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The Savan

Floating Kamchatka's everything river

by Earl Harper - Wednesday, Sep 27th, 2017

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Anglers travel to Kamchatka, almost without exception, for one reason: its plethora of trophy wild rainbows the likes of which aren't found anywhere else on the globe. The Savan isn't Kamchatka's numbers river or its big fish river. Or maybe it's both. The river's unique combination of plenty and size gives anglers a little taste of everything (photo: Earl Harper).

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Whether to the Savan or another of the peninsula's seemingly countless rivers, all trips into Kamchatka's wilderness pursuing its wild rainbows start here or another heliport like it. Here a mechanic and engineer perform a pre-flight inspection on a Russian MI-8 helicopter before takeoff (photo: Chad Shmukler).

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The helicopter touches down at basecamp, which will become home later in the trip. Anglers making a float down one of the Savan's tributaries, the Ichanga, are exchanged for weekly supplies here as well. A short 10-minute flight to our first night's camp ensues, affording tantalizing views of the river all along the way (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Fly fishing savan river - kamchatka, russia

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After breakfast the first morning, angler Gene Kennedy and guide Santos Fernando Madero pore over fly boxes deciding on a first offering to the Savan's waiting quarry (photo: Earl Harper).

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Anglers and guides head north from camp for a short hike. 10 minutes or so later, we turn toward the river to ply its waters (photo: Earl Harper).

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There's no more exhilarating way to catch a Kamchatka rainbow than on a mouse pattern. Here one of the finest fish of the trip, a thick shouldered 27" rainbow grabs a mouse swung along the banks of one of the Savan's myriad side channels (photo: Earl Harper).

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It's impossible to convey the heft of a Kamchatka rainbow. Pictures show off their size, but fail to do justice to their mass. These are not the trout you know (photo: Chad Shmukler).

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The late afternoon sun and the fact that this chum hen is fat with eggs means she'll be headed back to camp with us where her roe will be harvested for dinner (photo: Earl Harper).

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Once the eggs are harvested, they're placed in a cheese cloth to drain, after which they'll be salted (photo: Earl Harper).

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Back at camp, the chum's roe become an appetizer served on dark Russian bread and paired with a bit of vodka (photo: Earl Harper).

savan river - kamchatka - russia - fly fishing

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The diversity of the fishing on the Savan is staggering: tight, tree-choked braided channels, expansive flats, riffles dotted with islands, boulder lined runs and burly rapids. Each bend in The Savan seems to offer something entirely new (photo: Earl Harper).

savan river - kamchatka - rainbow trout - russia

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And a seemingly endless supply of Kamchatka rainbows to admire briefly before being sent back to chase mice, parr and the rest of the Savan's bounty (photo: Chad Shmukler).

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Fishing the lower river means daily excursions from basecamp via jetboat. Each day we travel farther downstream and encounter a whole new face of the Savan (photo: Chad Shmukler).

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Basecamp is simple and rustic but well appointed with comfortable beds, a dining and living area and, most importantly, a hot shower. Watching it grow smaller as the crew waves goodbye on the final day of our two weeks on the Savan means it's time to leave the river behind. It also means it's time to start planning a trip back (photo: Earl Harper).

#NowOrNeverglades Photo Contest: The Winners

All the selections from this year's entries

by Chad Shmukler - Wednesday, Feb 22nd, 2017

Here's a great example of why grip-and-grins suck. Look how much more this runner-up shot from photographer Justin Hamblin gives us, without giving us a full look at the fish, virtually any look at the angler, or any idea of whether this is a big fish, small fish or so on. But who cares? There's so much more to see.

This year's photo contest (okay, last year's) marked a lot of firsts.

It was the first time that we announced the winners of our annual contest in the following calendar year, due to an amalgam of issues. That's something we hope never to repeat again.

It was the first time that the selection of the grand prize winner prompted a discussion on whether the rules of the contest need to be updated (more on that later).

Test Scrolling Photo Gallery

by Chad Shmukler - Tuesday, Apr 26th, 2016

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Steelheaders are known to be stupid creatures. Here, angler Gary Coleman swings flies on Washington's Sauk River in hopes of luring a chrome bright fish from below the rain-churned froth.

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Caption test.

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Testing the captions.

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Santos Fernando releases a shouldered, 26" rainbow into the cold, clear waters of southeastern Kamchatka's Savan River. The Savan flows into the Opala, which later dumps into the Sea of Oktohsk.

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More testing.

2015 Fly Fishing Photo Contest: The Results

All the official selections from our 2015 photo contest

by Chad Shmukler - Wednesday, Dec 9th, 2015

This runner-up image from photographer Oliver Rogers perfectly captures the inspiration for of this year's contest: permit. If you've spent any time chasing permit, this shot will undoubtedly make your heart pound.

Each year we say a lot of the same things in summarizing our annual photo contest. Things like that we received a lot of great entries, that the decisions were difficult, and that we're privileged to be in the position of to amass and share such a fine collection of fly fishing imagery both now and throughout the coming year. And we'll say it all again this year. Not because those are the sort of things you're supposed to say, even if it they are, but because they're true.

Paradise found

Ditching the program on Belize's Turneffe Atoll

by Chad Shmukler - Friday, Jun 19th, 2015

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To no one's surprise more than my own, by mid morning on my first day on the Atoll, I found myself with a companion, sitting alongside a pretty flat, watching guide Daniel rig up a leader. The Turneffe Flats orientation session, complete with descriptions of the Atoll's beauty and tales of fishy encounters that might befall us on the flats, had quickly turned a "maybe" into a "why not?"

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After the orientation, rods are snatched from their holders on the deck of Turneffe Flat's signature red-roofed cabanas.

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A short walk to the dock leaves the sun deck and infinity pool behind. The R&R program, for now, will have to wait.

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It's not long before it dawns on me that this is an easy sell. Casting lessons in the grass outside the fly shop don't hold a candle to class held on the Turneffe Atoll's sun drenched flats.

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All the frustrations facing the first time angler are so much more easily handled with the sound of the surf crashing in the distance, and a warm Caribbean breeze blowing through your hair.

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The challenges are there, without question. Far more so, in fact, that they are on any stream or river. But who cares? Just look around.

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Eventually the morning's training sessions yield results and this healthy bonefish is pulled from what Daniel calls "easy water." The reward is no less sweet for this fact, and as the reel screams on the fish's second run, I can see grin laden glances thrown my way, with questions about why anyone would fish for trout building for later.

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Many of the atoll's flats, however, can be quite challenging. Due to its unique geography, anglers on the atoll commonly fish flats very close to or even in the surf. The powerful currents can quickly push and pull at delivered fly, adding a entirely new dimension to the already complicated task of presenting a fly to a school of bonefish.

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Matters are only further complicated by the atoll's ubiquitious coral. A running fish can quickly slice leader and line on often razor-sharp coral.

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Permit are considered by most to be the main attraction at Turneffe Flats, and the waters that surround it afford plentiful opportunities to take shots at them. Long days are spent poling sunny, permit-friendly flats like the one seen here, but the atoll's lagoons also afford anglers shots at large groups of feeding permit.

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Barracuda are readily found on the atoll and are overlooked by only the most foolish of visitors.

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A six or seven pound cuda, like this one, will pull as hard as another fish three or four times its size. These are powerful predators that rarely fail to put on a show.

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Even when blue skies and warm tropical breezes yield to clouds and rain, angling opportunities persist.

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This day's storm, which rolled in to dash hopes, ended up being a blessing that led to some of the trip's finest catches.

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Weather can be welcome in the lagoon, too, where groups of 15-30 permit can be found, tipped up, feeding in water that is deeper than your average flat.

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This healthy permit, pulled from the lagoon's waters after the school it was feeding in was incredibly generous in allowing us far too many chances, is a hearty one hand lift.

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The fish's silvery, iridescent sides reflect the myriad colors of the lagoon's waters and the skies above.

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The Turneffe Flats eco-adventure program, which it terms the "Atoll Adventure Program" includes a rich bevy of opportunities such as scuba courses, flats walking, birding, mangrove tours, sea kayaking, manatee and dolphin viewing -- and lots of snorkeling Turneffe Atoll's amazingly diverse coral reefs.

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There's exploring to be done on the resorts grounds too, where giant crocodiles like this one lurk.

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And resident iguana 'Stella' prowls for watermelon.

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All in all, save for a single day, the R&R program is largely abandoned and this once-again greenhorn angler voluntarily and eagerly spends four days angling on the atoll's flats and soaking up the deft tutelage of Turneffe Flats guide Daniel.

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As more hours are logged on the flats and these "novice" eyes repeatedly spots tails at a distance before I do, I find myself sincerely wondering if I'm the angler with the third best fish spotting skills in the boat.