The Yokanga River is the latest of the Kola rivers to be opened to western fishermen. It is located on the northeastern edge of the Kola about 175 miles from Murmansk, where it empties into the Barents Sea. These waters are home to some of the largest Atlantic salmon on the Kola, and provide a challenging environment in which to fish.
The impressive waters cascade through a boulder- strewn course creating some of the most diverse and varied fly fishing water imaginable. It is almost as though some mighty hand has plucked pools from salmon rivers around the world and rearranged them into one river course.
There is everything from the rippled glides of the famous Lyliok pool to the deep rushing draws typical of the upper Nor camp in Norway. Fishing the Yokanga river is a true adventure from beginning to end. The catches are fantastic as is the scenery and the challenges you can face.
Yokanga’s Genetics
The Atlantic salmon that enter this river have been classified as the largest genetic strain on the Kola by the resident PINRO (Polar Research Institute) scientists.
Yokanga Lodge
Designed and built in Canada the lodge was reconstructed on the bluff overlooking the Home pool. There is a commanding view over 4 km of the river including Boulder Alley and the fabled Lyliok pool. The lodge can accommodate 16 rods in a combination of double and single rooms, all with en-suite bathroom, power shower and 24-hour hot water.
With a large light and spacious upstairs dining room and bar the lodge offers a comfortable and congenial area for enjoying the fine culinary offerings of the extensive kitchen. The bar has a number of different beers and wines available as well as high quality Russian Vodka.
We have just received this fabulous offer – perhaps a once in a lifetime offer?
As Yokanga have had a very good run of fish this season, with a lot of big ones, Fly Fish Yokanga have decided to extend the season this year with this offer to all Salmon Junkies.
We think this is a great opportunity for you to come out and see what Yokanga is all about or perhaps a revisit – Extraordinary Price Euro 2400 included Flight from Helsinki.
August is a time of change on the Yokanga. By this stage all the huge 30lb+ salmon have run into the river and are spread well throughout our beats. We are fortunate that most of the spawning tributaries and stretches of the main river are within the 50kms we fish so the fish do not run up past our fishing. There are also fresh fish running all the way until mid August with grilse and the odd fish up to twenty pounds caught with sea lice.
As the summer weather of July gives way to the autumn in early August, we find that the weather is often just what the salmon fisherman wants, cold, overcast and wet. If the river has been too low in July this is the stage that it is replenished. Usually the mosquitoes have disappeared by this time as well, although this is not guaranteed! There is a huge variety of water in our beats and because we use the helicopter to transport all the fishermen to their beats every day no day will be the same. We also use boats (without motors) on each beat, so it is possible to cherry pick the best parts of the 4 or 5kms of your beat for the day.
At this stage of the season we are usually fishing floating or intermediate lines with small flies and tubes. Often it is important to be able to change lines and flies for each different pool or run, which is why the interchangeable shooting head systems work well. The Yokanga is a wide but shallow river and the fish are aggressive, so it is common to see the fish take or move to your fly.
We would normally expect to land an average of two fish per rod per day at this time of the year, but the catches can be anything from 150 to 300 fish for the Lodge for the week. We usually manage to get at least one thirty pounder in the week.
Extraordinary Price Euro 2400 included Flight from Helsinki.
All the best Steffen and Kåre