Nabil Bay, Sakhalin Island

Nabil Bay is one of the bays of the north-eastern Sakhalin Island. The bay receives water from numerous streams, and empties into the Sea of Okhotsk. Nabil Bay is very productive. Its fish fauna is mixture of marine, estuarine, and anadromous species.

Map of the Nabil Bay

Our camp in the mouth of the Nabil River. It is high tide now. In many places the bay is shallow, its bottom is flat. Fish density in such areas is not as high as along deeper waterways formed by tidal currents.

Marine sculpin caught with a fly

Pacific redfin Tribolodon ezoe is anadromous Cyprinid

We were fishing mostly from a boat

White-spotted charr (kundzha in Russian) is the most numerous sport-fish of the bay. Kundzha is spawning in the fall in fresh water, in salmon streams. The fish are wintering in the river and migrate out into the bay for the whole summer for feeding. The fish is rather strong, especially when caught in the salt water.

Most of the time I was using big and bright streamers

Kundzha did prefer this fly to any other one "Anti-wobbler" fly with upright blade was also among the best lures for charr. On the retrieve this "fly" is wobbling and moves up; these movements resemble small baitfsh which is trying to escape.

We were using mostly 2-handed rods. This tackle allows longer casts, which is necessary when fishing by wading.

Very old wooden boat

Sakhalin Island, Poronai River, Part 3 (see message from Sep 4, 2009)

In July brown bears are gathering along the rivers and feed on salmon. Among the local fishermen these animals are considered not too dangerous. They are quite careful, so you will mostly see only their tracks.

After the rain chum salmon have become more active; they have started to bite flies. I was using small black-and-red tube flies tied on bottle-tubes.

All chum salmonwere in spawning colors; regardless to this most of the hooked fish were jumping several times.

At one of the riffles I have landed a female of cherry salmon. This fish had entered the river at least a month ago; now it is in partly developed spawning coloration. Adult sherry is spending in fresh water much longer time comparing with other Pacific salmon species. Our group is coming close to the Abramovka village, the final point of the trip

Sakhalin Island, Poronai River, Part 2 (see message from August 16, 2009)

The first days were hot, and it was hard to catch anything interesting.

It was mid July; time when countless poplar seeds are flying downwind

Poronai River has lots of long deep pools. It can take long time to cover even one such pool with sport tackle.

Pacific redfin (Tribolodon ezoe) is anadromous Cyprinid; it can bite any lure or fly.

This fish was caught with a pike fly.

In the evening of the day 5 it had started to rain. Tomorrow I could expect that taimen and salmon will become more acrive.

I was using sinking line and heavy fly, suitable for taimen. Sea-run taimen often bite flies tied out of bucktail. 35-inch sea-run taimen (Hucho perryi)

The second fish was only slightly bigger than the first one.

(to be continued)

Khanka Lake fishing - the first attempt

Khanka Lake is a big water body, situated in the south of the Russian Far East, between Russia and China. The surface of the lake depends on water level and can change from 4 to 5 thousand square kilometers. Its size is 90 by 70 kilometers. The lake belongs to the Amur River drainage; it drains through the Sungacha River into the Ussuri River.

The lake is rather shallow and has murky water. Its fish fauna is almost the same as in the Amur River. The most common sportfishes of the lake are Amur pike, skygazer, lake skygazer (gorbushka), Mongolian redfin, and catfish. Non-native species is European walleye (zander) which was stocked by the Russian scientists in nineteen sixtees and seventees.

Khanka Lake looks like a murky freshwater sea. It is imposible to see the opposite bank of the lake - it is too far.

The lake hosts mighty hatches of mayflies, dragonflies.. It is a pity, that at the time of my trip the fish did not come close to the shores, and nothing was feeding of these hatches..

The lake was stormy, and I have decided to fish one its tributaries near the Astrakhanka village

The creek was deep and slow; its current was moving downstream, to the lake

Lake skygazer (gorbushka) was biting imitations of clear freshwater shrimp. These shrimps are numerous in the lake.

I was lucky to find a school of Mongolian redfin

The fish was biting shartreuse "Gotcha" on #4 hook

I went further downstream, to the lake. Big waves were moving through the reeds at the creek outlet.

In half of an hour I went back to the lucky place, but everything has changed. The fish was not biting, and even the creek current was moving in the opposite direction - upstream, from the lake. This was caused by the lake "tide" (wind-induced surge). Next time I will try to visit the Khanka Lake in more appropriate time, and in better weather.

Sakhalin Island, Poronai River, Part 1

Poronai is the biggest river of the Sakhalin Island; it is 350 km long. THe fish fauna of Poronai is mixture of resident fish from the Amur River (pike, ide) and anadromous fish from the Pacific ocean (Pacific salmon, charrs, sea-run taimen, Pacific redfin).

The river is protected by marshes and swamps; its upper part it is impossible to reach by car. To get to the starting poind of the float we had to go by ATV.

This road to the upper part of the Poronai River is impassable by any car

To get to the river we had to hire an army personnel carrier

This is upper Poronai near the mouth of the Taulan River. The river has colored water; it is 10-20 meters wide, and up to 2 meters deep.

We were floating the river and fishing in all suitable places. Here we had to saw through a log jam. Passing another log jam

The first fish was Amur pike. It is one of the most numerous species in the river.

In summer the Amur ide is feeding mostly on insects, but it is always ready to swallow small fish. Silver streamer on a bottle-tube was working well.

On the gravel bars of Poronai there are lots of pieces of coal; we were using it for cooking

Tiger lily

Burga Creek grayling fishing

Burga is a little forest creek, which belongs to the Gassi Lake watershed (Amur River drainage). I was fishing it on a hot day August 6, 2009.

The water in a creek is 17*C, much cooled than the air, which was about 30*C on that day. The air above the water is foggy because of this.

The hiking along the creek through unpenetrable taiga forest is tough.

I was using 3-weight, 7'6" rod made by Kola Salmon

The cast of a light and small wet fly into the current

The bite

Fish on!

It was tiny Amur grayling.

The head of another grayling caught that day. Its upper jaw is absent; the fish was damaged by a hook of some too excitable fisherman.

Lagovski minnow is biting the same flies

There were lots of Achillides maackii on the flowers along the creek