The river's unique combination of plenty and size gives anglers a little taste of everything (photo: Earl Harper).

Whether to the Savan or another of the peninsula's seemingly countless rivers, all trips into Kamchatka's wilderness pursuing its wild rainbows start here or another heliport like it. Here a mechanic and engineer perform a pre-flight inspection on a Russian MI-8 helicopter before takeoff (photo: Chad Shmukler).

The helicopter touches down at basecamp, which will become home later in the trip. Anglers making a float down one of the Savan's tributaries, the Ichanga, are exchanged for weekly supplies here as well. A short 10-minute flight to our first night's camp ensues, affording tantalizing views of the river all along the way (photo: Chad Shmukler).

After breakfast the first morning, angler Gene Kennedy and guide Santos Fernando Madero pore over fly boxes deciding on a first offering to the Savan's waiting quarry (photo: Earl Harper).

Anglers and guides head north from camp for a short hike. 10 minutes or so later, we turn toward the river to ply its waters (photo: Earl Harper).

There's no more exhilarating way to catch a Kamchatka rainbow than on a mouse pattern. Here one of the finest fish of the trip, a thick shouldered 27" rainbow grabs a mouse swung along the banks of one of the Savan's myriad side channels (photo: Earl Harper).

It's impossible to convey the heft of a Kamchatka rainbow. Pictures show off their size, but fail to do justice to their mass. These are not the trout you know (photo: Chad Shmukler).

The late afternoon sun and the fact that this chum hen is fat with eggs means she'll be headed back to camp with us where her roe will be harvested for dinner (photo: Earl Harper).

Once the eggs are harvested, they're placed in a cheese cloth to drain, after which they'll be salted (photo: Earl Harper).

Back at camp, the chum's roe become an appetizer served on dark Russian bread and paired with a bit of vodka (photo: Earl Harper).

The diversity of the fishing on the Savan is staggering: tight, tree-choked braided channels, expansive flats, riffles dotted with islands, boulder lined runs and burly rapids. Each bend in The Savan seems to offer something entirely new (photo: Earl Harper).

And a seemingly endless supply of Kamchatka rainbows to admire briefly before being sent back to chase mice, parr and the rest of the Savan's bounty (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Fishing the lower river means daily excursions from basecamp via jetboat. Each day we travel farther downstream and encounter a whole new face of the Savan (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Basecamp is simple and rustic but well appointed with comfortable beds, a dining and living area and, most importantly, a hot shower. Watching it grow smaller as the crew waves goodbye on the final day of our two weeks on the Savan means it's time to leave the river behind. It also means it's time to start planning a trip back (photo: Earl Harper).