Fly Fishing South Africa: Dry-fly fishing

Russian Brown Trout

In the beginning of August this year, my father and I were invited by a Norwegian friend to fish with them in one of the most remote fly fishing destinations on the planet, the Kharlovka river on the Kola Peninsula in Northern Russia for the fabled River Browns on Dry fly.

"Land of the Midnight Sun"

The rivers meander through a desolate tundra that is situated on the northern coast of Russia, within the Arctic Circle. A multitude of rivers flow into the sea from the peninsula. During high summer, the sun does not actually set, it dips below the horizon for about an hour at midnight then rises again. It’s incredible to watch the sun rising at 2am over the small river, splashing the sky in an array of magnificent shades of orange as a massive mayfly hatch makes the river come alive with rising brown trout.

"Getting There"

After clearing the South African customs and being un-apologetically relieved of a bottle of ‘lethal’ shampoo, we took off in the mighty Airbus A380 en-route to Frankfurt. After landing we managed to navigate the massive airport and board our connecting flight to Oslo. From there we had a scenic flight in a small Dash 8 over the beautiful Fjords and mountains to Kirkiness, a tiny city in the northern reaches of the country.

We met up with the rest of the group and from there a minibus transported us through the lush pine forests to the border of Russia and Norway. This is where things can get a little hairy for us South Africans. Upon seeing the unfamiliar green passports, suspicion overcame the border guards and many phone calls were made while sniffer dogs got to work on our bags, thankfully the precious biltong was in vacuum sealed bags stuffed inside our wading boots and went by un-detected. An hour and a half later my dad and I were finally declared "safe" and without a hint of explanation as to the lengthy process, a dismissive nod was our que to cross into Russia.

The stark contrast between the two countries becomes glaringly apparent as the border is cleared. Military security near the border of Russia is obscenely dense, every checkpoint we passed was marked by another paranoid guard that checked and re-checked all our passports. As we travelled further north we passed military operating bases that were built during the Second World War and were used during the Cold war. Soldiers could be seen marching the streets and the occasional armoured vehicle would rumble past, an ominous reminder of the tensions between the great Superpowers.

We spent the night at a hotel in Murmansk, the largest city on the peninsula and had vast amounts of delicious Sushi that, thanks to the strength of the rand relative to the Russian Rouble, was very affordable. The city itself was once magnificent, with ornately crafted marble pillars adorning the walls of the once beautiful hotels. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the city’s importance as a strategic stronghold has waned and many buildings stand neglected and crumbling.

The next morning we arrived at the airfield and were greeted by the sight of our taxi for the trip to the rivers where we would be fishing. An enormous Russian MI-8 twin turbine helicopter was waiting for us. Once the giant chopper was fully fueled and packed with all our gear, we took off in a roar of wind and flew very low all the way to our first camp called Wulf’s Lear, which was renowned for two things, it was a terrible campsite with large boulders interspersed with swampy mud, and boasted great fishing with both size and numbers of trout.

"The Rivers"

There are two rivers available to fly fishermen, the Kharlovka and the Litza. The season only lasts 9 weeks during the year and in that time the different camps on the rivers (which are spread very far apart) can only be fished a maximum of 4 times in the season for 3-4 days at a time. This means that fishing pressure is virtually nonexistent. Catch and release is practiced extensively and the guide ensures that only barbless hooks are used.

Sustainable fly fishing and preservation is emphasized by the Kharlovka Company and a 'leave nothing behind' attitude is adopted at the camps. All our gear was also thoroughly dis-infected to prevent the spread of foreign plant matter and disease. The Kharlovka River protection program is the most extensive river protection program ever undertaken in Europe with regular foot, snow-mobile and helicopter patrols and an advanced communication system covering over 70 000 hectares. Being the last remaining ‘pure’ Tundra in Europe, it is a precious national asset for Russia.

"The Fishing"

Anglers are dropped off by the helicopter and are provided with tents, food for a week and a guide. Igor was our guide for the duration of the trip and he doubled as a chef with a particular affinity for hearty soup which we very much appreciated as the temperature in the Arctic Circle can get a little chilly.

The Kharlovka River is about as wide as the Vaal with a similar flow rate. Visibility was around 4 feet and the water temperature was 11'c, perfect for the resident Brown trout. Fishing with nymphs and streamer patterns is possible but the fish are so receptive to dry flies that this was the predominant method used during the trip.

Fish activity was determined by the various hatches that would sporadically occur seemingly randomly during the day and night. The one very predictable hatch was at 11pm every evening, a massive hatch of Caddis would dominate the trout's attention for a few hours. This event was eagerly awaited by the anglers. The size of the caddis varied, but as with most things in Russia, they tended to be enormous, the ‘grande’ caddis were around 4cm long and resembled large moths. The size of the adult mayflies were also disproportionately large.

Fly selection is reasonably simple, find the largest commercially tied Caddis patterns and tie a larger size. Skating Caddis, Goddard’s and stimulators in #6 and #4 were perfect, with a dark mustard body and accentuated wings being the main triggers. A dead drift behind a protruding rock would sometimes produce a violent slashing strike typical to trout feeding on the adult caddis flies. Striking was quite difficult to master as you have to wait for the trout to eat the fly, then turn down before gently lifting the rod to set the hook. This was much easier said than done after witnessing a giant trout engulf your fly on the surface. Interestingly, flies tied on circle hooks very extremely effective and all the trout were hooked perfectly in the scissors while using them.

Sight fishing to a steadily rising fish was very rewarding but could be very frustrating as you could go through two boxes of your most carefully tied flies only for them to be utterly ignored. Unlike the trout in South Africa which are generally opportunistic, these trout tended to focus in on a certain size and colour of Caddis or Mayfly and would refuse anything that doesn't match the natural or had the slightest drag on the fly.

One such a frustrating fish had me scaling down tippet material and fly size one morning at around 2am. I had spotted it steadily rising behind a large boulder, feeding on emerging mayflies that were a

dark bluish colour and I was having trouble matching the hatch, I could see the fish and it was clearly very large. After about 5 fly changes, I tied on a #16 Klinkhammer with a shuck of clear plastic and cast a few feet ahead of the boulder. As the fly passed the fish it gently sipped the fly from the surface film and I set the hook by gently lifting the rod after subduing the impulse of performing an ESPN Bassmaster classic strike on the trout.

Chaos ensued as the line was wrenched taut and the fish exploded out of the water, then shot upstream at a rate of knots as I frantically attempted to clear the flyline that had conveniently wrapped itself around my left thigh. I managed to free the line and the backing knot flew through the guides. Thankfully the fish turned away from the rapids and had settled down in a large pool. After a brief struggle with another couple of blistering runs into the backing and a heart-stopping encounter with a submerged branch, I finally managed to slip the net over a magnificent 13lb brown trout. After a quick photo-shoot she swam away strongly into the icy cold river, leaving behind an elated frozen angler.

We fished Wulfs Lear for three days and packed up camp to be taken to the ‘Swan Isles’ on the Litza river, a beautiful camp with extensive islands jutting out of the main river, where we would spend the remaining four days. The Mi-8 landed virtually on top of us and the burly pilot oversaw the loading of the gear. Thankfully they had brought more coffee, vodka and Sausages from the main camp, which seemed to be our staple diet. When he was satisfied we were off once again and made the scenic flight over a multitude of lakes and rivers to the Litza river.

We could see the difference between the two rivers immediately after landing. Litza is a smaller river, perhaps half as wide as the Kharlovka and twice as clear. The trout do not get as big as those in the Kharlovka but they are far more plentiful. It was spectacular to see a trout violently attack your over-sized caddis after spotting and stalking it. One of the most effective flies was a supersized Royal Coachman with two massive white wings, affectionately known as ‘the seagull.’

“Routine”

The routine is fairly relaxed and every angler can do as little or as much fishing as they desire. Breakfast comprised of bacon, eggs and sausages. A morning session would generally follow and Igor would pack a generous lunch pack for the guys who enjoyed hiking and exploring the river by day. Dinner is generally a stew or a soup with veggies and beef, hardly luxury cuisine but very satisfying after a long day of hiking and fishing. A mandatory round of potent Russian Vodka would follow every evening while watching the extended sunset. It was during one of these evenings that we saw a small herd of Reindeer swimming across the river and through the home-pool.

"Gear"

Stillwater trout gear should suffice with 5wt 9ft rods being ideal and a 6/7wt becomes useful if the wind starts pumping. A slightly softer rod is nice to protect lighter tippets from the excessive headshaking that seems to be typical of a brown trout.

Floating lines were used exclusively, the river is not particularly deep and most of the fishing was done in knee to waist deep water.

Vital equipment includes a good quality artic (-5’c) sleeping bag and an inflatable mattress, a small pillow and many layers of thermal underwear. Good quality polar fleece jerseys and weatherproof jackets are critical. Useful accessories include a bottle of fly floatant gel and some good quality mosquito repellent. A buff was also a lifesaver when the mayfly hatches were particularly thick.

Leaders depended on the clarity of the water and the structure of the river section you were fishing. In the flat sections without significant structure, some guys opted for the lighter 5-6lb ranges. We had a couple of the bigger fish breaking a 12lb leader on the initial run. A safe bet was a standard 9ft section of 13lb leader attached to another 9-12ft of 10lb fluorocarbon tippet. The fish aren’t particularly leader shy and the flies were generally extra large caddis or mayfly imitations. A long leader would assist a drag-free drift which was vital for success.

"Summary"

The Russian heartland with its rugged beauty was a truly memorable experience. Although the tough camping conditions and technical wading and hiking may not be for everyone, hard-core flyfishermen will thrive with the endless opportunities at casting dry flies at large brown trout. The stunning sunsets, abundance of trout willing to rise to a dry and the absolute solitude of being literally in the middle of nowhere has left a lasting impression of the great Russian Rivers.