Fly Fishing Insider Newsletter featuring Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia

...American anglers...American jet boat.. Russian steeley...

...another steely...

(continued from 08/21 The Fly Fishing Shop Insider)
Journey to the Forbidden Land (Part-3)
A three part series about Kamchatka wilderness adventure -
by Mark Bachmann
We caught a lot of fish from the Zhuponova, but we also took time to do some site seeing with the helicopter. The scenery in Kamchatka is spectacular. You can fly over hundreds of square miles of the country and see no evidence that anyone has been there before you. There are no roads, no clear-cuts, no dams on the rivers and

no human footprints in the sand. It's like going back to a time before man.

There are two reasons for this, Russian security and the fact that its damn cold here much of the year. Kamchatka is about as far north as Northern British Columbia and South East Alaska. Warm flowing Ocean currents favor Alaska. The Kamchatka weather pattern flows from arctic Siberia. Whatever the reasons, Kamchatka is largely a post ice age microcosm of tundra and pristine water.
	...time forgot...

...big bad ass bear...

The most famous and noticeable animals on Kamchatka are its bears. They are much like the Kodiak bears of Alaska and were coming out of hibernation when we were there. We saw several from the air and a few were around while we were fishing, but none were any problem.

Kamchatka is a hot bed of thermal energy. There are smoking volcanos everywhere. It hosts the only geyser valley in Asia. Though much smaller than the geyser area in Yellow Stone Park, it is nonetheless dramatic. We spent several hours watching the eruptions and all the guides had to show off by skinny-dipping in a hot springs pool. It's a good thing that none of the bears were around because they also enjoy bathing in the hot springs.

...bare assed fishing guides in hot spring...

...hot springs pool...

The last couple of days of our visit were spent in and around Petropavlovsk. It is the largest town in Kamchatka with a population of 325,000 people. Through the cold war it was a highly strategic military base and has the only year round
ice-free sea port in Eastern Russia. It is a sprawling mass of block long unadorned multi-story concrete tip-ups between a skyline of smoking volcanos and a shoreline of the North Pacific.

Lenin in Petropavlovsk

Used Rods, Used Reels consigned by customers like you.
Are you lusting for a new piece of fly fishing equipment that you can't afford?
Do you have a fly rod or reel that you are no longer using?
Is it in your way, cluttering up a closet?
We will help you sell your used fly rods and fly reels. Hundreds of qualified buyers come to our Bargain Page every day looking for deals on fly fishing equipment. Some of them are looking for the kind of equipment that you no longer need. Why don't you consign your old equipment to us for resale? Bring your used rods and reels to our store and we will put them on display & sell them for you. That will save you the bother of posting ads, answering phone calls and dealing with strange people. We will do that for you. If you apply the money that you make from your consignment, to goods purchased from The Fly Fishing Shop, we don't extract any fee for our consignment service. You get to set your price. If you take the money from your sold goods then we ask for 20% commission. Either way you win. Now you have turned your liabilities into assets and cleaned out your closet in the process.
We will ship consigned goods, but will charge full amount for shipping.
Goods bought with consignment money are treated as any other sales and are shipped "standard free shipping".
All items first come - first served - limited to stock on hand - no exceptions!
All sales are final.

Oil Paintings by Roger Cooke Hang one of these original oils in your office if you want to impress your next business contact.
	"A DAY OF PROMISE" Sparks Lake with Broken Top in the background. The painting depicts a grandfather passing the heritage to his grand son, as the morning light illuminates their campground. Size: 24"x30" Price: $6200

"FISHING GRANDPA'S LAKE" Multopor Lake with Mt. Hood in the background. Grandfather teaching the art of fly fishing to his grandson. Size: 24"x36" Price: $7500
Roger Cooke recooke@easystreet.com www.rogercooke.com

	Howling gale...steep bank...covered with brush...long cast...flawed in execution...big mend...shocking pull...screaming reel...line burn across fingers...backing gone to 20 yards...line wrapped around ledge in mid-river...throw some slack...fish swims free...line retightens...a few more tricks...fish on the beach...adipose clipped...
maxillary clipped...nose tagged...bonked and gutted...it ain't real pretty...but it was real tasty...barbequed for dinner ...&...mixed with scrabbled eggs the next morning...