"There it is!" I shouted, as I hooked my first steelhead ever, after four days of fishing without luck. The fish had taken my fly at the end of the swing, and was giving a brave fight downstream from where I was wading. It was a very strong fish, considered the cold water (3-4 degrees Celsius); it fought for about ten minutes before my guide Ed Ward could land it safely. "Let's do the science!" he said, apparently happy and relieved that he finally had been able to conduct me to my first steelie, for which I had been travelling so far. The fish's length was measured to 34 inches, and its waist to 20.5 inches. Its weight was estimated at 21 lbs. After having taken scale and fin samples, having tagged the fish in the back, and having shot a couple of pictures, Ed released the beautiful creature.
Why doing all this mess with the fish, instead of releasing it as quick as possible? Because I was participating in my first scientific fishing expedition, which was organised by the American based organisation called the Wild Salmon Center (WSC). Theoretically, it is forbidden to fish for steelhead in Kamchatka, unless there are scientific purposes related to it. Steelhead is in fact listed in Russia's "Red Book of Endangered Species". For a fisherman, the only "legal" solution for getting in touch with Kamchatka's steelhead is to book a trip through the WSC, since the WSC is the only organisation that is licensed to do that type of research in Kamchatka. The expedition goes under the project "Kamchatka Steelhead Project", which is the result of successful collaboration between Moscow State University and the WSC. The idea with the fishing trips is that fishermen shall bring data from steelhead to the Russian and American biologists, by practicing catch-and-release flyfishing.
I had chosen to buy a two-week long trip, which brought me to northwest Kamchatka , on three different rivers: the Utkholok, the Kvachina, and the Snatolvayam. The plan was that we should stay one week at the Utkholok Camp first, and then one week at the Kvachina Camp. The Snatolvayam river was flowing a few miles from the Kvachina, and it was easily reached by horse. On the first day, I met the WSC staff and the other anglers with whom I would bring the next couple of weeks, at Petropavlovsk airport. Petropavlovsk is Kamchatka's biggest city with its 250.000 inhabitants. All in all, 350.000 people live in Kamchatka, which stretches over 750 miles from north to south and 250-300 miles from east to west.
I was surprised that we weren't more, as I had read that the trip could take up to six fishermen. But we would only be three: Jim, Ken and myself. This sounded like pure luxury: three anglers to share three world-class steelhead rivers! From Petropavlovsk, we would have to travel 300 miles in the northwest direction, in a Russian MI-8 helicopter (same type of helicopter as used on the Kola Peninsula). The flight was incredible, it had been snowing the night before, and the landscape, which was a mix of mountains and volcanoes, was awesome. Unfortunately we weren't able to spot any of the many bears that populate the area. We flew during two hours and landed in Esso, a little town where the helicopter needed refuelling (I didn't invent the name of the town!). One more hour of flight and we landed at the Utkholok Camp late in the afternoon. At last I was standing here, near one of the best steelhead rivers in the world, that place I had seen pictures of and had read articles about. I recognized at once the typical Russian red tents that composed the camp. I was shivering!
