Page 7 of The Ponoi River Ryabaga Camp - Russia's Kola Peninsula by Frontiers International Travel

the fishing contd for many guests the boats that transfer them along the river are also utilized as stable fishing platforms however for those who prefer to enjoy a river on foot we are equally able to equip the angler with a radio and let him explore the copious amounts of wonderful wading that all beats provide while always keeping in touch with the guide the ponoi may look large but it is a shallow river and has countless riffles runs nooks and crannies that all form their own micro pools eminently readable to the experienced eye there is so much water to explore our guide team remains fascinated and in awe that even after twelve seasons we are all still learning our river obviously there are slow days on the ponoi but more often there have been some amazing records guests catching 150 fish to their rod in a week 1800-fish weeks 45-fish afternoons marathon battles that will always be remembered and great fish lost often the most memorable souvenir of them all the key to the fishing at ryabaga is the consistency in over a decade fishing 18 weeks per season no week has ever averaged less than 17 fish per guest these statistics are not bolstered by guide catches they have been achieved in a manner method and speed that our guests dictate and we feel that they represent a realistic expectation we do include the fish caught in the evening from the remarkably productive home pool where guests can fish all night under the midnight sun if they wish some weeks this stretch of river is full of fish but never touched and other weeks there are many tales of ten fish to a rod in a single evening caring for our river the ryabaga camp is also pioneering in its dedication to the conservation of the river in conjunction with the polar research institute of murmansk the ponoi river company and the atlantic salmon federation the largest tagging project of its kind for atlantic salmon has been operated for many years an eighth of all atlantic salmon tagged globally in a given year are done so on the ryabaga water and the information gathered has not only benefited this river but the international effort to conserve atlantic salmon about 2000 salmon are tagged by the guides and all are recorded by the resident scientist who also carries out parr and smolt surveys each season carefully monitors influential ocean temperatures and assesses the results of the recaptures so that the guests can hear the history of the tagged fish they have caught a succinct scientific speech is given each week to the guests.

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