DonAndersen Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 As asked, here is a rundown of the trip taken in early July. A friend had been @ Frontier Lodge last year and was impressed. He talked me into going. Was a great trip. Unlike any other trips I'm been on before, this one was completely mindless. You paid your money, got onto your flight to Yellowknife. We were meet @ the airport and shuttled to our hotel. The following morning we were picked up @ the hotel by the lodge shuttle, hauled to the airplane and flown to the gravel strip just across the Stave River from the lodge. What must be seen to be believed is the amount of lakes seen from Yellowknife>the lodge. They were everywhere. This picture was taken about 20 minutes east of Yellowknife on the north side of Great Slave Lake. We got checked in, a license bought and promptly lead to lunch of laker chowder c/w fresh bread and desert. Most of us had cabins. Ours slept 5 with 2 rooms + bath. Within a couple of hours of landing, we were fishing. My friend and I each had a guide by ourselves. We fished out of aluminum boats c/w 40 hp Mercs. Lots of room for casting. This is what the lake looked like. Within minutes, I caught some lakers. Not large - but <>8 lbs. from water that looked like The evening was a bust. Walked up the river to see if a grayling could be caught. Not a sign - did see some of the lodge guests up there though. They were upstream of us. The second day was tough with strong winds and a 2' chop. Still I caught some lakers + a couple of hammer handle pike. But, it was still a banner day. After the first evening on grayling, we moved further up the river and there they were - lots of them Big ones too!! And they liked flies. Dry Flies. Tied on a #14 Parachute H&L Variant and here was the first one. By my rough measure it was <>24" long and maybe 4>4.5 lbs. Got a bunch but they were slightly smaller with most <>20". It was a great way to finish the day. The third day on lakers was great with fish after fish for several hours. The best one was slightly better than 15 lbs. and of course the big ones got away. Hooked a couple that would have easily gone 20 lbs. All were caught on a white rabbit fur Clouser. The last day was spent about 35 miles NE of the lodge in a are rarely fished. We did OK with about 12>15 landed. Most of them were small however if 5>8 lbs. is small. The lake is so large and island filled that lots of days I wasn't really sure of the way home. Still there were some real interesting spots. The last day we had a shore lunch on some of the barren rock areas that dot the lake. I suspect that ice rubs the rocks bare. Things are left behind though. Here is a picture of what I'd think a Zen Rock should like like. We flew back to Yellowknife Saturday morning, laid over till 4:30 and headed for Edmonton. Back to Rocky by 9:00. Was the trip worth it. You bet. Neat things seen all over. Saskatoons, Gooseberries and Raspberries were nearly ripe, Adult Darner dragon flies everywhere. Seems like everything in the north is in hurry. Get it done or get frozen seems to work. Very few ducks though and very few loons. Lots of mosquitoes but I only put on DEET if I fished up river. Around the lodge, the bugs were few. The lodge can hold <>30 guests and the guest to staff ratio runs nearly 1:1. Some of the staff has been there for 35 years. Several of the retired guides are buried on the property. The lodge had a booth @ the FF Calgary Expo last year. See:http://www.frontierfishinglodge.com/canadian-fishing-lakes/great-slave-lake/ See- I'm spending my retirement wisely. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twispi2 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Sounds like a great trip i have always wanted to go up to yelowknife to go fishing/hunting. Now after these pics time to convince the wife to hop in the truck and take a vacation up there instead of down south Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softhackle Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Great trip, nice pics Don. I may have a chance to fish Great Bear Lake in September for a similar experience. What line weight did you use and was it mostly sinking line for the lakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonAndersen Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 soft... The rod was a 9'6" Orvis Powerhouse that was bought years ago for fishing both lead cores and High Speed - High Density lines. The line I used was a 30' head HD-SP in a 9 weight. Worked well in water <15' deep as the lakers were then. Apparently they go deeper in summer. I did see some lakers rising to caddis. Wished I'd brought a 6 weight. The leader was a 25 lb. butt followed by 12 lb. of Floro. <>6' long. Lakers are not leader shy. regards, Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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