Rainbow River

Rainbow River - extraordinarily beautiful, is a tributary of the Kamchatka river.

The Kartuska River may have more rainbow trout per mile than any river in Kamchatka.  Ouzel first floated this little treasure in 2000 and quickly added it to their repertoire.  This trip begins deep in the mountains floating through a tight valley with huge mountains.


then finally out onto the coastal plane. Along it's course the river pretty much stays in one piece, not much braiding. The Kartuska is shallow with great wading.  The rainbows are plentiful, averaging 20 inches up to 28 inches.  There are very few char, and strong runs of very large kings in late June and silvers mid-August through September.

The Fishing
Kamchatka’s main attraction for the traveling angler is the remarkable rainbow trout fishery.  The rainbows of most of the river systems are described as “coastal rainbows”.  These are summer run steelhead that only spend a brief time in saltwater.  They are available in the river systems from June through the fall months.
In most rivers, coastal bows will average 24 inches in length and are taken over 30 inches.  Upon returning to the rivers, these coastal rainbows feed as resident fish would and take a variety of subsurface streamers and “buggers”, but will also slash a deerhair mouse pattern, and rise freely to mayfly and caddis hatches which occur from June until late in September.    Rainbows as large as 27 inches have been taken on dry flies as small as size #22!