Published Feb 18. 2007 - 17 years ago
Updated or edited Nov 12. 2020

Kola on a Budget

Fishing on the Kola Peninsula is usually connected with everything but low price fishing. However, it is still possible to organize a trip for large, golden, Russian brown trout and pay no more than 500 Euros per person including everything.

The Beginning

It all began in 1985 when I was 8 years old. That was when I got my hands on a Russian (Soviet Union) magazine "Rybolov" for the first time in my life.
I read an article and saw pictures of how Americans came to Kola for salmon fishing. Since that, my only one dream was to get some fly-fishing gear.
Finally, in 1996 I had three years of fly fishing experience and was there - in the polar village Umba.
A mecca for fly-fishing fans.

An appetizer

It was my first time on Kola. Salmon were the only thing on my mind. In order to get some information I had to spend one night drinking vodka with the chief of Umba Fishing Inspection.
Moreover, what I saw changed my personality as a fly angler forever. I saw on video an advertisement movie made by a Swedish company operating in Umba. The movie was called "The Last kingdom of the Atlantic salmon".

Where the river runs through -
Vaoila! -
Rolandas Mincinauskas

That was something... Even now I remember every minute of that movie.
In addition, there was a short episode, where a group of anglers flew in for one day only, fishing somewhere in deep tundra in some river-lake system full of wild brown trout.
A couple of years later, the same group made the movie "Tundra Trout" only about trout fishing.

Coming back

The year after, I revisited Umba for salmon and the next year again... And so it continued for six years in a row, where I visited different rivers in south region of the Kola peninsula.
I fished Varzuga, Kitsa, Pana, Chavanga, Chapoma, Jugin and some other small streams full of salmon.
However, every time I was there, I was wondering weather somebody knew about the tundra trout. No success...

Enough salmon

Finally, one evening in the winter of 2005, I was again thinking about next summer plans. I realized that I had had enough of salmon and that I needed to go where few people had been before. So the only one target I saw in front of me were fat, aggressive, fast and tasty brown trout of the Russian tundra. All research started from finding complete map of Kola peninsula. The map was not the hardest issue; the main problem was the names of rivers and lakes. I joined a couple of Russian fly forums and started asking, started writing personal mails and after some 200 hours spent on the Internet I finally got some ideas. I figured out about upper parts of Rynda, Kharlovka and Litza.

Where are we heading? -
Where the river runs through -
Wide opening -
Where are we? -
Rolandas Mincinauskas

Rynda

So those were the rivers, which were famous. A couple of companies who operated fishing tours were giving me most information. I was more or less able to make a picture of what to expect. After many evenings of sitting in my chair reading the maps, drinking beer and snaps in big quantities, my friend Linas and I decided that Rynda, which was the closest river, would be the optimal target for us.
Therefore, we laid down our route: Klaipeda - Kaliningrad - Murmansk - Tumanyj - Rynda. The small military village Tumanyj was the most remote place east of Murmansk, which was possible to reach by road. Rynda was about 40 km from Tumanyj if you draw a straight line on a map.

I was thinking :
I am strong enough, so I should easily be able to walk 20 kilometers or 12½ miles per day, so I should reach Rynda in 2 or 2½ day, then fishing for 6 days and way back again 2 days. That gave 10 days in tundra bringing everything on my own back. The plan looked just perfect - we more or less knew the way to Murmansk, then to Tumanyj and finally to the river.

License to fish?

Nevertheless, it was unclear situation how it was with permissions for fishing. I heard many rumors and had good experience about Russian fishing regulations. Regarding salmon licenses was crystal clear to us, but for other fishes like pike, perch, char, grayling or trout it was absolutely unclear.
Everybody told different stories. At the end of the day I got complete list of Kola rivers with clear prices and places, where fishing was allowed and where it was prohibited.

Bite and pose -
Balancing act -
Rising fish spot -
Rolandas Mincinauskas

I felt ready and started preparing for a trip.

The start was planned to the beginning of June in order to catch the two first weeks of August, when it was not too hot and the mosquitoes were less aggressive but still retaining a big chance of hatching sedge flies.

Getting into Russia

The first thing that everybody who comes to Russia on their own must do is make a registration of arrival. Any tourist has 3 days to register their passport. It can be done either in a hotel or at the police station.
Very often, there is no time for a hotel stay, since you want to enter the wilderness right away. I booked one day in a sport school hotel. I could write a whole separate article about this registration...
Main rule: always check with travel agency which issues Russian visa regarding all registration details. Always carry small cash 5, 10, 20 US$ bills.

the gold is within range -
Beautiful, small trout -
Permanent shelter -
Tying... -
Rolandes - Rolandas Mincinauskas

System shock

Next step was to go to the Russian fishing authorities to buy licenses. But the office was closed and by telephone I was explained that the rivers, which we wanted to get, were closed and had never been open for the public. Also we were warned not to go there, as some tourist operator would bring fishermen there from time to time, and the river was protected from strangers.

Linas and I were very disappointed and after long discussion - we had not travelled more than 2500 km or more than 1500 miles to be victims of the bloody Russian system. We had to go for it anyway but we had to be very accurate and had not camp near the river.
One minute I said to Linas - we would be lucky if we would be able fish three days in Rynda before inspectors come to pick us up.

I found Tumanyj a horrible place to be. The major part of the five floor soviet buildings were empty, without windows. Some houses seemed to have been devastated by fire, robbed, and all metal pipes were stolen etc. We saw wild dogs running around, and only few people lived in the village, which would easy be able to accommodate some 1000 people.

Hooking -
Playing -
Fighting -
Landing -
Showing -
Rolandas Mincinauskas

I understood that most people were temporarily staying here and were occupied by collecting berries or fishing. In general, the view was very similar to what is seen in American movies showing some remote villages in the desert soutjh of the Mexican border.

Berries -
Beyond civilization -
Golden trout -
Rolandas Mincinauskas

Naturally, we did not like to stay too much longer in that godforsaken place and we quickly put on our rucksacks, switched on our GPS and marked points on the map.

Tundra Days - Fishing and Inspection

The first day we managed to go only 6 kilometers - not 20. Despite of hard training at home our 35 kg rucksacks (that's 70 lbs.), high hills up to 600 meters (1800 feet), wet ground and millions of mosquitoes made it hard to walk.
Next day we did 11 kilometers and overnighted near a small river called Olionka. Three hours of fishing in Olionka was exclusive. Brownies of 30-45 centimeters or up towards 18" were very aggressive. When fish are that aggressive, it makes no sense to talk much about flies. I can just say that my favorite was a black Woolly Bugger and a mouse pattern. Linas preferred a Muddler Minnow.

The third day we did 10 kilometers, and finally at the end of the 4th day we reached the pace, which was our intention since the first time I saw that Swedish movie. My feet's surface was one complete bleeding blister, both mine and Linas knees were hurting and every hour we had to use cooling, painkilling spray.
We were still full of passion and we were rushing to tie on flies and head to the river.
There isn't much to add… The river was full of fish - and very aggressive fish too. One kilo trout easily pulled the line down to the backing with at least five jumps up to couple of meters in the air. What words can express that feeling...?

Nice golden trout -
Fresh fatty -
Rolandas Mincinauskas

Perfect day

The next day (day 5) the weather was perfect in all meanings of the word. Linas was very productive with trout up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) taken and released every hour. I was less successful, but that day I got a fat monster of 62 centimeters (24½ inches) and similarly managed to break my line a few minutes after that first fatty one was released.

Day 6 we faced the strongest storm during our trip. The weather in the tundra changes very rapidly and one minute it is shining and another minute it can blow as a hell or even snow.
What happened in day 6 was what I was waiting for every day. After sleepless and wet night, it took us longer to get up for fishing. After a rainy night, the water level rose some 20 centimeters and the fish were not so active.
We decided to go further down for a couple of miles. After an unproductive couple of hours of fishing we gathered as usual to make some quick food and get some shots of vodka.
On moment during our lunch, Linas and I suddenly looked at each other and both agreed that we heard strange sound - like helicopters. However, it was so strong wind and cloudy that we did not take it too seriously. This was a mistake.

Celebration time -
Dinner time -
Our camp -
Rolandas Mincinauskas

Rod confiscation

One hour later, I landed a trout and looked at Linas asking if he was willing to take a picture, but my smile changed very quickly as some 200 meters behind Linas I noticed three men running toward us.
They were fishing inspectors. The conversation was warm and polite. Our rods were taken and we were advised that we would be able to get rods back after we paid a penalty of 20 Euros per person in Murmansk.
The most interesting moment was when one of inspectors asked why we did not buy licenses. This moment I just wanted to scream. I told that we wanted to buy but nobody was willing to sell it to us. I hope you now understand what an absurd relation exists are between law-issuing and law-supervising authorities in Russia. In addition, we learned that the inspectors got information a day before. They had been informed by their informant Tory who lived in a small tent near the river. The man was so experienced that we would never been able to notice him first. He was a local inhabitant and he had a satellite phone.

Drowning the sorrow

After having said our goodbyes to the inspectors, we had no other choice but to go to our camping site and to empty our bottle of vodka and go to sleep.
The next morning we packed our rucksacks and headed back direction to Tumanyj. For sure, we had spare rods, but last 5 days of hiking and fishing in smaller rivers was not that exciting. Well even fishes up to 1kg did not boiled our blood that much. Rynda was the top... On other hand, we were very proud that our bodies became very strong we even reached records of walking 19 km in one day.

Everything comes in useful -
Seagull inspired - by our fishing techniques
...almost everything -
Rolandas Mincinauskas

To finish our story I would like to say that Linas' rods and mine were successfully returned back after we paid a penalty. So kind of a happy end.

The Budget

I booked return tickets for flight Kaliningrad - Murmansk 300 Euros.

A private man agreed to drive us from Klaipeda to Kaliningrad both ways for 60 Euros (30 per person)

Russian visa 30 Euros

Taxi airport Murmansk to hotel Murmansk 10 Euros

Hotel - sport school hotel - 24 Euros per 2 nights per person

Bus - Murmansk - Tumanyj both ways 20 Euros

Food in restaurant 3-10 Euros main menu

Food for 10 days including 3 liters of vodka for each - 60 Euros per person (bought in Murmansk).

Total 492 Euros per person.

Of course if we could have bought licenses, which were 30 Euros a day, we would have to add some 200 Euros on top.

Comments

If you want to fish ...

If you want to fish the Rynda please contact Kharlovka Company. They run a trout program. And puts a lot of effort and money in a very strict PROTECTION program against poaching, which is absolutely worth supporting. It may be a little expensive, but you can not just wander in and fish where you please.

Sincerely, Thomas (Denmark)

Ole,my point of view...

Ole,my point of view is as follows:
when I'm travelling to a foreign country to flyfish, I try to be polite to the people I meet and try to adapt to the given fishing etiquettes,just in case I wanna come back.
In the matter of Kola there must be a legal way of obtaining a license,otherwise there would arise problems with the authorities on every guided trip some travel agencies offer.
I'm not judging your political system at all...

Rolandas,nevertheless I really appreciate sharing your experience,
thight lines!

Jesper, poin tis ...

Jesper,

poin tis that state gives you a right to fish and even names a price to particular river and so on, but local office just ignore the orders from center....
as Ole (who lives in Moscow) sais"everybody who does not know the country (and in this way does not know how things work in Russia) should not judge''

I been in Russia 10times, i have many friends in Russia who are really professors in flyfishing and more to that i know how all Russian flyfisherman are confused by conflict between law creating and law effecting institutions... even having a license in hand you can be cocidered as poacher, just because you didnt fill up close your licence properly...

Rolandas

P.C

sorry for gramma

@ Joerg and Vesper: ...

@ Joerg and Vesper:

Scale down. Everybody who does not know the country (and in this way does not know how things work in Russia) should not judge.

It remembers me a little how some German politicians telling other poeple how democracy should look in their countries.

Rgds,
Ole

"formally it was poa...

"formally it was poaching as i had no licenses on hands... i agree but is was only one solution at the moment in order to fulfill my dream": Oh, so it´s ok to shit on other people´s rules and regulations as long as you have travelled far enough and are "fulfilling a dream?!

Sorry, you score no sympathy points in my book. You couldn´t buy a license AND were told that the streams you wanted to fish were closed...and went anyway. You got away with at very small fine and should be happy about it.

Not being prepared or not being able to get the relevant information and licenses because of a crappy system is just no excuse. And the next time you decide go to trekking in the wilderness: leave the alcohol in town. Large amounts of it has no place on a trip like that.

Jesper, Denmark

formally it was poac...

formally it was poaching as i had no licenses on hands... i agree but is was only one solution at the moment in order to fulfill my dream .. on other hand my soul is clean as we have not made any harm to nature

My next trip is to Patagonia, departing on the 28th of Feb. Again same style - budget trip. Hope to write another article here

Dear Rolandas; it w...

Dear Rolandas;
it would never come to my mind going to a foreign country and not obey the rules or fishing etiquettes - you bettter should have named your article "Poaching in Kola"...

really enjoyed this,...

really enjoyed this, great looking trout and you bloody well deserved them. well done. where you going next?

what a nice adventur...

what a nice adventure!!!!....Rolandas I can tell that Patagonia offers the same type of fishing, with a lot of alternatives in rivers, spring creeks and lakes...and no bugs or mosquitoes....
You are going to enjoy Patagonia fly fishing...get back to you with plans..Cheers

Hi Rolandas, very...

Hi Rolandas,

very nice article which came right in time! Relocated temporarily to Moscow, maybe I will come back to you in regard of few more details to plan my own trip to that region. Anyway, thanks for sharing.

Rgds,
Ole

Ahhhhhh what a joy t...

Ahhhhhh what a joy to read. You did your homework and still got a little heat from the "authorities" oh well. Could have been much worse. Thanks for sharing.

2 Everybody, than...

2 Everybody,

thank you for comments!

2 Kirill,

In general i didnt feel a victim. I knew where I am going and what to expect as it was my ninth trip to Kola.So it took me two minutes to calm :)

Finland's Lapland or Finmark of Norway could be a nice alternative, but from my experience I can tell that I never saw a brownie attacking ear plug fly but just in tundra of Kola. This is really special place worth risking.

Anyway thanks for info about Oulu.

rgds
Rolandas

Dear Rolandas, I ho...

Dear Rolandas,
I hope you were not too-o-o-o-o frustrated of Russia.
But generally, if you tried to find a less expensive trip, why don't you try Finland in Oulu for example?
At least that's what we do , living in St.Petersburg. It appears the same or even a little less prise.
And you for sure avoid the perfect russian services. And it's closer to us as well as to Klaipeda.
Just in case, we were traveling in French Alps in the summer, we found a beautiful lakes connected by mountain rivers, we got to nearest city, bought the licenses which were claimed nation wide (not the cheapest), and it appeared those licenses are not valid on place we were stayed!!! So why do you so surprised about wild trips?
Cheers,
Kirill.

Outstanding, an adve...

Outstanding, an adventure of a lifetime. Beautiful fish, rugged terrain, and uncertainty, wow.

DistantStreams's picture

Hardcore. Rough, rug...

Hardcore. Rough, rugged and pure.
Walking, camping, and carrying your life on your back is heaven.
My type of experience.
19km in one day is not bad. Not for the weak hearted or arm-chair anglers of course!!!
It reminds me of the days I spent in the Royal Marines. Minus the fishing of course but you can't have everything!!

Wonderful article.
Ripley

Where is my passport...

Where is my passport and my plane ticket, this is a serious fly fishing adventure. I'm sure the second trip will be even better, now that you know all the pitfalls.

I was supposed to le...

I was supposed to leave for Kola late July, I will probably reconsider my plans :((

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