500 Inches of Pike: A Northern Saskatchewan Adventure
9:04 am, first morning on the water. Our guide, Joel, edges the boat toward a point recently flooded over by the high-water levels on the Cree River system. Flooded conditions make fishing challenging as the structure available to the fish is suddenly amplified. We see two river otters amongst a stand of pencil reeds in the drizzly, grey morning.
Joel “had a feeling about this spot” and decided to beeline straight here from camp at Cree River Lodge. My wife Christy pitches the orange and gold #2 Len Thompson toward a cove in the weeds. A smaller, 34-inch northern pike takes a smack at the lure 10 feet from the boat. Before Joel could finish his advice that “there’s usually a bigger one that’s a follower”, Christy’s medium heavy rod bends over to the power of a pike the likes of which she has never experienced. Several line-stripping runs later, Joel and Christy pose with a conservative 45-inch northern pike. I say conservative as part of the tail fin of this hog was missing. The likely culprit being the otters, as they left tell-tale pyramid-shaped teeth marks in the side of this 30 plus pound pike!
“That’s a fish of a lifetime”—Joel’s words resonated with Christy and left me ambivalent; I was proud of her accomplishment, but also stung as I was just dethroned as the household pike champ.
Last year at this lodge I set my personal best at 44 inches. My dad landed a 47-inch pike the same day. That is why we came back.
The rainy conditions did not slow us down and Joel got us on several fish. To change it up, we jigged for walleye. I finished up by fan casting the weed edge and landed a 40-inch northern. Back at camp, we heard from my uncle who had a steady day of mid thirty inchers and a about dad’s notable 41-inch northern. Not bad for “tough” conditions—I don’t think that phrase means the same thing as it does down south.
DAY TWO AT CREE RIVER LODGE!
Day two found all four of us out with Joel on the camp’s pontoon boat. Usually, a workhorse used to haul camp goods, we requested to fish together, and I knew it would make a better platform for fly fishing—my goal for the day. We started by targeting walleye for our shore lunch.
We worked river sections and secluded, shallow bays the rest of the day. Dad landed a respectable 44.5-inch pike and I had a blast catching over 25 pike on the fly, including a mid-thirties personal best on a red and white streamer.
The day ended with us working a set of narrows. It was obvious to see why Joel wanted us to focus here—on the edges of the current, I could see hundreds of suckers and whitefish swarming about, feasting on the stunned baitfish that just got sucked through the rolling water.
We landed numerous pike and walleye on gold Mepps Cyclops and Williams Wobblers.
Both spoons have the action and color to match the sucker and whitefish. At this point, Dad, Christy, and I had multiple fish over 40 inches, but my Uncle Orion, on his first northern trip, was getting hard on himself (as we all do when the halfway point in a trip has past and you’re the only one without a big fish). Just then, I spotted a pike like no other, lazily swimming from a lie between two boulders to the undercut of the shore. I got Orion on the spot, and he desperately casted to no avail. We found out the next day that fish was caught by another group Joel took out to that spot.
It was 50 inches long!
The final day found us in a section of the river known as “The Dunes”. This place is legendary, incredibly challenging to boat to, and well worth the two-hour ride. This is where dad landed his 47-inch pike last year. We headed down river in two boats. Christy quickly landed a stout 35-inch northern and I followed up with a 43.5-inch and then a 44-inch pike. Meanwhile, dad caught a 42-inch pike on his confidence bait—a Mepps Cyclops in fire tiger. As we stopped for lunch and explored the sand dunes, we marveled at the beauty of the Athabasca sand basin.
HOT SUMMER FISHING ACTION
Being the warmest day of the trip, the lethargy took to the pike. We managed to land several other fish but saw many follow the lure to the boat and not commit. The constant supply of fresh, cool water usually keeps the fish biting late into the afternoon. This day, the sunshine warmed the water to 69-72 degrees Fahrenheit. We decided to try one more area before finishing with arctic grayling in the rapids.
Just as I finessed a 41-inch pike out from under some floating muskeg, we got to watch Orion, in the other boat, finally land his trophy. He was elated to pose with a 43-inch Cree River northern pike. As we drifted a few passes in the rapids, Christy and Orion caught their first grayling. My dry fly presentation landed a respectable16.5-inch personal best grayling. On the way back to the lodge, dad and the now confident Orion convinced their guide for one more poke at a big pike. Dad tangled with a 39 incher and Orion finished up his trip with a respectable 40-inch northern pike.
TOP QUALITY FISHING IN NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN
Although it is never about inches and always about memories, we left Cree River Lodge feeling fulfilled. Even with the challenging conditions of high water, this calibre of fishing is consistently had in Northern Saskatchewan. We likely have forgotten more fish than we remember—a glorious, pampered blur. A conservative estimate of trophy size pike would put us well over 500 inches. With three personal bests set, two tied, and a lifetime of memories, I would highly recommend Cree River Lodge!
ANGLERS NOTES:
Walleye and Grayling
The burnt orange and black tannin-stained waters of the Cree River produce magnificently dark green walters. These current-fighting walleyes always feel 5 inches bigger than they are, having developed much more muscle than their lazy still-water southern cousins. In short order, it is easy to have all the walleye needed to feed the camp during shore lunch and we consistently release 5 times that amount. Jigging for walleye in strong current is an interesting fishery. As they hold to the cabbage weed that grows amongst the boulder spree of the riverbed it is alike jigging from a drifting boat. You cast upstream and snap jig the lure back across the path of the ambushing walleye. Artificial bait and a heavier-than-you-think-you-need jig is all that is required to fish in the current; the ‘eyes are so ravenous, they slurp up anything that moves.
ARTIC GRAYLING EVERYWHERE
Arctic grayling congregate in the rocky bottom rapids of the river. Likely, they are safer there from pike and walleye that cannot effectively predate in the fast-flowing water. The grayling hold in lies behind boulders and zoom up to the surface to take insects that float by. They also feed on submerged larva and small baitfish, so mimicking these food sources is the way to target them. Fly fishing dry flies in a hopper pattern worked best for the author, but small spinners or wet flies will also do the trick. Not a fly fisher? No problem! The guides at Cree River Lodge expertly backtroll through the rapids so you can present a dry fly tied on your spinning gear so you can partake in the acrobatic fun. Watching an arctic grayling explode out of the water and take your fly is about a gorgeous fishing experience as you can have.