Kamchatka

[pvsprme]

As I approach retirement in next sixty days I want to start the bucket list with a trip to Kamchatka. Best /cheapest flight information would be appreciated. Via Anchorage quickest I assume. Any advice?

[FISHEYE]

I do think via Anchorage is the quickest but it is not cheap. Also, the last time I spoke with Will Blair he said it is always a crap shoot each year if the Russian Airline will fly in the summer.

BTW, I have a friend that has been several times with Best of Kamchatka (Will Blair). He said it was fantastic. This is a trip I have often considered, but since I live in Alaska I decided it was not sufficiently different to warrant the expense. For what it would cost to fish for 6 days, I could go fish Bristol Bay and stay in a nice lodge for a month. I think I'll start another thread on bucket lists.

[sisyphusmpn]

I've been to Kamchatka several times. My last trip was in 2011 for the Kamchatka Steelhead Project. At the time, the only option was to fly around the world. I did my research on flight fares and discovered that a quick flight to LAX would allow me to fly Aeroflot to Moscow and then on to Petropavlosk. The entire Aeroflot flight was cheaper than a Delta flight to Moscow. I don't know if this will still be the cheapest route in '15 or '16, but it's worth looking into. BTW, the airline is fine. They actually provide food and amenities like US airlines did in the old days.

The whole charter flight thing through AK is touch and go as mentioned by Fisheye. I did that one year with Magadan Air and the next year they were out. Same thing happened with Vladivostok Air. Speaking of Vladivostok, it is possible to fly to Seoul, then to Vladivostok and then on to Petro but there are long layovers and I wouldn't recommend that route.

Bottom line: Take the long way 'round. Spend some time in Moscow or St. Petersburg going or coming back. Both cities are well worth the visit, though expensive.

[John Reese]

I have a friend that s goes to Kamchatka once or twice a year, first for trout then the steelhead program, It's a nice adventure, then i asked about how many fish he caught per day.........FORGET IT $11000.00 per trip for a few fish per day...that's a joke

[johnsquires]

I think I'll start another thread on bucket lists.

I think that's a great idea.

[SeanO]

Kamchatka Steelhead Project

I'm interested in this project, can you give anymore details about it?

Best,

[pvsprme]

I have a friend that s goes to Kamchatka once or twice a year, first for trout then the steelhead program, It's a nice adventure, then i asked about how many fish he caught per day.........FORGET IT $11000.00 per trip for a few fish per day...that's a joke

Anyone who fishes for Steelhead and counts the number of fish/day doesn't get it. Most people I know who have been there were very satisfied with numbers and size of trout caught. It's very much about fishing an area that's primitive and unspoiled, not numbers and sizes.

[pvsprme]

I'm interested in this project, can you give anymore details about it?

Best,

http://www.wildsalmoncenter.org/programs/kamchatka/steelhead_project_report.php

[John Reese]

Anyone who fishes for Steelhead and counts the number of fish/day doesn't get it. Most people I know who have been there were very satisfied with numbers and size of trout caught. It's very much about fishing an area that's primitive and unspoiled, not numbers and sizes.

Robert,

Please don't tell me "I don't get it" I do get it, I just don't agree with your philosophy on tip toeing through the tulips, I would rather be casting and catching. Also I don't know of any fisherman who doesn't count fish

In one sense, I do I half way agrees with you, However I don't want to pay 11 K to look at scenery, if that were the case I'll buy a post card. I want to catch some fish while I am their, after all that's why I went in the first place.

The one good thing about the Steelhead program is 100% of your trip can be a write off because it's a science project......the above is my opinion and I am sure you have yours.

John

[John Reese]

As I approach retirement in next sixty days I want to start the bucket list with a trip to Kamchatka. Best /cheapest flight information would be appreciated. Via Anchorage quickest I assume. Any advice?
Check out "The fly shop" they have Russia covered 100%, for the last 20 years

[pvsprme]

John Reese,
I never considered the Kamchatka Steelhead project, that's well over $11K when you count airfare, tips, etc. Well over my tax bracket. And yes, fisherman count fish, some to more degree than others. I know several people who've been to Kamchatka and no one has expressed disappointment over numbers, most averaging over 20/day over 20". That's pretty amazing numbers for any fishery. There could be bad weather which could impact a fishery as well.
Not sure what you mean about "tiptoeing through the tulips", I never liked Tiny Tim. A chance to fish waters that get very little pressure in a setting that many equate to what Alaska might have been like 100 years ago has an intrinsic appeal that stands on it's own.
Back to numbers, I recently spent 5 days on a spring creek and catch rate averaged 3/day. All were over 20", average Rainbow was 22-26" and a bonus of two Tigers at 28" and over 30". I was not at all disappointed in the numbers.

[johnsquires]

Tiny Tim was one of those folks many of us could learn from - how to make a bunch of money with very little talent.

Once again, no right or wrong answer, just how you're wired. I have clients who are all about numbers. I also have clients like myself who, if given the choice, would trade some of the numbers for eagle, bear, osprey and other sightings. There's an old saying that goes something like "Tis not all of fishing to fish."

I used to do a lot of backpacking and I was for a long time a Point A To Point B Guy. One of my friends taught me to look around, and when I did, I discovered a lot that I had been missing and I changed my approach.

But I get the point of if I've paid to go fishing, then I want to catch lots of fish.

BTW, Robert, there are still some pretty wild areas in Alaska, although most folks opt not to go there and instead go to the "famous" rivers.

[pvsprme]

Tiny Tim was one of those folks many of us could learn from - how to make a bunch of money with very little talent.

Well said

[/QUOTE=johnsquires;157300]Once again, no right or wrong answer, just how you're wired. I have clients who are all about numbers. I also have clients like myself who, if given the choice, would trade some of the numbers for eagle, bear, osprey and other sightings. There's an old saying that goes something like "Tis not all of fishing to fish."

I used to do a lot of backpacking and I was for a long time a Point A To Point B Guy. One of my friends taught me to look around, and when I did, I discovered a lot that I had been missing and I changed my approach.[/QUOTE]

I think we agree on this

[/QUOTE=johnsquires;157300]]But I get the point of if I've paid to go fishing, then I want to catch lots of fish.

BTW, Robert, there are still some pretty wild areas in Alaska, although most folks opt not to go there and instead go to the "famous" rivers.[/QUOTE]

Lived there for 10 years and i did see some pretty amazing places, Aleutians, North of AC, etc. That's partly what drives my desire to see Kamchatka in that it's very similar from a geographic an climate perspective. Regarding cost, there's an opportunity to fill a seat on a float with a well regarded outfitter for the cost of a week in Bristol Bay area lodge. Airfare would be more, but still a good deal.

[sisyphusmpn]

There is a great deal of variability in the ways we decide to spend our time and money. For me, Kamchatka was about coming around a bend on the Zhupanova and seeing a perfect conical volcano belching smoke in the distance. It was about fishing a mouse all day and watching the wakes of big rainbows chasing it down. It was about listening to my guide sing Russian folk songs in his deep baritone. It was watching a stellar eagle rise from her giant nest to go on a hunt for the hungry chicks chirping in the background. It was about the luxury and amazement of flush toilets and rustic saunas at riverside camps in the middle of absolute nowhere. It was about the utter silence and gazing at billions of stars at night after a few shots of Russki Standard vodka. It was about stepping back in time in Petropavlovsk and getting a glimpse into what life was like during the Soviet era. It was about a total immersive experience of which fishing was only a part. It was about a life experience.

Oh, and the steelhead fishing in BC trumps any you'll likely have in Kamchatka. So if its numbers of fish per thousand dollars you use to measure success or happiness then I highly recommend a short trip to Smithers or Terrace. You'll get more fishing bang for your buck. You probably can find trout fishing in Alaska comparable to that in Kamchatka as well.

[johnsquires]

There is a great deal of variability in the ways we decide to spend our time and money. For me, Kamchatka was about coming around a bend on the Zhupanova and seeing a perfect conical volcano belching smoke in the distance. It was about fishing a mouse all day and watching the wakes of big rainbows chasing it down. It was about listening to my guide sing Russian folk songs in his deep baritone. It was watching a stellar eagle rise from her giant nest to go on a hunt for the hungry chicks chirping in the background. It was about the luxury and amazement of flush toilets and rustic saunas at riverside camps in the middle of absolute nowhere. It was about the utter silence and gazing at billions of stars at night after a few shots of Russki Standard vodka. It was about stepping back in time in Petropavlovsk and getting a glimpse into what life was like during the Soviet era. It was about a total immersive experience of which fishing was only a part. It was about a life experience.

You had me at mouse all day.

[johnsquires]

Seriously, though, great job at describing what an experience like that means to many of us.

[TheAnglingReport]

I have pasted an article from a recent issue of The Angling Report below from a subscriber who booked with Will Blair and he had nice things to say about the trip. Here is the link to the article http://www.anglingreport.com/online_extra/article_details.cfm?id=3334

Enjoy!
Dream Trip in Kamchatka on the Ozernaya River

Honor Roll subscriber Shawn Taylor is very pleased with his trip to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia last July arranged for him on the Ozernaya River by Will Blair of Best of Kamchatka (www.thebestofkamchatka.com). Taylor says he went there with a buddy, Cam, who he worked with as a guide on the Kanektok River in southwest Alaska in the mid-1980s. ?Our trip together last summer was our 30th anniversary trip,? he writes. ?We originally planned to go back to the Kanektok, but both of us had long dreamed of fishing Kamchatka, so we decided to go there instead. Our journey began with a flight to Petropavlovsk on Yakutia Airlines. On arrival there, we boarded a bus for a six-hour ride north, four hours of which were on dirt! At the end of that seemingly endless ride, we stopped in a field where we were met by a couple of Mi-8 helicopters, the very same ones flown for years in Afghanistan, albeit those had a much less attractive paint job than ours. There was some grumbling about the length of our bus ride, but taking that bus proved to be prudent, as I will explain later.
?Flying over the terrain of Kamchatka at a very low elevation was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to fish the first day, which was a bit disappointing. The next day we fished with Vanye, a native from the area who knew the water very well. He understood most of what we said but could not speak any English. He basically walked our boat down the entire stretch of river that we fished that day. Our group was the first to fish the Ozernaya last summer, so our flies were the first the fish had seen since the previous September. We caught a number of rainbows, along with many big Dolly Varden and grayling. The grayling averaged the largest size we had ever seen. The second and last days we fished with Tom Kersbergen, an excellent guide who works in Chile in the winter time. The last day we walked our way into a feeder river called the Lamutskaya. It had been fished only five times all last season! Another day we fished with Igor, a fisheries biologist who speaks great English and has amassed a wealth of information about the local fishing. Will Blair also guided us for a day.

?The rainbow trout on the Kamchatka Peninsula are absolutely amazing. We were there the very first week of the season in order to have the best mousing opportunities possible. On the downside, we expected the fish to be thinner then, but that was not the case at all. They were very healthy and fat. This apparently has to do with the amazing hatches and the numbers of sculpin that are available on Kamchatka. I mostly moused, while Cam fished both on the top of the water and deep. We caught at least a dozen rainbows each day and could have caught a hundred Dollys and grayling each day. We actually developed a knack for pulling our mice away from charging Dollys! The rainbows were so unaccustomed to flies that, if a fish came off a mouse, you could throw back at him and hook him again.

?Our accommodations were small, wooden A-frame huts with foam pads for mattresses. We brought our own sleeping bags. One of the highlights of the trip was the engaging camp manager and cook, Svetlana. She has been with the camp for years and also is a cook for hunting parties in the fall. She speaks perfect English and makes amazing meals on a hot plate and a toaster oven! We were met with snacks and a beer at the end of each fishing day. Each meal was toasted with vodka and local beer. The downside of going to such a remote destination is that we only got to fish for five days. The wisdom of the long bus ride on the first day was borne out on our return, however, when we learned that a couple of groups who were to fly helicopters out of Petro were stuck in town for over two days due to fog, a common problem on the coast. That was not an issue for us since we were bused to the interior.

?I could go on and on about this trip. Just ask my wife. Suffice it to say that this was a trip of a lifetime! In fact, the biggest mistake that Cam and I made was that we pitched it that way to our spouses, who took us way too literally. The cost of the entire trip ($7,900 for the Kamchatka fishing only but about $12,000 total when you add the airfare and other things) is the only reason we didn?t rebook as soon as we got back. Kamchatka will inevitably change over time as its natural resources become more widely known. Until then, it is without a doubt one of the most amazing places on earth to wet a fly!?




CONTACT DETAILS FOR COMPANIES/INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN ARTICLE (if any)



Will Blair, Best Of Kamchatka. Tel. 530-941-8524, 877-707-0880. Web: www.thebestofkamchatka.com