We have decided to open up the Kola River to all Salmon Junkies during the first 2 weeks of July 2013 and can take 10 rods per week. If you have some free time and are hungry for some ‘Kola Chrome”’ then please get in contact with us.
You can expect warm weather; lower and warmer water conditions; floating line; small flies; rifling hitch; dry flies; bombers; rain and thunder; few mosquitoes; cosy evenings on the veranda; 24/ 7 non-stop fishing; a newly refurbished camp; great food and hospitality; and lots of aggressive fish stacked up in the pools.
Lars Terkildsen is our guest this year and is a hardened Kola veteran. He has sent us this fantastic account of his experiences fishing the Kola River in July. He describes what you might expect and reveals the “Secret Fly” behind all these amazing catches.
Hi all,
I have just returned from our Kola River adventure. What a fantastic week! In fact, it was the best ever – not just for me, but also my friends and the other guests. There were only 6 of us this week, but those who missed out may regret it for a long time to come.
We started out on Saturday with some fishing on Home Pool. A few of us took 3 salmon each, whilst the others managed one or two. There were also quite a few fish that got away. The water temperature was about 17ºC and the air between 18 and 19.
On Sunday I went with my good friend Rafal from Poland to fish the Bear Beat (the upper beat). We had bright sunshine and it was 25ºC. The water temperature rose to more than 18 ºC and so the fishing was a little slow. That said we caught our fish during the day as hoped using very small lightly dressed flies (size 14).
It was more like fishing weather on Monday. It was cloudy although still warm at a steady 18ºC. We got a handful of salmon and grilse during the day from Bridge Pool, 3-Rock Pool, Plate and down to Home Pool. After dinner we had a successful evening with a few more nice fish at Home Pool.
Things moved faster on Tuesday as we fished Junction, Serious Pool and Pump. We had plenty of salmon in the net and lots of strikes with lost fish. The weather was similar to Monday, but the thunder was building. According to an SMS report sent to one of our friends a weather front was approaching. The water temperature started to decrease and we measured 16-17ºC at the end of the day.
On Wednesday we fished Monica, both upper and lower, and then down to Last Chance at the bridge pick-up-point. The rain and thunder kicked in after 12 o’clock and from then on the fishing was as good as it gets on a salmon river.
Half Week Situation and Score:
Air temp: 20ºC. Water temp: 17ºC. Water level slowly rising.
Tom Ziegler: 8 fish
Jackie Mansson: 15 fish
Soren Moller: 13 fish (biggest 28 lb)
Allan Bech: 17 fish (biggest 26 lb)
Rafal Kaminsky: 20 fish (biggest 25 lb)
Lars Terkildsen: 24 fish
Total: 97 fish
By Thursday the temperature had dropped to 15ºC and we fished Junction, Serious Pool, Pump and Loparsky 1. On the previous day I had an idea for a new fly and made a few overnight – a new killer was born. The ‘Cascade Machine’ is a combination of the Cascade and the Green Machine. It’s basically a Cascade with green highland body with orange body hackle (sparse). It produced 6 fish on the small left side fork of the upper part of Serious Pool and my guide suggested we name the place Cascade Machine Pool.
From this moment everybody wanted the fly, so I produced what I could for the guys and all had excellent results on it for the rest of the week. Some of the guides called it the ‘Secret Fly’ and others the ‘Cascade Machine’. The fact was that it worked superbly and without comparison.
I fished Home Pool on Thursday evening and through the night until 3.30. I started from where the hard current enters the wider part of Home Pool at the upper bank of the camp. What an amazing night – I caught 14 fish! It will go into my memory as one of the best salmon fishing moments of my life.
By Friday the water temperature had continued to drop down to 14ºC and level was rising slowly. We fished Monica, upper and lower, down to “Last Chance” and finished up at the upper Net Neck. There results were excellent once again and we fished the Cascade Machine in size 8, 10 and 12.
I took one nice fish after another after the bend on Lower Monica. It was high water compared to normal summer level, and the fish took mostly on the inner edge of the current, as you would expect. I had contact with fish all the way down to the end of the island and then got two nice grilse into the net in the last “mirror”. Who could ask for more? Perhaps there should be more challenge in one’s fishing – it almost got too easy. It was then that my guide told me that the old camp record of 63 fish to one angler in a week was now broken. So proud was I!
After losing my last Cascade Machine in Net Pool, I used a Cascade-like fly with all black body and tied with pale materials for the tail and front hackle on a size 10 hook. I got a nice salmon just before we had to go back to the camp.
As we had to wait to fly back to Sunday morning four of us took the opportunity to buy another days’ fishing on Saturday. Our total score should be considered in the light of this as Soren and Allan did not fish on this day. During the week we all lost a lot of fish, just like anglers in previous weeks. I guess it is pretty normal even at the Kola River.
Final Week Situation and Score:
Air temp: 12ºC. Water temp: 13-14ºC. Medium high water level.
Tom Ziegler: 21 fish (biggest 25 lb)
Jackie Mansson: 27 fish (biggest 25 lb)
Soren Moller: 17 fish (biggest 28 lb)
Allan Bech: 29 fish (biggest) 26 lb)
Rafal Kaminsky: 55 fish (biggest 25 lb)
Lars Terkildsen: 80 fish. (biggest 18 lb)
Total: 217 fish
This week was only made possible due to the slick operation and skillful staff in the camp. I can only recommend this destination to others!
Tight Lines – Lars Terkildsen
The price is sharp so please get in touch if you are interested or have any questions. (sj@salmonjunkies.com)
All the best,
Steffen & Kåre