fishing
Best Lake Trout Destinations
by: Gord Pyzer
1. GREAT BEAR LAKE, NT


When you think of giant lake trout, the first lake that comes to mind is Great Bear Lake. And so it should. The largest lake entirely within Canada (and the world's seventh largest lake) is not only home to the current world record, but has produced most of the world records for the last 15 years. And if you're looking to set the new record, you'd better head to Great Bear.
     This far north the season is incredibly short. Ice chunks from spring break-up bob in the water in early July and you'll see flurries eight weeks later. The good news is that this is also the Land of the Midnight Sun. (I was so engaged one afternoon that when my stomach started to growl and I looked at my watch, it was 1 a.m.)
     It was here that I discovered the art of popping 1/4-ounce white tube and bucktail jigs using 8- and 10-pound test spinning equipment. Make a long cast across a shallow shoal, pop the jig, and wait for a laker to demolish it. Fish of well over 30 pounds and plenty in the mid- to high-20s are not unusual. Some anglers prefer to troll deep water exclusively, trading off constant action for the chance of catching one of the Goliaths for which Great Bear is famous. Remember though, these fish are often 70 or more years old, so handle with care.
•Contact: Plummer's Arctic Lodges, (204) 774-5775.

2. GREAT SLAVE LAKE, NT

The lake trout in this part of the country amaze me by how hard they fight. Great Slave lakers are wild fish that put the fight of comparably sized muskies and northern pike to shame. Twenty-pound trout elicit yawns, throbbing 30s and 40s are caught all season long, and world-record class fish are definitely possible.
     Great Slave Lake is the eighth largest lake in the world and second largest lake entirely within Canada. It covers 28,500 square kilometres, stretches almost 500 kilometres in length and drops deeper than any other lake in North America. Yellowknife, NWT's capital, lies on the shores of Great Slave and is some 1,500 kilometres north of Edmonton on an all-weather highway.
     The open-water season here runs only from mid-June to mid-October, so the water never gets so warm that you have to dredge the depths. The lakers are just a cast away with medium-weight spinning and baitcasting gear and a tacklebox of large Rapalas, suspending Husky Jerks and Thundersticks, Williams Wablers, and a handful or two of 1/8- to 3/4-ounce jigs and white Berkley Power Tubes.
•Contact: Plummer's Arctic Lodges, (204) 774-5775.
3. KASBA LAKE, NT

It's hard not to include the lake where I caught my biggest trout, a 32-pound-plus behemoth. Fish like that are common at Kasba. Almost a million acres in size, Kasba is 725 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle just north of the Manitoba and Sask atchewan borders. It's the only lake I've ever fished where we actually had to swerve the boat to avoid hitting trout on the surface. And while the lake sounds remote—and it is—you get to it via a chartered Air Canada jet, which literally stops at the back door of your cabin. One minute you're fighting the pressures of the modern world, burning the midnight oil, and a couple of hours later, you're fighting the lake trout of your dreams in the Land of the Midnight Sun.
     Trolling large crankbaits is the most popular game at Kasba for trophy trout, and you'll also catch scores of acrobatic lakers in the 6- to 10-pound class. Or try casting spinning gear off rocky points and across the shoally flats that make up the lake. When you're fishing Kasba, you'll end up with a dilemma: Do you troll for King Kong or fight fish till your arms ache? Some dilemma.
•Contact: Doug Hill, Kasba Lake Lodge, (800) 663-8641.

4. VICTORIA ISLAND, NT

This is trout fishing at the top of the world. In the unspoiled lakes and rivers of Victoria Island—like Merkley Lake—it's not unusual to spot lake trout in six inches of water with their dorsal fins waving in the breeze. Or to be wrestling with a trout or char only to feel a much bigger fish try to eat the one you're fighting.
     There is no need for finesse tackle up here. Three-quarter to one-ounce spoons with plenty of bright, flashy colours—especially red and orange—attract the trout.
     Though they call these the Barren Grounds, they're anything but, so keep your eyes open and savour the feast of exotic flora and fauna. Like the yellow-billed loons, ptarmigan, tundra swans, snowy owls, polar bears and muskoxen. That is, if you can look away from all those trout and char. This is high adventure in the high Arctic.
•Contact: Fred Hamilton, High Arctic Lodge, (800) 661-3880.

5. NUELTIN LAKE , NT & MB

Trophy lake trout are the draw on this extraordinary 200-kilometre-long waterbody. While fish in the 10- to 20-pound range are common, hundreds of 20-pound-plus trout are released each season. Part of the lake's secret is the conservation measures that have been in effect since the lake was opened to anglers. An enlightened catch-and-release policy, combined with the use of single barbless hooks, recognizes that the extremely old, slow-growing lake trout are too precious a resource to be caught only once.
     As a result, the lodges on the lake can justifiably lay claim to a lake-trout fishery that is as good today as it ever has been. And like Great Bear, Kasba, Athabasca and other northern waters, surface-water temperatures on Nueltin rarely rise above those favoured by lake trout. That means they're always within easy reach.
     Traditional casting, vertical-jigging and spoon-trolling techniques all do the trick on Nueltin. But perhaps more than elsewhere, the lodges here cater to fly-fishermen who are hoping to experience the ultimate thrill of catching and releasing a line-class world-record lake trout.
•Contact: Nueltin Fly-In Lodges, (800) 361-7177.
6. LAKE ATHABASCA, AB & SK

There are so many high-quality lake-trout fisheries in Saskatchewan that half of the Top 20 could come from here. Lake Athabasca, though, is the best. Lying just south of the Northwest Territories' border, Athabasca has one foot planted in Saskatchewan and the other in Alberta. Covering almost two million acres, the lake is immense.
     Athabasca's lake trout are equally huge. The Saskatchewan angling record—a 50-1/2-inch Goliath—came from Lake Athabasca, as did the largest lake trout of all time, a gargantuan granddaddy weighing over 100 pounds, netted by a commercial fisherman. Many anglers believe bigger trout swim here.
•Contact: Cliff Blackmur, Athabasca Camps Inc., (306) 653-5490.
7. LAKE NIPIGON, ON


Lake Nipigon is one of the best drive-to lake-trout fisheries in Canada. For a number of reasons—latitude, relatively favourable growing season, productivity and forage—Nipigon lakers are among the fastest-growing trout in Canada. According to MNR creel surveys, the lakers here average 34 inches and weigh between 12 and 14 pounds. On a good day, you can catch numerous 20- to 30-pounders. Smelt were discovered in the lake in 1976, and today, they account for over half the trout food. Herring account for the balance.
     Because Lake Nipigon is so accessible, there is a thriving winter as well as summer fishery. However, the accessibility and notoriety carry a price. Special regulations have been implemented to protect and maintain the fishery. There is a two-fish-per-day limit, and only one can exceed 27 inches. Artificial lures with barbless hooks are also the rule in the winter.
•Contact: North of Superior Travel Association, (800) 265-3951.

8. GODS LAKE, MB


The lake trout in Gods Lake are like Rodney Dangerfield—they don't always get the respect they deserve. They live in the shadow of their world-famous speckled trout cousins (brookies up to, and greater than, 10 pounds). But you can hardly sneer at 60-pound-plus lake trout.
     Like most of our Top 20 waters, Gods Lake is huge and deep, with surface temperatures that lakers love. Early and late in the season, many anglers like to cast surface and subsurface baits as well as streamers for lake trout. Trolling large spoons and vertically jigging heavy lead-headed jigs are favourite methods for catching trout later in the summer.
     Anglers position their boats over deep pockets, sharp drop-offs or sunken reefs, and lower a heavy spoon or jig to the bottom. Some methodically lift it up and down, but most pump it to the surface as they quickly reel in line. This unique tactic simulates a cisco streaking to the surface and it's sure to attract any lake trout that spots the panicking prey in the clear water.
•Contact: Manitoba Natural Resources, Fisheries Branch, (800) 214-6497.

9. CANIAPISCAU RESERVOIR, QC


Denis Threlfall, who operates Pourvoirie Caniapiscau, complains that it's often difficult catching smaller trout for shorelunch here. He's only partly joking; 20-pound-plus lake trout are the average on Caniapiscau.
     Like elsewhere, trolling giant spoons (the biggest Williams Wabler accounts for the majority of fish) is the key on Quebec's largest, ocean-sized lake. While trolling is the ticket, you can leave your downriggers and wire-line outfits at home. This far north in the taiga, you rarely need to probe deeper than 15 feet to latch on to a head-shaking moogator.
•Contact: Denis Threfall, Pourvoirie Caniapiscau, (800) 267-9797.

10. LAKE SUPERIOR, ON

You may not catch the numbers of 20s, 30s and 40s that you will further north, but there are enough quality 8- to 15-pound trout in the mightiest freshwater lake in the world to keep even the most ardent lake-trout angler happy.
     Superior's lakers are true dwellers of the deep, and while you can catch them long-lining jointed Rapalas, Thundersticks, Williams Wablers and Whitefish in the spring and fall, trouters equipped with downriggers or wire line account for the majority of fish. It's not unusual to target trout in 75- to 100-plus feet of water. In the past, herring or cisco were the natural forage for lakers living in Lake Superior, but today, smelt are at the top of the menu.
•Contact: North of Superior Travel, (800) 265-3951.
11. CREE LAKE, SK
•Contact: Bev Hathaway, Environmental and Resource Management, (306) 425-4576.

12. REED LAKE, MB
•Contact: Manitoba Natural Resources, Fisheries Branch, (800) 214-6497.

13. WOLLASTON LAKE , SK
•Contact: Bev Hathaway, Environmental and Resource Management, (306) 425-4576.

14. ATHAPAPUSKOW LAKE, MB
•Contact: Manitoba Natural Resources, Fisheries Branch, (800) 214-6497.

15. CLEARWATER LAKE , MB
•Contact: Manitoba Natural Resources, Fisheries Branch, (800) 214-6497.

16. BIG TROUT LAKE, ON
(Northeast of Red Lake.)•Contact: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Red Lake, (807) 727-2253.

17. TROUT LAKE, ON
(Northeast of Red Lake.)•Contact: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Red Lake, (807) 727-2253.

18. SYDNEY LAKE , ON
•Contact: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Red Lake, (807) 727-2253.

19. KISSISSING LAKE , MB
•Contact: Manitoba Natural Resources, Fisheries Branch, (800) 214-6497.

20. LAKE TEMAGAMI , ON
•Contact: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, North Bay, (705) 475-5550.

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