THE ATLANTIC SALMON RESERVE
The Atlantic Salmon Reserve was founded in the year 2003 by Peter C. Power who was appointed “Adviser (Sovetnik) to the Governor for International Tourism” in June, 2007. The ASR is the world's first conservation area for Atlantic Salmon, Sea Trout & Wild Brown Trout and Arctic Char. Fly fishing is available on the Kharlovka, Eastern Litza, Rynda and Zolotaya rivers through the Northern Rivers Company in Russia where the territory is known as: Дом для лосося
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
or telephone: +44 (0)1865 883063 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Admittedly, 'catching fish', as has often been pointed out, is by no means the be-all and end-all of angling. Is it not rather the surmounting of difficult problem coupled with delightful surroundings and pleasant company which is the over-riding attraction? Does not the appreciation of and the attempt to understand all that lives in or around the river also count for a great deal? Likewise the self-control which is necessary if the fisherman is to arrive at even a moderate level of skill, and the ability to submerge individual aspirations, intense though they may be, in the camaraderie of angling friends and companions". John Ashley-Cooper Latest NewsSunday, 28-Jun-09
On arrival in Murmansk I had an audience with the newly appointed Governor, Dimitry Dmitrienko. He was well informed about our activities and expressed his approval for my future plans. He gave me all the encouragement and support we could expect. He was pleased to reappoint me as a Councillor (Sovetnik) although it is unusual to serve two Governors. I hope this news will add to your confidence to support the ASR Fishing and Conservation Program in the future. Peter The Kharlovka Report – Week 26 ended Friday, 26-Jun-09 If we only had the ability to control the sands of time and enjoy those truly special moments for a bit longer before they disappeared down the rapids of life forever. While our previous weekend witnessed the passing of the summer solstice and the longest days of the year, we could have used a few more precious hours last Saturday as the fishing was set to explode. Returning to the lodge on the first evening, after only three hours on the water, our latest guests were welcomed back to the mighty Kharlovka with a record opening result of 17 salmon. The big news was that ten of these silver beauties were between 20 and 31 pounds! They don’t call it prime time around here for nothing! Only the lucky ones, who have been here before and tasted it - could truly understand. While our record numbers from the previous week were certainly impressive, things were about ready to get a whole lot brighter. Despite starting out undermanned again with a couple of unfortunate rods that had ‘unbreakable priorities to attend to’, the remainder of team was resting easy by our final toast Sunday evening with 53 salmon already in the big leather book. With the rivers ‘fishing its socks off’ and a prime beat to spare, we had no other choice but to send for reinforcements from Rynda. Already landing their share off both the Zolotaya and Rynda rivers, Mark and David were all too happy to lend us a hand late week along the banks of the Kharlovka and E. Litza.  Lights - Camera – Action! It all begins with a massive salmon that comes crashing up out of the water! Flyfish Europe along with our new friend Kristian have moved in with us for the next four weeks to capture the magic of the ASR in High Definition. Complete with his remote controlled underwater video that is able to scan in on the salmon chasing down the fly, along with another 80 some kilos of bits and pieces, Kristian along with his Russian Sherpa Sasha started their one-month crusade last week along the majestic banks of the Kharlovka and Litza rivers. One promising morning as the rods were beginning to gather Valentine said ‘Let me see your fly box. These salmon are clever - they like the same flies that I like!’ That evening Valentine popped off the helicopter first and proceeded to strum his large salmon net like an air-guitar, bouncing straight by us winking with a smile. Justin and Simon soon followed along shaking their heads in satisfaction, after returning from their Litza adventure with Val having each landed new personal bests of 26 pounds.
As for Ireland, we caught up with Richard one sunny evening as he was returning from the Lower Litza with a very scared look in his eyes. Turned out, that after spending a most memorable afternoon on the Military pool watching the salmon roll through on the tide, Richard was finally able to break his old P.B. with a cracking fresh 26 pounder that was only minutes in from sea. Staggering afterwards back up to Snowbank for a few last casts before the helicopter, Richard next saw something that would change his outlook on life forever. Stuttering and obviously a bit traumatized that night at dinner, Richard told us all about ‘Dolphin’ that he watched jump through the tail of Snowbank pool – claiming it to be twice the size of the great salmon that he had just landed minutes before. Not fully understanding that we would have shut the big MI-8 helicopter down, it was reported that they were reluctant to even have a cast at this great salmon with only an hour’s fishing left that unforgettable afternoon.  Other highlights included the lovely Lumila’s first – second – third … and sixth salmon ever! Not to be outdone, her husband Dimitri wasn’t just sitting around on the bank with the net, pulling his share as well including a sweet 20 pounder. And then their was our dear friend Jeremy who broke his long standing P.B. with a most satisfying 28 pounder – along with another four astonishing 20+ers that he managed to persuade to the bank before Sunday dinner! We are also happy to report that after slipping on a patch of grass in a freak accident the previous season and then having to be unfortunately sent home for surgery, Chris was straight back up on his arctic pony here last week. Most likely watching his step a bit closer, Chris along his fishing partner Mark were able to chase down a couple dozen on the week including three that were greater than 20 pounds.  Ho ho ho! With his signature bear claw chain fastened securely around his neck, the legendary Arni was skipping across the boulders of the Northern Rivers with us last week. Within his first 30 minutes of his arrival, he was being properly welcomed to the great Eastern Litza pulling in a thick-31-pounder from upper Dream pool. Giving us all a serious lesson on how Icelanders work the infamous Snelda through the pool, Arni proceeded to take three more of 26, 23, 22 pounds that evening before we finally had to yank him from the pool. Like a mink working its way down the riverbank, the Icelander had no trouble finding what he was after. Arni’s final stunt of the week came rolling in on the Military tide landing 4 last salmon for the road including a stunning 108cm – 32-pounder. With a collection of rivers already to himself, Arni commented ‘There is something very special about this place!’  And how could we ever forget about our old friend Mikael - who somehow managed to sneak back into camp again for his 16th visit. Showing off for the cameras with his lucky leather-fishing hat along with his trusty black green helmet, we had no other choice but to instate a new camp rule number 3… From now on all great Swedish fishermen named Mikael - must leave the pool after 5 salmon! It has been widely recognized around the world that this guy has a serious addiction to salmon fishing. Highly trained psychologists have advised him that it would be dangerous to his health to come to the Kharlovka more than two times a season. Mikael needed a calculator to keep track of it all last week touching well more than four-dozen along his merry way. Don’t worry; he has been officially black listed again until next year!  Alleluia! You can finally put those bloody sink tips away again until next year as the temperature in the river is currently flowing perfect at 12.2C. With the snow and ice now almost completely gone, the rivers levels have been slowly dropping back to a nice summer level of 37cm on the home pool scale. Besides that dash of rain to freshen things up at the beginning, our friends enjoyed a most pleasant week of overwhelmingly sunny skies and mild temperatures. Despite the lack of clouds and being several men down to start the week, we are proud to report that after sending the troops back out on the final evening after dinner – we somehow managed to beat our old standing record of 239 – The grand total for last week was a whopping 248 salmon. While it was simply way too bright for the really big boys to be exposing themselves, there were still a most respectable 31 salmon landed between 20 and 32 pounds.  High summer has now taken grip on the Kola Peninsula. Gazing north towards to pole, the Barents Sea is currently glassy calm. With a warm southern breeze at their back, reindeer are sprinting for the coastline. A skinny bear, with a bleached brown coat, looked ever so thankful that his fuzzy antlered friends are finally here in numbers. Respectable men have been known to behave like boys when they come fishing in Russia. With our rivers currently stuffed with bright silver salmon and some dark-black fishy clouds looming on the southern horizon - next week should no doubt be very interesting. Justin.
The Kharlovka Report – Week 25 ended Friday, 19-Jun-09 What a difference a day can make. While all the lads flew off with big smiles on their faces the previous week, everyone could tell by the result on their final Friday that the next one was going to be a true Bonanza. And guess what? They were right! Despite being one rod less than normal due to an unfortunate bad back with one of the fathers, last week’s team managed to shatter our all time record landing an amazing 189 salmon on the week.  From the moment this new lot hit the water, the action was fast and furious with the team hauling in 42 bars of silver before the week even got started. With a room full of rosy cheeks and 1000-yard stares, everyone managed to get their name in the fishing book by teatime Sunday. Despite those first four days of bright blue skies, or those pesky southern breezes that canceled any thought of pulling off our favoured single spey or that one day the temperatures shot up to 30 degrees C in the shade or even that thick fog that prevented us all from flying to the Litza - this was simply one of those rare weeks where it didn’t really matter what Mother Nature threw at us.   Ironically it was Philip the Scotsman recording the first big Sunday entry in the book with his giant silver brace from the Kharlovka Falls weight in at a hefty 22 and 31 pounds. Next was our good friend Brian from America who after getting warmed up on the Rynda the week before, was now fishing here with us on the Kharlovka on his second week in a row. One bright sunny morning Brian, along with his trusty Willie Gunn, decided to teach the Rock pool a serious lesson hauling out five in a row up to 18 pounds. The next day this poor guy ended up getting stranded with the whole of the Litza to himself for 24 hours. We noticed that the rest of the gang wasn’t all that sympathetic when they had heard that he lost a monster salmon out back of the Red Cliff that was estimated to be ‘way over 40 pounds!’ While certainly shaken and most likely a bit stunned on his return, Brian held his head high as he scribbled down the details in the fishing book about the other 10 Litza salmon that he did manage to get his hands on – Oh yes, one of them was 106X64cm weighing in at 34 pounds! It should also be noted that while Brian was catching his breath on a 10 minute break in the Ledge pool, he unwisely decided to hand the rod over to his guide Andrey who proceeded to rip in back to back 20 pounders before he had time to get his zipper done back up. We’re afraid that it could be some time before our friend Brian fully recovers for the whole ordeal.  When they first met in the Stockholm airport Rae looked up at the tall young German and asked ‘I bet you can’t remember one of the most important events of 1966?’ Home pool Fritz looked back with a smile and said ‘Of course, England beat Germany in the world cup!’ And with this, Rae knew immediately he had found a new fishing buddy for life. Returning on their third visit, together the Anglo-German Popular Front accounted for more than 33 salmon this time around. By the way, we don’t call him Home pool Fritz around here for nothing. While it may be true that gentlemen do not fish after dinner, nobody ever said anything about sneaking down to the Home pool every morning for a couple pre-breakfast salmon. By the time it was all said and done, Home pool Fritz was able to add some 8 bonus salmon to his overall total. Next season when they arrive back into Murmansk, Home pool Fritz will be able to question Rae ‘I bet you can’t remember one of the most important events in 2009?’ That was the season that Germany beat England in the Kharlovka World Cup!’  True VIP’s hit the tarmac in shinny blue Gulf Stream jets, they own their rivers, can take beats in prime time for themselves, and have spare rods with Bogdan reels standing by at the ready especially to fish the Home pool. After several seasons of learning the pools of northern rivers, Illya’s experience now shines through. Sharing the big adventure with his two friends Anatoly Jr. and Sr. who did well with more than dozen salmon up into the twenties – It was Illya who showed everyone the way last week landing some 24 salmon to his rod - two at 19 pounds – and 5 more were greater than 20 including an honest 106cm cock fish of 29 pounds.  Returning for the 16th season in a row, the legendary Sugai was on the prowl again - in his endless search for the giant salmon. Proudly wearing his new handmade prototype fishing vest armed with probably the best selection of flies that any of us had every seen, Sugai along with his old friend Valentine paced themselves nicely through the week. As you tend to do - with a second prime week coming up on the Rynda. While the skillful Sugai found the salmon nearly everywhere he went, his finest moment arrived on some of his final casts, one cold windy afternoon, in Kharlovka Home pool pulling in back to back 15 and 30 pounders – Bonzi! David probably deserves a bit of sympathy as well for loosing a massive salmon off the lower Kharlovka that managed to completely spool him (backing and all) before he ever made it to the bank. Understandably quiet that night at dinner, David most likely went to bed with dark visions of his reel suddenly on empty – its doubtful that his experience will ever be forgotten. Here is a good one for any of you non-believers still out there; Back on July 11th of 2007 a salmon of 6 kilos was caught – tagged as number 2560 – scales samples were taken and then it was released from the Lower Tent pool on the great Eastern Litza. It was reported by Dima, our resident fish scientist, that this fish had spent four years in the river as a par before smolting off for two sea winters. The next season on May 26th of 2008 this same salmon no. 2560 was caught and released by an unknown angler as a kelt on the Litza Military pool. Last week on June 14th 2009, good ol’ Rae was blasting them out in this same Military pool when fish no. 2560 was located yet again. After fattening up with another winter at sea, this same salmon was now weighing in at a beautifully fresh 20 pounds. It was then photographed and carefully released allowing it to carry on its remarkable way to delivering its precious genes to the river for a second time later this season.  Last week spring magically turned to summer right before our eyes. A carpet of green grass along with yellow buttercups now stand in awe where there was snow only days ago. Green Highlander is now the dominant color across the northern tundra. Birch forests with their fresh new leaves can be heard rustling on the afternoon breeze. An arctic fox took refuge from the freak thunderstorm under Peter’s house. Reindeer have gathered in the thousands, many with calves following close behind.  The salmon are now stacking up from the Falls pool down. The temperature in the river is currently flowing at 8.6 degrees C with good waters levels - reading at 45cm on the home pool scale. Out of our joyful 189 salmon last week – a staggering 31 of them were greater than 20 pounds including four more that topped the Big 30+ mark. As the Big one obviously swims these Northern Rivers – one should never give up until the fat Russian ladies begin to sing. Justin. P.S. We have a couple rods still available for August. This is the month that we land most of our 40 pounders. You can email me at Justin@Kharlovka.com and the message will be passed on.
The Kharlovka Report – Week 23 ended Friday, 16-Jun-09 Half of the enjoyment of coming fishing on the Kola Peninsula is the excitement and anticipation of not having a clue what may happen next. Starting last week from the moment our guests arrived into the Murmansk airport when the air traffic controller radioed down to inform us all to make ourselves comfortable. Poor visibility and snow flurries along the north coast delayed our departure into the afternoon as our new friends finally arrived to the camps with just enough time for a few warm-up casts to break in the kit.
Cold conditions early week kept the salmon numbers down as low single digit temperatures along with freezing rain, hail, and snow made the going extra challenging. With the river temps dropping back down to 3.4C early week the majority of the spring run seemed to be put on hold in the still warmer estuary waters down near the sea. Not all that surprising considering that the temperature of the Barents Sea was still warmer than our rivers with a reading 4.5C. Meanwhile, the word from our security guards, who were watching the over the estuaries, reported good numbers of salmon rolling about on the surface through the night. On Tuesday afternoon, we then went from one extreme to the other with the sun breaking through and the temperatures suddenly shooting up to around 20 degrees C. While bright skies are normally not what you hope for on a salmon river, the much need warmth was just what the doctor ordered - kick starting the spring run to get things rolling. One fine morning about seven o’clock we awoke to hear a strange yelp echoing through the camp. Searching around to make sure that everyone was o.k. we soon realized that Colin was missing from his room. We quickly sprinted off towards the home pool with big silver hopes on our mind. From a distance it appeared that Colin was saying his morning prayers along the riverbank. We arrived to find him cradling his huge salmon in the water like a baby. After snapping a couple shots to capture the moment forever, we stretched the tape to 104cm estimating his great salmon to be just under 30 pounds. With any pressure he might have had now relieved for another the day, Colin commented to the rest of his lazy friends at the breakfast table how his eggs and bacon never tasted so good.  There is something very special about fishing the Litza military pool on the incoming tide. Just ask the two brothers David and Michael, where along with the three good salmon they couldn’t hold onto - ended up hauling in three others with the big one stretching the scales to 26 pounds. However, all this appeared to be just a light warm up session for the brothers as the next day they would go on to have one of the most memorable sessions of their lives through the pools of the lower Kharlovka. That morning the radios started crackling early and then seem to go on consistently straight through the day. As the brothers have previously been spotted fishing around the world, and were now being guided by Dima, the top fishing scientist on the Kola – their vast experience was about to shine through like the bright Arctic sun.
Meeting the salmon on the incoming tide, Michael kicked the action off down at the sea pool pulling in a stunningly fresh 18 pounder. With perfect timing they next jumped up into Julian’s pool, which was reported to be full of moving salmon. Going back and forth, David managed to battle his first silver brace to the bank with the biggest weighing in at 24 pounds. Michael answered with a feisty 12 pounder followed by a grand 28.5 pounder that was in mint condition. And if this wasn’t enough, besides eventually loosing an epic half hour battle with a monster estimated to be over 35 pounds, David was able to hang onto a final consolation prize of 21 pounds that was eventually landed in the Long Pool. After reliving the memories with their remaining mates over dinner, Michael crept back down to the home pool that evening to land yet another 20 pounder finally wrapping up a day that will surely never be forgotten. Stop right there! For the two brothers it was still far from over for on the their final day they managed to battled in five more including two of 20 and 26 pounds -- bringing their combined total of salmon landed greater than 20 pounds to seven on the week.
 When it comes to throwing a VIP party, the Kharlovka House must be the obvious answer. Watching salmon jump in the home pool while you eat your breakfast with a birds eye view. Enjoying what has to be the finest, most remote sauna above the Arctic Circle. Plenty of staff standing by patiently waiting for your signal to pop you another bottle of wine. Having the luxury of a private helicopter pad in your back yard. Reliving those fishy tales with your mates sat around a crackling warm fire. Reality quickly begins to fade away. Last week showed that despite the difficult going, that numbers aren’t always everything as our VIP guests seemed to be overwhelmed by the whole experience.  Other highlights included our good old friend Mikael, the Swedish fishing machine, who was joining us on his 15th Kharlovka adventure - impressing us all with his effortless ability to control the fly. Besides giving away most of his shooting heads to the rest of the gang, Mikael was also good for a dozen salmon ranging through the teens up to 20 pounds. Our final honourable mention must go out to Will who literally - never gave up to the last cast finally pulling in his bright silver personal best of 19 pounds - less than an hour before it was time to reel them up for the week.  Coming off a great result on our opening spring week of the season with 57 salmon, we would have bet our fishing hats that we would have gone well over a 100 this week. Cold temperatures early on held the majority of the run back as the team combined for a hard earned 11 salmon during the first half. 48 hours of high sun later and the rivers temps had shot up to 8.3C. The melting snow kept the river levels fairly consistent throughout with a final reading of 46cm on the home pool scale. Experience proved to be the key factor last week as the team combined for a total of 53 salmon with an average weight of 17.02 pounds.  After holding back since the beginning of the season, the birch buds have now turned to leaf with returning sun. Green shoots have suddenly appeared that certainly weren’t there yesterday. Birds of prey whistle down on us from above through the upper canyons along the river. Lemmings are out and about again however not in the record numbers of last year. Footprints traversing the remaining snowdrifts catch our eye on the flights over to the remote Eastern Litza. Welcomed by the breezes of the exposed northern coast, reindeer herds are now beginning to arrive. Noticeably clean fresh air along with the sound of the mighty spring river dominate our dreams. Although the sun never sets, the days seem to go twice as fast. Before you realize it – the amazing adventure has passed for another year. Justin.
Kharlovka Web Report – Opening Week 23 ended Friday, 5-Jun-09 It all started with a last minute satellite phone call to Volodya, who had arrived one week earlier into the camps with staff. Declaring with a rare tone of optimism he said, “Everything is as normal. Fishing should be good!”  With our long gloomy winter now simplified to a faint memory from the past, we made our final approach into Murmansk. Nearly everyone sat with a smile, peering out down through sun filled windows of the Stockholm charter. This season it was obvious before we even arrived that our big spring gambles were surely going to pay off. It had been reported earlier in May that the temperatures began to warm into the middle teens, as all the snow and ice in the Murmansk area had since melted away. Touching down on the tarmac as the only plane in sight, we breezed straight through the usual red tape and were quickly back on our way. Heading east across the tundra in the helicopter it soon became apparent to us all that plenty of large snowdrifts along with icy lakes still remained hidden across the northern faces. Before reality had a chance to set in, our first eager group of the season was being greeted into the Kharlovka camp with fantastic air temperatures of 20+ degrees C - along with a promising river temp of 2.4C. The spring runoff just seemed to be peaking as we arrived, flowing at a mighty 115cm on the home pool scale.
Gold maybe the commodity of choice these days further south in the modern world however it’s definitely Big Silver that has got everyone’s attention here on the pristine northern coast. Just ask our new friend Steelhead Chuck, who as a part Native American Indian flew all the way over to investigate for himself from his fishy home on the famous Skeena system. It was quickly rumoured around the Kharlovka dinning room table that Chuck was capable of casting with the best of them. Before the week really got moving he was pulling in his first pair of sea liced Atlantics ever weighing in at 24 and 25 pounds out of the Military Pool. Chuck refused to cast back into the pool that afternoon opting to ‘take it all in’ on the bank while his partner finished things up. Chuck said it would have been greedy to go for another one in that situation. Finally our friends from Iceland have something good to shout about! After hibernating through the economic storm - Hilli, Alti and Elvis showed up ready for action - each armed with literally hundred of Sneldas. While Hilli and Alti showed good teamwork eventually landing a dozen salmon up to 22 pounds, it was of course Elvis - that ended up stealing the show. Besides leading the way in late night shenanigans, Elvis impressed us all one morning in Julian’s Pool with his back to back to back fresh salmon of 15, 18, and 24 pounds. A couple days later he pulled in another hat trick out of the same pool landing three more nice salmon into upper teens. With a new bounce in his step Elvis said, “Doesn’t matter what fly you use as long as it is a Snelda!”
Other highlights included Brett from Orivs U.K along with his two new good friends for life George and Campbell. With experience always tending to shine through, Brett showed his mates the way landing 7 salmon up to 22 pounds. Understanding all the time that great adventures are best shared amongst friends, the three sat toasting their beers and grinning through the evenings late week as George finally broke his P.B with a cracking fresh 26 pounder which was landed less than a kilometre up from the Barents Sea on the Military pool. And lets not forget Campbell who sat proudly amongst his friends with his chest out as well, in memory of his back to back to back sea liced 17, 18, 26 pounders (new P.B) out of Julian’s Pool. Diego from Switzerland and Dan from Sweden also deserve a special mention with Diego claiming the first official salmon of the Kharlovka season only hours after arrival. Along with a couple more in between, Diego managed to finish with a bright fresh Litza 27 pounder for the road. As for Dan, besides missing breakfast nearly every morning, he proved to be quite effective once he started to swing his fly through the river eventually going on to land a 20, 22, and 26 as well as a big fresh 30 pounder (107cmX56cm) from the Rock pool on the final afternoon. Our opening week of weather was not that surprisingly – all over the place. After arriving in short sleeve shirts and wondering who brought the sunscreen, the team was then suddenly very thankful 48 hours later that they had remembered to pack those crucial second layers. Early week the air temperature plummeted down into the low single digits – rain showers soon turned to snow flurries. Winds gusting up to 30m/s (67mph) kept the helicopter over night on the Litza. Thankfully the storm passed quickly and the conditions stabilized for the second half of the week. Our last few days saw partly cloudy skies with air temps of about 8C, while temps in the river topped out at an encouraging 4.2C. Over the week water levels in the Kharlovka went from a raging 115cm down to comfortable 60cm by the final day.  The total catch for our first team was 57 salmon as everyone will be returning home with stories to tell. 14 of the salmon landed were 20-30 pounds and all but one of them was carrying sea lice. The average weight for the week was 17.05 pounds. Migratory birds arriving early will have plenty to sing about this time around. As the tundra quickly awakens from its long winter nap, the ptarmigan with their still white feathers are being caught off guard. Buds beginning to form on the birch signal the start of the salmon run. Water everywhere - A sun that hardly sets – Sore shoulders and cold fingers - Hot saunas every night – Vodka shots after dinner –- Warm soup along the bank – Sea eagles - Big flies - Sea lice and silver Salmon. Springtime in the arctic has always been for believers only. Justin. Stop the Press! We have just been informed of a last minute cancellation on the Kharlovka for a group of 6 rods starting July 18th - Week 30. As the deposits have already been paid and we only have until June 17th to replace theses rods - please call Rob in the office asap to discuss a special price. U.K. office telephone - 0044 1865 883 063 
or telephone +44 (1865) 883063 or fax +44 (1865) 731619 Back to Top |
Back