With only 2 weeks left of the season in Umba, we can conclude that this autumn has been very generous to our all our many wonderful and loyal guests. Almost every evening during September we celebrated new members in our Twenty Pounds club. What a great season
Unfortunately our first August weeks was pretty skinny booked, with only some few rods fishing Umba. A common misconception is, that August is not as productive as September and October months. However August can be as good as any of the later weeks. That became obviously when Rolf Berliat caught a fantastic 29Lbs Chrome sealiced salmon in Lowe Rat pool (The second largest salmon this season). Christoph Meyer and Uwe Kopp average Third week in August more than twenty salmon each, with 2 huge +20Lbs salmon to Uwe
Last week in August
In this week we went from late summer to autumn – the surrounding forest literally exploded in a spectacular mix of colours along the banks of Umba river.
Largest salmon caught was following:
29 salmon between 10Lbs -14 Lbs
16 salmon between 15Lbs -19Lbs
2 salmon between 20Lbs – 24Lbs.
Highlights to be remembered: Our French group who were all first time visitors to Umba had a great week after some fine tuning the first couple of days. Nicolas Bernard had no need for any lectures, and first night he caught a nice 19.5Lbs Buck in Home Channel. In total Nicolas caught 13 fresh Salmon. Biggest fish for Nicolas was 3 x 12 Lbs, 1 x 14 Lbs, 2 x 15 Lbs, 1 x 19.5 Lbs and 1 x 21 Lbs (Welcome to 20 Lbs club Nico). Marc Bizien entered the Umba history book as well with 13 Salmon. Biggest fish = 2 x 14 Lbs, 1 x 15 Lbs, 1 x 16 Lbs, 1 x 17 Lbs, 1 x 18Lbs and 1 x 19Lbs – Congratulation Marc. Stéphane Warnier was as usual between the top rods with 13 salmon and with a 21Lbs Chromer as the biggest
The first week in September:
September is a spectacular period in Umba with autumn colors making a fantastic scenery for the eye and the camera. There is simply nothing like it. Now the warm weather turns into crispy cold mornings and water temperature drops, but anyhow with salmon quite aggressive busy in the pools. The fishing hours on the river get shorter as darkness of the night appears much earlier. But then there is time for a Scotch or a glass of wine. Time for talk and tales around the fireplace in the lodge: “The huge salmon that was lost” or “The beautiful ones that was caught”; “The bear that was seen only 100 feet away crossing the river”…. Autumn in Umba is a very special time of the year.
Largest salmon caught was following:
14 salmon between10Lbs – 14Lbs
6 salmon between 15 Lbs – 19Lbs
2 salmon between 20Lbs – 24Lbs
1 salmon between 25Lbs – 29Lbs
Highlights to be remembered: On our bonus Saturdays – the extra day our guests get for free – anything can happen in Umba; Ragnhild Samuelsson caught a super chromer of 22 Lbs. in Brads Pool – there is something about women and salmon fishing. The following day her son Erik Samuelsson lurked her tricks and caught two silver torpedoes in Home Pool – 18 Lbs and 18.5 Lbs. Well done and congratulations to both mother and son. Last couple of days same week some of other guests have landed some really nice fish between 12 and 19 Lbs. Lovely!
Franco Sirtori caught a big colored male in Boat Pool – Krivetz. It forced him 300 m downstream in a very intense fight but ended up with a catch of a 26 Lbs Salmon. We suppose that it must have been a 30+ when it entered the system last autumn. Welcome to 20 Lbs Club…again Franco:) Franco caught the angry male with a cascade seize 8 with a small 11.9 switch rod.
The second week in September: What a wonderful week with more than hundred salmon landed! Autumn is now definitely upon us with wind and rainy days providing wonderful scenery for recording our movie and perfect conditions for our group. Almost everyone in the group has become member of the Salmon Junkie Twenty Pound Club (most of them already where members since they are all veterans on the Umba river).
Largest salmon caught was following:
21 salmon between 10Lbs – 14Lbs
16 salmon between 15Lbs – 19Lbs
8 salmon between 25Lbs – 29Lbs
Highlights to be remembered: For the largest salmon 81 year old Jean Domange has to be noted. His catches were: 15,7Lbs – 16Lbs – 18Lbs – 21,2lLbs – 25Lbs – 26Lbs – very well done Jean. Salmon geek David Japp landed the second largest salmon: a 25Lbs. Whopper and besides that:15Lbs 17Lbs and 19Lbs As a part of the game several Whoppers were lost at daily basis, some with a estimated weight about 25Lbs – 29Lbs!….
The third week in September: This week will be remembered for some pristine autumn salmon, hard wind and heavy rain.
Top rod this week was Bruno Segala with 15 salmon caught!
Largest salmon caught was following:
22 salmon between 10Lbs -14Lbs
11 salmon between 15Lbs -19Lbs
8 salmon between 20Lbs -24Lbs
1 salmon 26Lbs
Highlights to be remembered: Biggest salmon this week was caught by Marko Muona- a magnificent 26Lbs Whopper in Long Pool on the Krivetz! Marko also landed a nice lineup of trophy salmon with the biggest on 20Lbs. Marko’s fishing companion Petri Telaranta also got two Umba Whoppers on 21Lbs. and 24Lbs.
Top rod this week was Bruno Segala with 15 salmon caught!
The last week in September: Extreme weather conditions and a amazing amount of salmon in the river characterized this week. The last couple of weeks on the Kola Peninsula has been very rainy and made the water level raise more than a meter on several rivers. Luckily huge amount of water does not influence the water level on Umba in the same way as on many other rivers on Kola. Even though, the river did rise more than 1,5ft last week and combined with the hard wind blowing the last leaves in the water, the fishing became very challenging. But this relative massive water increase had a positive effect on the fish, which our group could benefit from the last part of the week.
Largest salmon caught was following:
10 salmon between 10Lbs -14Lbs.
6 salmon between 15Lbs -19Lbs.
1 salmon between 20Lbs – 24Lbs – Heinz Pape again again
Highlights to be remembered: More that 50 salmon where lost – if you count them in, this could have resulted in being the most productive week on the Umba this season with an estimated amount of 100 – 130 salmon.
Heinz Pape landed his fourth +20lbs Umba salmon in just 2 weeks of fishing! Largest hook-up this week was in Upper Rat-Pool, where a giant salmon took Bernard Lunel fly. Unfortunately it was lost almost at the edge of the net.
Top rod was Andrea Borziani with 15 salmon landed!
Lots of action and glorious memories to be bring back home and even more tales for next year around the fireplace. Please notice that if you want to secure your August or September spot for next year please do not hesitate and let us know not later that 1st November. We respect and honor the rule of first right of refusal but only at a limited time.
Still 2 weeks to go. Fingers crossed – but the “rumors” tell that we already now have a superb 31Lbs salmon in the Logbook, plus a high number of +20Lbs salmon from first week in October
Stay tuned:)
All the best
Steffen and Kåre