Published: June 30, 2008 11:02 pm            

HILTS: Wollaston Lake is the land of big pike

We moved stealthily into a back bay that took the better part of a half hour to get into because of shallow areas that harbored large boulders, appropriately named Rock Bay. As we cast our way in with plugs, spoons and spinners, we picked up four or five smaller northern pike.

Still, it was nothing like what we had hoped for. Thunder rolled in the distance and we wondered whether our trip would get cut short. Timing is everything and we arrived just as an approaching storm skirted our position to the south. Fish on! The bay was loaded with big fish and they were extremely active with the nearby storm. We had arrived at Wollaston Lake in northern Saskatchewan, land of living skies and home to monster northern pike.

And these skies were alive. As one storm veered off to the south, another approached from the northwest and stayed just far enough north that it wasn’t going to hit us. Good thing, too, because we could see lightning off in the distance … on both sides of us. As the thunder rumbled, big pike wanted to do some rumbling of their own.

“Thunderstorms, combined with dropping barometric pressure, is one of the things that can really turn pike on,” said Jeff Harrison of Saskatoon, our guide for the day. “Of course, there’s a fine line of when you can stay to fish and how long you should hang around. It’s all about safety.”

I was fishing with Bill Hilts Sr. and we certainly got caught up in the moment. Three different times we had double headers on, with Senior casting a rubber frog that spun on its retrieve and me tossing a Mann’s Minus One plug. Three different times we had absolute monsters attack our baits; three different times we failed to connect. Our biggest for this particular flurry was a 37-inch beauty that put up quite a tussle. All told, we probably caught — and released — 25 fish in less than two hours. This is a catch-and-release lake and barbless hooks are required. That might have had something to do with it, but not much. Once we got a fish on, we lost surprisingly few.

The bay held much bigger fish, but it was not meant to be this day. Off in the distance, another storm approached and this one wasn’t going to miss us. We needed to exit our honey hole and high tail it out of there. Just as well, the fish had shut off for the time being.

This trip started with in invitation from Tourism Saskatchewan for anyone attending the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference in Bismarck, N.D. Saskatchewan was surprisingly close to our meeting and a short flight into Saskatoon — which brought back some good memories of the popular Guess Who tune “Running Back to Saskatoon” — allowed us to clear customs. Another short jaunt to Points North and we were on our way to Minor Bay Lodge, our home for the next two days. A de Havilland Beaver float plane dropped us on the doorstep of the lodge in 15 minutes. Yes, it was a short trip, but it was well worth it. I’d return in a heart beat.

Upon arriving, some more thunder bangers greeted the four of us that would be staying at this location — including Doug Stamm of Wisconsin and Don Meredith of Alberta, Canada. We thought we might want to try and get a couple hours of fishing in before dinner if it stopped and we prepared for the best. In my haste for packing, I found out I forgot my rain suit. Camp manager Moe Rosolowski came to my rescue with an extra suit, a relief you cannot believe.

While the weather was good for the most part, the air could be chilly at times. In fact, there was still some ice on this lake the previous week to the north. We took pictures of a snow bank on one of the islands that was still hanging around, refusing to succumb to the warmer temperatures. Everything fights up here.

The first evening of fishing with Neil McLean of Thunder Bay, Ontario, we focused around a place called Trout Narrows for some laker action, as well as one back bay near camp for pike. Senior had the hot trout hand that night, hooking into five lake trout on a Williams Wobbler spoon. He also caught a pike. I was the pike numbers guy, hitting a half-dozen fish on a chartreuse Double Loon spinner. However, only the “smaller” fish were active, fish in the 28-to-32 inch range. We could see big pike all around us (fish that would stretch to mid-40 inch range at least), but they weren’t cooperating. We needed a fly rod and a big streamer fly or something close to that.

This area is especially noted for the ability to take big pike on a fly. To give you an idea of what the potential holds for fly casters, Stamm was fly fishing for pike and Arctic grayling on Waynes Lake and Wheeler River, respectively, on our final day. He had never caught a pike on a fly before. By the end of the day, he had his first one — a 43 inch tooth-filled pike. They also caught a 44- and 42-inch fish that day, fish that weighed up to 25 pounds. Two of the local favorites are the Bunny Leech fly and the Whistler Streamer fly. And, because of water clarity, this is a great place to sight fish for pike.

The setting is very picturesque, as well. When people tend to think of Saskatchewan, they think wheat fields and prairie lands. In this part of the province, it’s all lakes, trees and rocks. It seemed like no matter where we went there was a bald eagle soaring overhead and we were all surrounded by a beautiful natural setting of endless bays and back waters. And every day the guides will offer up a shore lunch to add more value to the experience. Well, not every day. We missed our shore lunch one day because the fish were hitting and the storms were approaching. We chose fish over food, believe it or not.

While the focus is certainly on trophy pike, there’s also a very respectable lake trout fishing here, too. Harrison was excited when we told him that we wanted to spend some time seeking out a big lake trout. It would allow him to do some exploring and try out some new areas for big lake trout. Because of the focus on pike, he rarely gets to fish for lake trout himself. Fish more than 50 pounds have been caught here. We could only manage fish to six pounds, but the potential is definitely there.

The lodge itself is well-equipped with all the finer aspects of life. There’s electricity and hot running water for showers. The on-staff chef was outstanding, putting together some excellent meals each night at 7 p.m. A bit late you might say? Not really when you consider the fact that the sun came up at 3:30 a.m. and set around 11 p.m. each day while we were there! It’s also a very short season. The lodge is only open from June 7 to Aug. 15. After that, the cold northern winds start to blow and they can seriously affect the fishing. Catching can be great later in the season, but only if you can get out. It’s all too unpredictable, hence, the early closing of the camp. You also are required to fish with a guide when you go out— one or two people per guide. Boats are comfortable 18-foot, Deep-V aluminum Crestliners equipped with 50 horse Yamahas, a nice ride.

To find out more about Minor Bay Lodge, check out www.minorbay.sk.ca on the Internet or call 888-BIG PIKE (244-7453). For more information on Saskatchewan, check out www.sasktourism.com or call 877-2escape (237-2273). If you want big pike, I don’t think there’s a better place you can go to catch big fish, time after time, day after day.

Bill Hilts Jr. is a past president of the New York State Outdoor Writers Association. Contact him at bhiltsjr69@cs.com.

        

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