The time has finally come. Tomorrow I fly to the River Ponoi via Amsterdam, Moscow and Murmansk. The season started yesterday with a bumper 124 fish to 21 rods. Fantastic stats with the river running high and cold. After basic training I will be guiding 2 rods everyday on a weekly beat rotation until the end of September, with a 3 week break in the middle. I really have no idea what to expect, the river is much bigger than anything we have here in Scotland and the runs of fish are much more prolific. A quick beer this evening with Nick Armstead of Gamefish in Edinburgh has settled my nerves a bit. A big thanks to him for putting me in touch with the right people to get the job in the first place.

When it comes to kit I have obviously packed my thermals, wooly socks and fluffy hat. I’ve been told to  pack the rods so 1st up is the 15ft Loop power Opti for chucking big flies around in the colder water. Next up the 14ft Redington, not my favourite rod, but a good one for shorter spey lines and light flies. Finally my 12ft 9 sage Z-Axis I hope will be a great addition when the water warms up and the fish are hitting flies on the surface. In the engine room I’ve upgraded my vision Koma (which is staying at home) with a Lamson Litespeed and have reluctantly taken my Hardy Angel Mk1 which I hope will make it back home in one piece. I also forked out a bit of cash for a sage reel for my small rod. Apart from that I will be living in my new Simms G3’s and mosquito net. No doubt I will have forgotten something.

With any luck the internet in camp will be good enough to post the occasional blog post. Watch this space!