Mixed Day

Date: 3 August

Air Temp: 12’C - 16’C

Water Temp: 14C
Water Height: -22cm
Number of Rods: 11
Number of fish Caught: 11
Biggest fish: 15lbs Tor Helenius
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 0
No 8-19lbs: 4
Grilse: 7

Michel G with a good fish from Poachers 

Weather: A mixture of rain, sun cloud and wind. Some heavy showers in the morning followed by strong winds and short spells of sunshine in the afternoon.

Managers Comments: A good fishing day today and we seem to have lost that nasty upstream wind, making life much easier on the casting front.

A rainy day

A mixed day on the fishing front today. Some people managing to find some active fish and others really struggling to get hold of anything.

Erik and Tor spent the day in Poachers which provided four fish for them. A good result indeed. They didn't see much movement all day apart from the fish they hooked. All four where caught on reasonably big tubes, size 8 and 6. All with a bit of weight on to get down to the fish.

Mark H managed another nice salmon today of 14lbs out of Upper Norcamp. He took it out of the first draw right in the centre of the river, this time he managed to keep his fingers well clear of the reel and landed the fish safely without injuring the fish or himself!

Mark H with a fish out of Upper Norcamp

Antonio J held up the Mexican contingent in Island pool with another nice salmon. A reasonably fresh 12lber. He also hooked a couple more but sadly they didn't quite make it to the net.

In summary, a patchy day today with fewer fish caught. Let's hope its perks up again tomorrow. Some warmer weather due in the next couple of days.

Toby Burrell

Action Aplenty

Date: 2nd August

Air Temp: 10C to 13C

Water Temp: 14C

Water height: -20cm

Number of rods: 11

Number fish caught: 18

Biggest fish: 17lbs Michel

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 9

Grilse: 9

Weather: 
A very grey, warm day. Soft breezes ranging from South to North East.

Mark H with a nice fish out of Upper Norcamp

Manager's Comments:
Another better day on the river. Very nice conditions indeed with grey, good cloud cover and not too much wind.

Michel G did well in Poachers and had plenty of action all day. He hooked 8 fish throughout the day with numerous other pulls and knocks but sadly not all 8 made it to the net but most did. The biggest one of those was 17lbs and he lost another really good fish. An action packed day with some good quality fish - well done Michel!

Antonio J also did well today coming away with five fish by the evening. He managed two during the day on his beat, 7 Islands. On his way home in the boat they spotted a big fishing rolling in Upper Norcamp, immediately anchored and has a go for it. Sadly they didn't manage to hook the monster but did manage to hook and land 3 other fish in the 20 minutes they were there. A pretty good result really.

A friendly chap, feeling a bit cold

Mark H took three fish out of Upper Norcamp, two salmon and and a grilse and all were reasonably fresh. His fishing partner Graham S also managed a nice 10lber.

Raul and Daniel on their way home

Fishing continues to improve with more and more older fish starting to wake up now. The Mexican contingent are certainly doing their nation proud and continue to catch a good number of salmon. But the Brits and Swedes are hot on their heels and have every intention of catching up with them by the end of the week.

Toby Burrell

Good Fishing

Date: 1 August

Air Temp: 8’C -10’C

Water Temp: 14C
Water Height: -17cm
Number of Rods: 11
Number of fish Caught: 10
Biggest fish: 23lbs Max Daniel
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 1
No 8-19lbs: 2
Grilse: 7

Weather: A very grey day with with the odd light shower. A very light North wind.

Managers Comments: A good fishing day today and we seem to have lost that nasty upstream wind, making life much easier on the casting front.

 This week's team

The older, bigger fish are certainly starting to come to life now with this cooler water, and the team have done well. Today produced another 20lber so that is two in two days - far better than the previous ten days. Max D was the lucky fisher that managed to get today's big fish. He had a very exciting fight; it steamed up and down Poachers Pool for 25 minutes before he managed to get it into the net. A relief for both him and his guide Red Sergey. But both very chuffed to already have such a nice fish under their belt so early on in the week.

Getting a tow through Poachers

Mark H had a serious encounter with a fish in 7 Islands this morning that sadly didn't make it to the net. A monster took right in the tail of the first draw and went like a freight train towards the rapids. Mark, in an attempt to tighten up his drag, got his finger caught in the reel sending blood in all directions. He managed to slow it slightly before in rolled over the rapids. Just enough to get a good look at the fish. Mark said it was like a Boeing 747 going down the runway ready for take-off. Sadly there was nothing he could do to stop the fish and it was lost in the rapids. Leaving him with another story to tell and rather a sore finger.

Michel with a fish on

Today there were lots and lots of fish showing all over the river, perhaps they are coming on the move again after the long spell of warm water we have had. In summary, a good day on the river and some good fish caught. Hopefully this trend will continue throughout the week and we might see some more monsters being caught.

Toby Burrell

First Day 20lber!

Date: 31 July

Air Temp: 8C to 10C

Water Temp: 15C

Water height: -17cm

Number of rods: 11

Number fish caught: 10

Biggest fish: 20lbs Daniel Sanche

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 1

No 8-19: 4

Grilse: 5

Weather: 
Bitterly cold all day with a strong up stream wind. Cloudy with some very light showers in the morning.

Daniel S releasing his first ever salmon (20lbs)

Manager's Comments:
All guests arrived safe and sound from Murmansk in good time on Saturday afternoon and some set up there kit and headed out on to the river. Raul S got the team off the mark with one grilse out of Lyliok. So well done him.

Today's fishing has been fairly successful, not an easy task casting in that cold upstream wind. Daniel S, who is salmon fishing for the first time ever, managed two fish - a 12lber and a 20lber. Not a bad effort for his first day on a salmon river! He also popped down to Lyliok this evening and quickly landed a grilse before retiring to his bed for the evening.

Daniel S with a nice 12lb hen

Antonio had a slow day with very little action in Golden Reach until the last half an hour when he hooked three fish and landed two of them - both very fresh fish which is good to see. Erik C also managed a couple of fresh fish out of Island, both in the same spot - the main draw in island pool. Interestingly, all but one fish today was caught on a Willie Gunn ranging from size 8 to 12. It is certainly a good start to the week with one 20lber in the bag already and a few nice fresh salmon. Lets hope our luck continues…

Toby Burrell

Week 23-30 July

Date: 23-30 July

Air Temp: 8’C -21’C

Water Temp: 14C-17C
Water Height: -6cm to -15cm
Number of Rods: 12
Number of fish Caught: 68
Biggest fish: 22lbs Tom Craig
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 2
No 8-19lbs: 11
Grilse: 55

Weather: Generally speaking a much colder week, a couple of warmer days early on, but finishing off with much cooler temperatures.

Managers Comments: A better week this week and we certainly finished on a high. The week started fairly slowly with the warm temperatures. Sunday was cloudless skies and baking hot. Monday brought us some slightly better weather but not much. The odd shower and mainly cloud cover. As the week went on the temperatures dropped and we began to see a few more fish on the bank.

The early few days of the week produced very few salmon indeed. Mostly grilse that were reasonably fresh and in great nick, most of them 6lbs+. As the week went on and temperatures began to cool off we started seeing more salmon. I think the only explanation is that the water cooling off must have shifted them off their lies and woken them up a little bit. By Wednesday we had a few salmon in the book and the numbers just continued to rise for the rest of week.

Stuart C and his 22lber

Rob L has done well this week. He hit the ground running on Day 1 with three out of Lyliok all in the space of 30 minutes and also lost another. He managed to continue ticking away at the fish all week, not quite in the same fashion though. Rupert D has had a few great fish this week. Late on in the week he seemed to pick up some really nice big fresh fish. Good to know there are still some coming through.

Salmon in net

Tom C was top rod and holds the title of ‘Fish of the Week’ with an awesome 22lber out of Upper Norcamp. Tom has certainly had his favourite fly this week, the black and yellow skull head. He has had most of his fish on it and has been handing them out to fellow fishers who have also had some success with it. Tom is a very accomplished fisher who has managed some cracking fish and has been tucking in to plenty of grilse as well. A great result in some harsh conditions, well done!

Tom C and his 22lber

Again the fish have been very slow soft takers this week, meaning we have had endless pulls, knocks and bites but many of which are just not hanging on to the fly long enough. I don't know what the answer to that is… other than carry on as normal and hope that a few more of them start to stick. Perhaps the cooler water will make them more aggressive this week.

Toby Burrell

Encouraging Finish

Date: 29 July

Air Temp: 8’C -14’C

Water Temp: 14C
Water Height: -15cm
Number of Rods: 12
Number of fish Caught: 15
Biggest fish: 16lbs Rob Layton
No 30+: 0
No 20-29lbs: 0
No 8-19lbs: 4
Grilse: 11

Weather: Mainly cloudy all day with the odd spell of sunshine in the afternoon.

Managers Comments: The cooler weather continues and the water temp drops down to 14 degrees. This is certainly a good thing and has meant we've bumped into a few fresher fish today as well.

A taste of Yokanga

Tom C had a couple of sea liced grilse in Lower Norcamp today which is good news. Both fish caught on the black and yellow skull head, one of Tom’s personal favourites, that has done him well over the past week. He has even been handing them out in camp and I believe Nick WD managed a couple of fish with one yesterday.

Beach - good for a running fish

William D and Simon S had a brilliant day in Poachers and Beach. Numerous hook ups all day and they managed to land six between them. A mixture of fresh and slightly older fish. A great way to end the week so well done them! Rob Layton managed a lovely 16lber out of Upper Norcamp, a reasonably fresh fish, perhaps four or five days in the river. The fish put up a good fight and was safely released to continue on up on its migratory route.

The main draw at Poachers

It would seem with the few fresh fish caught today, that there are still some coming in which is great and hopefully this will with continue with this cold weather. Also it would seem obvious that some of the older fish have definitely been shifted and come to life somewhat allowing us to catch the odd one here and there. Perhaps it will come right in the next few days and we will get a good crack at them.

Toby Burrell

Productive Day

Date: 28 July

Air Temp: 8C to 11C

Water Temp: 15C

Water height: -15cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 13

Biggest fish: 22lbs Tom Craig

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 1

No 8-19: 4

Grilse: 8

 Tom with a cracking fish out of Upper Norcamp

Weather: 
Some brief showers before lunch, and dry cloudy with a North East wind all afternoon.

Rupert D with a fish on in Snake Pool (Lyliok River) yesterday

Manager's Comments:
We have far better fishing conditions now, and its is seriously increasing our salmon count which is great news! I am positive that this cooler weather is all that is making the difference and if it continues we may really see a difference in numbers of fish caught. The figures this week have certainly been increasing everyday as each day gets cooler and cooler. Lets hope this continues for the next couple of weeks.

Rupert with a fresh fish from 7 Islands

Gordon had a fantastic day in Lyliok today. He landed three fish and two of them were really quite fresh indeed and had certainly not been in the river more than a week. One was a lovely 15lbs hen fish. So an action packed afternoon for him.

Rupert and Nick managed three fish between them - a 14lbs fish each and Nick also had a 7lbs grilse. They had these out of the draws in 7 Islands, a beat that I think has fished exceptionally well this year. It is without a doubt my favourite beat on the system, a mixture of fantastic pools and very dynamic in that it has everything from lovely streamy necks, big boils and brilliant fast-flowing glassy draws that all feel so unbelievably fishy.

Tom C has had a great day today. He was fishing Upper Norcamp and had a nice 22lber that he caught on a huge sparkly cone-head sun ray shadow. The fish took with huge ferocity and proceeded to rip yards and yards of line off the reel at high speed as it steamed of down the pool.

The drug of the tug!

Tom and I deployed up the Lyliok River again last night after supper and he managed a lovely 16lber that also put up a great fight so once again the walk was worth it. Really good fun to catch such good quality fish out such a small little river.

Tom C with another cracking fish

In essence, a much better day and let's hope we keep this cool weather for as long as possible and the fish numbers will continue to rise.

Toby Burrell

Better Results

Date: 27 July

Air Temp: 8C to 11C

Water Temp: 17C

Water height: -17cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 10

Biggest fish: 13lbs Stuart Campbell

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 0

Grilse: 5

Weather: 
More cloud cover all day, light drizzle and a cold swirling wind. Heavy rain by 11pm.

Manager's Comments:
The second day of cooler weather has certainly brought more fish on and made some of the older resident fish slightly more active, giving us an opportunity to catch them. I believe that every rod had a fish on some point during the day, sadly not everyone landed one. Gordon had a couple of good fish take him in Poachers this morning but annoyingly didn't quite make either of them to the net. One was certainly 20lbs+.

Stuart C did well to get a nice 13lber out of the left bank pots of Boulder Alley. The fish took him right up against the bank and motored off down towards home pool. William D also had a fish of similar proportions out of Island pool. His fish also took the fly with in millimetres of the bank, at first William thought he had a grilse until it suddenly darted for the rapids and nearly made it over the edge.

Geoff B managed a brace of fish out of Crows Nest this afternoon, both reasonably fresh. Rob L had a good 12lber from the first draw in 7 Islands and Rupert D also had a salmon out of Lyliok this evening.

In summary, we are defiantly moving in the right direction with the fish numbers. This colder weather has certainly moved a few of the older fish and brought them on the take. I think the colder weather is going to stay for the rest of the week and hopefully the rest of the season.

Fingers crossed!

Toby Burrell

Better Temperatures

Date: 26 July

Air Temp: 8C to 11C

Water Temp: 15C

Water height: -17cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 10

Biggest fish: 7lbs Rob Layton

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 0

Grilse: 10

Weather: 
Good cloud cover all day with comparatively cold temperatures and a nippy downstream breeze.

Manager's Comments:
Today's conditions certainly felt a lot more like a fishing day with much cooler weather and no
sunshine at all. We perhaps didn't connect with quite as many fish as we had hoped but having said that at least most rods did manage to hook a grilse at some point in the day. I think after the amount of hot weather we’ve had we really need a few more days of cold to really cool the whole river system down.

Rob L and Stuart C had a good evening on right bank Lyliok again, managing to land four between them in a reasonably short period of time, perhaps a small pod of them just coming through. They also saw numerous other fish showing out in the pool.

Stuart C with a 20lber 

Stuart C with a fish on in Lyliok

Tom C and I went on a little adventure up the Lyliok river again, after supper we deployed up to the only three pools on the small river. We had very exciting results indeed, endless follows and swirls at the fly. I think mainly all grilse but very exciting all the same. Tom managed to land two of them, both taking yards of line of him, he did well to stop both disappearing down the rapids into Pinro Pool. There is rather a large cliff between the two pools, so anything leaving the pool down the rapids is almost a guaranteed lost fish. But a very exciting action packed evening for Tom and great fun to see these fish come zooming after the fly form quite some distance at times.

We can only now pray that this cooler weather stays with us for as long as possible and hope that the water temperature drops off quickly. This should begin to shift some of the older fish and hopefully reduce a few bigger one for the book.

Toby Burrell

Bright Sunshine

Date: 25 July

Air Temp: 15C to 25C

Water Temp: 17C

Water height: -12cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 5

Biggest fish: 20lbs Stuart Campbell

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 1

No 8-19: 1

Grilse: 3

Tom C with a fish on in Lyliok

Weather: 
Bright sunshine all day, not a wisp of cloud in sight. A soft east wind..

Manager's Comments:
Today's conditions were tough to say the least - baking hot with blindingly bright sunshine all day. There was an odd fishing showing here and there throughout the day. Alistair kept up his record of a fish a day with a very nice fresh 14lber out of Lower Norcamp this morning on a size 10 temple dog.

Tom C made contact with a fish in Cliff this afternoon and managed to crack a couple more in Lyliok this evening giving him a grand total of 3. A very good day indeed given the hot weather. Both fish he had in Lyliok were caught on a size ten stoats tail, both took in the same spot about 30minutes apart from each other.

Stuart is off the mark with a fantastic fish out Lyliok pool this evening after supper. The 20lbs hen took his second cast and whizzed off downstream taking 100 yards of backing with it. Stuart managed to stop it before it made the rapids and had it safely landed with in 10 minutes. Well done Stuart for catching your first Yokanga salmon and an excellent one at that!

Lets hope tomorrow does not bring more of the same sun. We are due temperatures to drop down to 10C for the rest of the week. This would be ideal, last nights catches in Lyliok are certainly a promising sign.

Toby Burrell

Fresh 10lbs

Date: 24 July

Air Temp: 11C to 18C

Water Temp: 15C

Water height: -6cm

Number of rods: 12

Number fish caught: 8

Biggest fish: 12lbs Rob Layton

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 0

No 8-19: 2

Grilse: 6

Weather: 
A wide variety of weathers today ranging from heavy showers with strong winds to cloudless skies and bright sunshine.

The team!

Manager's Comments:
The guests all arrived safe and sound yesterday and in good time. We were able to all get out on the river by about 4:30 on a full stomach after another one of Uri’s delicious feasts. There where a couple of successful rods that evening, one of which was Simon A who took faith in my advice and deployed up the Lyliok river itself. A fantastic little river when it works, of course it is nothing on the mighty Yokanga but as Simon is with us for 14 days, it is nice to have a slight change in scenery and style, and there is every chance of catch a few fish. Simon managed to hook and land a brilliant fresh hen fish of 10lbs. A successful little trip up the river that has left Simon keen for more.

Rob L chucking out a good line across Lyliok

Simon S and William had an interesting evening down in Lyliok pool on the Saturday evening, both fishing hitches and sun rays and both rising a good number of fish but sadly nothing was committing properly. Although an action-packed few hours for them they sadly returned home empty handed.

Today's conditions felt good all morning; perhaps a little warm at times and certainly this afternoon with the cloud cover clearing. Top rod goes to Rob L, he had a short spell of madness down in Lyliok this afternoon hooking four fish in the space of 30 minuets and landing three of them. All on right bank just above the Lyliok stream.

The fish today have certainly been slightly more active. I believe every rod has had at least one encounter with a fish but they have all been very slow and rather pathetic attempts at taking the fly leaving us with very few landed fish. A lot of pulls and slow takes that haven't come to a proper hook up. Hopefully these fish will become more aggressive with cooler water, we are due more rain this week.

Toby Burrell

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