When at First You Succeed – Do it Again for Another Week!
June 25, 2025
The Early Bird Catches the…
…Pike and does not miss the charter to Great Bear.
Given our past experiences with the idiosyncrasies, or if you prefer, the quirks and foibles of Canada’s primary air carriers, and even though our trip did not actually start until June 28, rather than white knuckle it and hope against hope that our flights would either not be cancelled or otherwise delayed thereby putting any connections that were part of our itinerary at risk, we booked a direct flight from Toronto to YK on Air North, leaving on the morning of the 25th.
Not only did we depart and arrive on time – yes, really – the service was first rate, and we were served a delicious hot lunch, with our choice between 3 distinctive entrées.
Baggage allowances were also generous, and we could check in 2 bags up to 50 pounds each with no additional cost. If you do decide to fly with them, which if it suits your travel plans I would highly recommend you do, check their baggage policy as the amount you will be allowed, and what if any fees may be applicable, apparently depends on the type of aircraft being used.
“Darrel the Shuttle Guy” was waiting for us at the airport, and took us over to the Nova where we would be spending the next 3 nights. Once we got ourselves sorted, I realized that the air conditioner in our room was not working, so I called the front desk, and they sent a maintenance tech over to see what the problem was.
Funny thing was, it worked just fine after you plugged it in. Enough said about that for now.
So back to the Pike thing I mentioned above.
On Wednesday evening we caught up with good friends Mike and Rowan, both of whom reside in YK, over a delicious dinner at the Copper House. Weather permitting they were going to take Kenny and I Pike fishing on Great Slave this Friday, which we were very much looking forward to, as our only familiarity with Slave has come from peering at it through the window of a plane when coming into, and leaving YK. That, and we both love to fish for Pike.
With plenty of time to kill, the next day we visited the Prince of Wales Heritage Museum, and hooked up for dinner with my son-in-law Stephen, who just happened to be in from Newfoundland on a work tour.
You’re Going to Need a Really BIG Flyswatter
As was his habit, Kenny went out in the evening to enjoy a cigar, and in doing so met up with an interesting group of individuals, some of whom hailed from places such as Cambridge Bay, Fort Smith and Fort McMurray.
He recounted a story told by one of his newfound friends about some kind of giant bug that could only be found in the most northerly parts of the NWT. He seemed convinced that it was true, and it even had a name that he couldn’t quite recall – Bugzilla or Frankensquito perhaps? – but when he mentioned it to Rowan and Mike, they suggested that someone may have been spinning a rather tall tale, and giving his leg a bit of a tug.
Fortunately the weather could not have been better on Friday, and we had a fantastic day on the water. They took us into a number of shallow bays, that while they didn’t have much in the way of weed cover, they had a lot in the way of Pike.
There were loads over 30” caught, and while our biggest was 38”, we did spot quite a few that would have easily topped 40”, and between the 4 of us I would wager we caught well north of 100.
That evening we had dinner with Chris Ireland, who would be joining us during week 1, and made our tentative plan of attack for the week ahead over Bison Burgers and a couple of cold beers.
June 28
And We’re Off !
While we didn’t see her at the airport when we first arrived Yvonne, who is Plummer’s long serving guest wrangler, and who just happened to turn 95 years young this year, greeted Kenny and I with a smile and a hug once we arrived at the Summit Air base. She is an amazing individual, and without a doubt encapsulates the very definition of indefatigable.
Other than Yvonne and Darrel there were not too many familiar faces in the departure lounge this year, although we did get to exchange greetings with Pike Mike, who has continued in his role as Plummer’s expediter in YK.
Wheels up were at 9:15 am, and an hour and twenty-five minutes later we touched down at Bear. Once shuttled over to the lodge, I was able to spend a bit of time talking to Aunty Mo, OD, Chummy, Reid and a number of other veteran guides and staff. Seems like there is never enough time to catch up with these folks, as on changeover day it tends to be somewhat hectic, with everyone having plenty to do.
After a quick lunch, which included one of Aunty Mo’s otherworldly chocolate chip cookies, we stocked up on some lures in the tackle shop and then caught the second flight over to Circle. Upon arrival we were warmly greeted by 2 of our favorite people, Tina and Darrell, who like last year, would be taking care of us for the next 2 weeks – and which BTW they did in spectacular fashion.
Our group for the week consisted of Kenny, Chris and I, Randy, John, Austin, Ryan, Bill, Jim, Terry, Sean, Ron and Matt. Each and every one of them were great guys, and because Kenny, Chris and I were the only Canadian’s in the bunch, we told them that we would be expecting them to pay a tariff at the end of the week for fishing on what we considered to be “our” lake. Payment was to be made directly to Kenny or me, and we were very clear that we didn’t take either cheques or credit cards.
Thankfully all of the gear we left behind at the lodge last year was intact, and once we unpacked and geared up, Kenny and Chris went out of for a couple of hours before dinner. I figured with 2 weeks to go, what the hell was the hurry, preferring to hang back and catch up with Tina and Darrell.
While I was chatting with them, Tina left for a moment and when she returned, handed me a large bag of pretzels, which they had thoughtfully brought all the way from YK, explaining they were for me to enjoy during the pre-dinner cocktail hour. Once I got my hands on them cocktail hour commenced immediately, even though dinner would not be served for several more hours.
Kenny and Chris slid into Guide Bay where they caught 7 Pike in very short order, including one well over 40”. They also poked into the bottom end of Domex Bay where the bugs clearly outnumbered the fish, but did manage to catch 6 small lakers. There were also a couple of other boats in the area who were targeting Grayling, of which there were many, and they landed a couple over 20”.
June 29
Whaa’s Aaaaapp?
With everyone at the lodge now being “connected” as they say, and as each of us appeared to have our own unique weather app., it came as something of a surprise that they were all in general agreement, prophesising that today was going to be sunny and warm, with very light winds.
Sun + warm temps + light winds = Seagull Rock in our book. And not only that, unless there was a flyout from the main lodge, we would have the entire place to ourselves, which as luck would have it – we did.
Averaging approximately 15.5 mph, and travelling through the MacAlpine Channel skirting the magnificent cliffs that run along the south coast of Hogarth Island, we made the trip over to Seagull in 1 hour and 45 min. Stopping to take some surface temperatures when crossing the arm, we realized that were not all that far from having to break ice, as we recorded temperatures as low as 36.1 degrees F.
This was probably due in part to the fact there was still a large amount of ice floating around on the main lake, and with the wind – such as it was – coming in from the west, it blew in a lot of cold water, and as we were to see later in the week, even a couple of small pans of ice.
Fortunately, the water temps at what we call the “Casting Place” were between 45 and 47 degrees. There were a number of fish visible up on the shoal, including a few that would easily have topped 20 pounds, but for whatever reason, other than having a look see at our spoons when we retrieved them, we only caught a couple, including my 20.
Fishing our way out from the “Casting Place” we eventually wound up in the fly-out bay, and found some warmer water in the 48 to 51 degree range. Working the western shore, and fishing the drop off with both Orange and Green Crush Huskies, the fishing picked up with the biggest being another 20.
For a change of pace we went to the back of the bay where a river comes in, and tried our luck for Pike. We did very well there last year, but this time around they were in short supply, and we only caught 5, with Kenny’s 35” leading the way. Interestingly, we saw an handful of small Trout hanging around in the current at the mouth of the river, which proved to be a sign of sorts that there were not going to be too many Pike around.
Deciding to try our luck on the east side of the bay, we picked up several more small ones, but as we trolled out way out of the bay the water temp. dropped to 45 degrees, and the fish clearly thought that was far to cold, and we put up a zero.
The ride back was picture perfect, and Chris took us to a place he called Chapman Bay which is but one of many scenic indentations to be found on Workman Island. And while the scenery was beautiful, the fish were non-existent.
Unfortunately my intel regarding how the rest of the group did was a bit sketchy for today, but from what I could gather most of them fished Hunter Bay near the mouth of the Sloan River, and did reasonably well.
Our total for the day was 30, and while not a record of any kind, at least by our standards, it was a grand day, enjoyed in good company, and we were once again privileged to have the opportunity to fish this magnificent body of water.
June 30
New Places and Familiar Faces
New Places: Errington Bay, Finger Point, Lost Bay & Jill Bay.
Familiar Faces: Rochet Rouge Island (Red Rock), The Cage & Appleby Point.
One of the really nice things – of which there many – about fishing with Chris is that he knows the area, and the official/lodge names north, south, east, and west of Circle like the back of his hand. Meaning that not only do we have the opportunity to fish new water, I can now rattle off the names of these places.
That said, if I suggested to any of our fellow “Circlites” that it would be worth their while to head over to, let’s say Jill Bay, I’d be willing to bet that unless I showed them where it was on a map, they wouldn’t have the first clue where, or for that matter what I was talking about.
I suppose you could say it gives me the opportunity to appear all knowing, without actually giving up a single location that we just might like to reserve for ourselves.
Now would I really do that? Truth be told, if anyone in our group was having trouble getting on fish, and if I could help out in that regard – there is no doubt that I’d spill the beans, and even take them there personally if need be.
The surface temps in the middle of the arm on the outskirts of Hornby Bay were a tad warmer than they were on the way to Seagull, registering a balmy 38 degrees F.
Weather and water temperatures (48 -51) were pretty much spot on throughout the day, and while we didn’t catch anything over 20, anywhere we went the fishing was steady, particularly at the Cage and at Appleby, with plenty in the 5 to 15 pound range.
There were also loads of Grayling around Appleby in particular, but unfortunately the big boys and girls had not moved in to enjoy an afternoon snack.
Of course no day would be complete without either Kenny and/or me asking Chris to take us to a new Pike spot. In this instance he took us into what is known as Lost Bay, and while he said it had produced some very good Pike in the past, as far as we were concerned it could/should have stayed lost, because all we could manage was one hook up and one sighting.
Not only that, it was a pain in the ass getting in and out of the bay given the water levels.
Our stop at Lost Bay was not a total loss (ha-ha) though, as there was a relatively large, shallow sand flat fanning out from the mouth of the bay that was absolutely saturated with small trout.
The water was crystal clear, and we could see so many of them that a first we thought we’d come across a large school of Cisco’s. We did catch a few, and as my buddy Gary D. would say, “I tell you true,” they were so aggressive that we could have probably caught a 100 of them if we were so inclined.
We made a few casts at Finger Point, which one could say did in fact give us the finger. Kenny, who was casting tight to shore kept hooking into some moss, but in one instance when his moss covered lure came to the surface, a small Trout engulfed it. Once we got it to the boat we could see that its mouth full of moss, and not just from the lure, with the result that we came to the inescapable conclusion that we – Kenny – had landed our first Vegan Lake Trout.
On the way back to the lodge, I was able to fulfill a promise I had made last year, which was to return to Red Rock or Rochet Rouge Island, and get some pictures when the sun was lighting it up. Chris thought about sending his drone over to get a few close up shots, but the drone had other ideas having decided not to make the trip over, and instead remained in the boat while happily beeping away and spinning its propellors.
Unfortunately I didn’t get any intel from our fellow anglers about how they made out today.
Day 2 is now in the books, and it was yet another fabulous all-rounder.
July 1st
Happy “Kenny – Da – Day”
Sure, I know that today’s header is beyond lame – but this is MY blog, so deal with it…
While many of us celebrate Canada Day by discharging all manner of fireworks, our personal pyrotechnic show was put on by Kenny, as the man, together with his Green Crush Husky Jr., lit it up throughout the entire day.
Because all of the weather apps were somewhat surprisingly ad idem yet again, predicting a sunny, warm day with light winds, given our rather disappointing experience, particularly at the “Casting Place” on day 1, we were anxious to head on back and give it another go.
It was a bit chilly when we first arrived, with a few chunks of ice floating around and a bit of light cloud cover, but when the sun finally did come out, it quickly warmed things up.
Before I continue, I want to mention that before we wet a line, we paused and had a toast to our good friend and Great Bear alumnus, Art “Gordie Howe” Ross, who sadly passed away earlier this year.
Water temperatures at the “Casting Place” were 48/49 degrees, which was a bit cooler than they were the other day, but still with the range that we prefer when fishing lakers.
While the “Casting Place” was not exactly on fire, along with a couple of smaller ones, Kenny had a very nice one snap his line as he was brining it up to the boat, but had better luck on the next one, besting a 35 pounder.
911 Fish Rescue
Once the fish was released, and even though it appeared to be fine, after swimming a short distance it sunk to the bottom, and we could see that it was laying on its side, and clearly in trouble.
Shit…
Fortunately it went down up on the shoal and therefore was not all that deep. Using a jig Chris managed to snag the fish and gently bring it to surface, and after working on it for over 15 minutes, we watched the beastie swim away seemingly no worse for wear.
We then made our way west to an area known as the Cariboo Islands, which as it happened was a place we used to frequent when fishing out of Branson’s Lodge in the 70’s and 80’s.
Water temperatures were the same as at the “Casting Place,” and we could see fish all over the place. And while we did catch a few, more often than not they would follow the lure to the boat, and then veer off. I’m not sure what the deal was, but the same sort of thing happened when were here on Sunday. We tried different lures in various sizes/colours, and even varied the speed of our retrieve, but all to no avail.
We had clearly worn out our welcome in these parts, and because we did reasonably well there before, decided to try our luck in the “Fly Out” Bay.
Water temps were in the 48 to 56 degree range, and Kenny continued with his hot hand by catching a 22, 24 and countless smaller ones in the 5 to 18 pound range, everyone on his Green Crush Husky Jr.
Kenny was “crushing” me at about a 5 to 1 ratio, even though I was using the same lure. Even when I switched over to an Orange Crush Husky Jr, and at one point a red/silver Giant Half-Wave, it made no difference to the catch ratio whatsoever. For the record my biggest was about 16 pounds.
It slowed right down at about 4:30 and Chris decided that rather than take the usual route home through the MacAlpine Channel, we went around the back of Hogarth Island, and through the channel between Cornwall and Achook Islands. Oddly, while it was flat water all the way across the arm, it was a bit bumpy between the islands.
That evening we had the pleasure of having a video chat with Steve “The Fly’n Hawaiian” Gardner of “Steve’s Nutsack” fame, who just happened to be in Brisbane Australia at the time. No trip to Circle would be complete without at least one long distant chat with Steve.
July 2
I’ll Have My Usual Please
It has been said that success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm, although maintaining our enthusiasm throughout the day proved to be rather challenging.
A cold front had moved in last night, with the thermometer registering a rather brisk 39 degrees F, at 6:30 am.
It appears to be one of those universal truths, along the lines of: “The earth revolves the sun” and: “Money can’t buy happiness,” (although I’m not entirely sure about the sun thing, and the one about money is clearly bullshit), that a cold front will mess up the fishing more often than not.
Well it sure did, as all boats, including ours reported slow fishing regardless of where anyone dropped a line.
Hitting many of our “usual” locales the results were less than stellar. Allow me to elucidate:
- Norrie Bay – 1 about 15 pounds.
- Steve’s Nutsack – 2
- Tiny Bay – 1
- Lunch Island – 2
- Hunter Bay – 1 caught + a couple of hits.
- Sloan River – 1 Pike near the mouth, and Kenny caught a 43” Pike at the junction of the Sloan and Harrison Rivers.
- Mouth of Beaver Inlet – 0
- Guide Bay – 0
As you can see it was not for lack of trying, but even the Bear can throw you a curve ball from time to time.
Kenny and Chris elected to brave the cool temperatures and went out after dinner for a couple of hours, catching 4 small Trout between them.
I wish there was more about today that would have been worth reporting on – but it is what it is…
July 3
Everyone Can Always Use a Little TLC
Looks like that cold front was going to stick with for yet another day. Temperatures ranged between 42 and 55 throughout the day, and while it was mostly cloudy, the winds fortunately were light.
I seemed to be coming down with something, and decided to take the day off in hopes of getting over whatever it was, so Chris, together with Kenny and his cigars, headed over to Seagull yet again. Gluttons for punishment one could say.
I was not the only one in sick bay today, having been joined by Randy, who was also dealing with an undiagnosed ailment of some sort.
Now as for the TLC component, Tina not only constantly checked in to see how I was getting on, she served me up a plate of fresh from the oven chocolate cookies together with a cold glass of milk. Given the care and attention I received, I just might fake it and stay in again tomorrow!
Kenny reported that it was rather slow both at the “Casting Place” and the “Fly Out Bay,” although Chris did catch a 32 in the latter.
While I haven’t gathered much in the way of intel from the rest of our group, I’m happy to report that someone caught a 52 near Lunch Island, on of all things a jig! If I got the story straight, during the retrieve, when his jig was near the surface, this beast just came up and engulfed it! It apparently did put of much of a fight and literally swam into the net.
His guess was, and I have to agree, that it probably didn’t even know it was hooked – or maybe for that matter didn’t really care.
July 4
Back to the Future
When I first started doing this Great Bear Lake thing, some 43 years ago, during my first 12 years I fished out of Branson’s Lodge. In fact, when Kenny made his first trip to the Bear back in the 80’s, it was also at Branson’s.
I had mentioned to Kenny prior to our trip that I would really like to pay a visit to the old lodge site, and had even programmed the route into my GPS during the winter months in anticipation of making the run if conditions were favorable.
And today they were.
Both my weather app and Chris’ gave us the nod, and while it was another coolish day, the sun was shining for the most part, and winds were thankfully light.
Our first stop was at the former Port Radium mine site. I understand that they had been doing a lot of remediation work at the site, and from what we could see, and was later confirmed by Chris when he went walkabout on the way home, other than a couple cairns with plaques on them, there was little evidence that it was once a small town with approx. 350 people living there at one point, including up to 25 families.
We also poked our nose into Glacier Bay, but didn’t stop to fish it – next time perhaps.
I have to say visiting the old site brought back some wonderful memories, and reminded me of something Mark Twain was credited with saying:
“The 2 most important days of your life are… the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
And maybe, just maybe, the thought crossed my mind as I was flipping through my virtual book of memories, that perhaps, among several other likely more important things (I’ll get back to you on those), I was born to fish the Bear.
While there was nothing left of the lodge itself – word has it that it mysteriously burned down some years ago – the old sign, many of the outbuildings, and even a mess of boats – including the Ark, the lodges cabin cruiser, used to move guests around to more remote locations – were still there.
Back in the day the areas close to the lodge got hit pretty hard, and the fishing was not all that good, but this had certainly changed since my last visit, because the fishing was amazing not 20 feet from shore right in front of the lodge site.
We continued trolling west towards Gossan Island, and the action remained hot. Some of our fish were caught over 50 to 90 feet of water, even though we could not have been more than 20 feet down at any time.
The top lure was once again the Green Crush Husky Jr, and while we tried bigger spoons, different colours, and even Flatfish, nothing out preformed the Jr’s.
We also fished our way into Cameron Bay proper, which was also loaded with fish, and while we didn’t catch anything over 20, there were plenty of “teenagers” to be had, and virtually everyone, regardless of size, fought like they were possessed by demons. We caught over 50 by the time we called it quits, which by any measure was one hell of a day.
The ride home was, for lack of a better way of describing it, the cherry on the Sunday. The water was flat, and as Chris is prone to do, he kept us tight to shore, thereby giving us the opportunity to get a close look at the bright flashes of mineralization that dot the towering cliffs that are common throughout that area.
For me, this one was a 12 out of 10 on so many different levels.
Being Independence Day for our American friends, Tina and Darrell dished up something of a typical July 4th dinner, consisting of homemade burgers hot off the BBQ, which were served on fresh baked buns, with all of the traditional condiments and toppings .
In other angling news, we received word that today during a fly-out to Seagull from the main lodge, one intrepid angler bested a 51 or 52 (it was not entirely clear what the actual size was) on a fly. Good on him.
Many of the guys in our group, especially Bill and his partner, would leave early and stay out late, meaning that we didn’t really get a chance to talk with them all that much during the week. Fortunately, that was not the case this evening, as everyone was back fairly early in order to get packed up because they would be leaving in the morning.
We were not the only ones who had fantastic day, as they tailed 12 over 20 pounds, including a 35.
It was a pleasure spending the week with them, and rumor has it we may be doing it again next year.
Bill Siemantle, who in addition to being a master angler, author, and fishing video producer, not only left us with a rather interesting hand drawn map showing us where they caught most of their fish today, he was kind enough to gift us a number of hand tied, relatively heavy jigs, and some pork rind tails that had been soaked in his proprietary Trout essence for over 6 moths.
Not surprisingly, Kenny copped the lot of them – to be fair I didn’t put up much or a fight – and I guess we, or more particularly he, will see how effective they are next week. Now if it turns out they do work well – they certainly did for Bill – he is going to have to learn how to share.
Week #2
Let’s Take Another Crack at It !
July 5
There’s Some New Kids in Town
After saying our goodbyes to the outgoing posse, the time had now come to meet the incoming crew, and see what week #2 has in store for us.
I am therefore pleased to introduce, Mike, Barry, Andrew “Bunk” Bunker, Al, Tom, and Doug with everyone, with the exception Mike and Doug, being Arctic Circle alumni.
That damn cold front was sticking to us like shit to a wooly blanket, with temperatures hovering around the mid-50’s. The water temperatures were following suit, as they barley got above 45 degrees in all of the places we fished today.
Those places being Lunch Island, the Nut Sack, B&G Narrows, and the area adjacent to the entrance to Beaver Inlet.
Fishing was slow, but we were entertained by a juvenile Bald Eagle who was anything but camera shy, letting us get up close and personal, and even posing for a few pictures.
Remember those jigs and the jar of marinated pork rind tails I mentioned earlier?
Well, Kenny decided he was going to road test them today. First of all, when he opened the jar, the stench was enough to make your eyes water, but the best part was that the paper liner on the underside of the jars cap had fallen into the solution, and I got quite the kick out of quietly watching while he struggled to attach the liner to the jig.
He did eventually figure things out, and hooked on a pork rind, but I don’t recall if he caught anything with it.
You Can Swim – But You Can’t Hide !
The new arrivals definitely came loaded for bear, or in this case Lake Trout, with all of them sporting an impressive array of electronics, including live view underwater camera systems.
In Toms case he brought along a huge, powerful Humminbird Live Scope Xplore10 sonar unit that not only would burn through several 12v batteries each day, but I suspect that if things got slow out on the water, he and Al could have probably used it to tune in Netflix.
Everyone went out for several hours, but didn’t break any records in terms of numbers and/or size caught.
July 6
Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go…
Fortunately the cold front had taken a powder overnight and we woke up to bright sunshine, light winds and warmer temperatures.
Not unlike last week, a combination of those 3 elements meant a run to Seagull was in the offing, but in contrast to the previous week, we were not going to have it all to ourselves.
Tom, Al, and Bunk had been there before, and given the success they, and for that matter Kenny and I had had in previous years, Barry and Mike were anxious to join us. In addition to our 3 boats, there was a fly-out from the main lodge, so at one point there were as many as 7 boats working the bay.
Kenny and I didn’t go directly to the “Fly-Out” bay, but instead headed a bit further west to the “Casting Place.” This was the 4th time we had come all the way over here, and but for two decent fish, unlike last year, they were simply not around for the most part. And those that were, were mainly tire kickers, meaning they would follow our lures at times right up to the boat, but would not take them.
Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps they were dieting, or had figured out what we were up to. I know that the water temperatures were somewhat cooler this year – today it was 46 degrees – which may or may not have been a factor.
Our plan was to make our way over to the “Fly-Out” bay and fish the west shore, but the folks who had come over from the main lodge had that area locked down.
Not having any desire to play bumper boats, we starting fishing the shoals at the mouth of the bay, and while doing so, hooked up with Bunk and Doug.
While we were comparing notes, Bunk happen to notice that we had a mess of what turned out to be braided line wrapped around our prop. Where it came from we couldn’t say, but it definitely wasn’t ours, so it must have been there for some time, and he was kind enough to remove it for us.
In order to thank him, Kenny offered to ensure that he and Doug received an extra pancake for breakfast at some point later in the week – where he came up with that I couldn’t say – but not wanting them to think that we – well mainly me – were not a couple of ungrateful pikers, as a way of truly saying thanks, I gave them a couple of shiny new Malibu Barbie Husky Devel’s.
Apparently Barbie did help them out, because shortly after tying her on Bunk git a 40. They ended up knocking it out of the park catching 36 fish, including the 40, a 34, 32 and 25, together with several in the teens.
All of the details of how they did, not only today but throughout the week can be found on Bunks outstanding blog – Bunk’s Outdoor Angle – at:
https://bunksoutdoorangle.com/category/travel/
Trust me, his stuff is really worth checking out.
We also met up with Al and Tom later in the day. They had caught a couple around the 20 mark in the bay, and also a number of small ones along the shore east of the bay. For whatever reason(s) the smaller fish were hanging out in the colder water – water temps dipped below 45 degrees east of the bay – maybe to avoid being swallowed up by the bigger ones who appeared to prefer something a bit warmer.
Mike and Barry eventually came over as well, having taken a longer route to get here. Barry caught a 26, but I don’t recall if it was at Seagull or another spot they had stopped to fish on the way.
I had caught a few, including an 18, but it was otherwise slow, so we bugged out around 2pm.
Once we crossed the arm, we made a stop at what I call Random Rock Point, and while the 40 degree water was certainly refreshing to drink, the fish had other ideas.
Moving on to Arctic Bay, we finally got into some fish on a consistent basis, and while the biggest was only about 12 pounds, we did catch 21 of them. The highlight though was yet another unique Ball/Gold double header.
Now what you may ask is so special or unique about a double header – don’t they happen with some frequency in these parts? Well yes they do, but how many people actually catch the same fish at the same time?
Not very many I’d wager.
Our last stop on today’s grand tour was Guide Bay, where we had hoped to catch a few Pike before calling it a day, but not unlike the tire kickers over on the other side of the lake, today at least, we had a number of followers, but no takers.
Maybe the word is out, and we’ve simply worn out our welcome in these parts as well…
July 7
Now What Exactly is a Gossan – and Why Should I Give a Rats Ass?
As for giving a rats ass, unless you are a geologist you probably don’t, but in the event you are simply curious, and because we planned to visit one today, in geological terms a Gossan is :
“…an iron-containing secondary deposit, largely consisting of oxides and typically yellowish or reddish, occurring above a deposit of a metallic ore.”
The day dawned warm, sunny and for a change – smoky.
Our tentative plan was to take some of the guys over to Echo and Cameron Bays assuming that the winds were light, which providentially they were.
Following a smooth one hour and 15 minute run, I stopped at Labine Point, which is near the entrance to Glacier Bay, so that the folks in our little convoy could have a gander at what remained of the Port Radium mine site.
While Al and Tom continued along with us into Echo Bay, Mike and Barry fished the back of Glacier Bay and had an excellent morning, which included one about 20 for Barry.
Now where the above noted Gossan thing comes in, is that there is a very large island in Echo Bay named – wait for it – Gossan Island, that has some pretty impressive mineralization on the slope facing into the bay, and which is quite impressive when illuminated by the sun.
As it was last week, the fishing was excellent in both Echo and Cameron Bays, and off the south shore of Gossan Island. Our biggest was 20, and we also caught many in the teens. There were numerous double headers – the normal kind this time – and virtually every fish put up such a fight that we actually had sore arms by the end of the day. As for the days total I stopped counting at 40.
Al and Tom had an excellent day as well, catching tons of fish, including one about 20.
While I’m not sure where Bunk and Doug fished today, they caught a total of 25, which included a 20 and 21.
October 13th Came Early This Year
Following a perfect ride home, Tina and Darrell pulled out all of the stops and served up a delicious Thanksgiving feast that included:
- Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Roast Turkey with all the trimmings, and
- Pumpkin Pie (my personal fav.)
In my humble opine, it was a perfect ending to a perfect day.
July 8
Welcome to the Insectarium
There would be no dodging the heat or smoke, because there was virtually nothing in the way of wind throughout the entire day to either cool things off, and/or dissipate the smoke.
While it was only day 4 for most, it was day 11 for Kenny and me, so our motus operandi was to dial it down somewhat and make it a beer and cigar type day, and simply go where the wind took us. But given the lack of wind, we clearly needed a Plan B of some kind.
For reasons that we probably can’t specifically articulate, we took off in a southerly direction, making our way down to what I call 4th Bay.
We visited all manner of places both familiar and new, and while the fishing was no screaming hell regardless of where we went, one thing we had plenty of were bugs.
In certain locales it was as if we had our own private Insectarium, because I’m willing to bet that throughout the day, we had every species of bug in the NWT pay us a visit. And while not all of them were of the biting variety, virtually every one was of the genus – Buggus annoyus.
We circled much of the big island in 4th Bay just outside of S.M.A.T. Narrows (the lodge name is Hog Narrows), and put up a zero. Silver Pike Bay was next, where Kenny landed 2 in the mid 20” range.
Next on our meander, was a small bay we had never popped into, which was located on east side at about the mid-point of the narrows.
It was shallow at both ends but 30 feet deep in the middle. Kenny caught one 35” Pike, but that was all. There were hundreds of baitfish picking bugs off the surface, so perhaps the Pike, or for that matter any other type of fish that may have been in there – I was marking all sorts in the deeper water – were too well fed to bother with the various pieces of metal we threw at them.
If it wasn’t for the damn bugs we would have spent more time working it, because given the depth and easy access to narrows, it may have even held some trout. Perhaps later in the week or next year?
We then gave the “New” Whitefish River a go, and other than spotting a single Pike of T-Rex proportions just outside of the river mouth, there was nothing to be seen in the river itself. One thing I did notice was there were many more deadfalls to maneuver around than in years past.
Did I happen to mention that the place was also lousy with bugs?
Having had enough of 4th Bay, we bugged out – so to speak – and began working our way North along the eastern shoreline. We picked up several small ones in short order, including one that was swimming around over 100 ft. of water. We went a bit further along, but all of the fish seemed to be concentrated around the northern most point of the bay.
The time had come to try something completely different, and hopefully bug free, so I made a beeline across from the point to a small cluster of islands that we had never fished in the past.
The structure was excellent, with good water temps in the 48 to 56 degree range, and we caught 4 in the 10 to 12 pound range. Someone had likely spent some time in and around these islands in the past, because we spotted an old wooden boat up on the shore that had probably been in use when this area was something of a prospecting hub back in the 1930’s.
After wearing out our welcome here, as it seemed we had done so in any number of other places, it was then off to our super-secret spot, otherwise known as Waypoint #43. The good news was that it was bug free, but on the flip side, it was also mostly fish free. Hey, one out of two ain’t bad !
Working our way back in the general direction of the lodge, I went right to the back of what’s called, among other things “One Trout” Bay, where there is a fast flowing stream pouring in. There was nothing doing there, but casting along the shoreline just east of the stream, Kenny hit a couple of Pike.
While I remembered fishing the mouth of the stream with Chris last year, there was something else about that area that I couldn’t quite recall, when it finally dawned on me that he had shown us a decent Pike spot in a small back bay just west of the stream.
It’s a very unlikely looking Pike haunt as it has little of no weed cover, but Kenny Gold, our resident Pike Master, caught 7, including one Silver and 3 over 30”.
Given our success the other day on the way back from Seagull, and because it was not too far from home, we putted over to Arctic Bay, and notwithstanding pretty much perfect water temperatures in the 48 to 52 degree range, I caught our only fish.
Last stop was home bay, and let’s just say that our time would have been better spent by heading straight in and having a cocktail.
Now as for the rest of our crew…
Al and Tom, together with Dave and Bunk made another run over to Seagull and did reasonably well overall, with Al and Tom catching some teenagers and a couple that may have nudged 20, while Doug and “Bunk” landed 30 fish, with the biggest being a 20.
Mike and Barry gave Appleby and the surrounding environs a good going over, and although there was not much doing in the way of numbers, Barry caught a 30 and Mike a 28.
I was also told that we were not the only ones beset by hordes of bugs, because apparently the ones that weren’t harassing us, had made their way over to Seagull and Appleby.
Scrumptious homemade pizzas were on the menu this evening, which were served up with a side of Greek Salad. Happily the culinary delights just kept on coming, as our meal was topped off with a slice of another type of “pie,” which in this instance happened to be of the Key Lime variety.
July 9
Working Without a Net
The wind came up to some degree today, and while the wind is rarely our friend, it did blow the smoke away. It was also a bit cooler, and mostly cloudy throughout the day.
My sense is that there may be another cold front in the offing.
Given the wind direction, my plan was to work the south/west shore of Hunter Bay, which is the one part of the bay we had yet to explore. Rumour has it that there is an old plane crash site along that shore, and we planned to keep our eyes peeled in hopes of spotting it. But before doing so, we made a pit stop at the mouth of Beaver Inlet (2 fish), Lunch Island (2 more) and Steve’s Nut Sack – nada.
On the way over to Hunter from the Nut Sack, we stopped at Lunch Island again, and trolled on an oblique from the island in a north westerly direction across the channel to the far shore. There is some very interesting structure out there with depths ranging from 20 to 55 ft., and having caught a couple of decent ones in the past, figured why not give it a try?
Kenny put on one of the heavy jigs he had commandeered, tipped with one of those malodorous pork rind tails, and I used a Fire Tiger Husky Sr. I varied our direction, trolling speed, and stopped from time to time so the lures could sink to, or near the bottom – all to no avail.
We covered much of the south shore of Hunter, but like every other place we tried, the fish just seemed to be off their bite. Maybe the cold front that was clearly moving back in was buggering things up?
That said, I did have one interesting piscatorial encounter.
Trolling past a stretch of shoreline that we both agreed would be the perfect place to have shore lunch, I got a solid hit. This fish not only ripped off an impressive amount of line, when I finally got it closer to the boat, it decided to sit on the bottom, and for a little while anyway, I simply couldn’t move it.
Interesting.
I was just about at the point where I was going to ask Kenny to ready the net, when I finally got it moving, and as I was bringing it up, had the sense that perhaps it was not all that big after all, and was just punching above its weight.
I have to say that I’ve never had a 14 pound Lake Trout fight quite like that one.
Wind + Cold + Slow Fishing = Back to the lodge, a warm fire, and wee nip of something that wasn’t tea or coffee to help take the chill off.
On the way back we did make one final stop at Guide Bay in the faint hope that Esox lucius might be active, cold front or no cold front.
It turned out to be a nice way to finish, as Kenny caught 3 just inside the mouth of the bay, including one massive gator that stretched over 40,” and which we estimated would weigh in at 25 pounds or better. It really was a beast of a fish.
Most of the others seemed to do well, particularly numbers wise, because unlike us they went south. Maybe the water was warmer down in those more southern climes – lol.
Al and Tom were planning on making the run to Branson’s, but given the wind conditions, thought better of it and fished around Mackenzie Island, which is located at about the halfway point between the lodge and Branson’s. And while they didn’t break 20 pounds, they tallied over 40 fish.
If I recall correctly Dave and Bunk headed off in a southerly direction as well, and like Al and Tom caught over 40, with their biggest being 19 pounds.
Mike and Barry on the other hand followed us over to the Hunter Bay area – which was their first mistake – and did about as well as we did, but then again Barry did catch a 23.
The most frustrating part according to them both was that they could see all manner of fish on the “Live Scope,” but there were very few takers.
The things is, and as we have learned over the years, seeing does not always translate into catching.
July 10
A Bay Called…
And speaking of bays, there are a couple of relatively large ones southeast of the lodge, that not having a clue if either had a lodge and/or official place name, I used to call 1st and 2nd Bays, that is until Chris told me that back in the day 2nd Bay was referred to as One Trout Bay.
Needless to say with that particular handle you may very well cross it off of your to fish list – but that would be a mistake. It reminds me of a guide who once worked at Trophy Lodge by the name of Ed “No Fish” who, if you didn’t know him, or of him, might not be your first choice for a guide. My guess is that you would instead prefer someone with a name like, let’s say for example, “Many Fish Mike .”
The fact is that Ed was an amazing guide, and One Trout consistently produces loads of fish – so as they say – what’s in a name?
With respect to 1st Bay, I think it was Bunk who referred to it as Mulligan Bay. Upon reflection I kind of get that because at the back end of the bay, there is a lake just a short distance away called Mulligan Lake.
Remember what I said about another cold front moving in? Well it bloody will did, because the thermometer registered a rather bracing 39 degrees F at 6:30 am. It was also a bit breezy, and we didn’t see much of the sun all day, making for a damn cold day on the water.
Deciding that a change in direction would be in order, Kenny and I made our way south, so we could give whatever the hell they are called bays a go.
The cold front notwithstanding, we had a very good day, catching just over 40, but the biggest we could come up with was 14 pounds. While we caught a few in Mulligan Bay, we had our best luck along the steep rock wall at the entrance to One Trout.
And while the fishing was steady, around 3:30 we were cold, thirsty and ready to call it a day, so I sent an In-Reach message to Darrell, stating that we were going to be back in about 25 minutes or so, and given that we were half frozen, a fire would not go amiss. Not surprisingly Darrell came through as always, and had one merrily crackling away upon our arrival.
Tom and Al had a good day as well, and fished same area as us in the afternoon. I think our comment about a nice warm fire must have struck a chord, because they arrived back at the lodge shortly after we did.
Barry and Mike went to Hog Narrows – the one we call S.M.A.T. Narrows – and caught a bunch of fish. Average size was good with many of them being in the teens, including one about 23 pounds.
Dave and Bunk continued to come up with good numbers, catching 44 between Hunter Bay, Steve’s Nut Sack and Achook Island. Their biggest was 19, and like Barry and Mike, the average size was decent.
July 11
Well – The Fat Lady is Warming Up Her Vocal Cords
The cold front had pulled up a comfy chair and settled right in.
With morning temps at 44 degrees, and my weather app predicting strong blustery winds this afternoon (it was right), Kenny and I gave each other a knowing look, and without saying a word, came to the same instantaneous conclusion that it would be a perfect day for packing up – not fishing.
If I recall correctly, Mike and Barry headed off in the general direction of Hunter Bay (?), and had a pretty rough ride home. They came in at 1:30, and while Barry called it a day, Mike went back out for a couple of hours. I didn’t record any vital statistics for them, but Barry did say the fishing was slow .
Al and Tom stuck it out a bit longer, and while they didn’t catch all that many, Tom hit one about 30 while trolling with a Flatfish, just as they were entering Domex Bay.
In all probability Bunk and Doug caught more fish than everyone else combined today – 33 – having fished the back of Cornwall Island, Broadway and Achook Islands, and the bottom end of Domex Bay.
They not only caught the biggest fish of the week – a 40 – I suspect they took home first prize when it came to numbers, having caught well north of 200.
Well done gentlemen!
July 12
All Good Things…
It would appear that the incoming group will have to put up with some less than ideal meteorological conditions, at least for today, because we awoke to what was a carbon copy of yesterday’s weather.
Breakfast is customarily something quick and light on change over day, coffee and muffins or something of the sort, because the lodge/guest rooms have to be prepared for the new arrivals, and there is usually not a whole lot of time to get it all done.
Last evening Tina had mentioned she would probably bake some scones for breakfast, but when I went hunting for them in the morning, Darrell asked me if I would like a couple of eggs and some toast.
Seeing what I suppose was a rather puzzled look on my face, Tina called out from the kitchen and said that she was not going to send “her boys” off without a proper breakfast.
They are both such marvellous individuals.
After saying our goodbye’s it was floats up at 8:35, and the strong winds notwithstanding, we had a smooth 40 min. ride back to the main lodge.
When attempting to settle my account, the “store boy” seemed to be in something of a quandary about who I actually was. He handed me my bill, which was far lower than it clearly should have been, and when I mentioned the discrepancy, he just kind of shrugged. Because there was line-up behind me waiting to pay, rather than try and sort it then, I told him that once they did figure it out, just charge the balance to the card I had used to pay the lesser amount.
Kenny’s invoice seemed to be in order, but after he paid, the kid called us both back and asked if we knew anyone by the name of Kenny Ball. I looked at the invoice he was holding and could see that it was the one I should have paid in the first place, so of course we both said we had never heard of anyone by that name, and he was probably some low life with a long criminal record, and a number of outstanding fraud charges.
The stretch of water between the lodge and where the strip is located was white capping, so rather than take one of the boats over, and probably get wet in the process, we hitched a ride with Reid in what’s called the “Red Pickup.” It was akin to travelling in Business Class, because just before we headed off, Reid handed us a couple of Aunty Mo’s delicious, hot from the oven, chocolate chip cookies.
Is it Tomayto or Tomahto?
While waiting to drive over, I spotted a wire cage of sorts outside of Chuk’s cabin that was encircling a number of plants, one of which was sporting a single red speck that looked suspiciously like a cherry, or possibly even a grape tomato. Seriously?
This was, as Reid explained, Chuk’s “farm.” Well good luck with that because given the current yield, I hope that he was not planning on having a bacon and tomato sandwich any time soon.
While waiting on the strip for the ATR -72 to land, we had the somewhat rare opportunity to have a fairly long chat with Chummy. Our discussion was primarily focused on the barge that was formally used to make the fuel run from the lodge to Délı̨nę.
The story was that some Federal bureaucrat stuck his nose into things, and told him that because it had a motor, and therefor was self-propelled, given its size it was now considered to be a “ship” rather than just a barge. This of course meant that a whole new set of rules and regulations now governed how it could be used, and who could pilot it.
We had a smooth flight to YK, and that evening hooked up for one last time with the entire crew, and enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Explorer Hotel.
BTW – I would highly recommend the Bison Ribeye.
Epilogue
Where to start?
- First and foremost I/we want to thank Tina and Darrell for their warm hospitality and exceptional service. Everything from the outstanding food – including of course my milk and cookies – to ensuring we had fresh batteries for our sonar every day, 2 full tanks of gas, installing our “stripper pole” at the dock, and even warming up our motor for us each morning was all very much appreciated.
Kenny and I are already booked for the same 2 weeks next year, and sincerely hope that we will be able to spend that time with you both yet again.
- To our fellow “Circlites” during both weeks #1 and #2, we could not have been in better company, and with a bit of luck we will be able to share this amazing place with some, if not all of you again next year.
- Chris, thanks very much for making what was clearly a herculean effort on your part to be able to join us for the week. As always, it was an absolute pleasure to spend the week with you, so let’s start plotting/conspiring to make it happen again next year, because it wouldn’t be the same without you.
- Yvonne and Darrell, many thanks for ensuring that everything went off without a hitch during the Yellowknife portion of our trip.
- Al, cheers for sharing your Basil Hayden with us. A wee dram was most welcome, particularly on those colder days.
- Kenny, you and I have been on this ride together for about 30 years now, and each and every trip has been unforgettable in one way or another. Oddly, I can’t imagine doing it without you, so let’s not plan on stopping anytime soon, because when you think back on all of the folks we came up with over the years, we are for all intents and purposes the last men standing.
- Rohan and Mike, not only was it great to catch up, but please accept our sincere thanks for that amazing day on Great Slave. Hopefully you both will be able to join us at Circle next year, because I am currently holding 2 spots for you during week #2 in 2026 – “just in case” as Kenny would say.
- Chuk, to put it in simple terms, we can’t thank you enough for all you did to ensure that we had yet another memorable trip, and best of luck with your Arctic farming endeavour, especially those tomatoes.
43 and counting…
Finally, as I may have mentioned earlier in this narrative, this was my 43rd trip to Bear, and while my original intention was that it would probably be a one and done type of experience, I clearly have blown well past that.
As for how many more years Kenny and I will be able to keep on doing this – who knows? Moreover, while it’s fair to say that we have more trips behind than ahead of us, we have no intention of stopping, or for that matter slowing down anytime soon, and in order to add substance to this intention, as noted, we are already booked for 2026.
So by now you’re probably wondering what I’m babbling on about, and hoping I’ll get to the point before you fall asleep, hence I’m going to wrap this up with a stanza from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, that I believe best conveys what I have been endeavouring to express in this last bit rather well – and besides, I just really like it:
“‘Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’”
Do you think that Tennyson would mind if I amended the last line to say:
“To strive, to seek, to find, to fish and not to yield.”
