The Sea Was Angry Those Days, My Friends: June Fishing In Northern Saskatchewan

It takes two and a half sun-less days, zero degrees in mid June, and six soaked layers of outdoor “performance” clothing to paraphrase George Costanza for the very first time on this blog.

His marine biologist monologue rather nicely describes last week’s trip to Arctic Lodges at Reindeer Lake in Northern Saskatchewan:

The sea was angry those days, my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli! 

Reindeer Lake measures more than ten times Germany’s Bodensee (a.k.a. Lake Constance) and is dotted by an estimate of 5,000 islands – this literally means more bays than anyone could fish in their lifetime and way more Northern pike than I could have wished for!

The lake, however, is not the most cozy place when the weather is as challenging as it was last week. You definitely have to work a bit harder for your pike. My guide Rod, who has been living at the lake for over 60 years, took good care of me and we got into fish each day. A lot of fish.

We probably landed about 80 pike and a dozen or so lake trout. I didn’t manage to get a 40 incher (that would be 100 centimeters) but was damn close with eight fish from 37 to 39 inch. I can’t imagine how great the fishing would have been with more favorable weather conditions.

Look for my Reindeer Lake feature story with many more photos in an upcoming issue of Germany’s Blinker magazine!

UPDATE, June 2013: The article has now been published. Looks great!

Local guide Rod with a 38” pike caught in Reindeer Lake, Saskatchewan. Great fishing despite the super low temperatures in mid-June.

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