Zendzur Lodge, Kamchatka, Russia

Ready to go where few outsiders tread? Zendzur represents the only fixed lodge in the Kamchatka Peninsula and is about an hour and a half flight by helicopter from the hub city of Petropavlovsk. Here you’ll find the completely wild Zhupanova River, surrounded by virgin forests full of wildlife in the shadow of a snow-capped volcano.

Zendzur Lodge, Kamchatka, Russia

Ready to go where few outsiders tread? Zendzur represents the only fixed lodge in the Kamchatka Peninsula and is about an hour and a half flight by helicopter from the hub city of Petropavlovsk. Here you’ll find the completely wild Zhupanova River, surrounded by virgin forests full of wildlife in the shadow of a snow-capped volcano. The luxurious Russian wilderness lodge – staffed with Russians and Americans – overlooks the river, with large guest suites and cabins, and a very inviting natural hot spring onsite. Expect savory dishes of seafood, dacha-grown vegetables, home-baked breads and pastries. When salmon and Dolly Varden are in season, shore lunches are served daily on the river. Accommodations include suites and cabins, each with a private bathroom, shower and sitting room.

Every morning, anglers head out with their guide in powerful jet boats, accessing over 30 miles of classic freestone riffles and runs, where they can cast to holding or free-rising rainbow trout – some sure to be the largest they have ever taken. Fly anglers will score well with mouse patterns, streamers on sink-tip lines and traditional dry flies. From late July into early October, huge Asiatic white-spotted char averaging 27 inches and many up to 36 inches pour into the river from the North Pacific. Massive schools of sea-running Dolly Varden char fill the waters all season and they average 12 to 18 inches. In late August and September, you’ll enjoy shots at silver salmon.