Consider there are an estimated 1000 potentially awesome trout, salmon and steelhead rivers in Kamchatka.  Then consider that since the end of the Cold War the fishing community has collectively explored about 30 of them.

Kamchatka is without question the last frontier of unexplored, wilderness fly fishing. For truly adventurous souls, an exploratory expedition to one of Kamchatka's virgin trout rivers will be the holy grail of fishing trips.

We've had great luck finding stellar fishing on our exploratories because the rivers we choose are not picked willy-nilly. They are carefully selected based on the best available scientific and local anecdotal knowledge, gathered and honed by The Fly Shop staff over the course of 13 years fishing and exploring on the Kamchatka Peninsula. But our pre-trip preparations go even further than that: We attempt as much helicopter reconnaissance of the drainage as is possible to reduce the potential of setting down on a log-jammed, flooded, or otherwise impossible-to-fish river. We are interested only in systems that exhibit the highest potential for world-class rainbow trout fishing, stable water conditions, and floatability.

All that being said, these trips are definitely not for everyone. In order to be a candidate for an exploratory expedition, you need to be physically and mentally prepared for the host of uncertainties that come with stepping into the unknown. Whether it's chipping in with an axe to cut out log jams, flattening a boulder-bar to pitch a tent, or humping gear to and from the chopper or around un-navigable water, you need to be prepared to burn a few hours or a half-day of fishing here and there if the situation requires it. But hey, you never know, chopping though that log jam may be the ticket to trout nirvana. It's happened before!

Maybe you've had a day or two in Alaska, Canada, Patagonia, or even the remote Rocky Mountains, where everything is perfect - the crowds are gone, your surroundings are mind-blowingly beautiful and the fishing is hot. Now imagine a day where on top of that, no one else has ever fished the river you are standing in.

These are not once-in-a-lifetime trips; these are once-in-history trips.