During the summer of 2003 (from July 3rd to October 3rd) Rob will be guiding in Kamchatka, Russia. He will be working with Wild Salmon River Expeditions, leading wilderness fishing trips down the mythical Sedanka River. During those months, master guide Ted Richter will be working for First Water, leading our famous tidewater Chinook salmon trips.

Rob Russell Rob is equally at home swinging flies or casting bait. He has mastered the art of finding fish, regardless of the method. It is this ability along with his enthusiasm for the rivers of the Pacific Northwest, which has made Rob one of the region's leading guides. A trained naturalist and accomplished outdoor writer, Rob has spent years learning the intricacies of each river system he fishes, and he conveys that knowledge to his clients. Like many dyed-in-the-wool fish bums, Rob started fishing in his bathtub before he could talk. By age 3, with the help of his parents, he was terrorizing the panfish and trout of western Oregon. By 12 years of age, he had already become a snobby little dry-fly purist. No trout was safe for the decade that followed. The mighty Deschutes River, winding its way through Oregon's high desert, was Rob's classroom. It was on the Deschutes, one fateful October day, that Rob, then in his twenties, caught his first steelhead on a fly. His world shifted on its axis. He realized that the trout he had spent his life pursuing were really only baby steelhead. When he caught his first ocean-fresh Chinook salmon, Rob fell off the deep end. The raw power and impressive physique of king salmon ensnared him, and eclipsed all other piscatorial pursuits. Today, as a guide, Rob prefers to target Chinook salmon whenever they are available, and to target steelhead in the months between. His passion for salmon and steelhead has led him to Tillamook County, a land of rainforest rivers with some of the strongest runs of Chinook salmon anywhere. Rob has been a licensed Oregon guide since 1999. He is trained in first aid and CPR, and is fully insured. He has taught dozens of people how to fly fish, and specializes teaching two-handed fly-casting, also known as "Speycasting." Rob has had over 50 articles published in leading magazines including Fish & Fly, Salmon Trout Steelheader, Northwest Flyfishing, and many others.