from £3,575 per rod excluding international flights.

Umba River - Weekly 8 – 10 rods
Summer weeks
19-26 June
26 June-3 July
Autumn weeks
21-28 August
28 August-4 September
4-11 September
11-18 September
18-25 September
25 September -2 October
2-9 October
9-16 October

I have just returned from the River Umba on the south coast of the Kola Peninsula. I fished it in the late 90s for a number of years in June and July but I had always wanted to fish it in the autumn. The Umba got bad press when the Loop boys pulled out in the mid 2000s - there was increased poaching activity and the catches became very inconsistent. It was also known as “that river with big grayling”.

Well some things have changed and others have not – firstly the road from Murmansk to Umba has improved enormously so it now only takes four hours opposed to five and a half. The four hours included a 20 minute pit stop in the great metropolis of Kandalasha on the route out where a welcome can of Carlsberg was produced followed by a not so welcome plastic beaker of Russian Brandy! Our driver was done for speeding on the way back and that also took 20 minutes to sort out. One of the major pluses about Umba is you don’t need to pay for expensive Choppers.

The Russian proprietors have got the message about poaching and now employ a private security firm to patrol the river. They have also built a Lodge above the mouth of the river for Russian anglers and they can keep an eye on any suspicious activity in the environs. Paying Russian fishermen tend to be happy catching a couple of fish a day and they are not too bothered if it is a salmon, pike, trout or grayling! It is more about the party and there is no finer lodge than the upstream Umba Lodge to have one in. The lodge is comfortable with single and twin bedrooms with ensuite shower, loo and basin. There is electric light and heating, satellite TV and sadly both mobiles and blackberries work. The food was excellent and a roaring log fire was most welcome after a day’s hard graft on the river.

You are never going to catch Varzuga-like numbers of fish at Umba but one is going there for the quality of fish and the beauty of the scenery. The week before us saw 59 fish landed to five rods. My party of five caught 50 for our week with one of the rods missing two days. 80% of the fish were spanking fresh with sealice on, and the biggest were around 20 pounds. The majority of fish were between 12 and 16 pounds with a fair number lost in the powerful Krivetz tributary.

The Krivetz is serious off road territory and you have to walk upto 35 minutes to reach some pools. It is a great programme for those who like to work for their fish. Some days you may blank but others you may catch four bars of silver and they can be a serious handful in this powerful section of the system. The scenery in the autumn was more stunning than I was expecting with the aspens, rowans and birches all turning at the same time. Most of the migratory birds had left for warmer climes but the white-tailed eagle was much in evidence along with some extremely fresh bear droppings!

The Umba is not for everybody but it is a comparatively cheap way of fishing in Russia for those who like comfort along with a bit of adventure. You are certainly unlikely to catch ten to fifteen fresh autumn fish back in the UK to your own rod for less than £3,000. And yes- you will catch a large number of grayling and some may be as big as three pounds! All in all a great trip and well worth considering for 2010.

Travel from the UK via St Petersberg to Murmansk (modern Boeing aircraft) or via Moscow is certainly cheaper (c. £550) than the Helsinki Finnair charter at $1,400. On the return leg I had time to visit the Catherine Palace and have lunch in the Tower restaurant which is a great spot 20 minutes from the Airport.

The Salmon fishing at both Camp Bonaventure and Salmon Lodge has been great over the past three weeks. The Bonaventure and Grand Cascapedia rivers have good numbers of fresh salmon entering the river on every tide. The Petite Cascapedia is fishing well and has good numbers of big fish coming in daily.

Both at Camp Bonaventure and Salmon Lodge our guests are releasing on average two fish a day per person with several other hook-ups. This year so far we are seeing a lot of big salmon and few grilse. The average weight for this year so far has been 17.6 pounds. We have had many in the 20+ pound class and 18 over 30 pounds. We haven’t caught a forty pounder year but had one on the line for more than a hour that was simple huge!

Dry fly fishing has begun and we are taking over half our fish on the surface with bombers. There are reports that ice conditions off the cost of Newfoundland and Labrador are holding some fish back. This might explain the lower number of grilse in our rivers. It reminds me of 2002 when the grilse showed up in August due to the same sort of ice conditions.

The pools are starting to rack up with salmon and we are looking forward to another great season.

Our last session on beat three of the upper Nordurá was fascinating. Peering over the bridge at Glitstađabru we spotted 15 fish or so laid up. This had been our top producing pool over the few days with fresh fish pouring in daily. It is a long way upstream and well above Laxfoss. There was one fish sitting above a rock half way down the pool that we estimated at 20 lbs plus. He came to my hitched tube twice before losing interest and I caught a smaller one. With the lads on the bridge above giving me a running commentary though my heart skipped a beat as they told me the lunker was following it. We left the pool to settle down and moved further down the beat, casting flies into little rock holes and runs, but did not move another fish. After one more fish out of the bridge pool we headed back for lunch. The end count for our three days fishing was 104 salmon between 9 rods. Outstanding.

At this point Halli, myself, Henry and Martin we leaving the group as they would spend the next three days fishing Laxá I Kjos in the South East. Our little band of merry travellers were heading North to the Laxá I Adaldal, but this time not for salmon, but the incredible trout fishing on the upper beats. I have fished for salmon on the lower beats a while ago, and this river produces some of the largest salmon in Iceland, some over 20 lbs. The drive up from Nordurá takes 4 ½ to 5 hours, and gave us the opportunity to drive over many famous salmon rivers including Laxá I Asum, Vididalsa, Blandá, Svarta and Fnjoská. Rather than stay at one of the trout lodges Halli had organised for us to stay at the main salmon lodge at Nes with a group fishing the first few days of the season. It was here that me Bjarni, our guide for the next few days on the trout beats. Bjarni has grown up fishing these beats and knows them like no other.

The beats we would concentrate on were the ones above the power station, Laxárdal and Myvatnsveit. Laxadal’s beats are wide pieces of river, and fishing them is a bit like bonefishing. The river is wide but shallow, and it is possible to wade around looking for rises. Myvatnssveit in the other hand runs out of lake Myvatn, and the river is braided with all sorts of channels and runs, a paradise for large trout. The wild brown trout in both these beats are extraordinary, and reach sizes well into double figures. To say I was excited was an understatement! That evening we rushed out to get a few hours of tutelage on Laxadal with Bjarni and learn more about how to fish this river. Although many of the locals use downstream streamer fishing by far and away the most successful is upstream nymph and dry fly. It was a stunning evening with the sun not dropping below the hill, and although we saw quite a few rises neither Martin or I had any success. It was a great few hours to become acquainted to the river though and pick Bjarni’s brains.

I was beginning to feel the toll of the Icelandic fishing sessions this morning as I crawled out of bed and into the shower.  A large belt of coffee and a good breakfast had me ready to go again. Destination Laxfoss and the lower waterfalls. On arrival down at the pool there were salmon crashing into the tail of the pool making the heart move just that little bit faster.  Halli had me fish a small pot at the base of that waterfall. The pot is about 4 meters deep with white water moving over the top. The small tube skipped over the white water and twice a fish came powering from the bottom of the pool to hit it, but missed. The take here is incredible as the fish have to be totally committed to the take, and quite often will come clean out of the water to hit flies. 

I fished down through the rest of Laxfoss pool and it was possible to actually see the salmon in the cuts in the rock. It was not until the tail did I manage to move any fish, and one fish came three times before finally hooking up to the small hitched Blue Vulture fly I had become so fond of. It is impossible to describe how exciting it is to see an Atlantic Salmon behave like a trout, just head and tail on the fly as it skims over. Often they will thrash at the fly in a bright silver splash of water which can have your heart in your mouth.  We finished off in the lava field further up on Svunta. Halli and I peered over the edge of the bank into the draw of the pool to see a number of fish hanging in the current. I was dispatched with the speed of a thousand gazelles to the top of the pool and cast across the V-shaped draw with my favourite Blue Vulture, but nothing was interested. I changed to a small size 12 Silver Sheep and repeated the performance as Halli guided me onto the fish from the vantage point of the high bank. On the first cast I was rewarded with a line snatching take and immediately drew the fish up into the slack water. It was another lovely 6lb bar of silver, still sea liced. With that we broke for an early lunch as we were to be joined by Martin Kelly from Hardy Greys, and our own short wearing head banging photographer, Henry Gilbey. No longer will you have to put up with my rubbish pics.

Henry and Martin arrived at 1700 having arrived on the 1500 flight from London.  By 1715 we on the river below the lodge in the canyon, and by 1717 Martin was into his first fish on the hitch. It gave both Martin and Henry the opportunity to discover what an incredible river this was. We then moved down to the cuts we had fished the day before and Martin caught another cracking fish. It still amazes me that so many fish will hang in such a small cut, and that they can see and hit such tiny flies travelling over head.  It gave us a chance to test the other rods, a 9’6” 7# Angel 2, a 9’7# Hardy Demon 4 piece model, and a 9’7# Hardy Uniqua, a new range appearing next year. Both were fabulous, but I still think the Demon range is a huge amount of kit for the money.  The light was fantastic and Henry got some great shots, so all in all a good evenings fishing. At dinner that night we found the group was now up to 76 fish in 2 ½ days, and Chris had a fish of 7.5 kg so was celebrating. Only one more session to go on this incredible river.

After a difficult season in 2008 - courtesy of the winter refusing to loosen its grip on the Kola Peninsula, the early 2009 weeks have seen a marked improvement. Indeed I have just returned from the Acha Camp on the Ponoi where our Anglo- French party of six rods landed 407 Salmon for the week. Last year ten rods struggled to get to 275 during the equivalent period.

The Party, who had all fished at Acha before, flew out from Heathrow and Paris respectively on Friday 12^th via Helsinki to Murmansk. The usual stopover in the Holiday Inn had improved due to a major makeover of the Hotel and its facilities. We were in the helicopter within 50 minutes of landing in Murmansk. The Airport there has also undergone further improvements with more to come over the next year.

Once aboard the M18 chopper we met our four Russian co- rods who were to join us for the first few days of the trip. They were sitting either side of a large coolbox at the front of the relatively empty transportation. As the engines fired up one of the Russians (who turned out to be the Mayor of Sevorosk) opened the coolbox and proceeded to pour the assembled company a plastic beaker of Beluga premium Russian Vodka. We were then given various canapés (for want of a better word) as the bird lifted off the concrete. Further vodka was dispensed along the route and more food was also passed around the passenger compartment. This carried on most of the way to our refueling stop at Lovozero which came as a welcome break - momentarily escaping their premium rocket fuel!

After two bottles of Beluga we arrived at the Camp feeling slightly worse for wear! On landing we greeted old friends and then quickly assigned ourselves a cabin and unpacked before tackling up and drawing for beats. After a swift supper we were on the river by 1930 on that Saturday evening. That first evening session yielded some 40 fish which encouraged the team no end. A brief snack after fishing was not attended by the Camp Manager Steffen Juhl as he had been closest to our Russian friends en route- it transpired he had been given double rations!

The fishing rotation was slightly different to previous years as the Russians wanted to be on neighboring beats all the time. Having been told they were members of the Murmansk Flyfishers Club we were slightly surprised to see all manner of ironmongery being produced. However their assorted weaponry was no where near as effective as a Murmansk Munro on a full floating line. We estimated that for every fish they caught we landed 12 to 15. Mind you their vodka consumption was considerably superior.

The weather was fairly changeable with an easterly blowing at Patagonian pace upstream for part of the week. The wind whipped round to the south bringing muggy sultry conditions after a glorious sunny day. The ensuing electrical fireworks display was spectacular and sent rods scurrying back to Camp for an early shower. Fortunately the following day the wind was back to the North East which gave the mosquitos second thoughts about coming out to play. The water temperature rose from just under 10C to about 15C by the end of the week. Strong winds in the past have caused the river to colour up but we were fortunately not seriously plagued by this problem. The Acha and the main river both dropped early in the week before rising towards the end of the week.

The Acha run of fish tailed off toward the end of the week thus making fishing on the Camp side of the Home Pool and Beat 3 somewhat slower. However the opposite bank carried on yielding fish after fish. Beats 1, 4 and 5 all fished very well with double figure scores most days for each fishing pair. The river was low enough for the majority of fish to be caught from the bank rather than the boat. In fact very few fish were caught from the boat all week as the team all had their favourite bankside spots they had gleaned over the last four or five seasons.

The birdlife was not as good as previous years- perhaps the milder weather had moved some species further afield. The peregrines from Beat 5 were in neither of their usual spots. However I did catch a fish right under a much lower nest a couple of miles up the Acha. The parents both swooped in low over the river within 15 yards of me at spectacular speeds.

Sadly there was no Irina (aka Cleopatra) in Camp this year as she had been lured to the bright lights downstream and promises of dollars aplenty. Life as a dish washer at Ryabaga was not what she envisaged and she tried to stow away on a chopper in vain to come back to Acha. Dear old Tanya was there to look after us instead and she did a marvelous job all the same. The same chef produced good wholesome fare and his sushi was fantastic. The Russian rods produced even more vodka and some delicious smoked halibut. They eventually departed on Wednesday so we had more Beluga, speeches followed by 12 year old malt whiskey the previous night. All good fun but a bit harsh on the liver! Igor’s birthday went smoothly and he was barely off games for more than one session.

There were three new guides in addition to Igor, Maxim and Andrei. They all spoke good English and we all taught each other new tricks and fresh spots to try. The average of 67 fish per rod was better than the up and downstream camps. One of the team did catch a large number of fish out of hours so I reckon that the underlying average was probably 58 fish per rod in normal, reasonable hours. The five year average for the week is therefore now around the 45 mark per rod. Sadly no 20+ pounders were caught and the number of fish in the teens was down although bigger fish did show up as the week went on.

In summary- a highly amusing and productive week with good company, reasonable weather and superb water conditions. All in all floating line paradise?