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2003 Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Expedition of the Year

Join us for some of the best Rainbow fishing in the world!

Ouzel Expeditions became the first western guide service to operate in Kamchatka in 1991.  We were looking for great salmon runs but couldn't keep the  gigantic Rainbow Trout off our hooks. No one complained and the rest is history. Today Kamchatka is famous for it's huge Rainbow Trout. Ouzel introduced catch and release angling to Kamchatka and the use of Russian helicopters to access it's beautiful rivers for fly fishing. Ed Exum  caught the first Steelhead in Kamchatka on one of Ouzel's 1992 trips! Yvon Chounaird of Patgonia fame went along. (To see the article about this trip click here.) Exploratory trips are run each year. Join us on one if you're this kind of adventurer. The fishing is generally up in question on these trips. That's the way we first found all the great streams we float today. Today we are still finding and fishing new rivers that have never been fished by westerners before.

Kamchatka's best wilderness float fishing trip!

Our staff of 6 per float trip does the work while you fish and relax. You don't have to set up camp. Ouzel's commitment to quality service remains the same after 30 years, a First Class Operation. Our camps are extremely comfortable from our Northface sleeping tents to our SOTAR rafts (which stands for State of the Art Rafts). We present three hot delicious Russian meals each day. The soups and main courses are hearty and heart healthy. After breakfast you wade off down river. Shortly camp is packed and your raft is back with you. Two guests per raft fish with a seasoned helpful fly fishing guide who rows and works hard to make your trip a wonderful experience. We wade fish all day. Boats float from hole to hole. At days end the rafts go ahead and set up camp. You can either ride along or wade fish into camp. We carry a satellite phone for emergency communications.

Kamchatka's Fishing is excellent fishing for huge Rainbow Trout.

We've caught them up to 33 1/2 inches! There are 6 species of Pacific Salmon.  Arctic Char are present all summer. Kundzha (east Siberian Char) are great fighters! Salmon arrival times vary from stream to stream but generally arrive the same time in Kamchatka as Alaska. We fish for King Salmon from mid June through early July. Silvers arrive mid August and run through October. Chum run all season long. Sockeye Salmon arrive in July and August. Pinks run early August through September, but only strong on even numbered years.

Ouzel's on going studies with Kamchatka Fish & Game have discovered Kamchatka's "special" sea run Rainbow Trout populations. These Rainbows go out to sea at age 2 or 3 remain there for 3, 4  or 5 years then return to fresh water for the rest of their lives. Many of the  big fish are 7 to 9 year old.  The biggest sea run Rainbows were 10 years old! These fish remain in freshwater for many years so they are not Steelhead. In Alaska and the lower 48 most Rainbows die of old age at 6 or 7 years. These Coastal Rainbow Trout run from 5 to 15 lbs & enter the river from spring on.