Bystraya R., Kamchatka, September 2011

Bystraya R., Kamchatka, September 2011 -  http://flyfishingrussia.com/

Kamchatka, Raduga River, September 2011 - Part 2

The next morning was foggy.  I was fishing the Raduga near the camp, at the first pool upstream from the junction with the Kamchatka River.  Because of the low light conditions the fish were not very active.  The best flies were the brightest ones - fluorescent pink or red. 

 At the opposite bank from the camp there was a bear trail.  No, it was not just a trail, but a true bear highway!

 Some prints are made by the "nice" size animals. 

 I was wading on sand along the low bank, casting to the deeper water. 

 This silver-sided kundzha (white-spotted charr) is fresh from the sea. 

In the pool there were lots of silver charr, but nothing very big

 A tiny red wobbler-fly with a foam back had a profile of a mayfly nymph.  This #12 fly was wiggling under the surface, and was considered a morsel by grayling. 

 The same fly was also attracting good size charr.  The fish were rising to the surface to intercept it. 

 Steller's sea eagle (white-shoulder sea eagle) with its 2,5 meter wingspan and 9 kg maximum weight is the biggest bird of prey.  Condor is bigger,  but it is a scavenger and not a hunter.  The main food source of the bird in Kamchatka are Pacific salmon.  This particular specimen is young - it does not have the full, mature colors of the species. 

 My friend Andrey had decided to test Tasmanian Devil - this lure is new for Kamchatka.  When spin fishing Andrey is always making a single hook out of a treble.  The pink lure was catching all local fish - charr, trout, salmon, and even grayling.

To be continued..

Kamchatka-2011, Ozernovskaya creek

 Ozernovskaya Creek is a tributary to the upper part of the Kirganik River, which belongs to the Kamchatka R. drainagbe.  The creek is flowing among the mountains of the Central-Kamchatka Ridge, the "spine" of the peninsula.  The valley of the creek is covered with meadows, stone birch forest, and pine-bush. 

 On the way to the upper part of the Ozernovskaya we had seen several brown bears.  

 

The river valley is grown by mighty grasses, "shelomainik" in local slang. 

Our truck is parked at the end of the road.  From here we will hike.

Taking a sample of bottom invertebrates (benthos)

I had to find out how far into the mountains the fish can be found; so I went downstream the creek from the altitude over 900 meters above the sea level.  For some time I was not able to catch any fish.  This shot has an exposure of 1/400 of a second.

This shot has an exposure of 1/4 of a second.

 Finally I have caught the first fish, dwarf male of Dolly Varden charr.  This had happen at the altitude of 825 m. 

 In the valley there are several cold mineral springs which water is mixing with the creek. 

Further downstream the creek has lower gradient; here the small charrs are rather numerous.  There are hundreds of them on every kilometer of the river. 

 I was catching this fish with a rig of two small (#12 or 14), weighted nymphs.  In typical situation small charr dwelling in creeks are part of the anadromous Dolly Varden stocks of the main river.  All females do not reach maturity before 2 or 3 marine migrations (age 5-6 years).  On the opposite, lots of males become mature in the creeks, in the age of 2-3 years, when reaching weight of 20-40 grams.  Such dwarf males spawn with anadromous females coming from the sea.   

  Spawning sockeye salmon in the Kirganik River near the mouth of the Ozernovskaya Creek. 

Tiny charrs of the age 0+ years (born this spring). 

Aconite is a poisonous plant

Kamchatka 2010 - Avacha River

Preparation for the trip to Kamchatka includes tying numerous, very bright flies for salmon and charr

The main goal of the trip was participation in a fly-casting and fly-fishing seminar, which was organized by a tackle store Orbita Rybolova (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski, Kamchatka, Russia)

Before and after the seminar I was able to fish the lower part of the Avacha River.  It is popular among the local sportfishermen.  Poachers are also plentiful. 

A gear fisherman with a little chinook and 3456 m Koryakski vlc as a background

Fresh pink salmon (June 20, 2010) with sea lice.  Pink salmon were biting pink and red flies.  The most efficient presentation was slow retrieve after a downstream (or downstream-and-across) cast.  The size of  the flies should be between #10 and #4

Little chinook (5 kg) caught with a fly

The fly which I was using - a yellow-and-blue String Leech

Tiny resident charr caught with a wobbler fly 

The same fly was also working well for anadromous Dolly Varden charr

Vilyuchinski vlc