Dear Salmon Junkie
It is with great sadness that I send out this News Letter, as I normally want to take this opportunity to share wonderful moments from the riverbank and suggest future great opportunities to you.
In late fall I heard a rumour that our Russian partner at Umba (and Grand Varzuga) was about to sell Umba Lodge. I received no warning that this was about to happen and if the sale went ahead it would jeopardise Salmon Junkies’ long-term contract at Umba.
I commenced discussions with the Russian landlord and, over the last few months, I have tried extremely hard to find out whether this rumour was true. Despite all my efforts to secure a firm future for Salmon Junkies at Umba regrettably I have not received any assurance from the Russians that the lodge is not to be sold. I have also had no firm commitment from them that they would honour our existing lease. There was a real danger that the lodge might be closed without warning.
As I am sure you will appreciate I simply could not trust my Russian partner anymore. Without trust or any firm binding assurances any program I ran on Umba or Varzuga would always likely to be at serious risk. The end result is that after 25 years in Russia I felt obliged to abandon the Russian fishing programs. Although this has been a very difficult and almost impossible decision to reach, Salmon Junkies had no choice but to stop our Russian ventures.
My intention has always been to sell high quality products. In this regard I am just not prepared to sacrifice the loyalty and trust of so many valued clients . Salmon Junkies has of course already returned all deposits and balances that had been paid for the 2016 season.
I cannot describe in words how this situation grieves me. However after receiving ONLY encouraging letters from all our many guests over the last couple of weeks I feel reassured that it was the only correct and responsible decision to make.
In addition to that I want to give a sincere heartfelt thanks to all our 2016 travellers for your extraordinary support. I also want to direct special appreciation to the many who converted their Russian trip to one of our BC trips in 2016. I owe a great deal to all of you guys – without loyal guests there is no company.
Salmon Junkies will of course move on, and fortunately there are still a lot of other wonderful places for the dedicated Salmon Junkie to cover with a Spey rod.
Right now the upcoming season in BC seems only a short “Spey cast” away! If you want to join us pursuing what are among the largest and strongest Salmon and Steelhead and on the planet, we still have a number of attractive openings during Spring, Summer and Fall, and for the 2017 season we have some very interesting programs in the pipeline.
For the Salmon Junkie chasing the strongest and most challenging fresh water fish in the world, Salmon Junkies have a wide variety of programs, that will continue to deliver the desired “Salmon Junkie Karma” that has become an established benchmark for so many dedicated anglers worldwide.
I hope that I can rely on your continued and valued support in the future and I look forward to reacquainting with many old friends as well as meeting new ones this coming season.
Best wishes
Steffen
“One cast can change your day…….Maybe your life”