To say we had a change in weather overnight was an understatement. If Granny knew how bad it was, there’s no doubt she would have taken the day off. When we left the Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge dock to fish Egenolf Lake it was 47°, windy and raining. But it’s a good thing Granny didn’t know how miserable it was out there. A legendary day for her was in the making.
We took a long boat ride to start. One of the reasons for traveling far was because I requested doing some Arctic grayling fishing. This is done on the far end of the big lake where the North Seal River leaves for Blackfish Lake. Being it was cold and wet; Marcus and I figured it was a good day to do a hike which is what is required. However, on the way Marcus thought we should get that shore lunch pike first. In order to keep Granny warm I insisted that she get up and catch it.
The first the spot we hit seemed dead. 30 minutes of casting and we saw nothing. Granny hit a lot of good-looking water using an old fly I actually tied about 20 years ago. Its big and has a bunch of chartreuse feathers. Who knew if the fish weren’t showing because the fly stunk or if they weren’t around.
About the time we were questioning things there was a big splash behind us. We all turned and Marcus said, “Big pike”.
No one had to tell her, Granny’s cast switched sides of the boat in mid stroke and her fly landed in the rings of the splash. A couple of strips and she went tight. You can always tell when its big because Granny fights big fish using the butt of the rod. A great trick for all anglers. She dang near had the cork bending!
A three-minute battle ensued then Granny glided the oversized pike into the net. That’s pretty good considering we were using my 7-weight Winston due to my reoccurring shoulder issue. We considered getting out of the boat for some pics but Granny said, “No, its too cold and this one’s not big enough”. It was a pig of a pike but she’s right, it was cold and at this point in our trip we’ve caught bigger. I got this nice pic with Marcus holding the fish then we let her go.
There’s no doubt that fishing was keeping Granny warm. She got right back after it and I kid you not, on her first cast she was on again. I wasn’t watching but heard the yells when she and Marcus watched this massive fish eat the fly. Marcus reached for his net immediately.
I don’t think it matters how enormous a pike is, if you know how to fight big fish, you land a trophy pike fast. Despite a run and a deep dive where the fish held his ground on bottom for a minute, it didn’t take Granny long to win and for Marcus to scoop the net under.
All I can tell you is there was a lot of fish in the net. It may not look like much from the above photo, but that net is huge and so was the fish. We immediately headed for the bank to handle this beast. So as to take no chances of the fish getting away without at least one photo, I had Marcus lift it from the net with my poorly tied fly still attached. Whoa! This fish was special!
I flicked a few shots but Granny said enough. She was ready to hold her fish herself. All I knew was this was going to be fun to watch. She got some practice two days ago and one of the things she learned was to hold the fish close to the water. Every time he twitches just dip him back in. Most of the time, big fish settle right back down. Granny held this giant fish like a champ and I have an array of great hero shots of my lady.
Giant I said – yes this was a giant. Granny’s fish measured 45” and is her new personal best pike. Not only that, this is Granny’s first pike over 39”. Pumped!
It’s hard to pike fish after you release a giant. So what do you do? Change species. We finished our boat ride to the North Seal River and I broke out my 4-weight and a size 10 Orange Stimulator.
Few anglers know to pack a 4-weight on a pike and lake trout trip. It’s a fact that a lot of the far north pike lodges in Canada have grayling nearby but they’re rarely sought after. My tip for the day is that when you come to Gangler’s you need to dedicate at least one-half day to catching some of these gorgeous river dwellers.
As I said, it was a perfect day for the grayling. It was cold and drizzly and a perfect day for a hike. Grayling have no chance to survive in the lakes around here with all the pike and lake trout so isolated populations live in the fast-moving sections of some of the rivers that connect the lakes. We parked the boat and walked to the prime spot.
I was the only one that fished. Granny enjoyed grayling fishing on our last trip but today, after she caught a beast, she was a bit lazy. It was also a challenge to navigate the rocks and she was cold. Especially cold because when she released her big pike she got her shirts wet up to the elbows. But we made it and I fished for an hour and caught about ten. I’d have stayed much longer but I could see Granny and Marcus were ready for lunch.
It was pouring during lunch but it had warmed up enough it was by no means miserable. I got Granny to pop a celebratory beer with me and we enjoyed them while Marcus cooked up a small pike that we nabbed on the way out of the grayling spot.
The rain was serious by the time we finished lunch. Our delicious fried pike chunks were literally floating in our plates because the rain was coming down so hard. Even the gray jays were drenched when they came by for afternoon scraps. But as fast as the heavy rain came, it ended and our late afternoon session went well.
We were still plenty satisfied with today’s piking so we ended the day going exclusively for lake trout. The deep-water char come shallow this time of year due to colder water temps near the surface and also because they spawn in the fall. With the sun out, and Granny’s luck thus far, I kicked back and let her go to town. (Photo taken by Sheryl, one of the ecotour people that were sight seeing on Egenolf Lake today while we fished).
Granny caught about five of these nice size lakers. They weren’t jumping on the line like yesterday, but her consistent casting paid off. At each of Marcuses laker spots we managed at least some action.
It was an incredible day on Egenolf Lake here at Gangler’s. A day neither Granny or I will ever forget. Watching my girl hammer away on several fish of a lifetime is something you don’t take lightly. She has been spot on with her fishing all week long!
After dinner tonight the clouds were completely replaced by stars. And by the time it was totally dark, out came the Northern Lights. I won’t say luckily, but I will say I’m sort of glad that they diminished around 11 tonight. It took a couple days to recover from the other night when they went all the way until 1 am. Back on the water first thing tomorrow and it will be a full-on lake trout day at a fly in lake!
A special thanks goes out to our buddy Ken Gangler. Ken makes this adventure to Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge possible for Granny and I. Every angler should try to make a point to fish trophy pike and lake trout on the fly at least once.