5 of Western Canada’s most naturally spectacular fishing hot spots

ATHABASCA SAND DUNES, SASKATCHEWAN

Ecological treasure and enormous pike and lakers

The sheer enormity of the sand dunes straddling the southern shore of northwestern Saskatchewan’s Lake Athabasca is immediately evident from the air as you fly into one of the remote lake’s handful of fishing lodges. Stretching roughly 100 kilometres and climbing as high as 30 metres, the Athabasca Sand Dunes are among the world’s northernmost active dunes, not to mention Canada’s largest such ecosystem. Here you’ll find rare and at-risk plant species growing nowhere else on the planet—Mackenzie hairgrass, sand stitchwort, felt-leaf willow and floccose tansy, to name a few. Accessible only by boat or float plane, the dunes provide a fascinating distraction if you need a break from battling Athabasca’s huge and plentiful lake trout and northern pike.

Learn more: www.tourismsaskatchewan.com