Fishing in Kamchatka

Fishing experience amid wilderness in Kamchatka, will make for a truly enjoyable experience regardless of your level of competence as fisherman. Given the ideal conditions for catch-and-release activities, you will have an excellent time while spending your vacation on rivers of Kamchatka.

Both stationary fishing and fishing-and-rafting tours are available.

To fish-and-raft in Kamchatka, you travel far away from urban civilization and keep changing fishing spots. Normally, groups of six to ten participants are assembled and engage in fishing-and-rafting for four to eleven days. Inflatable rafts 16 to 18 feet long are manned by guides, so tourists do not have to row. You can fish either from the raft or from the bank of the river.

Fishing while staying at fishermen’s bases involves living in comfortable cottages and a range of services from guidance in motor boats to three meals a day and a sauna.

Sea fishing in Kamchatka is another activity definitely worth your attention. Comfortable yachts with cozy sleeping compartments can take you out for any period from six hours to two or three days, chiefly southwards to destinations including the Russkaya Bay and other cute bays. No big trophy fishing, but expect fairly diverse catch.

Rafting-and-fishing

Stationary fishing

Inveterate fishermen from all over the world flock to Kamchatka, greedy for amazing impressions, stunning trophies, and overwhelming emotion the like of which only true fishing buffs can comprehend. And – there you are, taking a flight to the fisherman’s paradise! Minutes before your jet liner lands, marvel at the breath-taking picture of dense forests, fuming volcanoes, and vein-like lines of mountain streamlets. Your fisherman’s feelings should be stirred by now: it’s coming!

What’s there to catch?

King salmon, or Chinook salmon
The biggest of all Pacific salmon species with specimens weighing in at between 2,5 and 25 kilos (most commonly, between 7 and 10). Kings enter rivers of Kamchatka on June 1 and the run continues until July 10 with best times falling on the second half of June. Consider your day lucky if you managed to get one king, and a typical five-day fishing session yields an average of three to five fish.

Coho salmon, or silver salmon
These exceptionally strong beauties vary between 2.5 and 6 kilos in weight (typically 3.5 or 4). They are later than the other species to enter rivers and their spawning time lasts longer, stretched between mid August and November. Best catching time is between August 25 and the closing ten days of September. Find a lucky spot and catch (literally!) until you collapse with fatigue. Enters most rivers of Kamchatka.

Rainbow trout
Rainbow trouts are extremely strong, several times over what you’d expect at its weight. Fierce resistance makes for a great emotional reward. Weighs anywhere between 0.3 and 5 kilos, typically one or two. Can be caught year round, ideally in July, August, or September. Rivers where the biggest specimens can be caught include Zhupanova and Opala. A lucky day will yield ten fish.

Arctic grayling
Valued by locals because it’s common in rivers flowing far away from the main city. Can only be seen in rivers emptying into the Bystraya (western coast), Kamchatka river (eastern coast), and in more northerly areas where it’s fairly abundant. Weighs anywhere between 0.5 and 0.6 kilos.

Chars
These do not migrate for extended periods of time but rather winter out and stay alive and healthy after spawning. This is makes chars less remarkable than all the above-described kinds of fish, but they taste no worse and are valued in no smaller degree. White-spotted chars weigh in up to 7 kilos (typically one kilo), the other kinds are anywhere between 0.3 and 4 kilos. Best caught July through September. Abundant in almost all rivers of Kamchatka and your catch will only be limited by your appetite and physical capability.
 

• Rafting down the river Bystraya
• Rafting-and-fishing on the river Opala
• Fishing on the river Pymta