Kamchatka 2010 - Vorovskaya River

Vorovskaya River is flowing into the Sea of Okhotsk through the birch forests of the western Kamchatka.  The river hosts stocks of all 6 species of Pacific salmon, Dolly Varden and white-spotted charrs, and rainbow trout. 

Grassy jungle along the river hide trails of brown bears

Cherry salmon in Kamchatka is always small - as big as pink salmon

This male of cherry salmon is beginning to gain spawning colors

Rainbow trout is plentiful in the river; its average size is not big

An attempt to land chum salmon with light tackle could cost you a rod

In the middle reaches of the river there are lots of braids and log jams.  It is is dangerous to navigate the Vorovskaya even with a jet-motor.  Lots of narrow channels are blocked by the logs. 

Upper part of the river has bigger gradient (over 0,002); log jams are also present here. 

We have decided not to go upstream from these rapids

The point which we were able to reach in 2010

Andrey is preparing grilled fish for dinner

Flies for catching cherry salmon (sakura sima)

The biggest cherry salmon you could catch in the Koppi River (mainland coast of the Sea of Japan). In this stream the species can reach 90 cm (3') and 9 kg (20 pounds)

Mikizha (invented by Guido Rahr III in 1993) was the best fly for catching cherry salmon in the Bolshaya River (south-west of Kamchatka Peninsula).

These simple imitations of salmon smolts on bottle type tubes were used in swift streams of the eastern part of Sakhalin Island (Langeri & Vengeri Rivers). During the downstream migration of the pink salmon smolts the best flies for all fish in the streams of the island were smolt imitations

This smolt imitation was used for catching cherry salmon, charrs, and Pacific redfin in small streams of the Krillion Peninsula (south-east of Sakhalin).

Black & Red Fly - a simple streamer tied out of synthetic materials. In the Koppi River (Sea of Japan) cherry salmon was biting rather big flies, mostly black and/or red ones. Lightly colored flies did not attract the fish at all.

Black-and-red GP on 2/0 hook was another good choice for the species in the Koppi River. Intruder in similar colors was working even in murky water, during the end of the spring flood.