ALL SIGNS POINT NORTH
Every year for the last few years, my friends and I have headed north in search of new waters and big fish. Call it a migration, call it a pilgrimage – I just call it church. Its hard to argue that stepping away from civilization isn’t good for the soul. Thoughts become clearer, time slows down and life just seems simpler when you’re out of range of Wifi.
Northern Manitoba is a place that has become very special to me, tales told to me by my father and uncle of their amazing back country fishing trips in the 80s and 90s always piqued my curiosity. So, naturally exploring Manitoba always seemed like the next step after spending my youth touring around the northern corner of my own province.
MAKING A NEW FRIEND WITH A LOT IN COMMON
Somewhere around 2011-2012 I met Bryan Bogdan through an online forum, and after much corresponding – I’d say we even became friends. We had common roots; our families farmed only miles from each other near Avonlea and we both grew up fishing the same northern lakes and the same small southern reservoir known locally as “Dunnet”. Bryan purchased an outfit called Wekusko Falls Lodge in May of 2010 and if you’re a member of the angling community then there’s a pretty good chance you’re familiar with the name. Bryan tried for many years to get me up there, stories of 36″ walleye and lake trout too fat to come through ice holes had my mind reeling. It all sounded too good to be true.
Years went by and our exchanges grew less frequent, but I never forgot about the potential for Manitoba monsters. After many years of honing my own skills on local lakes I was ready for a change. I was ready for an adventure!
I eventually got word that a good friend of mine from Avonlea, Matt Getzlaf had made the trip up and by his accounts, was not disappointed. His first trip up was a huge success and I after talking with Bryan again I knew I had to go, all signs pointed north.
PLANNING OUR FIRST ADVENTURE
My first trip was booked for April 2016 and I would be sharing the adventure with my younger cousin Lyndon Smith and good friend Brad Beleshinski. We had no idea what to expect heading north to find ice at the end of April but we couldn’t be more excited. We headed off to Weksuko Falls Lodge with a truck, a trailer, 3 four wheelers, a host of new fishing gear and some big dreams.
The trip was long and white knuckled! We drove well into the night through pouring rain and after what seemed like an eternity, we arrived at the lodge around 3am. We were so excited we could hardly sleep but you better believe Bryan had us up at the crack of dawn regardless. It seemed like years of dreaming and planning had finally come together, I was about to (hopefully) catch my first lake trout with the help of Bryan.
A VASTNESS!
Being an avid angler from the south it wasn’t easy to swallow my pride and hire a guide but as soon as we rolled up to that first lake access, I completely changed my opinion on the matter. The vastness and massive size of it was humbling, not a person, truck or ice shack in sight. We were even more in awe when Bryan explained how this was only a small portion of the lake itself. Plus, we may be travelling as far as 15 kilometres on ice that had been completely flooded by the previous nights rain.
A CONVOY
We carried on with Bryan leading the way and our trucks convoyed across a lake covered by 3 inches or more of water. Dips in the ice, would nearly make your heart skip, but we were too busy having the time of our lives to care, we were on a true adventure. As we fished, I noticed the lake blended into the clouds and made for the most stunning northern setting imaginable, I was completely hooked from that day forward.
A NEW RESPECT
Our trip was a total success. We laughed, talked about everything outdoors and even got into some good fish. What I took home from that trip was much more important. I came home with a new respect for my guide and his northern waters, his passion for fishing and respect for his domain was admirable, to say the least. We have always seen eye to eye on catch and release fishing and have done our best to perfect the art. I knew Bryan was confident that we would treat his lakes like our own. And to this day, we still do. Since that first trip I’ve found myself returning to northern Manitoba every year.
As anglers we all need to do our best to practice conservation and take care of our fisheries. Whether its on our home pond or a remote northern fishing trip its now up to us to keep the dream alive for future generations, and I think its safe to say the future is looking bright. Attitudes seem to be changing towards the need to always keep limits of fish and people are learning to leave a smaller footprint. While we still have a ways to go, I know when my group leaves a lake the way locals would want us to they will likely return the same courtesy to our waters. We’re all going to be better off because of it in the end.