I’m excited to say Granny and I are leaving this afternoon to return to Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge in Manitoba. Once we get things caught up around the house today, we’ll drive to northern Minnesota and camp tonight. Tomorrow we’ll finish the drive to Winnipeg and stay the night by the airport and catch an early flight to the far north on Wednesday morning.
This will be my third trip to Gangler’s. My first was back in 2019. I was with Yellow Dog Flyfishing’s, Shaun Lawson. Shaun’s and my main focus that trip was to shoot photos of the lodge and some big northern pike as Gangler’s was becoming a new YD location. That trip was a huge success and the beginning of a great friendship with owner Ken Gangler.
My second trip was in 2023 and Ken invited Granny as well. While we spent a few days at the lodge, Ken sent us to one of his many outposts. Granny and I had incredible fishing at Courage Lake.
We are packed and pumped up. This will be a late season trip and while there should be plenty of pike to catch, some Arctic grayling and even some walleye, our main focus will be lake trout. They should be very accessible on fly as they cruise the shallows – something they are known for in the fall. Oh, and it gets dark at a decent hour up north in September. There should also be a chance for some great views of the Northern Lights.
There’s a possibility we’ll get to Winnipeg soon enough for a few hours fishing on the famous Red River. In 2023 I latched on to some huge channel catfish on Clousers with my good friend Stu Thompson. My issue is that I give my “Streamer Presentation” via Zoom to the Columbia Basin Fly Casters tomorrow night as well and I need to be ready. We’ll see. Regardless, be ready for some amazing blog posts!