The whitefish squirted out of the Laker’s mouth and in an instant a gull snatched it up. It all happened so fast I almost wondered if I had imagined it. I can’t say for certain how big that Laker was, but I know it was more than 40 pounds, and it may have topped 60.
Sergio Giordanengo and Luca Montanelli traveled from Italy to experience the monster pike in Great Slave Lake. They landed several in excess of 40 inches including this 45 inch behemoth.
Well I must admit Ratso was a huge disappointment, but more about him later. Everything else about Frontier Lodge on Great Slave Lake was way beyond expectations.
My fishing buddy Dan Froese and I are both getting a bit long in the tooth. Between us we have fished in more than 30 countries and caught many of the world’s gamefish. Our bucket lists are getting pretty small. But as we chatted about what we both still wanted to check off our respective lists we found several common goals yet unattained. Dan wanted to take a grayling and a pike on the dry fly. I had taken grayling on a dry fly, but never a pike and I wanted to sight fish big lake trout. As I thought about this, I realized one place all of those goals might be achieved was Great Slave Lake, in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Before the winter was over we had booked an adventure with Frontier Lodge on Great Slave Lake.
Dan and I overnighted in Yellowknife, once a Hudson’s Bay fur trading center now a bustling mining hub. A 40-minute flight took us to the First Nations village of Lutselke. Where we ferried past the mouth of the Stark River to Frontier Lodge.
After a quick brunch, we loaded our gear into a boat with our guide Derick, a Dene native who motored us a short distance before stopping where a flock of gulls was screeching; baitfish were skittering across the glassy surface and occasionally a huge Laker would inhale a baitfish with a swirl that looked though a sea monster had arisen. We asked Derek what we should begin with and he said, “It really doesn’t matter all that much. There are so many fish here that anything works.”
Dave Vedder with one of the many superb Lakers taken at Great Slave Lake.
I dropped my spoon back about 75 feet when it seemed to stop. I gave the line a tug, and it tugged back—violently. Dang, I wasn’t really fishing yet. Before I could tell Dan what was happening, he cried, “I’ve got one!” Both fish fought well and both came to the boat about the same time. They were nearly identical twelve-pound lake trout. I jokingly asked our guide “Is it always this good?”
“Pretty much,” he said.
We soon learned he wasn’t kidding. On the big lake, almost any lure trolled over a shoal or rocky point will be inhaled by a lake trout of five to forty pounds. But as you might guess, the forty pounders are exponentially harder to hook than the five to twenty pounders. The only way to get a trophy is to put in the time sorting through dozens of smaller Lakers. By day’s end we both had boated sev-eral Lakers in the eighteen- to twenty-two pound class. While we both loved fishing Lakers it seemed almost too easy. We were both ready to check another box on our bucket lists—northern pike, which are abundant and occasionally huge in Great Slave Lake After a leisurely breakfast the next morning we mounted our assault on pike. Between us we had about every lure known to appeal to a pike, including an assortment of top water plug. I was especially eager to try a 10-inch-long imitation rat I saw featured on several You Tube videos. The videos made it seem like any self-respecting pike would slam the evil looking lure we jokingly named “Ratso”.
Derek took us to a marshy bay the simply scream PIKE! Dan tied on a mouse pattern and began casting to the reeds lining the shore. In less than five minutes a smallish pike, inhaled his fly. Dan couldn’t have been happier another bucket list box checked. Oh, yeah, this was going to be fun! Once we knew we could catch pike at will, I began tossing a six-inch popper and with the same result. The only lure the pike consistently ignored was Ratso!
I retrieved Ratso rapidly, slowly, with huge splashes with tiny twitches—nothing! After about a bazillion fruitless casts I decided to retire Ratso. I even began wondering if everything I see on the Internet is true. Derek said he felt Ratso might work sometime, so I quickly donated it to him. Every bay we entered had seemingly limitless numbers of pike, including a few 30-plus-inch fish. Derek told us the pike fishing there is best in early summer. The pike are around all summer but the biggest fish move out to deeper water by early July.
At noontime we pulled into a protected cove where Derek gathered driftwood to make a fire. The menu was lake trout filets, potatoes, and beans, with a cup of icy water taken right from the lake. There is something magical about knowing the water in this lake is 100 percent safe to drink. And I might add it’s far better than bottled water.
Dave Vedder with one of the countless pike taken on spoons.
Late in the afternoon Dan pointed and said something like, “Goodness gracious, there is a huge pike right next to the boat.”
I looked down into the malevolent stare of a massive pike. I simply dropped my plug; no cast needed, right in front of his nose. He took offense and inhaled it, then headed for the sky. Pike can be spectacular fighters, but they lack the staying power of other fish. We grabbed few quick photos of our day’s biggest fish, and called it a day... well almost.
Anglers who have not had enough fishing during the eight hour guided sessions can hike to the nearby Stark River after dinner. In my opinion the Stark is the finest grayling river in the world. Not only is it simply stuffed with graylings many are in excess of 20 inches.
When we reached the river Dan admitted that his hands were shaking with excitement as he tied on a size 10 Stimulator with a size 16 Prince Nymph dropper. He said he had been dreaming of taking a grayling on a fly for many years.
Dan made a short cast that drifted less than ten feet before a huge grayling inhaled his dropper fly. The big male grayling dashed out to a heavy current tongue and began riding the fast water downstream. In seconds Dan was, into his backing! Against all odds he carefully worked the magnificent grayling up to a quite pool and slipped his hands under a near record class grayling. Its oversized dorsal fin gleaming in the late evening sunset and its iridescent spots against the deep brown background made for a wondrous sight. Few fish are as whimsical looking as a large arctic grayling. I didn’t have any way to measure the fish, but estimated it at twenty four inches. A true trophy.
Around the breakfast table the chatter was all about big fish, including a forty four inch pike and a thirty six pound Laker. Each day a white-board in the dining area recorded the biggest fish from previous days. As the days passed the scoreboard became a bragging board. Several 40-plus-inch pike were taken, and almost everyone had hooked a Laker in excess of 20 pounds and several in the 35-pound class were released.
Lodge manager Cory Myers, told us that because the lake is so deep and cold, the lake trout grow quite slowly. With an estimated annual weight gain of a half-pound per year, a 50-pound Laker might be more than 100 years old. Even the smaller 20-pounders were more than 40 years of age.
As our time at Frontier Lodge drew to a close, Dan and I decided to concentrate on hooking a 100-year old lake trout. It never happened, but one morning, as we raced over to where the gulls were working, I saw a sight I will never forget. A massive lake trout broke the surface with a 12-inch whitefish in its maw.
The whitefish squirted out of the Laker’s mouth and in an instant a gull snatched it up. It all happened so fast I almost wondered if I had imagined it. I can’t say for certain how big that Laker was, but I know it was more than 40 pounds, and it may have topped 60.
My best Laker of the trip came a few minutes later. From the moment it struck I knew it was a much bigger than the ten to fifteen pounders we had been catching. Line began peeling off the trolling reel at a steady pace. I set the hook. Line began peeling off faster! There was no way to stop the big fish before it was ready to stop. It took about seventy-five feet of line then let me turn its head. The battle was dogged, if not spectacular. After about ten minutes of a give and take tug-of-war I saw the massive Laker appear more than 30 feet below. It looked like an image seen through ancient glass, but I knew it was big. Soon Derek slipped the net beneath a fish that might well have been born during the Korean War. With reverence and appreciation we slipped the hooks and let it return to depths.
If You Want To Go
The angling season on Great Slave is a short one. Ice-out is usually in mid-June and the lodge closes due to fierce weather in early September. Those focusing on pike should plan to go early in the season before they spawn. Lake trout and grayling are abundant all season long.
The lodge offers loaner tackle, and the store has all the lures you might need. Fly-fishers need to bring their own rod and reels. Fly rods in the 9-weight class are ad-equate for the Lakers and pike. A 5-weight is best for the grayling. Conventional tackle should be rated for ten to thirty pound test line and lures should be in the ¾- to 2-ounce range.
There are daily jet flights to Yellow-knife from Vancouver and Edmonton. You will need to overnight in Yellowknife to be ready for the early morning flight to the lodge. The lodge has an expeditor who picks up guests at the airport, takes them to their hotel, and then to the regional airport the next morning.
For more information see the lodge website at www.frontierfishinglodge.com or contact Cory at (877) 465-6843 or frontier.fishing@gmail.com.
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