Kamchatka

--
"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking about a trip Kamchatka this year. Is there anyone reading
these
pages that has been there or knows of someone who has? I understand the
rainbow trout are enormous as well as the char and grayling.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html



Dave:

I have two friends that have been. One went for steelhead, the other (a fly
shop owner) has been twice for Rainbows. Both report that it is a trip for
adventure minded folks only. They also said that it was a serious hurry up
and wait affair - get to the airport, wait 2 hours for the next plane or
helicopter. When it finally shows up, the pilot argues with someone from
outfitter for 45 minutes about something that gives you a very uneasy
feeling. Then you ride on in a helicopter that has seen much better days -
and you seriously wonder whether you will make it. They also both said that
their trips were cut short by bad weather that was supposedly coming in fast
and would prevent their scheduled departure - but neither saw evidence of
it. Both reported that the food wasn't great (pretty bad in fact) and that
the guides would go off hunting and prepare any game they shot for
themselves.

From a fishing standpoint, the Rainbows averaged 26", and my friend said he
caught over 150 in 4 days, plus probably 200 Tilapia (I think that was the
fish he mentioned, but I am not absolutely sure - anyway, he said they were
big and fun to catch). The fellow that went for steelhead happened to be
there at the same time as a group of diehards that fished BC alot. Their
take was that BC was better fishing alll around. My friend said the
steelhead fishing was fair to good, depending upon whether you were assigned
to a beat with fish in it. The good part was that he never saw someone that
wasn't part of the group. He also said that during the time he was there,
the guide never did anyof the things that he was "supposed" to do for
scientific purposes (collecting scale samples, etc.). Apparently, they had
collected all the data they needed early in the season.

In short, the Rainbow fisherman has been a couple times; the steelhead
fisherman said it was a once in a lifetime trip (a notch on the belt, but
not one he was anxious to repeat).

HTH

Jim Ray