PPS Destinations Report
KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA, 2005
Date: August 2005
Reported by Dr. Brian Griffith, DDS, New Jersey, USA
The
travel time is still daunting and the custo
the world. This year’s trip
started
The
weather in PK was awful and as a result no helicopters were able to fly.
We got to experience a 12 hour bus ride (featuring 2 flat tires and a
flat spare-fortunately the Russians are masters of improvisation).
Despite the long ride on a very rough gravel road my travel companions
were excellent company and we were well stocked with vodka and beer so the time
did pass easily enough. One of the
standout memories of the trip was a dinner stop at a small village.
We walked into what appeared to be a 3 story apartment building, down a
dingy hall, and into a 15X15 foot room whose sole decoration was a disco ball!
Traveling in
After an overnight in Esso and spending the morning checking out the local native people’s (the Koryaks) museum we finally got onto the chopper for the Sedanka. The camps are composed of several sturdy and roomy tents, all with stoves, a shower, outhouse(flush toilets!), drying room, and dining cabin. The trip on the Sedanka is a float/wade trip. The first day we walked upstream about 1 mile and fished back down. The four of us were accompanied by an American and a Russian guide. Since we had seen a bear at breakfast the Russian carried a rifle.
The fishing was great despite a rainy start. We were fishing at the sockeye spawning beds and the action on eggsucking leeches was excellent. Lots of rainbows, more dolly varden than you could count, some kundzha(a white spotted Siberian char), and the occasional sockeye and chum salmon. The trout averaged 19-20 inches (including the dinks), the dollys and kundzha 18-20 inches including one massive dolly of 25 inches. As the day progressed the weather improved and stayed pretty good for the rest of the trip. Throughout the week on the Sedanka, we would alternate a day of wading with a day of floating to the next camp. The rafts we used were not really fishing rafts so all fishing was done on foot. The fishing was quite varied and included some great mousing, excellent streamer fishing, and some wonderful dry fly action. My largest rainbow of the week was a 25 incher taken on a dry fly. The action was pretty steady with all of the fisherman taking 30-50 fish a day on average.
The camps we stayed at were all quite comfortable and the food was good. The staff was very helpful and really tried to make our stay as comfortable as possible. We saw a good number of bears but only once did one get close enough for the Russian guide to shoot his rifle at the bear’s feet (he was a sniper in the Chechnyan war and a crack shot). There was plenty of beer, vodka, and even some Russian tequila. I was unaware of this delicacy but for those who really need to know, it’s grain alcohol cut with water to about 160 proof. They add a half lemon and some honey. Drink cautiously and pray you don’t go blind by morning.
The second week we were sent to a newly opened river, the Pirozhnikova. We were the third group to ever fish there and I was the 13th person to ever cast a line on it. Much of the week was spent investigating new stretches that had never been seen by non-native people. As you might expect the fishing was impressive. I averaged 60-65 fish per day with one day going over one hundred. The rainbows averaged about 20 inches with the largest of the week being a 27 inch brute. They were joined by kundzha, dollys, silver, and pink salmon. I even caught a king salmon smolt to make it 5 species of salmon in 2 weeks. The river was beautiful and there was so much fishy looking water it will take a year or two to fully explore. The vast majority of the fishing (90%) was on streamers which I attributed to the lateness of the season. These fish do look up when there are any bugs on the water. This river is fished by jet boats as there was only the one camp. Each day the 2 boats would head off in opposite directions and spend the day exploring. The camp was a bit rougher than those on the Sedanka. There was no shower, flush toilets, and the cooking was done in a tent but the fishing more than compensated for the less than 5 star accommodations. The food was not as good as the first week but there was always plenty to choose from and no one wasted away. We did keep a few cohos to supplement the fare. The biggest problem was that they ran out of beer. Fortunately there is always vodka at a Russian fishing camp.
The
weather throughout the trip would hit in the low 60’s during the day and
generally would get down into the 30’s at night although one night it did dip
to 18. The pleasant side effect was
that there were no biting insects and no one used DEET for 2 weeks.
We had a few showers but there was never a day that it rained all day
long. The weather is like
Brian Griffith
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