A few spots have opened up in this summer's Kamchatka fly fishing calendar, and I've decided to take advantage, and tag along from the 9th to 19th of August, 2010. If you have the time and the interest, join me in August for the most exciting coldwater wilderness fishing on the map, and I promise to do everything I can to make this the most memorable wild rainbow trout fishing trip of your life. I've got room for one other fisherman on our 10-day fishing trip to the fabulous Ozernaya River. This is a fishery first discovered by The Fly Shop's travel team in 2002. We're now the only operation on the river and both Ryan Peterson and I will be hosting a group from the 9th to 19th of August. You'd need to depart the States on the 7th in order to arrive (via Moscow) in Kamchatka for 10 days of fishing, and would return home on the 21st. Of course you can add as much time as you'd like on either end of the package in the remarkable Russian capitol, and we'd be glad to help with those arrangements. Cost of the ground package is $7,150 There are also three spots still available with me for our week-long (7 full days of fishing) Exploratory trip to the Turusheva from the 20th to the 27th of August, 2010. This'll be a rare return visit to one of the most unforgettable spring creeks on Earth. The itinerary would have you departing the USA on the 18th of August, fishing from the 20th to the 27th, and returning home on the 29th. Cost is $6,150. Honestly, there's no better trout fishing than Kamchatka. It is the pivot point of my fishing calendar and these are, arguably, the best dates and destinations in the fly fishing world. Give either Ryan Peterson or myself a call at 800-669-3474or for the full-court sales pitch. Mike Michalak Owner, The Fly Shop

The Kamchatka Peninsula has long been shrouded in mystery.

Only since the disintegration of the Soviet Union have we begun to understand that what lies behind its jagged North Pacific coastline - the most abundant and biologically diverse population of wild rainbow trout, salmon, and char that has ever existed on Earth.

During Russia's Tsarist period, Kamchatka existed in the minds of Europeans as nothing more than a blank spot on the map and rumors of a land abounding with natural resources. In 1724, curiosity, a sense of adventure and the booming European fur trade persuaded Peter the Great to commission an eastward exploratory expedition. The leader of that expedition, Vitus Bering and his crew were to become the Lewis and Clarks of the eastern hemisphere. The results of their expedition are famous, having led to the founding of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatksy and ultimately the discovery of Alaska by Europeans.

Centuries went by and not much changed on the peninsula. Then in 1991 the cold hard borders of the Soviet Union melted away. At that moment, serious flyfishers everywhere spun their heads in unison toward a distant peninsula on the North Pacific shore. Kamchatka had been a closed military zone for the previous century (it’s where the Soviets kept their nuclear subs), making it a de facto 160,000 square-mile wilderness preserve with no roads or development of any kind, and very few people. Looking westward, across the shallow Bering Sea from Alaska, anglers had long wondered if Kamchatka, at the same latitude and with the same climate, might harbor similar populations of trout and salmon. Sure enough, the early rumors filtering in from the first intrepid explorers hinted of rivers and volcanoes of intense grandeur; landscapes rife with fish and wildlife. Those in the know started making plans.

Kamchatka today, while mapped, remains basically the same; wild, spectacular, inviting. But words simply don't do Kamchatka justice - it has to be experienced first-hand to be fully comprehended.

The Fly Shop® has been going to Kamchatka since the mid 1990's, and today we spend a good chunk of our lives seeking out the best fly fishing opportunities it has to offer. Rivers like the Zhupanova, Sedanka, Tigil, Pirozhnikova, Turuscheva, Ozernaya, Kalgauch, Kvachina, and Utohlok have become famous over the last decade and were pioneered under the auspices of The Fly Shop®.

Whether your passion is for softly presenting traditional dry flies to free rising rainbows, swinging big streamers for bone-jarring grabs from trophy-sized trout and kundzha, or you're addicted to the intense rushing surface take of a fish on a mouse pattern, The Fly Shop® invites you for a week (or two or three!) of fly fishing that will overload your senses, hit you with adrenaline, and leave you with unforgettable cultural experiences.

Our camps are in equal part fittingly rustic and ultra high-tech. Our Russian outfitting partners are masters in their field and are respected as such among their peers. Our North American camp directors are consummate professionals who've gravitated toward Kamchatka out of the same sense of adventure and pursuit of high quality angling that has led you to think about going there now. And our staff at The Fly Shop® will pull out all the stops to advise, coordinate, and insure that you experience the same Kamchatka that keeps us and our guests going back year after year after year...

We’re completely smitten by Kamchatka. It humbles us; reminds us of why we fly fish; of why we devote so much of our time, our resources, and ourselves to seeking contact with those elegant creatures called rainbow trout - because they live in beautiful places.

The time is now to make a pilgrimage to Kamchatka, the new epicenter of wilderness fly fishing. Give us a call, we'd love for you to feel it.

Download the Kamchatka Travel and Outfitting PDF:

• 2010 Kamchatka Travel and Outfitting Guide
• 2010 Kamchatka Steelhead Project Outfitting Guide