Fishing on Lake Athabasca: Days 1 and 2

Posted On December 31, 1969

Lunker laker: My biggest trout so far

Lunker laker: My biggest trout of the trip so far

Leading pike: Ted and Bryan hoist Ted's 44-incher

Leading pike: Ted and Bryan hoist Ted's 44-incher

"Night" fishing: Catching pike on the fly

Iâm too tired to blog at any length, but I have to post just enough to tease my good fishing buddies and neighbours, Pat and Jon. Well, boys, yesterday here on northern Saskatchewanâs Lake Athabasca, my fishing partner, Ted Cawkwell, and I boated 13 lake trout topping 20 pounds (along with several teenagers). I got the big fish of the day, a 21.5-pound lunker. This was all pure bonus, since we had started out the day aiming to catch pike, which we also did: some 60 fish in all, the biggest of which were approaching 40 inches. But the weather cleared up nicely, so we took the opportunity to hit the big water on the main lake for a chance at the trout.

Itâs a good thing we did go after the lakers yesterday, because today the forecast was for high winds, so we had to stick relatively close to camp. In the end, we caught no lake trout, but we did boat 12 big pike; Ted brought in the biggest one, a 44-incher we had spotted and nicknamed âBig Blueâ due to the bluish tinge on its big shoulders. As for me, I lost what may well have been my goal for pike fishing-a 45-inch-plus bruiser-when my 30-pound braid snapped loudly above the leader. There must have been a nick. No mind: we still have five more days of fishing ahead of us.

As for tonight, weâre taking it easy here at camp (last night, we hiked several kilometres to a shallow river mouth to fly fish for hammer handles-my first-ever pike on the fly, eight in all, caught on the bunny leeches Iâd tied up myself, no less). Before I sign-off for today, big thanks go to Bryan Parker, our kick-ass guide here at Lakers Unlimited, for his superb boatmanship, fish handling skills and good sense of humour. Hell, he even pinched off a pee midstream to unhook one of our many pike double-headers. Nowâs that guiding.

Article courtesy of

Outdoor Canada

Latest Blog Posts

WFN's Mariko Izumi to join panel of inspiring outdoor women

One of the many issues of concern for the fishing and hunting community is recruitment, or, more specifically, the greying of our ranks. In short, we are continually striving to bring new anglers and hunters, particularly youth, into the fold. And more and more, the outdoors community has also been targeting woman as potential new outdoorsfolk of tomorrow. And that’s a good thing. In

National Fishing Week

Have you made plans for National Fishing Week yet? It’s coming up fast, kicking off this Saturday, July 2, and running through to Sunday, July 10. Even if you don’t participate in an official event, it’s a great time to take a kid fishing or introduce someone new to the sport. That is, after all, the main point of National Fishing Week: to get more Canadians outdoors and

Fishing with Dad for trophy pike in northern Saskatchewan

Awesome. Sweet. Dude. Those are the three new words my Dad says he learned during our four days of fishing at northern Saskatchewan’s Milton Lake Lodge (we got back to Ontario on Tuesday). That’s hardly surprising, given we were hanging with Nick Pujic, the hip young principal of Fly Max Films and Fly Nation TV (think surfer culture meets fly fishing), and our guide Naoto Aoki.

1st Annual B.C. Loch-Style Fly Fishing Championship

Congrats to the winners of the first annual B.C. Loch-Style Fly Fishing Championship, held last Friday and Saturday on Trojan Pond near the town of Logan Lake, B.C. Eight teams of five anglers apiece vied for the top team and individual honours. Among the winners? Outdoor Canada field editor Mark Anderson, who placed third in individual results. As well, Mark’s team (Equipe

Trophy lakers and northern pike on Lake Athabasca: The movie

Subscribers should be receiving the March/April issue of Outdoor Canada magazine any day now, and among the great features, they’ll find a travel adventure story by yours truly. The subject? Trophy lake trout and northern pike fishing on Saskatchewan’s Lake Athabasca (at Lakers Unlimited’s Spring Bay Lodge). As promised in the article (”A sure thing,”

About

Patrick Walsh (Twitter: @OutdoorWalsh)
Patrick Walsh (Twitter: @OutdoorWalsh)

Joined November 18, 2010

///// FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @OutdoorWalsh ///// Outdoor Canada Editor Patrick Walsh grew up fishing and hunting in Bracebridge, Ontario, where he began his magazine career in 1983 as assistant editor of Muskoka Life. Since then, he has worked for a variety of media, both in Canada and abroad, earning numerous writing and editing awards. In both 2011 and 2005, the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors named him Editor of the Year, while Outdoor Canada was honoured as Magazine of the Year. Learn more: www.outdoorcanada.ca.

User Stats

WFN Bonus Points
0pts
Total Points
pts