Saturday 22 June 2019

Week 15-22 June

Date: 15-22 June

Air Temp: 6-10C
Water height: +20cm to -5cm
Number of rods: 12
Number of fish caught: 60
Biggest fish: 43lbs Colin J
No: 40lbs+: 1
No 30-39lbs: 8
No 20-29lbs: 17
No 8-19lbs: 34
Grilse: 0


Weather:

The weather remained cool the entire week. Winds were changeable but predominantly upstream and at times pretty strong. Days were mostly overcast with the last day being the only entirely sunny day.

A sunny day at last
Manager’s Comments:

Scores were evenly spread through the two halves of the week. The outstanding feature of the week was the continued high percentage of large fish that the team landed. 43% of salmon were in excess of 20lbs.

It was a week of multiple personal bests. In fact seven guests caught their largest salmon ever. And these were experienced fisherman!

The stock of 30lb caps is now running low!
On Wednesday Pete W landed a cracking 36lber from Crows Nest. He then bettered that at the end of the following day with a 38lber. Sadly no photo of Pete with this one as yet as we are trying to figure how to get the images from an old Sony camera with an unusual size memory card and seemingly unique cable connection!

Young Vova with Pete's 38lber
John H and Steve T had an excellent day on Thursday when they caught five between them. One of them, caught by John from Home Pool opposite the blue container, was a super fresh 27lber. Steve’s two for the day weighed 24lbs and 22lbs.

27lber from Home Pool for John H
Mark E also collected a coveted Yokanga 30lb cap when a 33lber from the tail of Island made it into the net.
A 33lber for Mark E at the tail of Island
Also collecting a grey cap was Marc C who caught his personal best, a 32lber from the Pots. Marc’s fish for the week averaged a staggering 25lbs!

A 32lb cock fish for Marc C
Ivan K had a terrific finish to his week with a 36lber, also his largest ever. The stock of 30lb caps has been heavily depleted during the course of this week!

A 36lb personal best for Ivan K
It is impossible to put into words what it is like to feel a take, knowing that there is a strong likelihood that it is a significant fish on the end. A few people have reported very aggressive takes on the surface but there again some of the takes have been delicate, perhaps due to the still cool water temperature.

The largest of the Yokanga salmon landed this week have given people a tremendous battle, taking anything from 20 minutes to an hour to subdue. Having said that, there have been occasions where the salmon have won… Colin J lost a big one in Lyliok after 20 minutes when the hook straightened out and Valery N had a large one on for 15 minutes on the last day before it came adrift.

Lower Norcamp
The team have been using a range of tips and a wide variety of flies so there is no magic setup. Colin J has been using an intermediate and sparsely dressed double all week and that has worked well and John H has similarly been on a 5 ft fast sink tip and smallish double and that seems to have done the job too. Others have been using tubes which appear to have worked equally well.

These will do the job
The week has flown by and it seems like only a moment ago that, gathered around the bar one evening, we tweaked the Yokanga cocktail to create the Denkanga. You might think that you are drinking your five a day but beware…

On the right: Den creator of the Denkanga cocktail
The forthcoming week looks like it will remain cold for at least a few more days and possibly further but there is some rain due so I suspect that we may have a rise of water at some stage. I would hate to try and predict what happen this week but fingers crossed there will be more of the quality salmon that we have experience so far.

Gremikha Camp, Lower Yokanga

The 8 rods at the lower camp finished with 54 although we think a handful of fish caught in the evening were missing in the record book. The largest of the week was 35lbs.

Encouragingly one of the fishermen saw about 50 salmon move between 1pm-4pm on the last afternoon in Golden Pool. A good sign we hope of running fish on their way upriver.

Henry Mountain

Wednesday 19 June 2019

40% of salmon over 20lbs

Date: 15-18 June

Air Temp: 6C
Water Temp: 8C
Water height: +20cm to +5cm
Number of rods: 12
Number of fish caught: 30
Biggest fish: 43lbs Colin J
No: 40lbs+: 1
No 30-39lbs: 3
No 20-29lbs: 8
No 8-19lbs: 18
Grilse: 0


Weather:

It has been stable but cool weather for the first three days. Winds have been strong at times, mostly upstream. There has been cloud cover for the most part, so that element at least has been ideal for fishing.

Manager’s Comments:

The team arrived at the lodge in good time on Saturday and after a late lunch/early dinner it was off to the river for most of our new guests. The first evening is unguided and is always a bit of a bonus to check that the kit is working and to get back into the casting rhythm. However, when everyone returned after fishing there was an air of excitement back at the bar…

Playing a fish above Boulder Alley
Alexey S kicked off the day with a 26lber from Home Pool but better was to come for the team. Colin J started off with a 20lber from Pump, one of his favourite spots. He then dropped down into the Home Pool where myself and Bill Drury were keeping an eye on others. Colin felt that he did not need to fish so deep (he had only been on an S1 S2 anyway) but took the trouble of walking all the way back up the hill to get his other reel with a float/hover/intermediate. Most of us would just have battled on and unhooked the occasional bit of snagged weed!

Alexey S with his 30lber from Lyliok
Having resumed fishing, with the same size 9 double, he swiftly hooked a second fish which unfortunately came off. Undeterred he carried on and hooked a third fish, this time a short distance after Heron Point. Sadly, I had headed down to Lyliok to see what was going on there, but Bill Drury was with Colin and from the beginning they were both aware that it was a good fish. That could mean anything from the mid-twenties upwards on the Yokanga and you never quite dare to dream.

Given the water height these salmon have some significant current to play with and it was after a 45-minute battle that the fish was in the net. Bill had serious trouble getting it into one of the big nets! It was huge and measured a whopping 46.5 inches in length by 26.5 inches in the girth. By far the largest of the season and 43lbs. A fish of this size is next to impossible to hold so the photo simply does not do it justice. However, look closely and you will see the girth of this magnificent salmon. You will also see the surprise on Colin’s face at what had just happened! On releasing this fish of a lifetime, with one flick of its tail it unleashed a wave over Colin and was gone.

46.5 inches by 26.5 inches and 43lbs
Sunday saw a total of nine fish landed, notably a 25lber for Marc C from Sand Island and then a 26lber for Phil W from Lake upstream of Boulder Alley.

Phil W with a deep Yokanga 26lber
Monday was the day of the 30lbers with two landed. A 30lb fish for Alexey S from Lyliok. Then long time Yokanga fisherman Rob G landed a 22lber from Island followed by a 30.5lb salmon, his personal best.

Rob G with a fresh 22lber
A personal best at 30.5lbs for Rob G
A further seven salmon were landed Tuesday. Notably John H caught a 31lber first thing in the morning at the first pool on Lower Norcamp. Then Valery N landed a remarkably honest 29lber at & Islands.

John H adding to his tally of Yokanga 30lbers
With 40% of fish being over 20lbs, it would appear that the main run is still to come. Perhaps the unseasonably cold weather and resulting cold water is delaying them. It will be interesting to see what the coming days bring. Rob G had a run down Lyliok after dinner, saw a fish move when he was just starting, and then promptly landed two salmon of 17lbs and 15lbs. An encouraging sign we hope.

Henry Mountain
Some impressive weights from the first day and a half