Dreaming of the perfect pools

Day dreaming is a large part of Atlantic salmon fishing. To be effective, you must imagine a fish lying just to the left of that boulder or holding tight to the edge of this seam. When you make the cast, you must believe a salmon might take the fly. This power of positive thought keeps you alert and enthused. But day dreaming also plays a part in helping soften the blow of hours, days or weeks without success. On such a week, plagued by drought, my mind wandered to the ideal salmon river: which pools had I fished that, in my imaginary watery world, would I put together to form one extraordinary river?

LITZA FALLS POOL, EASTERN LITZA RIVER, RUSSIA

The highest pool on the river would have to be the Litza Falls pool, at the top of the Eastern Litza, on the north coast of Russia’s Kola Peninsula. It is a short pool, headed by a waterfall that stops the fish dispersing further into the tundra. At just six miles