Week 16-23 July

Date: 16-23 July

Air Temp: 14’C -21’C

Water Temp: 15C-19C

Water Height: -26cm to +37cm

Number of Rods: 2
Number of fish Caught: 12
Biggest fish: 18lbs Geoff Barber
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 0
No 8-19lbs: 5
Grilse: 6
Sea Trout: 1

Weather: A mixture of sunshine and rain, generally it has been a warm week with the odd spell of cooler weather tending to bring rain.

 

Incoming heli

Managers Comments: Certainly not the easiest of weeks fishing for our two guests on the river this week. But as always they have worked hard and ticked away. We have really struggled to move any of the bigger fish this week, they are obviously hunkered down and not budging at the moment. In my experience of salmon fishing, the fish are never so keen when the water level is yo-yoing up and down like it has this week. Very unsettling for them indeed, however it may work wonders for the week to come as it will have woken up a few of the older big fish.

View of Pump Pool towards Home Pool

 

The water level has gone from -26cm this week to +37cm and back down to 0 all in a five day period. This is a huge move in water in a very small period of time. It certainly has dropped the water temperature by a few degrees leaving us at 15C now which is much more like it.

Well done to Geoff who had a fantastic day on Wednesday landing four fish collectively weighing 43lbs biggest 18lbs. A truly epic afternoon of fishing by any standards and especially satisfying in these harsh conditions, so a big well done to you Geoff!

 

Geoff's sea trout

 

Simon has fished very well indeed and has been in contact with fish all week, and has never lacked in action but struggling to find any of the bigger fish. His time will come.

 

European elk (alces alces)

Promising conditions for the coming week, cooler water and a dropping river, cloud cover is forecast for most of the week with the odd spells of rain. Let’s hope it is correct and the fish come on!

Toby Burrell

Dropping off

Date: Evening 22 July

Air Temp: 14’C -19’C

Water Temp: 15C
Water Height: +16cm
Number of Rods: 2
Number of fish Caught: 1
Biggest fish: 4lbs Simon Allaire
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 0
No 8-19lbs: 0
Grilse: 1

Weather: A warm day with sunshine all afternoon and a light breeze.

Managers Comments: Sadly another tough days fishing here today, bright sunshine most of the day but thankfully a nice cool breeze to go with it.

Happy Russian camp manager with guest's lunch

The river is starting to drop off now and I think we will lose water fast over the next couple of days with no more rain forecast. I think this will be a really good thing for the fishing. Lower water is definitely needed and the cooler water will be a big help too.

Simon managed his grilse out of Lyliok, just above the junction itself, again close to the bank. The fish are certainly keeping tight to the banks with the higher water. The Lyliok river is now a raging torrent meaning we can’t wade below to fish the tail. Usually we find that most of the fish are sitting higher up the pool, above the Lyliok river in this high water.

 

View of the Lyliok river before the rise in water

 

I went for a walk up the Lyliok river itself today, there are three fantastic little pools within walking distance of the lodge, I saw a good number of fish moving. Perhaps it is worth taking a rod up at some point! 

Snake Pool on the Lyliok river at normal height

 

Toby Burrell

High Water

Date: 21 July

Air Temp: 12C to 14C

Water Temp: 15C

Water height: +37cm

Number of rods: 2

Number fish caught: 1
Biggest fish: Geoff Barber (4lbs)

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 0

Grilse: 1

Weather:

A grey cloudy morning with the sun arriving in the afternoon along with a light breeze.

Manager's Comments:
The river, as suspected, has rocketed up overnight leaving us with +37cm on the gauge. This means the river has almost come up 4ft over a two day period, the river had a surprising amount of colour to it today as well. Old Vova who has been guiding here for over 15 years tells me that this is the highest he has ever seen the river at this time of the year.

Even though the conditions where certainly not in our favour the two rods worked hard for the day and tried all they could, but sadly the fish were just not having it. A few fair few fish were showing on the river but sadly they appeared to have no interest in the fly whatsoever. However, Geoff did manage to connect with a grilse this afternoon. The fish took him about a foot from the bank. I think that most of the fish in this water are just scooting up the sides of the river, staying well away from the raging torrent in the middle.

On the plus side of the water levels and conditions it has made the river temperature drop by 2 degrees which is a huge bonus and much more promising for the rest of the season. Let's hope the river drops quickly and keeps a steady temperature.

For those of you who are heading to Helsinki tomorrow, make sure you have good variety of kit, sinking all the way through to floating and everything in between. Certainly small flies have been the answer in recent days but if this water stays steady we may need to be on slightly bigger flies. Have a safe trip and look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Toby Burrell

Moose!

Date: 20 July

Air Temp: 13C to 16C

Water Temp: 17C

Water height: +6cm

Number of rods: 2

Number fish caught: 0

Taxi arriving

Weather:
A cloudy cold morning with the odd slash of rain. All the cloud cover cleared by the afternoon giving
up bright sunshine. A strong NE wind all day.

Manager's Comments:
Today's figures reflect the difficulty we had on the water. The river came up almost two feet over night and has certainly still been rising all day today. As you all know, the Yokanga is a vast old river, two feet of extra water coming down the river really is quite a lot. The river did colour up a little bit but had cleared by the afternoon. This obviously had quite an effect on the fishing, not a single fish showing all day. However, Simon did manage to connect with a couple but sadly to no avail. They both seemed to take very slowly indeed then proceed to take a few yards of line before shaking off. Geoff also had a similar experience with a fish in 7 Islands, a soft take that sadly didn't come to anything.

I spent the day up the river with Geoff B at Sand Island, Cliff and 7 Islands, we had a very enjoyable day indeed and experienced a wonderful sighting of two Moose (European Elk), a cow and calf, crossing the river only 50 yards from us. An amazing sight and almost inconceivable to think that they could have swam across the rapids. They came up on to what is left of Sand Island then noticed us watching them and swam the rest of the river and galloped up the bank on the other side, disappearing back into the tundra. A wonderful and very rare sighting and we feel very privileged to have seen them so close up.

A moose on the loose

Water is looking much cleaner this afternoon but even now as I look up boulder alley from the balcony I can see more and more rocks disappearing into the rapids, I fear we may have a very high river tomorrow. But what goes up must come down - I think with a fast rise like this it will drop quickly too. Time will tell!

Toby Burrell

Tough Day

Date: 19 July

Air Temp: 12C to 14C

Water Temp: 18C

Water height: -21cm

Number of rods: 2

Number fish caught: 3

Biggest fish: 9lbs Geoff Barber

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 1

Grilse: 2

Weather: 
A much colder day today with a steady drizzle of rain all day and thick fog by the afternoon.

Manager's Comments:
Today was a very grey day indeed, bringing us a strong sea fret putting the visibility down to about 100m. Luckily for us it all cleared just before 6pm, meaning we could get out of camp with the chopper to pick up the fishers. Geoff certainly was thankful and he was downstream meaning it would have been rather a long, cold walk home!

A deathly looking grilse being put back on track to continue its first migration

As far as the fishing goes, today was a tough day. We thought perhaps the cooler weather might bring us more luck. But as we all know if the water temperature does not drop with the air it can make fishing very tricky indeed. For some unknown reason to me, the water temperature has remained pretty steady at 18/19 degrees, meaning the air temperature is far cooler. Simon A mentioned today that when he was going down the Norcamp rapids in the boat he got the odd splash of water that almost warmed him up rather than the usual pin prick of ice cold water droplets on your skin. We have a nice relaxed home-like atmosphere in camp at the moment and this evening we all crowded the fly tying desk with fire crackling beside us and got to work - accompanied by a few bottles of red wine of course! Pasha, our Russian camp manger, taught us a few new tricks on fly tying.

 A fly tying lesson from Pasha

 The finished products

The season is certainly moving along now with much darker nights and perhaps we may even see a star or two at some point in the next couple of weeks. Which will be a first for me in over two months.

We hope the much cooler air temperatures today might have an effect on the water over the next 24hrs. This will perhaps bring us more luck and liven the fish up a little more. But we are still seeing a constant flow of fish running up the river, slowly but surely - tomorrow is another day.

Toby Burrell

Fantastic Day

Date: 18 July

Air Temp: 13C to 16C

Water Temp: 17C

Water height: -12cm

Number of rods: 2

Number fish caught: 6

Biggest fish: 18lbs Geoff Barber

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 2

Grilse: 3
Sea Trout: 1

Old Vova with Geoff 's 18lber from Poacher's

Weather: 
A stiff downstream wind. The majority of the day consisted of cloudy skies with the odd short spell of sunshine.

Manager's Comments:
Another fine day on the banks of the Yokanga with water levels still slowly dropping off but it would seem that there is still a reasonably constant run of fresh fish coming up the river.

Geoff B had a fantastic day in Poachers, he managed an 18lber, a 16lber, a grilse and a fresh 4lbs sea trout. All of Geoff's fish today were fresh; none with sea lice but they had only just lost them. Geoff had fished Poachers down with various flies - Red Francis, Black Francis, Sunray Shadow and a Yoganka Gold with no result. Then the final go down with a Small Cascade did the business and produced four fish! This was amazing really, whether the fish were being very fussy or just happened to come into the pool for his final run down we will never know but whatever the case I'm sure Geoff will be putting his cascade to plenty of use tomorrow.

Old Vova with a fat 16lbs fish

Simon was further up the river at Island where he sadly didn't have quite as much success as the other rod but did at least mange to avoid a blank day. He reported that there was very little movement up the top, seeing only one grilse which he then proceeded to catch. At least we think it was probably the same fish.

Sergie the scientist electro fishing for the annual parr counts

I had a very interesting day up the Lyliok river with our resident scientist Sergie. Every year Sergie takes his electro fishing equipment up the Yokanga river system to do his annual parr counts for PINRO (The Polar Research Institute). Returning to exactly the same spots each year, he electrifies the water and nets all the small parr in the area, proceeding to count each one and take scale samples. We visited five of his usual spots on the Lyliok river with great results. We found an abundance of salmon parr at each, managing over fifty in most sections. Each section was 10m by 10m. It is fantastic to see these numbers of parr in the river, giving us great hope for future seasons.

Toby Burrell

Upstream

Date: 17 July

Air Temp: 14C to 19C

Water Temp: 19C

Water height: -14cm

Number of rods: 2

Number fish caught: 2

Biggest fish: 15lbs Simon Allaire

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 2

Grilse: 0

The team!

Weather: 
A mixture of sun and rain. The morning started bright and warm but soon a hefty layer of black cloud rolled in with some heavy rain showers.

Manager's Comments:
The fish figures this week may start to look a little shocking at first glance but please bear in mind we are only two rods!

We had a great fun day today - we loaded up in the chopper this morning and headed upstream to Cascad. Completely new territory for me and the guests, an amazing set of small pools each followed by a thunderous rapids. All the pools look like they have been designed for salmon fishing, good streamy necks, bouldery bodies with oily glides and finishing with irresistible fast flowing glassy draws.

Simon A managed to do two of these pools justice by landing a couple of fish. The 15lbs fish caught earlier on in the day was full of energy and took him and his guide Sasha white water rafting down a heavy set of rapids. All very exciting indeed and has left us with a satisfied fisher with yet another fishing tale to tell.

Water levels have started to drop off again slowly, however we are due some heavy rain in the next few days so that may not be the common trend over the coming week. Water temperature has increased by a degree which is never any help to us fishers but sadly it is out of our control.

In summary, a very exciting adventure today with a couple of nice fish caught. Back to the usual rotations tomorrow, and we hope to get tucked into a few.

Toby Burrell

Week 9-16 July

Date: 9-16 July

Air Temp: 12C to 18C

Water Temp: 17C - 19C

Water height: -35 to -5cm

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 133

Biggest fish: 25lbs Ian Eckersley

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 3

No 8-19: 49

Grilse: 81

Weather: 
A week of all weathers, we have had everything from hail storms to bright cloudless skies. But the general trend was cloudy, North east winds and showers.

Manager's Comments:
A better week this week... the numbers of fish caught have certainly picked back up again leaving us with a total of 133 fish for the week. A good number of fish for 16 rods by any standards. Fish of the week goes to Ian E who had a lovely fish of 25lbs out of poachers early in the week, and well done to the other 5 rods that managed to make it over the 17lbs mark at least once.

The river level has changed dramatically this week, starting us off on Sunday at -35cm and finishing off last night at -5cm. A big rise that may continue throughout next week if this rain holds up for the next few days - a more than likely possibility I think.

Well done to Klaus M who has caught a good number of fish all week. Looking through the week's catch records now I see he caught all but one fish on his own fly that he has designed and made, the Nuclear Cockroach. A fantastic fly that is almost a big black nymph with a cone head and rubber legs. Always very satisfying to catch a fish on your own fly, well done Klaus.

We have had a mixture of Finnish and English guests who have got on famously well and all been great fun to have in camp, thank you guys for a very enjoyable week and we hope to see you again
next year, until then tight lines and happy fishing elsewhere!

Toby Burrell

Father & Son

Date: 15 July

Air Temp: 12C to 18C

Water Temp: 17C

Water height: -5cm

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 15

Biggest fish: 12lbs Christian Jennelius

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 2

Grilse: 13

Weather: 
A mixture of cool winds, strong sunshine and heavy rain showers.

Manager's Comments: 
The river has risen 25cm in two days, as you know a 25cm rise on the Yokanga is rather a lot of water. It has coloured up a little bit but nothing too dramatic and is still very fishable, in fact it feels almost perfect.

However we did find the numbers of fish caught today dropped off slightly. Who knows whether this was to do with the rise in water or the colour in the river, but we will stick at it and I'm sure we will catch up with them at some point.

Well done to Jenni J who finished her week of nicely in Lyliok with three fish all in exactly the same place within 20 minutes of each other. All three fish were very fresh and within half a pound pf each other (6-7lbs). A good result and a nice way to end the week, well done!

Both salmon caught by the father/son combo, Christian and Henrik J. One of 12lbs caught in Lower Norway camp and the other in Poachers pool. Henrik promises me that he did have his rod in hand when the fish took this time.

Well done to the team, a good end to a good week!

Toby Burrell

Rising Water

Date: 14 July

Air Temp: 12C to 18C

Water Temp: 17C

Water height: -14cm

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 22

Biggest fish: 16lbs Steven Lodge

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 5

Grilse: 17

Weather: 
Heavy showers in the morning with grey skies. It all began to clear in the afternoon leaving us with blue skies by the evening.

Manager's Comments: 
Although we struggled to get hold of the many salmon today the grilse where certainly happy to play, and most of the team managed to get stuck into the them. The water came up 6inches last night and has been rising all day, perhaps another two inches. Hopefully this fresh water will stir up some of the salmon over the next 24hrs.

Peter E and Ian E had a good day on Island, landing six fish between them, all large grilse up to 7lbs apart from one salmon at 13lbs.

The fish caught today have been evenly scattered over all the beats on the river, unlike previous days this week, where we have been seeing that a lot of the fish were being caught on just two or three of the beats per day. But nice to see the fishing slightly mire evenly spread.

Christian J with his fish from Island

Well done to Steven L and Rob W who had five yesterday biggest at 16lbs. A mixture of stoats tails and Red Francis’ used to great success.

Hopefully this rise in water might just tickle up some of the fish and start to move them about.

Toby Burrell

All Weathers

Date: 13 July

Air Temp: 11C to 18C

Water Temp: 17C

Water height: -30cm

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 25

Biggest fish: 21lbs Christian Jennelius

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 2

No 8-19: 14

Grilse: 9

Steven Lodge with a nice fish from the top beat

Weather: 
A day of all seasons; bright sun shine, heavy rain, strong winds, hail storms... you name it, we had it all.

Manager's Comments: 
The day began with a layer of black cloud cover, and some very heavy rain showers. Giving us a good morning's fishing. Turo L had a good session down in Crows Nest landing four fish of 20lbs, 15lbs and two 6lbs grilse. His team mate Jukka also managed a 12 and a 14lber.

Christian J had a good fish out of Island today (21lbs). The fish took him above the island and it took hard and Christian did his best to stop it entering the rapids but the strength of the fish was too much. It steamed off down through the rapids with Christian and his guide, Young Vova, trailing behind. Half way through the rapids the fish stopped and began to move slowly upstream whereupon it wrapped itself around a rock mid-stream. Vova, the guide, waded out into the heavy rapids to where the fish was and took a blind scoop into the water with the net and by an absolute miracle managed to get the fish. A heroic moment. How he then managed to wade back to the shore through heavy rapids with a 21lbs fish in the net will remain a mystery forever. But a very exciting experience for Christian and a fantastic fish to catch. Well done to both Christian and his guide, Young Vova!

Rob W with a beauty out of Cliff

Rob W and Steven L had a great result in Cliff this morning - two 18lbs for Rob and a 19 1/2lber for Steven. There are not many places you can do that in a morning fishing between two. People are generally catching fish on smaller line, 20/22lbs leader, with anything from a size 8 fly to size 14. The bigger fish are tending to be caught on the smaller flies. As always the grilse are being far less fussy and taking anything that is presented correctly. All rods are using sink tips or intermediate, apart from the odd bomber or sun ray shadow that are both being thrown out on full floating lines.

Fish on! 

Toby Burrell

A 25lber

Date: 12 July

Air Temp: 11C to 18C

Water Temp: 19C

Water height: -37cm

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 24

Biggest fish: 25lbs Ian Eckersley

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 1

No 8-19: 11

Grilse: 12

Henrik J with fish on in Lower Norcamp

Weather: 
A grey windless day for most of us down the bottom half of the river, a few rain showers and a little bit of thunder up at the top two beats.

Manager's Comments: 
Another successful day on the Yokanga. 24 fish for the day is a fine result and a handful of these fish really were fantastic salmon. Ian E caught the fish of the day (25lbs) in Upper Cliff on a small size 14 Ally shrimp. A reasonably fresh fish which had perhaps been in the river for five days or so. He also managed a 11lbs bar of silver out of Cliff, and rounding his day off nicely with two grilse in Lyliok after supper.

Ian's 25lber from Cliff

Lyliok pool has lived up to its reputation today by providing the team with 8 fish, three of which were grilse and five salmon. Steven L had a nice 18lber from the top end of Right Bank above the Lyliok stream. Peter E also managed a 17lber, his largest Atlantic salmon to date - congratulations Peter! The fish took him on his last cast this evening right in the very tail of the pool. It immediately turned and headed off down the rapids... a tremendous fight that certainly won't be forgotten anytime soon.

Peter E with a good fish out of Lyliok Rapids

Henrik J managed a fish today without actually holding his rod! After a quick fly change he decided to walk back up the bank to collect his bag and coat, leaving the rod on the bank and fly floating in the river. To his complete amazement, when he returned to his rod the line was moving upstream and, believe it or not, a 6lbs grilse on the end it. The fish was successfully netted and successfully logged in the book. Well done Henrik!

In summary, another good day on the river. The numbers are starting to increase slightly from the last couple of weeks, probably due to a dramatic drop in temperature. However, the water is still at 19C which is not ideal. I sit here now listening to loud cracks of thunder upstream and a steady fall of rain visible out the window so let's hope it helps.

Toby Burrell

Better Day

Date: 11 July

Air Temp: 10C to 16C

Water Temp: 19C

Water height: -37cm

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 25

Biggest fish: 16lbs Klaus Moisander

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 12

Grilse: 13

Fog in camp

Weather:
A much colder day today, cloud cover all day and thick fog all afternoon with a bitter upstream wind.

Manager's Comments:
Today brought us a real change in air which is no bad thing at all, in fact it is exactly what we have been praying for. However, the thick fog we could do without. It left our helicopter stranded at camp and out of action meaning all guests had to float back to the lodge from their beats.

The colder weather has certainly brought us some better fishing; the lower beats especially doing very well. Rob W had three out of Lyliok and his partner Steven L also taking a couple. Turo L had a fantastic day in Poachers, catching four fish all on a Yokanga Gold - two of 8lbs and two of 7lbs. All four fish took like steam trains, running hard upstream immediately after the take - perhaps with
this colder water the fish are running hard!

Ian and Peter E managed to find themselves some action down in Crows Nest this afternoon, Peter managed a couple on a small Ally Shrimp and Ian persuaded a handful of fish to come up for his bomber. Only a couple really committed properly and he landing one. Always fun to have a bit of action on the bomber and fantastic if you get one. Well done Ian.

Klaus M had a very good day, he managed to get four to the bank and all caught on his own special
design of fly - the Nuclear Cockroach. He told me that over lunch he saw a good 15/16lbs fish head and tail only a foot or so from the bank and he immediately jumped up and flicked his line upstream towards the fish. First time the fish came up for the fly but never touched it. Second time, however, it came up and walloped the fly, zooming off down stream. Sadly, the fish took one big leap and the fly came loose. Although disappointed to have lost his fish, Klaus said that it was tremendous fun to have such close action with such a good big fish.

A well-earned drink after a good day on the river

Hopefully the fog will clear tomorrow and we will get the chopper back in action. Forecast is for

more cold rainy days but not so much fog... Brilliant.

Toby Burrell

Promising Conditions

Date: 10 July

Air Temp: 18C to 20C

Water Temp: 20C

Water height: -37cm

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 16

Biggest fish: 18lbs Mike Bowsher

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 5

Grilse: 11

Weather: We had much more promising conditions to the start of this week, a good layer of cloud cover and some heavy showers of rain soaking us through to the bone.

The team!

Manager's Comments:
A fine start for the guests on Saturday evening, Henrik J took two fresh fish from Lyliok and Mike B also had a nice fresh 18lber on the opposite bank, and he lost another of similar proportions. A fish on the Saturday evening after a long day of travel is always a bonus but never a guaranteed. However, it is very nice to be down on the river to get a taste of water levels, temperature and blow out any old cobwebs to get back in the swing things. But well done to Mike and Henrik for kicking the week off with a few good fish.

Today was another slightly colder day in comparison to the previous week, a good grey day with the odd break in cloud allowing the sun to pop out every now and then. We had some more rain showers that were really drenching and have actually made the water temp drop a degree which is fantastic news. Jenni J had a fantastic day down in Crows Nest hooking six fish and landing three of them.

I am told it was an action-packed afternoon. A good start to her week, let's hope it continues. Rob W managed three grilse out of Poachers providing him with a good bit of excitement for the day. His fishing partner Steven L had a nice fresh 14lber opposite him to round their day off with four fish.

So a good start to the week, we are forecast more of the shame weather, which is great news. Plenty of fish have been seen in the last 24hrs so let's hope this change in temperature brings them on and we can start getting stuck into them.

Toby Burrell

Week 2-9 July

Date: 2 - 9 July

Air Temp: 20C to 35C

Water Temp: 20C to 23C

Water height: -30cm to -36cms

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 44

Biggest fish: 28lbs Simon Ringer

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 5

No 8-19: 17

Grilse: 22

Weather: 
An unbelievable week weather-wise, temperatures soaring up to 35’C by mid week, but it began to cool down again by the end of the week.

Manager's comments: 
A very tough week indeed with weather and water temperatures certainly not in our favour. It is not often you put your waders on and go salmon fishing at 35’C, but hats off to the team who stuck at it all week and still managed to tick away with the odd one being caught every day - not an easy task by any means.

A special well done to Constantine H, Philip D and Leopold D who all managed to get their first ever atlantic salmon - a fantastic effort with a brilliant result in these harsh conditions! I hope it is the first of many to come and wish you the best of luck for your future days on the banks of salmon rivers. Another one to note is Simon Ringers best salmon to date, weighing in at 28lbs. A great fish to catch and a wonderful way to end a weeks fishing.

A quick mention to Colin J who was with us for two weeks on the Yokanga and caught 20 salmon, a good number of fish. Colin is a magician with a fly rod, never failing to put his name in the book. He had numerous fish 20lbs and over, a good handful in the high teens as well. His biggest at 26lbs and two 25lbers.

In summary, a very enjoyable week with a great fun group of guests. Sadly the weather once again was holding us back but it is something that is well and truly out of our control and we can only hope for a change in air soon.

Toby Burrell

Birthday Cake

Date: 6 July

Air Temp: 21C to 28C

Water Temp: 20C

Water height: -33cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 7

Biggest fish: 18lbs Colin Jones

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 2

Grilse: 5

Leopold D fishing from the lush banks of Crows Nest

Weather:
Bright sunshine all morning with very strong winds, a cloudy afternoon with the odd light shower.

Managers Comments:
The day began as any other so far this week, with bright sunshine, not a cloud in site and a brutal upstream wind that made casting easier said than done. The fishing was very slow before lunch, but the team persevered and as the clouds rolled in this afternoon, some action was had. Lyliok was bubbling with fish by about 4pm, fresh, old, big, small, the lot. Philip D and Leopold D, the father and son combo, each managed to get their first Atlantic salmon out of it. So a big well done to them.

Philip with his first Atlantic salmon

The other fish caught today were also in the cloud cover and showers we had after lunch, strengthening our beliefs that the fish are there we just haven't been able to catch them with the blistering head and cloudless skies.

Colin J managed an 18lber out of Sand Island that I am told went leaping with tarpon-like characteristics down the pool. Very exciting, rather nail biting for both Colin and his guide but thankfully the fish was safely netted and released after a good fight, leaving both fisher and guide happy men.

A very happy birthday to Pat M who sadly didn't manage a fish on the beat he was fishing today, but saved the day by getting 3 grilse after supper in Lyliok. Uri, our new chef at the lodge, baked a delicious birthday cake for Pat and the team but rather annoyingly for Pat there was none left to go in his lunch box tomorrow.

Uri our chef, the girls and Pat M and his birthday cake

I am looking out the window now at what should be a spectacular view of the midnight sun but instead we have very large black clouds and what seems to be a steady fall of rain. Lets hope it continues! Feeling very repetitive, another tropical day on the Yokanga. Bright sunshine and a strong SE wind.

Toby Burrell

Tough Conditions

Date: 5 July

Air Temp: 28C to 35C

Water Temp: 20C

Water height: -30cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 4

Biggest fish: 8lbs Colin Jones

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 1

Grilse: 3

Weather:
Feeling very repetitive, anther tropical day on the Yokanga. Bright sunshine and a strong SE wind.

Managers Comments:
A very tough day on the river, conditions once again certainly not in our favour. The fish seem to be there, but becoming increasingly more and more difficult to catch with this ongoing warm weather. The team are seeing fish throughout the day but really struggling to do anything with them. But no doubt the weather will change and at some point we shall start connecting with a few more.

Hubert H with a grilse from Golden Reach

Simon R managed a couple of split fresh grilse out of upper Norcamp early on this morning while there was 30 minutes of cloud cover. Pat B also had his grilse at roughly the same time this morning under the sort patch of cloud cover in Lyliok. A handful of fish showed interest today without actually committing, half-hearted attacks at the fly. It seems to be a common denominator at the moment.

Red Sergie waving down the heli after fishing

We are desperately needing some cooler weather now, and some rain certainly wouldn't go a miss. Let's hope that the forecast predictions are correct. A good night's sleep is certainly in order for a fresh start tomorrow.

 A chive in bloom

Toby Burrell

Cloudless Day

Date: 4 July

Air Temp: 29C to 34C

Water Temp: 20C

Water height: -27cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 6

Biggest fish: 21lbs Pat Mullane

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 1

No 8-19: 3

Grilse: 2

Weather:
A cloudless day with unbelievable temperatures, and a strong SE wind.

Managers Comments:
You would hardly believe we are over 100 kms inside the arctic circle. Today's temperatures left us sweltering on the banks of the river. One of the guests was watching the worldwide weather forecasts this evening and notice that we had higher temperatures today on the Kola than Addis Abba in Ethiopia…

Lyliok Pool in fine condition

However, despite the tropical conditions we have managed to tick away on the salmon front. Pat M hooked and landed a fine fish in 7 Islands this afternoon, a fresh 21lber. It took him right in the tail of the 2nd island pool and he did exceptionally well to stop it disappearing off down the rapids. Colin J did his usual of hooking a good fish in Lyliok, but this time to no avail. He had quite a battle and sadly after a good 20 minute fight the fish was dropped inches from the net. Estimated at 27/28lbs and fresh. But not all was lost as he did manage to land 8lbs grilse minutes later!

Pat M with his 21lber from 7 Islands

The fish keep trickling through and we seem to be intercepting the odd one, given the conditions I think its fair to say the team have done exceptionally well so far this week. The forecast predicts another warm day tomorrow, but cold weather and rain due on Wednesday... fingers crossed!

Yokanga lodge from the skies

Temperatures still high, bright sunshine with the odd wisp of cloud, and a welcoming cool down stream breeze.

Toby Burrell

Small Flies

Date: 3 July

Air Temp: 25C to 29C

Water Temp: 19C

Water height: -24cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 10

Biggest fish: 26lbs Colin Jones

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 1

No 8-19: 4

Grilse: 5

Weather:
Temperatures still high, bright sunshine with the odd wisp of cloud, and a welcoming cool down stream breeze.

Tundra in bloom 

Managers Comments:
The Saturday evening session was tough but not a total waste of time, Simon R had a fresh grilse out of Lyliok, which was the second of the day. Colin J, who is staying on for a second weeks fishing also managed the same earlier Saturday morning. The Lyliok Stream has seemingly dropped enough to be able to cross on foot. Allowing the fishers to attack the tail of the pool once again although both grilse were caught above the stream.

Today's story paints a similar picture with bright sunshine and the odd cloud. Not ideal fishing conditions at all, but the team stuck at it with some reward. Colin J had a fantastic fish of 26lbs from Poachers this morning, a fresh fish that took him well in to his backing numerous times. Simon R had also had a good fish at 7 Islands weighing in at 14lbs.

It would seem that the grilse run is beginning to appear, but they have been tricky today. Around a dozen hooked and only 5 landed.

Pat and Peter T managed a fish each in Golden Reach, a fantastic pool that has yielded many a fish over the years but hasn't been providing much action this season. It was good news to have a couple out of it today.

This week's team ready for action

I am told that lots of fresh fish where showing down the bottom half of the river (Crows Nest and Lyliok), which is promising for the coming days. With this warm weather we have had to change tactics to very small flies, and light leaders. Some of bigger fish are certainly becoming more wise to the system and are needing some smaller gear to convince them to take. Today's 26lber was caught on a size 14 ‘Doc Jones Yokanga fly’ one of Colin J’s home made inventions.

Doc Jones' Yokanga fly

A successful first day on the river for most, and we can only hope for more to come.

Toby Burrell

Week 25 June-2 July

Date: 25 June-2 July

Air Temp: 5C to 25C

Water Temp: 12C-16C

Water height: -2cm to -17cms

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 95

Biggest fish: 32lbs Lucas Rotllant

No 30+: 1

No 20-29: 13

No 8-19: 72

Grilse: 9

Weather: Fluctuating from a bitterly cold front end of the week to a blisteringly hot back end.

Cold and windy conditions early in the week

Manager's comments: It was a week of mixed fortunes with a great start to the week, especially the Monday, when every single member of the 16-strong party scored. We stood at 50 fish in the first two days so all was ticking along very nicely. Sadly the week then tailed off as the week progressed with the arrival of a blistering Kola heat wave when temperatures soared day after day.

Persevering on a sunny day at Cows Nest

One in the boat and the other on the bank

There were some memorable highlights. Jeremy C started the week on the Saturday evening of arrival with a 14lber, 15lber and 18lber. Chris W managed a 20lber on a hitched Sunray, something that people rarely try. The Monday was the coldest day of the week and Lucas R took advantage of the conditions that we like best on the Yokanga and managed to bank his personal best, a 32lber from Poachers.

Lucas R with his personal best, a 32lber from Poachers

It was a pleasure to be missing the Brexit fallout and worrying more about weather, tackle and suitable clothing for the ever-changing conditions that are the norm on the Yokanga. We had a mixture of nationalities with representatives from Austria, Denmark, Spain, the US and one very happy Icelander following the nation’s footballing success!

Guides and guests at the start of the week

The entire party deserve a mention for persevering under harsh conditions and for remaining philosophical about it. The weather scuppered what could have been a very decent week but sadly these things are out of our control. It is nevertheless disappointing for everyone when it is a much anticipated week. Passing through Murmansk and Helsinki, it was clear that all rivers had had a very similar experience and also struggled as the week went on. There was some mention that had we been fishing elsewhere that we would have been having extended lunches or been on the golf course!

I now leave the job of hosting our Yokanga guests in Toby Burrell’s capable hands. The hot weather seems set to continue for more days I fear but the good news is that we seem to be enjoying a very good run of fish on the Yokanga this season and as soon as the weather changes and conditions allow, we will then get among them.

Henry Mountain

Hotter than the Mediterranean

Date: 1 July

Air Temp: 22C to 25C

Water Temp: 16C

Water height: -17cms

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 8

Biggest fish: 17lbs Jeremy Clayton

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 4

Grilse: 4

Weather: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, more of the same sunshine and a light breeze.

 

More like southern Europe than the Arctic Circle

Manager's comments: It was really very tough conditions on the river today. The fish that were caught were almost all fresh, many with sea lice and others had not long lost them. Clearly the fish are still coming (perhaps temporarily in smaller numbers) but conditions for catching salmon were a long way from ideal.

 

Perhaps faster water will yield a fish

Small flies were the order of the day and many rods chose to fish 20lb leader material instead of the standard 30lbs+ that we use on Yokanga. Patterns like Silver Stoats were preferred over the more garish Willie Gunns and other spring style flies that we tend to use at this time of the year.

 

Ready for action

 

The best fish of the day was a 17lber from Poachers landed by Jeremy C. Under the conditions it was a real achievement to connect with a fish at all let alone land it. Anyway, a nice fish for Jeremy to end his week on.

 

Landing at Seven Islands

 

Rae and Peter were fishing down at Crows Nest and although they did not land anything themselves they did report seeing many fresh fish running through the main draw. Surprising but encouraging that they are still running the river despite the warm temperature and bright sky.

Henry Mountain

 

Beautiful multi sea winter salmon