Fishing on Lake Athabasca: the last day

Today began overcast, much chillier and with 20-knot winds, which pretty much directed the plan for the day since a trip down to the Collin River, the Sneak Hole or the sand flats for lakers would have been bumpy at best. And so it was we fished Maurice Bay near camp, once again, for big northerns.

Not that we minded. In fact, we probably would have hit Maurice anyway, since it held out the best chance of topping our big fish for the trip. I almost did just that, too, early on in the day, when I tagged a beauty on a #5 blaze Muskie Marabou. I swear it was my 45-incher, but then again, I’m the only guy in the boat who saw it, so let’s make it a 50-incher.

Seriously, here’s the straight skinny on the trip’s big fish. Between Ted and I, we caught 30 pike longer than 40 inches (one 41-incher each on our fly rods, no less) and 27 lake trout topping 20 pounds. I’m not sure where else you can fish like such a king, but I do know this: I’m now completely spoiled when it comes to angling for numbers of big lakers and pike. It’s a good thing there’s no smallies here…

Well, it’s time to sign off and dig into our last big meal of the trip: ribs. So, now would be a good time to say a big thanks to all the folks here at Lakers Unlimited’s Spring Bay camp. Cheers all!