Amur River, end of October 2011

Normally the fly-fishing season near Khabarovsk ends by November.  In the end of October it is often below freezing in the morning; cold winds blow at the wide Amur River.  

The water level in Amur this year is very low - about 1 meter below the conventional "zero level".  Big sand spits exposed by the low water make the area look like the Sahara desert. 

 My friend Andrey and I were looking for Amur pike.  This time of a year it is normally feeding along the shallow, sandy banks.  The search requires lots of motor boat driving and hiking in the sand. 

 Andrey is casting a big streamer into a promisingly looking bay.  That day the pikes were not cooperative at all. 

 On a way home we had decided to fish from a boat near one of the faster areas near the main waterway of the Amur.  Such places have pebble bottom and attract different predators. 

That day the fish were not active; they were holding near the bottom below the drop of a riffle.  I had managed to get some bites only with a 50' fast sinking head, made of Rio T17 material.  This is a skygazer. 

 Mongolian redfin was caught closer to the bank, where the current was not as strong.  The fly which was so tasty at that day was an Antiwobbler with a foam back. 

Both its upright blade and foam strip at the back help the fly to stay suspended when the heavy line moves on the bottom and pulls it down.  During retrieve and in the current this fly is wiggling.   Antiwobbler is the best fly to fish with a sinking line which you let sink to the bottom.  In this case one is sure the fly is moving above the line, close to the bottom, but is not dragging in the mud.  It is not catching snags as often as a regular streamer. 

 

For more info on these new flies go here   http://flyfishingrussia.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-fly-anti-wobbler.html

Amur River near Khabarovsk, at the dike (August 06, 2011; 5 - 11 AM)

I was fishing from a boat from the right bank of the Pemzenskaya channel, below the dike (this image is taken from the left bank).  

Today a big school of medium size skygazers (3-5 pounds) are feeding on sawbellies and other little fish.   I was casting big silver-pearl streamers and Antiwoblers with a two-handed rod and intermediate leader. Amur River is now low and rather clear (in summer I had not seen it any more clear than this).  I  

Skygazer is never jumping; this fish always pulls the line to the bottom. 

 This simple fly on a "golden" hook was working the best at that day.

 Skygazer of medium size

 I was using two flies; the smaller one was on a tippet tied to the hook of a big upper streamer. 

Pearl Antiwobbler was working as well

A little Mandarin bass was also caught with the same tackle. 

When too many spin-fishermen had started to cast the jigs across my line, I had decided to go home.   

 The fish was sometimes boiling right near the boat, in slack water. 

 Over a dozen fishermen are too many for this little place..

Here you can see that the dike is completely destroyed by the 2011 floods. 

Amur River - at the dike near Khabarovsk (July 2011)

The Pemzenskaya channel of the Amur River is crossed by a stone dike which is supposed to support the water level in the main river channel. 

During last years the water level in Amur was high; the dike was seriously destroyed by the floods.  Now it is not forming a drop as before.  The river bottom below the former dike is covered with huge rocks which are providing shelter for the predators. 

 Local fishermen are fishing with long poles & bobbers with bait of little fish.  

Small catfish is among common fish caught near the dike.  In most cases I am using bright streamers tied on offset hooks.  "Normal" streamers are lost too often due to the rocky bottom.

Skygazer looks like a herring, but it belongs to Carps.  

 

One of the best flies to catch skygazer is a wobbler fly fished in middle layers of the water. 

Mandarin bass Siniperca belongs to rockfishes (Sebastidae)

This little fish was caught with a silver streamer on the offset hook 

Mandarin bass sits close to the rocks; the fly should move slowly, with jerks.  

One more time on Amur skygazer - Oct 9 & 10, 2010

It was 2 day trip to Amur River near Khabarovsk with my friend's motorboat

We were fishing from anchored boat with 2-handed rods

The pool was 2-4 m deep with stronger current in the middle

 Average fish was about 1 kg

My friend Andrey was using mostly classic salmon flies; they were working well (photo ABond)

 He was also lucky to land a pike with red wobbler fly.  Amur pike in the fall is not biting "normal" streamers too often.  It prefers something with more action and vibrations (photo ABond).

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 I was testing new wobbler flies.  On that day different colors were working..

including blue ones

I have landed Amur whitefish; for a flyfisherman it is rare quarry.  

Locals catch whitefish with bottom-lines baited with small fish.  

 

 Our camp on a tiny gravel spit

 

Oct 02, 2010, Amur River in downtown Khabarovsk

Today I was fishing the Amur River in downtown Khabarovsk, near the "cliff" in the park.  My main goal was testing new wobbler flies.  These flies can be tied in different colors and sizes, but these were made for pelagic predators of the Amur River, first of all - skygazer.  

The first fish I caught that day was tiny blackbelly.  This was strange (even bigger specimens rarely bite flies).

  About 10 AM I had a serious pull from the depth about 3 meters from the surface. 

This was 72 cm long skygazer; it is also called Korean tarpon.  

This fish belongs to carps, but looks like a giant herring.  

The weight of fish was about 3,5 kg (close to 8 pounds)

Skygazer had bitten silver and pearl wobbler fly with yellow tail.  There were more bites, but 2 landed fish were much smaller than the first one.