Who did you bring on your fishing trip to Pilots Lodge?
Brought along five other guys. Dustin, Noah, Matt, Pierce, Justin.
How long have you been fishing?
I don't know. I'd say my whole life. Yeah, I'd say it was family. It started off with canoe trips and stuff and progressed to boats and and getting out there on foot.
What do you fish for at home?
Uh it's probably a mixed bag, but mostly walleye.
Have you fished Northern Saskatchewan before?
Only a handful of times, just roadside stuff, nothing serious, on the Churchill River, Clam Lake, Bezard Lake, Uranium City, uh a few few along the way.
How would you describe the landscape here around Pilots Lodge?
It's a different, it's a lot different picture than what most folks are used to. It being a river, it's got a lot of different landscape. It's got a lot different structure to it. There's a lot of diversity in how you can fish it and it's a different ball game for sure. It's fun.
How are the accommodations at Pilots Lodge?
Yeah, accommodations were awesome. The boys loved it. It's perfect. It's perfect for our needs and and we got a bunk house with with all of us in there. So, it makes it pretty pretty tight and cozy and got a fireplace going every evening. The mess hall there is pretty cool. There's a lot of history to it and a lot of cool out buildings and yeah, it's a pretty sweet setup.
Anything included that was not expected?
Uh buggies. The three-wheelers, the big rush. Three-wheelers are probably the best part. Shuttling gear down and stuff. That's a that's a treat.
Why did you choose to come fish at Pilots Lodge?
Well Nick did his little pre-fish there so I think that was a pretty good indication but I think for the boys it was something something a little different, getting out there a little further north, a little bit more of an adventure. Just the opportunity for trophy fish for sure was a big selling point, which produced, obviously. That's a no-brainer. Just keeping it new, keeping it different. Yeah, that was probably probably the best part is just getting out there a little further north, a little more adventure to it.
Why did you choose this time of year?
I think spring breakup is ideal for good fishing. Weather's a lot better. I'd say it's, we had some pretty good weather. There was a few like yesterday was a little a little bit of a system blew in, but other than that, it was it was phenomenal. It was a really good weather, but I think the I think the highlight would be fishing's really good right now. So, yeah, it was good.
Tell us about the day of the big Pike on the fly.
It was pretty textbook day for throwing a fly. We were fishing a big out bay, 3 to 4 feet of water max in places and soft bottom stuff and lots of lily pads so it obviously is holding big fish and they're staging there for that warm weather and flat structure and stuff. So we were throwing around a big big streamer and just sight fishing fish here and there, seeing fish and and getting the hang of throwing around a big fly and kind of learning a little bit again. We were pushing up towards the bank and we were catching them on conventional gear. So, we figured obviously throw the fly. So I started tossing that thing around and got a pretty good cast out there and started stripping back and could see the streamer up top and the big boil came rolling in. It was coming in hot. There was a big roller come up to the fly, like the perfect strike, big white mouth open and then hooked up, started stripping and he fought super super good for quite a while and finally got him in the boat. It was awesome.
What was your best day on the water?
Best day. I would say best day was when we got right down to the end of the line and probably sat on the sandbar there, probably a great big, I don't know 200 yard about 100 yard sand flat. Just parked the boats there and yeah, it was good. Caught lots of fish earlier that day and the weather was beating down on us and it was awesome.
What will you remember most from this trip?
I'd say getting out to a new part of the world is is definitely a highlight just seeing the Fon du Lac for the first time. That was pretty cool. Just a lot different than what I'm used to. It's it's different country. It's really cool seeing the historical water lines and all the different rock outcroppings and things. Then I'd say the number of trophy class Pike is probably a big big deal. Like I mean, I've experienced stuff like that before, but not to this degree. It's definitely a special place because of it, for sure, and just uh the numbers for sure. Like a lot of big fish each day, doesn't really matter.
Would you recommend Pilots Lodge to others?
Absolutely. Yep. Yeah. These boys run a pretty tight ship around here and it's very easy going. You can pretty much fish the spots that they've got all scouted out and and some of them are a small short ride from the cabin and you can get as far as the next couple sets of rapids and do a little touring around and fishing less than 15 minutes from the lodge and pike and walleye pretty much everywhere.