Fishing at 66°N

Frequent high winds kept fishing to a minimum for me here in Nunavut. Maybe an hour or so every few nights from the dock or shore, typically sight-casting to 5-8" grayling with #12-18 dries & nymphs.

It was more practice for Belize (on the extreme small-scale) than it was fishing.

Lake trout were a hard target on the fly rod. For me, anyway. I watched one give one of my white-on-white Clousers a two-second glance before he casually swam on past while I looked on from the dock above. No love.

The one 'laker' I witnessed being caught on a fly was by someone casting for their first time ever, while myself & another part-time fly guide watched, cheered and coaxed him along. A new fly angler was born that night, and I was happy to be a part of it. Welcome to the addiction.

Note: the other guide works at the Location X eluded to in Project Salt.

Pilot graffiti

A few of us managed to weasel a trip in the helicopter for fishing one night. That was cool.

We covered the twenty-odd miles to our first spot in under 10 minutes. Awesome. That location wasn't happening so we flew along the river a couple hundred feet up, scouting for a fishy-looking hole.

Note: Bell 407s are far quicker than any bass boat, flats skiff, jet boat, kayak or truck to hop spots, that is for damn sure.

Our next spot looked far fishier. And it was: I landed a nice grayling of nineteen inches on my first cast. The CGR was the designated hitter on this trip, and the grayling put a most enjoyable bend in the glass. A bend which was compounded by the fast current. Fun times.

I wandered downstream and then upstream of the others, deciding on a perch above the rapid to swing a few different patterns in the current seams. I was trying to find that one lake trout silly enough to get in my species journal. At some point the wind picked up and brought some cold, misty rain but I didn't really notice.

After dozens of casts and a few fly changes, I glanced downriver to check on the others. They weren't there. A quick look over my shoulder told me everything I need to know: the group were standing beside the helicopter, hoods up and hands in pockets against the wind and mist. A couple were looking in my direction. I could read their thoughts: "Hurry the f**k up, you idiot. It's f**king cold!"

I reeled up and strolled over to the waiting group. I told them I had a problem, much like an alcoholic or a druggie.

The first cast is always free, hombre.

Random Nunavut post, S01E02

NOTE: I'm trying out a new layout on this, via Blogger's Dynamic Views. I'd really appreciate your input on how it looks/acts/feels/etc. 


Some of you who follow along on my Instagram & Twitter feeds (both '@mattrevors') or tumblr page (or even the dreaded Facebook) may have seen these pics already, but I thought I'd post a few here.

As I frequently make public, I'm an ardent anti-winter person. Hate cold, hate ice, wish to live in Florida with white pants pulled up to my armpits & fish all the time, and so on & so forth.

Needless to say, I was completely horrified a little apprehensive about coming within a degree or so of the Arctic Circle in mid-April.

Surprisingly, the project location wasn't all that nightmarish. I missed home (as usual) and its mild weather (as expected), but food was good, accommodations ok, and people onsite were extremely pleasant & friendly...unlike other jobs I've been on (*cough* Saskatchewan *cough*).

I'm hoping to get back in the summer at some point, with fly rods in tow. I fly through Yellowknife, which is situated on a decent-sized lake and apparently has some pike that need introducing to my Redington 10wt. And there are grayling, trout & char present in the vicinity of this project site.

Hopefully the company I'm contracted to doesn't mind me being seconded to the client as official fishing guide/gear-lender for VIP tours of the property. Conveniently, one of the helicopter pilots has just started fly fishing & tying, too. A few flies and casting & tying lessons might be bartered for flight time.

Here are some pics...

This thing is almost cool enough to make winter enjoyable

Ample fly tying materials available, should I run low

C-130 Hercules on landing strip if lake ice, unloading bulldozers at sunrise

Any fans of the show 'Ice Pilots' will recognize this bird

Feel free to check out lots more travel & fishing pics on The Angler's Android and look me up on twitter.

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Random Nunavut Post

So yeah..I'm in Nunavut. Within 1° of the Arctic Circle.

It's cold. It's snow- & ice-covered. It's treeless.

And Arctic foxes keep mocking me by not giving me an opportunity to take off my gloves, rummage through various pockets in my four layers of clothing to find my iPod or phone to snap an Instagram pic of them.

If one of them gets run over by the Hercules aircraft that keeps landing in the middle of the night on the ice runway, you better believe I'll do my best to give it a haircut for my tying supplies...

...if there's anything left of it.

Enjoy a tune: