Kharlovka trip photos

[elwyman]

Superb looking fish - even a trip in a russian helicopter would be worth it to catch one of those. ;D

[salar76]

tynetraveller said:

I saw it! Mind you, the biggest landed was a mere 32lb tiddler. Two rods had 27 fish in two days at Litza! 27big silver torpedoes.. Oh to be there.

You haven't shared your battle with the forum yet! Are you still working through it with a shrink? There was a lot of talk of Lawrence and the unstoppable freight train

I find it best not to think to much about it; it helps with avoiding the waves of nausea. This pic pretty much sums it up!



Seriously though, Justin put a great report on the website, and there was little more to say after Dave posted on the forum. The fish that sliced my backing taking my entire shooting head and running line was the fish of dreams and it gave me the fight of a lifetime (or chase may be more appropriate!); it was the reason for checking and double checking all the knots on the ridiculously heavy tackle that British dealers tend not to understand.

Still, early season on Kharlovka is 100% about huge fish in big water, and you can't expect to win them all! We had a fantastic week of hard fishing and hard drinking, and now I've recovered I can't wait to go back for more!

Cheers

Lawrence

[tynetraveller]

Chris Tarrant had a 42lber from Tent pool on Litza this week. Lucky b***d

Apparently his partner was also hooked into a suspected 40 at the same time in the same pool but lost it. Could have been interesting!

[ar]

Was he "chucking cutlery"?

[tynetraveller]

Hehe Nice one!

[salar76]

Just back from the Kharlovka & E Litza. Things have changed a bit since I was there in the spring; the snow banks have all but gone, the rivers are around 12c (up 10!), the flows are altogether much more civilised and, most importantly, they are full of fish. And big ones at that. In short, a salmon fisherman's paradise.

I started the week with an overnight at Litza falls. We only had about 1hr of fishing in the Falls pool before we had to get a lift down to the tent camp. Still, that was enough for a 10 pound sea licer, and this fresh 16 pounder.





The next day on Litza was bright with a barometer flying through the roof, which seemed to put the fish down somewhat. We knew there were hundreds of fish in the pools, but they weren't showing and were reluctant to take. Still, as with every day last week, we weren't without success.



Day 4 is when things got really interesting. We were up at Kharlovka Falls, where the fish were desperately waiting for the river to drop another 15cm before the biggest of the fish could make it over the falls to find their birth places. Usually around 50% of the stock makes this 10ft leap, and they are invariably MSW fish. The pool was boiling with fish, but as everyone before us had struggled here (a strange phenomenon, but true), I went deep and dirty with a Black Frances on a sinking line. 3rd cast, and little more than a rod length away, I had a serious wake up call.



28 pounds and a new PB. nuff said.



As far as I was concerned, my week was made. However, the big fish didn't end there. That afternoon I landed a seriously unhappy fresh 22, and a 20+ for each of the next 3 days. 'Awesome' just doesn't do it justice!



This 21 pounder head and tailed to a skated sunray, again just yards away. The excitement was somewhat enhanced by the fact I was using a 13 footer and a litre of vodka had mysteriously disappeared before my eyes whilst celebrating just hours before. That was a good morning...





And then I was my partner's turn for his PB; a 22 pounder from the same pool that a 42 was landed a couple of weeks before:



Our last day, Friday, was again back on the Kharlovka. Serenely satisfied we started casting on a pool that we had hooked 4 fresh doubles in 10 minutes of frantic action previously that week. The pool was quiet, until my penultimate fish attacked my skated sunray. Again on the 13 footer (each day I had this rigged with a floater, and the 15' with various sinking lines; some days everything would come to the floater, others everything to the sinker), this 25 pounder gave me a fantastic runaround.



This certainly was the trip of a lifetime that far exceeded any conceivable hopes or expectations, and I still haven't wiped the smile off my face!

LH

[hornet]

Excellent report and the pics of the fish are superb.

What dreams are made of


Hornet

[robbie]

I hate you!!!!! Take me with you next time please. Great pictures, leaving us all envious. Love to hear success stories.
Robbie

[salmonking]

Im envious,great report.

[carrick]

Hey Lawrence,
Good to see you posted some excellent photos, i really enjoyed my first visit to Kharlovka. Maybe see you there next year.
Kerry

[waddington]

What a superb trip Lawrence! Really enjoyed your post, especially the great pictures. Really what angling dreams are made of.
All the Best
Phil

[clydebuilt]

Great report,

Love the pic of the fish jumping, not green with envy at all!!

Thanks for sharing
cCydebuilt

[tyneandrew]

Bloody hell

I'm saving up

[salar76]

Thanks guys. It really is a fantastic place, even when it is dour (dour there is more like a bonanza here!). Any young un's out there should check out the youth scheme which can make it the most affordable place in Russia if you're lucky enough to get on.

[hornet]

If youngs under 40 then book me up


Hornet

[macd]

Fantastic report lawrence. Some really good pic -the one of the fish jumping in front of the helicopter is first class.

[tyneandrew]

Send it to T&S - would be a good front cover pic

[say]

Salar76,

Any chance of posting some info on the 'youth scheme', I remeber reading an article a few years back in T&S.

SAY

[salar76]

say said:

Salar76,

Any chance of posting some info on the 'youth scheme', I remeber reading an article a few years back in T&S.

SAY

Sorry, but I'm just shooting off somewhere and don't have time for a more detailed response, but do feel free to PM me if you need more info.

Cheers

Lawrence

www.kharlovka.com/asr_youth_programme.html

[salar76]

hornet said:

If youngs under 40 then book me up


Hornet

You missed it by 5 years! under 35's only. 'Youth' is relative in salmon fishing ;D