I have spent most of my holidays over the last 20 years, travelling the World, fishing and taking photographs along the way. I’ve caught tarpon in Nicaragua, king mackerel in Oman, giant trevally in The Andaman Islands, dogtooth tuna in The Seychelles, sailfish in Malaysia, bonefish in Mauritius, amberjack in Borneo, jobfish in The Maldives and much more besides. But pretty much every year, I get the urge to return to the Canadian wilderness. And when I do, I often find myself thinking of Wolf Lake in The Yukon.
Why miss out on an exotic, tropical destination and fly to northern Canada?
It’s something to do with the feeling of approaching the edge of civilisation as the plane circles above Whitehorse and I look down on what is still a frontier town, sitting alongside the Yukon River and surrounded by mountains and forests. Something to do with the sense of anticipation as I board an Alpine Aviation floatplane and head due east on the 110-mile flight through the mountain passes that lead to Wolf Lake. Something to do with my first sighting of the lake, sitting amidst a huge expanse of conifers, scrub and tundra, occasionally punctuated by grassy clearings, ponds and creeks. Something to do with knowing that Wolf is only fished for 6-8 weeks each year and that there are no roads in or out.
Why miss out on an exotic, tropical destination and fly to northern Canada?
It’s something to do with the feeling of approaching the edge of civilisation as the plane circles above Whitehorse and I look down on what is still a frontier town, sitting alongside the Yukon River and surrounded by mountains and forests. Something to do with the sense of anticipation as I board an Alpine Aviation floatplane and head due east on the 110-mile flight through the mountain passes that lead to Wolf Lake. Something to do with my first sighting of the lake, sitting amidst a huge expanse of conifers, scrub and tundra, occasionally punctuated by grassy clearings, ponds and creeks. Something to do with knowing that Wolf is only fished for 6-8 weeks each year and that there are no roads in or out.
The floats hiss softly across the water as we touch down and I look forward to re-acquainting myself with my friends and hosts, Wes and Michelle Walker. We share a mutually warm welcome, a refreshing cup of tea or coffee (usually accompanied by a delicious cookie or three) and have a quick chat about the fishing, the weather and which cabin I will be calling home for the next week or so.
At around 13 miles long, 2½ miles wide and with depths to 275 feet, Wolf Lake is not big by Canadian standards. But its permanently cool, spring-fed waters hold monster lake char (to over 50 pounds) and, even in the height of summer, most of the fish will be found at depths of 15-50 feet. This means that you can troll spoons without the aid of a downrigger, fish flies with a fast sinking line, or bounce lead-headed plastic shads across the bottom – all with relatively light gear. If the lake char switch off, you can drive your boat along the northwest arm of the lake to Wolf River and enjoy hectic, fly fishing action with the huge shoals of arctic grayling that migrate from the lake and into the river for the summer. These fish are ravenous and will hit almost any floating or sinking fly. If you enjoy topwater action, catching northern pike with lure or fly, you can fish the many creeks that run into the lake around the southeast arm, or beach your boat on the eastern shore and hike the half-mile to neighbouring May Lake. Either way, you are assured of spectacular, surface strikes from hungry pike.
You will certainly catch lake char, arctic grayling and northern pike at Wolf Lake. But you will also see bald eagles, osprey, golden eagles, beavers, muskrats and moose. And, if you are very lucky, you may also see a black bear, caribou or wolf.
It's sometimes sunny and warm, sometimes cold, windy and wet at Wolf Lake, even in summer - and it's certainly not the tropics. But for me it's every bit as much fun. If you want to find out more about this location and/or arrange a trip, take a look at the websites listed below.
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