This Saskatchewan lodge just might have Canada’s best pike fishing

To pass the time in the evenings (not that it was a problem given the gifted storytellers/BS artists among my group and the other lodge guests) I had packed a small fly tying kit. And on our final night, Jake—who had experienced heavy casualties among his few pike flies—tried his hand at tying some. Turns out he was a natural, and next morning it didn’t take long for him to land a pike (above) on one of his creations—a Seaducer in a custom blend of colours he dubbed Jake’s Tiger Lunker (below).

Jake is a serious, no-nonsense guy—he’s a business exec, and a US Army vet who saw combat in Afghanistan. So seeing him grin like a little kid when he caught fish on his fly was a true highlight of the trip, if not my outdoor career.