While the Kamchatka Peninsula is obviously off-limits for the foreseeable future, we must still highlight this astonishing fly fishing, cultural and wilderness experience as there is simply nothing like it.  It will come back one day and we are anxious to get back over there at the first opportunity.  

Words simply cannot describe the world-class trout fishing, the adventure, or the cultural education experienced on a trip to the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia. You have to see it to believe it. It is impossible to describe the feeling of excitement when the engines are lit on the Russian made Mi-8 helicopter bound for one of the most remote and seldom fished trout streams on the planet. It is an emotion not felt with any other exotic angling adventure — a fresh curiosity about a destination this remote and pristine.

The Kamchatka Peninsula is without question one of the most special wildernesses remaining on the planet. Kamchatka is a true peninsula approximately the same size as California with only 375,000 residents (less than one person per square kilometer). There is no development, no roads, no logging, no pollution, no poaching, and certainly no fishing pressure. In many ways the Kamchatka Peninsula is very similar to Alaska, only without the crowds or the development. It is a place of breathtaking beauty and unique wildlife, mixing striking scenery of mountains, tundra, forests and rugged coastline. Russia’s largest volcano belt made up of twenty-nine active craters stretches along its shore, many of which are seen and heard from each of the rivers fished.

It is hard to imagine a more idyllic and untouched landscape. Big and beautiful rainbow trout are the target species, however prolific numbers of Pacific salmon are found in all the rivers we represent (1/3rd of the world’s Pacific Salmon return to spawn in Kamchatka). Later in the season anglers also encounter loads of dolly varden and Khundza (an Asian char that eats everything and often busts the 40” mark!).

In addition to annual exploratory trips to new and unknown venues, Tailwaters represents diverse fishing programs in three separate regions of Kamchatka. Whether it is high volume dry fly and mouse fishing on a perfect spring creek, or swinging flies on a larger freestone for enormous JUMBO sized Rainbows in the 30+ inch range (or a little of both) — Kamchatka offers a setting, accommodation type, and style of fishing for every type of angler. Less than forty anglers a year fish our rivers for a short eight-week season. In a shrinking world where human footprints mark the riverbanks almost everywhere, Kamchatka offers the refreshing feeling of a fishery that has simply been left alone.

Having spent a number of weeks fishing and exploring many of Kamchatka’s river systems over the last several years, we must say there is simply no better all around rainbow trout fishing destination to be found. Sure you can catch trout just as big in Alaska, however the sum of all the parts are what make Kamchatka so special. The historical and political significance of this formerly Soviet naval hotbed is a perspective jolt for even the most adventurous traveler.

Our Russian Outfitters have been rock solid for over ten years, and deliver a safe and organized program in one of the worlds most remote and beautiful wildernesses. Tailwaters has been involved with the fishing programs in Kamchatka since 2003, and understand the ins and outs of traveling, exploring, and fishing this rainbow trout fantasyland.