The Do Over - Arctic Circle Lodge - July 5 to 11, 2024

Also joining us were Eric the Guide and Chris the Guide. So why may you ask were there were 2 guides on what was supposed to be a self-guided fishing trip?

Please permit me to elucidate.

Eric had been assigned to guide Al, because he had been unable to come up with a partner, and Plummer’s, for understandable safety reasons, prefer not to allow individuals to guide themselves on the big lake. Chris on the other had was there because we had requested him, and although not common practice, Chuk did Kenny and I a real solid by making an exception for us in this instance.

Chris once worked at Circle for several seasons many, many years ago when it was operating as an independent full service lodge, and this would be a great opportunity for us to take advantage of his “institutional” knowledge, and have him guide us to places we may never have bothered to visit if left to our own devices.

In fact it was touch and go if he would even get there, because Westjet cancelled his Thursday flight from Calgary to YK without any warning, and was only prepared to offer him a replacement flight the next day. This was of no use to him as it would mean he would miss the charter to the lodge on Friday morning, so he and Scotty, who found himself in the same predicament, made the 15 + hour drive to YK, arriving at 6:30 am Friday morning.

Needless to say when he finally got to Circle he was exhausted, having not slept for going on 24 hours, so rather than drag him out fishing, we were happy to let him crash and recharge.

There was some fog this morning, but the wind picked up and eventually cleared it out by early afternoon. After saying our goodbyes to the outgoing group, Kenny and I did go out, and given the wind conditions, stuck pretty close to home, fishing the north shore of what on the map appears to be a rather large peninsula southeast of the lodge.

The fishing was steady, and by the time we called it quits, had landed 16 Trout, the majority of which were 12 pounds and over. Having been out on the water when the incoming gang landed, we came back in at 3:30 to say hello, but not surprisingly, everyone but Chris had gone out fishing. They all caught, with Rohan leading the pack with a 26 pounder he bested not too far from the lodge.

In talking to Hank before we came up, he mentioned that he and Jan had planned to do a fair amount of fishing after dinner, and asked that dinner be served around 6pm, so they could get out sooner rather than later.

I have to admit that I’ve never had a ton of luck in the evening, but they did pretty well last year, so I could understand their desire to give it a go. Most everyone did go out after dinner, but improbably didn’t catch a single fish.

Weather/Surface Temp’s

Surface temps where we fished were in the low 50’s, but I didn’t get any data from the other boats today.

In terms of the weather, as mentioned there was some fog around for most of the morning, it was cool, and the winds were kicking up a fuss most of the day, although not so much that it impacted our ability to get out on the water in any appreciable way.

The rain it seems would not leave us be, as there was a shower, albeit a light one, at 4pm.

July 6

Moose on the Loose

One thing we have never seen a lot of at Circle is wildlife, quadrupeds in particular. Now mind you there has been a bear that through the years has made itself at home in room #10 over the winter, but we have yet to make its acquaintance.

But today, all that was going to change , because as soon as we entered Hunter Bay, we were able to get up close and personal with a Moose for a fleeting moment, who was swimming near the mouth of the Sloan – but I digress.

This was going to be our first day on the water with Chris, and it would not be an understatement to say that we were really looking forward to broadening our horizons by fishing some new areas, so it was a little bit of a disappointment when he announced that our first stop would be Hunter Bay.

As it was their first trip to Circle, Terry and Tom tagged along with us, but when we left the bay, they didn’t follow and instead continued to fish the shoreline on the southeast side.

Hunter had not been all that kind to us the previous week, but as we were to come to understand during the ensuing days, there was a new sheriff in town by the name of Chris Ireland, so never mind last week, or for that matter last year, simply follow his lead, and just shut up and fish.

Having come across them in each of the past 3 years, it’s worth noting that we had the pleasure of once again making the acquaintance of the Swan’s that nest in the large bay that runs off of the Sloan, just upstream from the mouth. BTW – it’s also not a bad place to fish for Pike.

Chris trolled in a zig zag pattern between 14 and 80 feet of water, and we caught fish regardless of the depth. It turned out to be a very good morning (see reference to “shut up and fish” above), with the tops lures being both the Orange and Green Crush Huskies.

Once Hunter had slowed down, Chris said he was going to take us over to a place called Tiny Bay. Our route would take us right past Lunch Island, therefore in order to keep Kenny from hyperventilating, we had no choice but to stop and fish for a while. Apparently some of the other boats had the same idea, because by the time we left Hank, Mathew, Jan and David had moved in.

Hank and Mathew showed us how it should be done by catching a 16 and 24 pounder while we looked on. It’s worth noting that both fish were caught in the deeper water further off the island than where we would normally fish. In fact, this deeper water approach was going to become something of a “thing” as the week progressed.

Did I happen to mention that we didn’t catch any?

As he continued to do so throughout the week, Chris provided us with the “Arctic Circle” names of various points of land, islands, bays and such. For example, on our way over to Tiny Bay – a place we had never heard of or fished - he pointed out “Beans” and “Spoon” islands, both of which we had likely driven past, but having no clue that they actually had names.

If you read last week’s journal, you may recall that I happened mentioned we visited a beautiful bay with the big island in the middle near Dog Head Point. Well, it too has an “Arctic Circle” name: High Rock Bay. Personally I would prefer that it be called “Ball & Gold Bay,” but that would involve making application for an official name change, and I don’t have the energy or inclination to fill out all the paperwork.

Tiny Bay and the area just west of it certainly produced, and when we wore out our welcome there, proceeded over to the place that has without a doubt, the best moniker on the entire lake:

Steve’s Nut Sack!

And as an added bonus, you are going to meet Steve, later on in this narrative. Well sort of.

The fishing was excellent, and they were stacked up at the bottom of the “sack,” right on the drop off. We caught 25, with Kenny’s 18 pounder being the biggest.

We hadn’t seen Terry and Tom since we left them in Hunter Bay this morning, and were a bit concerned they may have gotten lost. But no worries, we did eventually catch up with them and overall they had a great day. They had stayed in Hunter for a while after we left, and while working their way along the southwest shore, found a relatively small bay, that if I remember correctly, held Trout, Pike and as they found out when visiting again later in the week, Grayling. Talk about Aladdin’s, or in this case Terry and Tom’s cave/bay of wonders!

I’m pleased to say that regardless of what were somewhat crappy environmental conditions, all boats reported decent fishing.

The “night” fishers were back at it again after dinner, and managed to increase their output by 100% by catching 1 fish. My guess is that they may decide to reevaluate the overall efficacy of their post dinner outings if this keeps up.

Weather/Surface Temp’s

I would describe the wind as coming from the south/WET, because not surprisingly it rained yet again. The high today was 10 C, and the winds while calm throughout the morning, kicked up a real fuss in the afternoon. It did calm down after dinner, which is likely why most everyone decided to go out.

While not entirely weather related, I came to the conclusion that Charlotte must have trained with the Navy Seals at some point, because water and air temperatures notwithstanding, she went for a dip in the lake! I believe someone else joined her, but don’t recall who that brave soul was, although I did hear something that sounded suspiciously like teeth chattering when walking past one of the rooms.

In terms of surface temperatures, nothing to see here, as Chris now had care and control of the sonar, and I could not be bothered to look or ask, figuring if the temperatures were too out of whack, he would find greener pastures.

July 7

A New Kind of Shore Lunch Experience - Hank & Co. Style

When the subject of shore lunch comes up, most of you reading this probably think that it involves pulling into shore – duh – and cooking up some fresh fish and sides over an open fire.

So when its constantly pissing down rain, how do you go about preparing lunch? Finding some dry wood is probably a non-starter, and even if you could find a few pieces, the thought of trying to fry up some fish and potatoes in hot oil while its pouring is really not very appealing.

Well the answer is that you do a Hank & Co.. No need to pull into shore and attempt to build a fire, just catch a fish, fillet it right in the boat, cut the fillets into bite size pieces, then break out the chopsticks, soya, wasabi and voila! Shore lunch is served.

As Hank and his crew, together with many others who have enjoyed fresh Trout from GBL sashimi style can attest to, these water to table fish are every bit as good as, if not better, than anything you are likely to be served in the finest sushi restaurants.

While the wind had died right down overnight, the rain did not, and although I don’t recall when it actually started, by 9:15am it had not slowed down one whit.

For some, a little thing like torrential rain was not going to put a damper on their plans, so 3 boats went out shortly after breakfast, Charlotte went for another swim, and because Kenny and I had had enough of getting drenched for the time being, it gave Chris the opportunity to refamiliarize himself with what remained of Arctic Circle Lodge since he had last been there, many years ago.

At 12:50pm it was still pouring, and we were the only boat still tied up to the dock. Shortly after 1pm the rain seemingly slowed to monsoon proportions, which believe it or not represented an improvement, so we put on everything we owned, and stepped once more into the breach!

Or in this instance into the fog.

We travelled past Axe Island and “Guts” Island, which is a small atoll not far from the lodge where they used to dump the fish guts, and then stopped to fish in Moose Bay, Eagle Bay, and 1 Trout Bay. Between the 3 we caught 8, the biggest being 16 pounds.

Hanks posse did well, catching a 20 and 21 pounder together with a mess of smaller ones, and all other boats also reported as having fared well.

Weather/Surface Temp’s

No surface temp information, and as noted above, the weather sucked.

July 8

So THAT’S What the Net is For

According to everyone’s assorted weather Apps., we could expect relatively light winds throughout the day, so after consulting with Eric and Al, concluded the time was right to make a run to Appleby Point.

Seems that, for now at least, the Apps had it right, and although somewhat chilly, the 1 hour and 45min. trip was as smooth as could be. On the way over Chris regaled us with the Arctic Circle names of the many islands we passed, including ones named Charley, Ross, Ed’s, Jim and Mary. I’m now having second thoughts about applying to have High Rock Bay renamed, because if Ed can have is own island, why can’t Kenny and I have a bay named after us?

Both boats started off fishing an area know as the Cage, which is located just north of Appleby Point. We did catch a few, including one about 18 pounds, but it seems we had some competition, because there had been a significant Caddis hatch, and we could see the Trout dimpling the surface of the water much like raindrops, as they slurped them up.

I’ve learned through experience, that when it comes to making a choice between a piece of metal or plastic, and a nice, fat, juicy, live bug – a fish will choose the bug much more often than not.

Moving over to the point itself, things really started to pick up.

We fished both sides of the point, and the north and south sides of what’s called Gull Rock, which is located a few hundred yards directly east off the tip of the point. The rock is clearly a nesting area for all manner of birds including Gulls, Terns and various types of ducks, and if you happen to venture too close, be prepared to be both squawked and pecked at, so we did our best to keep a respectable distance between our boat and the rock’s occupants.

It was by far our best day yet, and between Al, Kenny and I we caught over 80, with the average size being north of 10 pounds, with many in the mid to high teens. It reminded me in many respects of fishing in McGill Bay, where it is very unusual to catch anything under 10 pounds.

And halleluiah, Kenny finally broke the 20 pound mark with a 23, which is where the above reference to net comes in. After setting the hook, he seemed certain that he was into something fairly big, and started calling for the net. Because it was buried under all manner of crap in the bow, I was not all that inclined to start digging it out until we had eyes on the fish, but he kept going on about its potential size, so rather than take any chances, just in case he was right and it was indeed a hog, I dug it out and handed it over to Chris.

Once we got a look at the fish, my initial comment was: “We’re not going to net that thing!,” because my preliminary estimate was that it MIGHT just clear 20 pounds, and since when did we start netting 20 pounders? Up until now, the custom in our boat was, that if in our collective judgement it didn’t look like it would top 30, the net was not deployed.

I suppose that customs, not unlike rules, are made to be broken and/or amended from time to time.

Landscaping Great Bear Lake Style – A Timeless Elegance in Design

The topography along the north shore of Hornby Bay, bears little resemblance to the geography around the lodge, although in my opinion, both are very beautiful in their own right.

As previously described, the area in the vicinity of the lodge features numerous high promontories, sheer rock walls with colourful splashes of mineralization , and long, deep bays, the shorelines of which are often strewn with immense, lichen covered boulders. There is also a moderate amount of forest cover in many places.

Hornby on the other hand is relatively flat, and the rocks form gently rising terraced slopes, that look like they had been created by a professional landscape architect. There are also a number of very interesting high rock formations that can be best described as Mesas, which randomly pop up along the shoreline – Seagull Rock being one such formation that you will meet later. And while the north shore is not entirely treeless, they don’t occur in abundance.

So if someone were to ask me to try and sum up the north shore of Hornby in as few words as possible, the best descriptor that I can come up with would be that it’s very Zen Garden like.

On the way home we stopped to admire and photograph a stunning geological formation which Chris referred to as Red Rock. It’s a relatively high promontory, covered in what appears to be machine crushed red stone, with patches of green vegetation thrown in for contrast. It was really exquisite, and I only wish we had seen it on a sunny, rather than cloudy day.

I’ll be back, with camera in hand…

In other news, Rohan and Charlotte went to Seagull Rock, but other than a 43 ½ inch Trout, overall the fishing was slow. Tom and Terry decided to target Grayling, and Terry caught his very first. They did catch one other, but according to Tom, those pesky small Trout kept butting in, and grabbing their lures before the Grayling could get at them.

Lunch Island continued to produce, particularly in the deeper water, and when the Lunch Islanders moved over to the area near the entrance to Beaver Inlet, they bested a 23 and 24 pounder.

And just when we thought the day could not get any better, we were able to facetime with Great Bear Lake legend Steve “the Fly’n Hawaiian” Gardner of “Steve’s Nut Sack” fame. Steve, who was currently travelling with his family in Indonesia, like Chris had guided at Circle many years ago, and it was a pleasure indeed to catch up, and listen to Chris and him swap stories about what Circle was like back in the day.

Weather/Surface Temp’s

The only surface temp info was provided by Rohan, who told me that the water at Seagull was very cold, but he didn’t provide any actual readings.

The winds were relatively calm all day (3 cheers for the Apps!), but other than for a couple of hours first thing this morning, and just as we were pulling up to the dock at the end of the day, we never saw the sun.

And yes, we did get some &*$%% rain while at Appleby.

July 9

Even a Couple of Blind Pigs Can Get Lucky and Find a Truffle Now and Then

The “truffle” in this case is a place called Guide Bay, and as for the reference to blind pigs, well, it weren’t Chris I was referring to.

But more on this in due course.

The much relied upon weather Apps. we’re not predicting a banner day, and while the sky was darkening to the north, the winds were light, therefore Chris decided that a visit to Hog Narrows would be the first on our agenda.

The “Chris factor” really came into play again once we arrived at our destination, because while I have made references to both Hog Narrows, and the old Spence-McDonough’s Air Transport base (S.M.A.T.), in my previous Arctic Circle journals – brother did I have it wrong! Well, mostly wrong.

First off, “Hog Narrows” actually encompasses an area about 3 times larger than I was originally led to believe, and as for S.M.A.T., let’s just say that while technically it was situated within the narrows, as for its actual location, I was the better part of a mile off.

Shortly after starting to troll the narrows in all of its expanded glory, Kenny hit a small Trout, which when reeling it in, somehow managed to get hooked onto my spoon as well. As Kenny’s spoon was in the fish’s mouth, and mine in the pectoral fin, I had to cede the fish to him. He caught 2 more small ones, and that was all she wrote.

Moving over to Silver Pike Bay, the only thing biting in there, and in the small bay across inlet, were the bugs. They attacked with a vengeance, and having no wind to contend with, had a regular field day at our expense, so the time had definitely come to “bug out” as they say.

As we were leaving, we were admiring a pair of Swan’s that were off in the distance, when suddenly Chris brought us to a dead stop. At first we wondered what was up, but looking over the side of our boat, saw that if he hadn’t put the brakes on, we would have likely run over 4 Signets. This was somewhat odd to say the least, as the adults were some distance away from their brood at the time. Perhaps that’s the way Swan’s go about protecting their young, by staying separate and apart, hoping that any potential predators will focus on them, as they are much easier to see – who knows? Given this near miss, perhaps they may want to consider revising their security protocols.

After completing a couple more laps around the narrows with no result, Chris suggested we try fishing off the sandbar near the mouth of the “New” Whitefish River. We got there just in time for the heavens to open up, and while we washed lures, the rain thoroughly laundered the 3 of us.

As the rain showed no signs of letting up any time soon, rather than continue to work our way south, Chris took us back to 1 Trout Bay, where we fished the mouth of a small creek that was pouring in near the back. Following this visit Kenny and I were seriously considering calling it No Trout Bay, but in fairness it did have a bit of a surprise in store for us.

While there was nothing doing around the creek, after moving a couple of hundred yards to the west, Chris suggested we start casting towards shore, because there were likely to be some Pike hanging around. It was the most unlikely looking Pike locale that either of us had run across, but unlikely or not, we did pick up 6, including a couple that would have gone over 30”.

It was now time to try something new, and Chris took us on a bit of a jaunt stopping at a place he called Slim Narrows, which if I recall correctly was in the vicinity of Workman Island. We tried it for a while, but the water was somewhat lower than he had expected, and we put up a zero. Kenny and I decided to rename it Slim and None Narrows – lol.

Angry Birds – The Sequel

Scooting across the McAlpine Channel and into Arctic Bay, while we didn’t catch anything, we did succeed in thoroughly pissing off a pair of Loon’s, who were keeping close tabs on a pair of “Loonlets,” (apparently some people do use this term) or Chicks if you prefer.

Christ, what a racket they made! First the inhabitants of Gull Rock, and now this. I was starting to long for the days when even the water birds were in somewhat short supply, and the ones that were around weren’t so damn touchy.

So now what and where?

The wind had started to pick up, so we were not going on any long runs, but at least it did move the rain clouds out, and we felt the sun on our backs for the first time all day.

Have any of you GBL veterans – or rookies for that matter - ever head of a place called Guide Bay? If not good, because there is no way either Kenny and I are going to tell you where it is. And if you are now thinking about trying to pry the location out of Chris - well good luck with that.

I will say that we had sped past its rather narrow, unassuming entrance more times than we could count, but had no idea such a place even existed. And given the day we had been having, full credit to Chris for saving the best for last, and transforming it into one we will fondly remember for years to come.

Carefully picking our way through the very narrow, shallow entrance, the first thing we saw was a rather large Moose munching on some greens on the far side of the bay. Unfortunately we couldn’t get close enough for a picture, because once we were spotted, it beat a hasty retreat back into the bush.

What a beautiful place this was. It had all the hallmarks of a self-contained freshwater ecosystem system, which is defined as a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and the landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.

And did I mention that it was full of Pike?

I honestly don’t remember how many we caught, but it was a bunch, with 2 of them easily topping 20 pounds.

And just in case you were wondering, yes, this place was in fact the aforementioned “Truffle.”

While we, and as it turned out, Charlott and Rohan, didn’t set the world on fire Trout wise Al, with Eric’s able assistance, hit it out of the park at the “Nutsack.” Fishing deeper water and using weights, Al caught 2 – 20’s and 3 - 23’s. Hank and Michael also did very well yet again around the entrance to Beaver Inlet, catching a number in the teens, along with a 20 and 24. They really do have that area locked down.

Weather/Surface Temp’s

Eh, why bother.

July 10

Shore Lunch – The Old Fashioned Way

And what I mean by the “Old Fashioned Way,” is that unlike the Hank & Co. version, we cook our fish before eating it.

It seems that this was going to be the year of the moose, because there was a cow and a calf having their breakfast around back of the lodge this morning. They were kind enough to stay put for a while, so everyone managed to get a good look and some pictures.

Our plan was to hook up with Al and Eric for lunch, therefore we all fished in the general vicinity of Hunter, Lunch Island, Norrie and the Nutsack, with an agreement to meet at Lunch around 1pm.

The day began windy, cool, and wait for it, with a little rain thrown in for good measure.

It seems most everyone was fishing in the same area as us, and if I recall correctly, no one managed to break any records. We only caught 7, including Kenny’s 22.

Given the strength and direction of the wind, there would be no having lunch on Lunch, so we headed back towards the lodge, and did finally manage to find a very nice spot out of the wind, that also had plenty of dry wood to build a fire.

I would note for the record that when it looked like the weather might put pay to our lunch plans, I happened to notice that Kenny had surreptitiously smuggled a single muffin on board. And based on past experience, you can take it to the bank that Chris and I wouldn’t have gotten a whiff of that muffin, should it turn out to be the only thing there was to eat.

While Chris and Eric were getting lunch organized, the sun finally came out, and even the wind gave us a bit of break.

They prepared a delicious repast featuring:

• Pan fried Trout cheeks, which if you have never had them, have a texture much like a scallop.
• Deep fried (you getting this Hank) Trout fillets, coated with garlic infused corn flakes.
• Fried potatoes w/onions
• Corn, and
• Beans

As we had a rather late lunch, we decided to continue fishing in the general direction of the lodge, and the 3 of us agreed that a pit stop in Guide Bay would be added to our agenda.

It was loaded with water birds, and while we did catch over a dozen Pike, they were not nearly as aggressive as they were yesterday. It may have had something to do with the massive schools of baitfish we saw swimming around, and they were just too full to really give a damn about a spinner being dropped on their collective noses.

Weather/Surface Temp’s

See July 9 summary.

July 11

Practically Perfect in Every Way

If you are of my vintage, you may recognize the above phrase, as being the one used to describe the magical nanny Mary Poppins, but in more contemporary terms, it illustrates the truly magical day that we were about to have.

And while I can’t go so far as to say that it was my best day ever on GBL, that honour still belongs to July 19,1991 in MacIntosh Bay, this one came as close to it as damn is to swearing.

Perhaps not surprisingly, there were a number of similarities between the 2. For example, it was the last day of the trip, the weather was perfect, I was in excellent company, and yes, I mean you Kenny, we had an outstanding guide, and we could see the fish, which were seemingly everywhere, and in a most cooperative mood.

There were also 3 things that clearly distinguished July 11, 2024, from that day in ’91:

• We were casting rather than trolling,
• We went Pike fishing for a while, and
• I caught the biggest Lake Trout in my life – so far…

As all of the stars, planets and weather Apps appeared to be in alignment, Chris, Kenny, Al, Eric, Tom, Terry, and myself, decided that a pilgrimage to Seagull Rock would be in order.

Other than an insignificant amount of wave action we had to contend with while crossing the arm, travelling conditions were near perfect, and it took us just over under 2 hours to get there.

I must admit that I was wondering just what Seagull Rock would actually look like, and was rather surprised to see that it wasn’t just some random rock, or pile of rocks that those in the know could use as a marker to identify the area. Remember those high Mesa like rock formations I mentioned earlier? Well, Seagull Rock was one of those, and a pretty big one at that, so if you happen to find yourself on the north shore of the McTavish Arm just west of Hornby Bay, it should not be too hard to spot.

Upon arrival we agreed to keep in touch and not venture too far afield from one another. It was primarily a safety measure, and while Chris was familiar with the area, the rest were first timers, and there are a number of nasty shoals around, that if you didn’t know how to avoid them, could cause all manner of problems. Let’s just say that the prospect of having to tow a boat, or boats, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30 miles back to the lodge was not only unappealing, depending on the water conditions, may have been impossible.

We had apparently arrived at “the spot,” so Kenny and I began readying our trolling rods, when Chris announced that we would be casting – not trolling.

We looked at one another for a moment, and then remarked that it would have been helpful if he had told us the plan before we left the lodge, because the only rods and reels we brought with us that were in any way castable, were our Pike rods. Mine was a 6 ½ foot medium/heavy action rod (which also doubled as my Char rod) paired with a Calcutta 400, and spooled with 20 pound Big Game. Kenny’s rod was both lighter and shorter, and his Daiwa bait caster didn’t nearly have the capacity of my Calcutta.

Hmmm.

No sense in arguing the point, as Chris had proven throughout the week that Kenny and I would do fine if we just shut up and fished, so I hooked on a Husky Jr., Green Crush and started casting.

The sun was bright, and the water was like glass, and when looking down, you could see fish swimming all over the top of the shoal where he had positioned us. I had just caught a couple of decent ones in the low teens, when Chris pointed at what appeared to be a fairly large shadow, that had just swam past the back of the boat. I tossed my spoon in the general direction of where it looked to be headed, got a solid hit, and it was game on.

I have no idea how long it took to bring it to the net – given some of the fish we saw swimming around we decided it would be prudent to dig out the net sooner rather than later, and leave it out – but it was my biggest Trout of the trip so far, a beautiful 29 pounder.

After catching a couple more “teenagers,” Chris pointed to another shadow, which in the water anyway, appeared to dwarf the 29. I made a cast in the direction Chris was pointing, and when it hit, took off with a vengeance, and appeared to be headed back in the general direction of the lodge.

As my line was disappearing fast, I suggested that we would either have to chase it or lose it, so he popped the motor into gear, and the pursuit was on! I finally started to get some line back, when it went slack, meaning it had either spit the hook, or was running back at the boat.

I reeled like hell, and finally got some tension back , when it took off again. What I do remember thinking at the time was, please be hooked in the mouth, and not the asshole, the back, or one of the fins, because experience has shown that a foul hook can turn a 15 pounder into a 40.

Once again, I have no idea how long we had been fighting this fish, but my arms and hands were getting sore, and because the rod didn’t have much in the way of a foregrip, it was a challenge to keep the tip up without having to wrap my left hand around the blank itself.

When I finally got it near the boat, it was truly an “oh shit” moment, because now we could see just how big it was. I don’t know about you, but personally this is the most challenging and terrifying time when fighting a big fish, because now I knew exactly what I had to lose if anything went wrong.

Of course the fish decided that it preferred to be under the boat, but Chris maneuvered the boat perfectly keeping it, and the fish in a position where it could be netted.

Well net it he did, and after catching our collective breaths, he removed the hook and attached the net to his digital scale. The first reading was 76 pounds, and as he lowered the net back into the water, we looked at one another and I said “seriously, is that scale accurate?” He assured me it was, but something seemed a bit off, so I suggested he weigh it again, and when he did, the reading was much different.

It was clear that the scale needed to be rebooted, or some other adjustments made, but rather than go through whatever process that would involve, I pulled out my scale, which I knew to be spot on, and it showed a reading of 62 pounds. Now mind you I would have preferred 76, but something had clearly gone a bit haywire with Chris’ scale, and when it comes to recording a fish of that size, it’s critical to be as accurate as possible.

Before taking a picture, Chris let the fish rest in the water for a while, which was particularly important to its recovery given the long battle that had ensued, and I’m pleased to say that when released, it just casually swam away as if nothing of any particular note had just occurred.

Rather than go over it in excruciating detail, my next fish was, in terms of the fight and such, almost a carbon copy of the previous one, although it only weighed in at 45 pounds. Ya right – only.

I was hoping that Kenny would manage to coral one of the bigger ones, and although he did get his share of “teenagers,” and 3 that topped 20 pounds, they were a real challenge given the tackle he was using. It would have been interesting to see what the outcome would have been had he hooked into something north of 30.

Later that morning, the other boats came over to check in, and while they had caught a few, none had topped 20 as yet. When asked how we had been doing, we simply said, “ok.” Now really, we weren’t trying to be dicks about it, but the area we were fishing was relatively small, and even 1 more boat moving in would have made it a challenge to keep out of each other’s way.

We went back to what we were doing, and while Al and Eric moved further out into the bay, Tom and Terry started fishing just to the north of us.

I have never heard so much whooping and hollering coming out of one boat. We could see that they had caught a nice fish, and then shortly thereafter another that took them a while to land, but given the level of excitement, figured someone must have just set a new worlds record. Well they didn’t, but I’ve never seen 2 people enjoy themselves as much. Terry in particular was absolutely over the moon, not only today, but throughout the week, and it didn’t really matter what size, or what kind of fish he caught.

Their laughter was so infectious, we found ourselves chuckling right along with them.

The fishing around our little piece of paradise had slowed down, so Chris called the other boats over, and told them that it was now time to move to the bay east of the rock, and as those nasty shoals I mentioned would come into play, asked that they follow him.

It was at this point that I told the guys how we really did, and I’m sure they were wondering why Chris was suggesting we leave, but in fairness it had shut right down, and there was still a lot of what he hoped would be equally productive water to fish.

On an unfortunate note, Eric had not been feeling well, so he and Al decided to head back to the lodge. Al assured us they could find their way back without a problem, and as the weather could not have been better for travelling, we bid them farewell.

The water remained perfectly flat, and once we arrived at the new locale, saw all manner of fish rising, both in the middle of, and along the shore of the bay. Some were clearly Trout, but the Grayling were also very well represented.

We had reverted back to trolling, and Kenny and I caught a few more, including a 21. It was at this point that Kenny brought up the subject of Pike fishing. I mentioned earlier that rumour had it there was a pretty good Pike spot in the area, and that perhaps we could check it out later, but much to my surprise, he was not the least bit interested in even talking about it. Given how the Trout fishing had been going, that was of course understandable, but when we moved to the new spot, the seed I had planted sprouted, and he casually mentioned that he had heard there was some Pike fishing to be had in these parts.

Chris took us over to the mouth of a small creek in the back of the bay, and fishing in not much more than 5 to 10 feet of water, we caught 42, in less than 2 hours, and not one was under 20,” and 10 were over 40.”

Once the Pike went on hiatus, we trolled around the bay for a while, picking up several more Trout, when we heard what was clearly laughter, and sure enough, spotted Tom and Terry working the shoreline, ostensibly after Grayling. They were clearly having a blast, and Terry did catch a couple of Grayling over 20”.

I don’t know how many over 10 pounds we all caught, but trust me when I say it was a lot.

As for our bigger fish.

• Tom: 26, 30, 35.
• Terry: 24
• Kenny: 21, 25, 27
• Moi: 21, 29, 45, 62

We had a smooth trip home, and revelled in the spectacular scenery as we cruised right along the base of a series of steep cliffs, and past countless giant boulders once we entered the McAlpine Channel. It was yet a another of those perfect GBL moments.

Not to be outdone, the rest of our group had a great day as well, fishing primarily around Lunch Island and Steve’s Nutsack.

• David: 28
• Jan: 2 over 20
• Hank & Mathew: 6 over 20, the biggest being a 29

And at the risk of being repetitive, today was indeed practically perfect in every way…

Weather/Surface Temp’s

Who cares.

This & That

• Muchos Gracias Tina & Darrell for yet again taking such good care of and putting up with us, during this our second week. Hopefully you were not too glad to see the back of us on Friday!

• A massive cheers from both of us has to go to Chris. He guided me to the biggest Trout I have ever caught, and in the process demonstrated that it was possible to catch big fish casting. Thanks as well for taking us to new places and providing us with their “Arctic Circle” names, but also for showing us how to fish them in a way that we may never have even attempted.

• Given that we were effectively sight fishing in the shallows on that fateful final day, I almost wish John and Jim, who were with us last week, could have tried their luck on that shoal with their fly rods – almost. LOL.

• Al, thank you very much for sharing that amazing bottle of 21 year old Balvenie Port Wood Scotch. It was outstanding!

• Its worth noting that even though surface temperatures were generally not high enough to drive the Trout deeper, those that fished with weights later in the week, did very well indeed. Food for thought for 2025.

• And finally, to Rohan, Charlotte, Eric, Hank, Jan, David, Al, Mathew, Tom and Terry, you made this past week a memorable one, and hopefully some, if not all of you will be able to join Kenny and I during week #2 next year. And btw - we are already booked!