Great Slave Lake Northwest Territory

Went fishing for Grayling, Northern Pike, and mainly Lake Trout on the fly. I wasn’t sure what to expect, or to tie. I will be better prepared next time.

Grayling fishing was with a 4wt rod, and small Caddis (16) were the main bug on the menu. They ate dries and nymphs almost equally. These are world class, small fish were 15”, many 18-20” fish and some over 20”.

The scenery was incredible as was the diversity of geology in different parts of the lake.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

I am always amazed to see familiar plants in far away places.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

We had one exceptional day of sight fishing for Lake Trout on reefs. Average fly caught fish are 6-8 pounds, with some in the 10 to low teens. Our guide was a firm believer in white, blue/white, but they also ate chartreuse/white, green/orange and my olive/white/blue freestyle fly. Most days the wind was up enough to nix the sight fishing, so we trolled points, and edges, and open water where fish were suspended in 100+’ deep water. Shallow water is most fun as the fish will run, whereas in deep water they go down.
We also did some blind casting and stripping. Tried jigging a 4oz tube, but tired of it quickly, even though the fish were on average larger.
Our guide realized we would rather not catch as many fish on flies than to drop tubes on them and catch more fish.


My best fish on the last day! I saw my backing a couple times!
My Godshall built Iconoglass has been thoroughly broken in.

 

[mcswny]

My best fish on the last day! I saw my backing a couple times!
My Godshall built Iconoglass has been thoroughly broken in.

Can confirm. This is NOT a dink.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

We saw Musk Ox in groups of 10-20 a half dozen times.




A super curious/over friendly black bear

 

[SculpinSwinger]

The whole experience was really good. The lodge is well run, the staff are all personable, the fishing was a blast, we had good weather, and a great time.
I will be going back

 

[dflett68]

awesome report

 

[SculpinSwinger]

awesome report

It was an awesome trip!

 

[troutpocket]

Love those landscapes…and the fish

 

[Billy]

incredible report! thanks for sharing

 

[Matt B]

Amazing. The geology does look fascinating and varied. I can’t help but mentally compare to what is shown in all the Great Slave Lake seasons of Alone.

Was the grayling fishing in a trib or tribs to the lake?

 

[SculpinSwinger]

Amazing. The geology does look fascinating and varied. I can’t help but mentally compare to what is shown in all the Great Slave Lake seasons of Alone.

Was the grayling fishing in a trib or tribs to the lake?

The grayling fishing was in the Stark river, which flows a short mile from Stark lake into Great Slave. The lodge is situated at the mouth of the river. You can spend your day fishing for Lake trout and walk from the lodge for 10-15 minutes and fish grayling after dinner on your own! We did a couple 2 hour sessions with the guide to start a couple days. We did see them in the shallows around the lake as well..

An evening session


A morning session with the guide, before heading out on the lake

 

[SculpinSwinger]

I had hopes of seeing northern lights, so I dragged my butt out of bed at 2am on a clear night and walked to the point to have a look to the north. Photo taken at 01:59

Beautiful, but no lights. Late August/September would provide good opportunity. It got dark after 11:30 and was getting light again around 03:30 while I was there.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

Some more shots from various places around the lake

 

[Slimy Deck]

Wow, what a great trip! Thanks for sharing the report. I recall pics of giant lake trout from Great Slave Lake in the outdoor mags I read as a child and thinking....."some day". Grayling are beautiful fish.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

Our guide hard at work for shore lunch

Tip your guide well people, they work hard and get no days off during the season.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

Wow, what a great trip! Thanks for sharing the report. I recall pics of giant lake trout from Great Slave Lake in the outdoor mags I read as a child and thinking....."some day". Grayling are beautiful fish.

20+ pound fish were caught on gear while we were there. Largest of the season so far was 35.

 

[Buzzy]

Awesome trip report and some really wonderful pictures to help bring it home!

 

[Greg Armstrong]

I suspect that’s not a common destination for those of us that live around here. It’s refreshing to see a trip report that’s a little different from the norm.
What an awesome trip, and those are exceptional Grayling!

 

[SilverFly]

The scenery was incredible as was the diversity of geology in different parts of the lake.
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If that is part of the Canadian Shield, those are some of the oldest rocks on Earth. 540 million at the minimum, and upwards of 3 billion years old. That's worth a minute to pause and ponder on a shore lunch.

Lakers on flies and 20" grayling are a tempting alternative to a flats trip!