When I first started trout fishing in the Catskill Mountains, I would often take the long road home and would drive around on the well known, and prestigious upper Beaverkill river as my dad gave me the history lesson on the drive upriver. Even at a young age, I enjoyed the history lesson and that aspect of the sport, but one thing I hated was the posted signs. What was the point of all the stories if we couldn’t get out and fish? Over time however, I found my own spots, on different water and those posted signs were no longer a restriction when it came to my trout fishing. I found it equally possible to find productive, public water as I expanded and started to pursue other fish that included flats fishing for bonefish, permit, tarpon, as well as freshwater targets like musky and steelhead. With curiosity , grit, and a little hustle I’ve been able to get on water that held the above fish without paying large sums of money to get on it. However, there was one fish that I wanted to chase, but couldn’t because of what seemed to be a world-wide premium required to even get access to the waters where the fish live- that fish being the Atlantic Salmon. This premium makes the fish largely inaccessible to most anglers who can’t afford expensive fishing lodges and beat systems that are held and traded like stocks between the wealthy elite anglers of the world. And this frustrates me. Prior to this trip, I had been on a few lower budget trips to Canadian Atlantic Salmon rivers where the fishing was mediocre due to warming temps, low water, and below average returns, a common theme that seems to be more of the norm now, rather than just a year to year risk in Canada.
After landing a couple legitimate fish on those trips however, I couldn’t argue with the impressiveness of the fish itself. They embody all the characteristics that an angler seeks in a game-fish in being found in beautiful places, beautiful to look at, and perhaps one of the strongest fish pound for pound that one can chase.
After getting a taste of this game, I started to read up on the fish and came to learn that Russia was the undisputed best Atlantic Salmon fishing in the world. A glance at pricing made me chalk up the trip as a pipe dream though, as I commonly saw and heard prices that averaged around $15,000.00 all in to pull of the trip. This cost is largely due to the fact that most well-known Russian salmon rivers require a helicopter to get there, and the remote factor makes everything more expensive. Despite these unrealistic figures, and fast forwarding to approximately Christmas time of 2017, I received an email from a buddy that included a very interesting opportunity to fish for Atlantic Salmon in Russia. The camp was situated on a river that had recently been opened by the Russian government and therefore had not been pressured, did not require a helicopter to get there, but was also wholly closed off and protected by private lands thereby limiting the ability of Russian poaching to decimate the fish returns. The price listed was 20% of what I had previously seen and considered to be the established norm for fishing Atlantics in Russia so I immediately confirmed I was in for this trip- a trip I believed was a once of a lifetime shot and opportunity to chase these fish at a price that was possible to pull off.
GETTING THERE:
The trip to Russia was oddly smooth and felt like a long nap. Flights were readily available and reasonable from US to Germany as a connection to Russia and/or to Moscow Russia direct. For purposes of this trip, once arriving in the main cities of either Moscow or St Petersburg, a domestic flight was required to get from there to the northern most city of Murmansk that gets you within striking/driving distance of the fish.
From Murmansk we were a few hour drive from the river(s) and camp that we fished and stayed at. When arriving in Russia, one thing I was not aware of was that it does NOT get dark out at all during the summer months. Its light out 24 hours a day with the evening having a sunset that just never quite goes down. Being my first time experiencing this, and being amped for the trip, Its fair to say I did not sleep more than an hour that first “night” at camp.
THE FISHING:
Upon arriving at the camp, I had 6 days to fish the wild Russian rivers I had read about. Seasonally, we were on the early side of the spectrum with mid to late June being early, and early to mid July being prime. That said- the diversity in available water took some of the risk of early season fishing off the table, in that the smaller river near camp was smaller and the type of stream that drops quickly so that its rarely if ever blown out, let alone too high to fish. In terms of strategy, It was immediately apparent that the culture to fishing Atlantics here was more creative, experimental, and open to what the angler wanted to try. This was refreshing . Ordinarily, the fish is surrounded by so much tradition that the methods, manner, patterns, and general consensus on how to chase the fish has not evolved, improved, or expanded much at all to present. Anglers commonly fish traditional flies, not because they work best, but because they are just what people have always fished when fishing for Atlantic Salmon. Here it was different though. We experimented, and used a lot of tube flies, and other patterns that were well designed but still had the colors and flair that are known to entice an Atlantic salmon to strike.
Water wise, there were two streams that were close to camp with one being a smaller stream that was maybe 150 feet wide and very wadeable with a riffle/pool structure, with the second being a large river with heavy flow that was set up as a classic spey river for guys that like the two-hander.
I thoroughly enjoyed fishing both. The smaller river was a thrill to fish and take salmon on in close, but not too tight of quarters. It was the right size of stream that it didn’t feel like you could predict where the fish were with certainty (I like a little mystery in terms of where the fish are holding), yet made it thrilling when you did draw a take and hook up with a fish of such size on what felt like an intimate trout stream. All of the fish were extremely fresh, bright chrome, and beautiful. The stream provided a nice mix of pools that were well suited for drifting/skating a bomber or dry fly, and also classic wet fly style runs where you could swing to take fish. On this gem of a stream, I landed what was perhaps the best and most gratifying fish I’ve ever landed anywhere. The fish was a full chrome 35” Atlantic that didn’t have a mark on it. This truly was a beast that you never think you will ever see with your own two eyes, and a humbling fish to release from the net.
The Big River
Being my first time fishing here, I didn’t want to keep going to the same well to find success. After landing that fish, I assumed I was not going to top that fish for the trip and became more willing to take on risk at the shot of perhaps something more on the big river. It was a bit early for this river to fish well, but I could tell from talking to the guides after a few days of getting to know them that this river was by far their favorite because of the mystery and potential opportunity it presented.
My shift in gears led to a couple major positives. First, the daily fishing and guide style opened up even more , to the point we were fishing as friends with them giving you first shot at every run . I enjoyed the camaraderie and was even able to land a few nice fish on the spey rod which is relatively new to me and provided a different kind of thrill with a new method and approach. My next time that I’m fortunate enough to get back here, I think I will try for a later season week that allows for the big river to come down a bit in level, and warm up to temps that allow for more consistent fishing.
Overall Trip Impressions
For the trip- my buddy and I landed a total of 17 salmon in 6 days guided fishing and two days fishing on my own. That’s pretty solid. But when you go somewhere far on a fishing trip, its not about numbers, its about distinct memories that stay in your mind. And for me- that one fish does and will continue to stay in the memory bank. It was truly a fish of a lifetime for me and a surreal thing to witness and experience in real life, not just some magazine cover that I was reading. And that’s Russia. Those fish are there and realistically can be captured on the fly. As always, for those that may be interested in doing such a trip in the future, feel free to reach out.
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