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

More Sun

Date: 30 June

Air Temp: 18C to 24C

Water Temp: 15C

Water height: -13cms

Number of rods: 16
Number of fish caught: 11

Biggest fish: 21lbs, Chris Agar

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 1
No 8-19: 8
Grilse: 2

Weather: More of the same sun. Some hazy cloud cover during the course of the day. Light upstream wind.

Searching for silver

Manager's comments: A very hard day on the river with hot temperatures making it positively wilting for fishermen.

Well done to Chris A for two great fish from Poachers and Lake, 21lbs and 19lbs. Fishing partner, Philip L, also had a nice 16lber. Spencer P landed a fresh 17lber from Lower Norcamp before the air temperatures increased during the day. It certainly seemed that the fish landed were all fresh from the sea (some sea liced) but we do not seem to be able to connect with some of the older fish with this bright sunshine and hot weather.

Nahodka and Golden Reach

Given the tough conditions for salmon fishing, Helmut Z who has been here for two weeks, elected to go trout fishing on the Pokruay the day before. He was accompanied by Toby Burrell, who will be taking over from me to host the rest of the Yokanga season. Toby has just finished hosting five weeks on the Pana for the second time. The trout fishing was epic and they landed 30 fish or more between them up with a couple of them being over 3lbs. Toby hooked and lost two salmon, one of them that took at the rod tip and was estimated at about 17lbs. Sadly the 3.5lb tippet material and trout hooks were not enough and the fish were not landed.

Spoilt for choice

Colin J's finest

I think that we may need to refine tactics in the coming days to smaller flies and lighter leaders to fool some of the older fish into taking.

Pasha, Russian camp manager, after a hot day on the river

Henry Mountain

Mint-fresh

Date: 29 June

Air Temp: 12C to 22C

Water Temp: 14C

Water height: -7cms

Number of rods: 16
Number of fish caught: 10

Biggest fish: 22lbs, Lucas R and Peter F

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 3
No 8-19: 6
Grilse: 1

Weather:

As forecast, we had a day of unbroken sunshine with light winds for the majority of the day.

Manager's comments: The team have to be congratulated for persevering under difficult conditions. After a full house the other day with each rod getting a fish, it was inevitable that things could not continue that way. It was mostly ones and twos with some returning with a blank.

 Chris searching for fish at Crows Nest

Spencer P had a mint-fresh 12lber from Upper Norcamp so fish are still running despite the sunshine. Chris W had another 20lber, this time from Lyliok, and Lucas R and Peter F both had 22lbers. Interestingly Peter was using T20 and a big fly so once again all tactics seem to be working!

Chris W, with his 20lber from Lyliok

A still and sunny afternoon on the Yokanga

Federico connected with a large fish up at Cliff. To begin with the fish behaved much as any other before seemingly refusing to move from the bottom. Suspecting that it was somehow snagged on a rock, guide Sergei Science, took to the boat with Federico and after some pulling this way and that the fish came unstuck but then tore off down the pool and down the rapid taking hundreds of yards of backing with it. Following on foot down the bank, and with no connection to the fish, Federico slowly retrieved his backing only to discover that line and backing were again stuck. Sergei took to the boat in an attempt to untangle things. The line came loose but the fish was off and all the line and even the fly was retrieved.

Lyliok is just about crossable

Interestingly, the river has remained at much the same height all season having been topped up by the occasional downpour every week. It has not been possible to wade across the Lyliok river for the last couple of days but finally it is just about crossable again.

Last casts of the day

I fear this sunny weather will nudge the water temperature up a couple of degrees. A few clouds would help our cause.

Henry Mountain

Blue skies

Date: 28 June

Air Temp: 15C to 21C

Water Temp: 12C

Water height: -2cms

Number of rods: 16
Number of fish caught: 18

Biggest fish: 21lbs Lucas Rotllant

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 2
No 8-19: 15
Grilse: 1

Weather: Blue sky and sunshine from start to finish with a breeze that died as the day progressed.

Beach in bright afternoon sunshine

Manager's comments: It certainly did not seem ideal fishing conditions when we were all eating breakfast! While catches were not as impressive as the day before, the result was not at all bad given the wall to wall sunshine. Certainly plenty of running fish were seen so they are still coming even if they are proving hard to catch.

Take your pick!

Rae B and Peter F have adapted techniques and seem to be catching many of their fish within feet of the bank using various types of sinking tips. Colin J is sticking to his tried and tested intermediate and doubles and that is working well for him as he landed 3 and lost others. The majority seem to be taken on relatively small tubes (some coneheads or bottle tubes) or doubles but lightly dressed for normal Yokanga patters. Chris A succeeded in landing three salmon on a traditional sized Yokanga tube tied at least two inches in lengths. If you are heading this way in the coming weeks, I can’t draw any conclusions so will let you decide for yourself!

Federico S has his own deadly Spanish technique. While crossing the lake in the boat on the way down to Crows Nest he threw his line out in the hope of catching a trout. Much to his surprise the line did go tight to which his guide, Sergei Science, commented that it was a pike. To everyone’s surprise it turned out to be a fresh grilse! Federico and Lucas then finished their day with a fish each from the main Crows Nest draw. Lucas’ fish was a fresh 21lber.

Stunning skies over the Yokanga

More bright weather and warm temperatures seems to be on their way so you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to predict that the water temperatures will rise. Having said that, the forecast out here can be remarkably unreliable and the weather hugely changeable so we may well be building snowmen by the weekend for all I know!

Henry Mountain

High Morale

Date: 27 June

Air Temp: 8C to 10C

Water Temp: 14C

Water height: -7cms

Number of rods: 16

Number fish caught: 30

Biggest fish: 25lbs Colin Jones

No 30+: 0

No 20-29: 6
No 8-19: 24
Grilse: 0

 Cold and Windy

Weather: Cold and windy then changing abruptly to sunshine in the mid-afternoon.

Manager's comments: The rise in water from the day before had topped off and expectations were high with continued cold weather and the water temperature down a couple of degrees to an ideal 12C.

Worth braving the elements for this 19lb beauty

It is rare in salmon fishing when the entire party scores in a single day. For 16 rods all to score was therefore a great result. On this occasion each rod pairing returned with between two and five fish between them.

Chris into a fish

Chris A and Philip L landed a 23lber and 20lber respectively from 7 Islands. Others in the twenties were from Federico Sabras with a 20lber, Edward E with a 21lber and. Colin Jones on usual form with a 25lber.

Chris A with a 23lber from Seven Islands

Special mention should really go to Chris W who having fished down Poachers in a conventional manner then had success with a 20lber on a hitched and stripped Sunray on a full floating line.

Philip with his 20lber

Morale was high after such a good days fishing only to then be dashed when England lost the football to Iceland. At least one guest at the lodge, Gusti, was happy with the result.

Homeward bound!

Henry Mountain