Thanks for the personal report Vladamir, I had a good time reading that, I've dreamt of Kamchatka ever since I first heard rumors of it back in '94, but haven't been able to come up with the cash for a trip. One of these days!
Ryan Davey MSN GSC Calling Fly Fishing a hobby is like calling Brain Surgery a job. - Paul Schullery -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of steblina Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 12:19 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Fishing for science in Kamchatka Flew into Petropavlovsk in 96 on my way to Vladivostok. Kamchatka was just unbelievable from the air. Erupting volcanoes with glaciers hanging off them. Miles and miles of deserted beaches. Really no sign of human occuptation outside of Petropavlovsk. It was also covered with snow in June. Pictures I've seen of their thermal features makes Yellowstone seem like a county park. It is also only seven hours flight time from Seattle. Be careful over there. The Russians don't even bother worrying about grizzly bears. With the Siberian tigers, vipers, and truly nasty stuff like ticks the Russian Far East is not your typical tourist destination. After living in Idaho I thought ticks were no big deal. Well, the Siberian ticks are a 1/4 the size of the Rocky Mountain Tick and the year I was there 25% carried encephillitas. You would spend a half hour in the forest and pick off fifty ticks. I had one embed into me. When I got home I went to see the doctor.. he said if you get a headache in the next thirty days...call me immediately. I asked what the treatment was...he answered.....the diagonosis start with a spinal block and you go from there. No alcohol, drank lots of water for a full month just so I didn't get any false positives. I had a Russian forester ask about nasties in the Cascades....his parting comment was that our forests were very friendly. Watch the pristine fisheries. The Russian Far East was in basic survival mode in 1996. That means fisheries were really hammered any place there was access. Note not easy access...just access. The fishing is great if you can get back in the middle of nowhere. We saw streams that were access by roads in the middle of nowhere that were fished out. All I ever caught were small cuts and graylings. Though it was a work trip and not a fishing trip so fishing was definitely secondary. That said if I had the cash I would be there in a minute. The other impressive thing about the Russian Far East was all the military facilities. Thank god, for Ronald Reagan. A country where nothing worked, everything was falling apart, and yet the Soviets kept pouring money into the military. The whole of the Far East looks like a former military post. Good luck....get a good outfitter. Russia is tough for the unattached tourist. Vladimir > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 7:15 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Fishing for science in Kamchatka > > > Nation Public Radio's program 'Morning Edition' ran the first of a > fascinating two-part report on fly fishing and fisheries science on > Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula this morning. Eco-flyfishers aid > scientists who hope to apply the information learned from studying the > pristine fisheries of Kamchatka and their fish in restoring Pacific > Northwest fisheries damaged by years of neglect and adverse > environmental impact. > > Co-sponsored by The National Geographic Society, reporter Elizabeth > Arnold's second installment airs tomorrow morning. You can listen to > both parts (available online after 9am PST on the days they air) as > well as see photos from the expedition at > http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2003/jan/kamchatka/ > index.html > > Kent Lufkin >
