Kharlovka Web Report

 Early highlights included Richard’s three salmon on the opening evening, dancing back into the lodge a couple hours later to declare that his adventure was already made before we had even gotten started. Things were about ready to get a whole lot better for Richard, and his fishing partner Richard, returning back a couple days later, after camping out over on the Litza, with 9 more fishy stories including a couple fine 21 pounders for them both. And let’s not forget about the charming father-son team of Niall and Dr. Rory who operated well together along the middle Kharlovka, going onto extract five satisfying salmon up to 17 and 21 pounds. Xan and Edward probably deserve a quick mention as well for releasing 15 salmon on their exciting Litza overnight including that nice big 26-pound P.B. crocodile for happy Xan.

 Marina seemed quite chuffed as well, taking five lovely salmon out the remaining pockets of the middle Kharlovka including her wonderful new P.B. of 20 pounds. Speaking of Personal Bests, we had better mention Yorkshire Eric and his 22-pound surprise out of Rock pool. Or, how about our new Russian friends, Dimitry and Sergey, who picked eight out of the Home pool down to Grilse Stones including a kissable 22 pound P.B. for Sergey. On their final day, they wisely decided to take a five K stroll down the little Kharlovka creek, rounding up nearly 100 tundra brownies and one glorious silver grilse - along their merry way!

 It didn’t seem to take very long to convince Doug and Gerry from Canada either. Wielding around their single handed rods, with their 20 plus years of Newfoundland fishing experience, both Gerry and Doug eventually went on to break their P.B’s as well with respectable 21 and 25 pounders. Like Primetime, the boys had put nearly 90 blessed salmon into the nets by the half time bell!

 Unfortunately, Wednesday came around and along with it, staggering record summer temperatures of 33 degrees C in the shade. By evening, the temperature in the river had shot up to a concerning 20 C. Needless to say, we all sang the big fish blues that day! However, as we were rounding them all up for dinner that night, a thick blanket of fog advanced up the river, dragging along with it, air temperatures that were amazingly 25 degrees cooler which instantly refreshed our memories of where we were all actually at. Barely able to see our hands in front of our faces the next morning, we proceeded to spread the boys out through the pockets of the mighty Kharlovka for the remainder of the week! Considering the wonderful fishing results during their first half, not to mention the staggering conditions during their second, we all had a marvelous time combining for 135 salmon on this unforgettable week.

 The first signs of autumn are just beginning to appear. Wildflowers are certainly on their way to seed. The little brown birds are beginning to go silent. Faint patches of green highlander yellow now catch your eye amongst the birch. Red leaves are popping up between the heather. Unripe cloudberries tempt the anglers strolling along the trails. Dark gray skies, the first sighting of the moon, along with distant rolls of thunder helped us all to sleep and dream wildly through the night. Crazy things have been happening around here lately. As the silver continues to roll in and our conditions continue to baffle, we are on the lookout for a few seriously large situations - that will surely be waking up soon!