OUTDOORS

The old adage “getting there is half the battle” is true, especially if the traveler is all fired up about the destination. Let me expound on this a bit! For the past several years, I have made a yearly trip to fish in remote lakes way up in northern Saskatchewan, usually within a few miles south of the Northwest Territories. While some folks dread airline travel, I actually look forward the journey. Granted, this is usually the only time I travel via airlines during the course of a year, but it’s exciting to me to head first to Los Angeles, then on to Calgary, Alberta, and then the final leg of the journey on to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I travel with some good friends of like mind that are also all fired up about catching big northern pike, great eating walleye, and lake trout. We might even catch a few burbot if we can stay away from the walleye and pike long enough to fish some cut bait on bottom. Burbot are odd looking fish that have been nicknamed the cod fish of freshwater. The burbot is a fish that even non fish eaters relish.

This year, I’ll be traveling with a couple of other veterans of the northern waters as well as my nephew who is a retired fishing guide but first timer for the north country. Most of my buddies have been packing for a couple weeks but I usually make a list and throw everything in the bag the day before the trip. I have a list, and I do check it twice. When I used to pack way ahead of time, I was constantly opening my luggage and adding an item or two; didn’t want to forget those spoons for pike or trolling rigs for walleye or rain gear, etc., etc. These days, I just check my list, put everything in the bag and call it good. After all, we will be fishing a very remote area, Iskwatikan Lake at Iskwatikan Lake Lodge, owned by my friend Bryce Liddell, but the remote camp has all the comforts of home. A nice cabin, boat with fuel and fish cleaning is included. We fish on our own and do our own cooking. This allows us to set our own schedule which is nice. We are all big fish eaters and enjoy fresh walleye and pike twice every day, fried, blackened, or baked! The first time I visited Bryce’s camp, I was a bit concerned about finding and catching fish but quickly discovered that was not a problem. Given a few basic fish-catching tips, anyone can become a fish-catching pro up north. The fish have never seen a lure, and the action is almost always very good. I received some photos of Bryce’s clients last week with some big pike, a 13-pound walleye, and jumbo size lake trout. This was the first group in camp, and we will be following them this week.

Once we land in Saskatoon, we pick up our rental van and head straight to Bass Pro, to stock up on nightcrawlers for the walleye and a few other ‘must have’ items to complement our five days of fishing. Next a quick stop at Walmart, yes there are Walmarts this far north! We have a detailed grocery shopping list and after dividing into two teams, we make short order of shopping. We probably look like one of those TV game shows where contestants have a limited amount of time to fill their shopping carts. None of this stop and look shopping like we do with our wives back home. No, this is a race for time. We have about a 4-hour drive to the remote town of La Ronge, where we will spend the night. It’s not uncommon to see an occasional moose and several black bear on the drive. As they say, it won’t take long to spend the night here. We will be up early and make the last leg of our journey to a little settlement named Missinipe. Try to say this three times quickly! I’ve been here several times and have to check the spelling every time I write about this quaint little village, and I still can’t pronounce it correctly every time! Missinipe is where we meet our float plane that departs around 10 am and carries us to our fishing destination. We will be joined here by several other anglers heading up to fish. I always wonder just how those planes on floats can generate enough power to clear the water. I can’t help but look at the distant shore with the towering spruce trees and hope to goodness we are well above them when the plane reaches water’s edge. We always are. Bush pilots are a unique breed, and they are as comfortable flying in this wilderness country as I am driving home from fishing at the local lake.

Twenty minutes or so in the air, flying over many, many small bodies of water and islands and the camp at Iskwatikan Lake comes into view. The camp is on an island near the middle of the lake, and it’s easy to spot. The cabins and camp headquarters are the only manmade structure we’ve seen since leaving Missinipe. We arrive late in the morning and quickly unpack, assemble our fishing gear, jump in a boat, and head out to fish as quickly as possible. Our goal is to catch some walleye and pike for that first evening meal of blackened fish. The sun sets late this far north, and the evenings are more twilight rather than complete darkness. With over seventeen hours of light, we fishermen have to pace ourselves to avoid fishing burnout, but adrenaline levels are usually very high and the catching fast paced.

During the past several years, I have helped quite a few anglers plan their fishing trips up in Saskatchewan. If I can help you, feel free to send me an email (lukeclayton1950@gmail. com) or visit my website www.catfishradio.or g. But….give me a week to reply. The pike and walleye will be keeping me busy this week!