Ponoi River has gained worldwide recognition as one of the most productive salmon river on earth and you will have to search hard to find such a unique and unspoilt salmon stock. The Ponoi River with an overall length of 400 kilometers is the longest river on the Kola Peninsula. It flows parallel and just north of the polar circle, through the largest nature reserve on the Kola. With numerous lakes in the system, water flow is very stable and remains nearly unaffected by rain or dry conditions.

Ponoi is regarded as a big river with 60 to 150 meters from bank to bank, but it is quite shallow with an average depth of about 1,5 meters. The fishing is therefore possible and productive both wading or from boat and in many places you will find pools and holding places side by side across the river as if two or three rivers were braided together. There are rivers on the Kola where you have a chance of catching bigger fish and there are maybe also places where you can get bigger numbers of smaller fish - but the unique mix of quantity and quality is unparalleled.

Acha Camp. Acha camp is the core program on the Ponoi situated just upstream the well known Ryabaga-stretch with camp at the junction between the productive Acha River and the Ponoi. Fishing the beautiful lower pools in Acha River just beside the camp is off course included in this program so bring your single hand rod, dry flies and skaters - and be tuned for a short-lining salmon-rush. The fishing at Acha camp is out of this world and very reliable. During the last years Acha camp has produced 1851-2700 salmon per season. Roughly 43% of the caught fish has been MSW fish. The camp has a total of 10 new wooden cabins with twin beds and stove etc. A new Dining house - containing kitchen, cosy dinning room, bar, fly tying corner, shower and sauna.

Acha River Explore Program. The explorative alternative for the challenging guy, who likes a bit of sweat with his salmon. The helicopter will drop of the team with two well trained guides and you will be able to fish the pools from about 30 km upstream of the Acha camp and all the way downstream to Acha camp. These exploratory visits are highly successful and you will discover premium fly fishing water with numerous holding pools in the most beautiful countryside with abundant wildlife. Acha river explore program has been averaging weekly 100 – 110 salmon between 6 rods! Our Acha river explore program is the ultimate trip for a young and fit salmon angler who is looking for an inexpensive and challenging salmon fishing. Accommodation will be in two base tents camps placed strategic along Acha river.

Acha program. This program became a succes right from the beginning - especial among younger anglers who found a fantastic entrance to the magic salmon anglers world – You will fish 6 days in this classic salmon camp – a total of 40 Kilometres of prime salmon water. Stretch contains a large number of classic pools and you will also has access to the Acha River (second largest tributary on the Ponoi river system). Grab this awesome chance and get full access to salmon paradise.

The Fishing. On the Ponoi you will encounter a week of salmon fishing that you will never forget! You will discover that Ponoi is well readable and very accessible river featuring all the classic salmon-domains from riffles, glossy glides to stream edges, bars and big rocks scattered in a curving pool. Each guide has his own spacious alu-boat and this is both for transportation and fishing - but if you prefer fishing from the bank or wading you will find this very possible on all our beats so just ask your guide for directions on that matter. Of course there are pools that are best covered from boat - but there is definitely equally many pools better covered from the bank or waders.

Ponoi Fishing Season. The fishing starts in late May and as May turns into June we see a period that must be considered prime time. The fishing is extremely reliable as fresh fish from the sea start to respond to the increasing temperatures and steadily dropping water. Some guests have caught up to 102 fish in June and we are not talking grilse on a string. The ratio salmon to grilse is about 3:1. The fishing is mostly carried out with double hand rods or heavy single hand outfit and the usual choice of line would be intermediate or slow sinking, but as soon as you face a day of good rising temperature it will be very smart to get the floater sorted out and start to fish faster. In July the summer will manifest itself with nice weather and sometimes sunshine. Dry fly tactics is very worthwhile and it can be absolutely essential in July. The amount of fish on our beats is probably peaking in July. During July we see an increase in fresh grilse so that the salmon to grilse ration moves towards 1:1. The average summer salmon will be between 7 and 15 lb. but every week there will be landed some big fish over 20 pounds.

Fly Fishing Tackle. The Ponoi fishing is normally not demanding heavy tackle. There are no waterfalls or brute runs where you cannot follow a "distance-runner" and there is few places where distance-casting is a must. Light double hand outfit or medium to heavy single hand is the right choice and will both be the most effective and pleasurable. Regarding lines it is always wise to bring both floating intermediate and sinking - even in summer - not that you will need more than a floater most of the season - but you never know when you meet a wind, water or weather situation where it would give you an extra edge to make the effort and change line. A recommended rod is 12-15 feet double handed rod for line 8 to 10. And Single handed rods 9 - 9.6 feet for line 7 - 9.