by John Cleveland
I travel not to see the familiar, but toexperience the new and unknownadventures on the horizons of my dreams.It took two days, five planes and severalthousands of miles of travel over thebarren lands of the far North to completeour journey to Victoria Island in Nunavut.
Our last flight was in a floatplane fromCambridge Bay on the southern end ofVictoria Island to our base camp at HighArctic Lodge. As we deplaned 200 milesnorth of the Arctic Circle, it felt as if wehad landed on another planet. My firstimpression was that of a “timeless arcticprairie” akin to a barren moonscapecovered with glacial moraine and apatchwork quilt of lakes.
I soon discovered looks can bedeceiving.
My first breath of the crisp arctic airtasted exotic—reminding me of the firsttime I had opened a spice cabinet when Iwas young: I was enveloped by theenchanting aromas of new and mysteriousflavors kept behind those closed doors. Inthis case, the mysterious aromas turnedout to be the tonic of scattered, tinyclusters of yellow and purple wildflowers
blooming in a garden of crushed rock, softgreen mosses and vibrant orange lichensaccented by a carpet of stunted arcticwillow. This sturdy, yet fragile family ofplants had adapted effectively with theharsh arctic environment. Throughout theweek, the more I focused, the more Iwould appreciate the complex matrix oflife hugging the rocky surface of thisnorthern desert.
Sundogs and mock moonsThe arctic is both an inspiring and
humbling place with its chilling vistas andgreat open spaces, offering silentimmensities to the souls of those luckyenough to enter its domain. It is a land yetstill in the process of creation. Theconstant Arctic winds ply like the cadenceof the surf on the ocean taking the edgeoff the lands fierce beauty. The arctic hasa very different rhythm and is full ofsurprises for those from the southernhemisphere, starting with the behavior ofthe sun. On my second day at camp I sawa spectacular halo around the sun withbright highlights on the right and left of itscircumference as it rested low on thehorizon. I discovered later that afternoon Ihad seen what is known as a “sundog.” As
the day grew late the sun never really setso much as the light just sort of leakedfrom behind the horizon before returningto the sky. This exotic land would be ourtheater of adventure for a week of Arcticchar fishing, exploration and inspiration.
After a warm welcome by owner Fred
Hamilton and his staff at the floatplanedock in front of High Arctic lodge, myfishing partner Mike McGuire and Istowed our gear in our cabin and headedback to the main lodge for a deliciousgrilled char dinner. It was here where wemet other guests who would become ourfriends, as we underwent our communalbaptism in the pristine, chilled watersteaming with arctic char. Fred gave us abrief orientation of the adventures thatwould commence the next morning,beginning with the daily fly-outs.
Pingos and polar bearsAdventure is where you find it, and in
the far North floatplanes are usually aubiquitous part of the journey. Whilefishing at High Arctic lodge, floatplanetrips to remote river systems were part ofthe daily routine. We used the planes like Iwould use a pickup truck or SUV to get toa fishing destination. Floatplanes areliterally the SUV of the arctic with theexception that here the SUV’S havewings. Our pilot was a veteran bush pilotand knew the history, geography andwildlife of the Island—and was awonderful storyteller to boot. He wouldgive us a running commentary on theareas we were over and point out featureslike pingos (huge mounds of earth heavedup into tall mounds by permafrost),ancient food caches, Inuit hunting campsand caribou drive lanes (kill lanes). Onehighlight was actually on our last day aswe scouted the northern reaches of theisland by air hoping to find epic schoolsof char, and instead had the incredibleexperience of spotting a polar bear on theshore of the Nanook River as it watchedus glide by 200 feet overhead.
February 2016Page 74
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Sunsets in the Arctic are spectacular.
Muskox graze on the tundra.
World-class fishingMany world-record arctic char have
been caught in Nunavut, and I havetraveled throughout the territory for thepast 10 years in pursuit of their charms.The Tree River and Victoria Island inNunavut are two outstanding places thatregularly produce fish well over 12 to 15pounds. Most of the world records forArctic char have been caught here,including the IGFA record of 32 poundscaught on the Tree River and the manyCatch and Release records of the FreshWater Fishing Hall of Fame.
‘Oil Pan’Also on our second day we fished a
classic char hole known as “Oil Pan.” It isa wide, shallow-flowing ribbon ofgurgling icy blue water that plungesseveral feet over moss-covered rocks intoa crystalline lake. The char hadcongregated in the pool by the hundreds—the opacity of their orange and red“matrixed” flanks were glistening in thesun as they milled through the clear waterin front of us. Within moments, all of ushad fish on, line peeling off our reels andfish exploding out of the water likemissiles into the sky. Arctic char are oneof the strongest, most spectacular fightingfish. They run, jump and play your dragakin to hooking a Brahma bull. Afterlanding several of these beautiful fish withmy spinning gear and spoons, I switchedto my fly fishing gear and proceeded tocatch two line-class world records in threecasts. The spectacular quality of fishingcontinued all week long as we hookeddozens of beautiful char and exploredremote honey holes with names likeYellow Bill, Red Belly and Wolverine.
Gearing up for charA medium-action 6 1/2- to 7-foot
spinning rod with 12-pound-test line whilecasting spoons offers the presentationversatility needed to catch char in thevaried fishing conditions on VictoriaIsland. Spoons can be worked in a varietyof ways to add juice to your presentationsuch as jigging, fast-ripping retrieves, or aslow patient retrieve for less aggressivefish. The Eppinger 3/4-ounce Devle Dog,and 1 1/4-ounce Rocket Dardevlet spoonswere very effective on char. We found thebest colors to be pink, florescent orangepotato bug and black and pearl with reddots. While fly fishing, a 9-foot, 8-weight
fast-action rod with a medium sink tipgives you the power to cast into theconstant wind. It was the most effective insetting up a good streamer presentation.The most effective flies were streamerslike Deep Clouser Minnows, Deceiversand Dalai Lama’s in Pink, Orange, Blackand White Stripped at a steady, medium-paced retrieve.
Caribou lanes and food cachesOn day four we awoke to a thick gray
vaper hovering just a few feet over thesurface of the lake. I knew our flyingwould be delayed. Our Inuit guide Gibsonoffered to take us by boat to explore anancient Inuit Caribou hunting camp on abluff overlooking the mouth of a nearbyriver. As with most locations ofimportance to the Inuit, there was a largestone Inukshuk on the bluff overlookingthe lake as a marker for travelers. It was
Page 75February 2016 MidWest Outdoors “Helping you enjoy the outdoors”
Mike McGuire with a beautiful orange char.
The ancient food caches were always easy to spot on the tundra, as they were covered with bright orange lichen.
Inukshuks mark an ancient hunting camp.story continued...
an incredibly fascinating place completewith food caches built out of piles of rockcovered in bright orange lichen, tent rings,fire pits and a caribou drive lane with pitblinds concealed by a large pile ofbleached caribou antlers. The hunterswould ambush the animals here as they
funneled toward the blinds. Gibson gaveus his personal insights of how his peopleused these facilities to survive and told usthat until only 50 to 60 years ago, the Inuitlived much as they had for thousands ofyears following the food sources throughthe seasons. In the summer, they lived on
land-based camps hunting herds ofcaribou, muskox, waterfowl and in thewinter they would set up camps on the iceto hunt seals, whales and fish.
A remarkable tripAs my friend Mike and I boarded our
flight home from the Arctic we bothagreed this was the most remarkablefishing adventure we had ever been on.We had experienced spectacular Arctic
char fishing while sharing the tundra withpolar bears, muskox, caribou and our newfriends at the High Arctic Lodge. Theopportunity to explore and immerseourselves in the magic of a place that isstill held by the ancient cadence andrhythm of its creation will be thememories we carry until our nextadventure in the land of the midnight sun.
MWO
John Cleveland is marketing director forEppinger Manufacturing Company and may becontacted at [email protected] or 313-582-3205.
by Jack Hirt
The fire had gone out in the oldpotbelly hours earlier. And it had gottenpretty fresh in the old, uninsulated cabin.So, even with daylight burnin’ there wasno rush—judging by all the snoringshaking the thin walls—to leave the toastycomfort of the down sleeping bag.
For the most of us, that is. Seems there’s always that one early-
rising knucklehead in any camp who’s in ahurry to start rattling the breakfast potsand pans. So we were up and at ‘em,staring another long day of fish wars inthe face.
With bellies filled and dishes rinsed,we were off. While half the crew plannedto stay on the main lake all day to playwith its plentiful ‘eyes and bruiser pike,three of us, my son, Bill, bud Joe and I,volunteered to do the portage to see if theearly-season, fish-on-every-cast walleyebite was on in the smaller, upstream bodyof water.
So, after packing our comfortable basecamp boat accordingly, we motored thecouple miles to the portage trailhead,unloaded and hauled gear through thebush, up, then over the hill and down tothe small hand-cut landing where theportage boat was stashed. After the usualwrestling match, we launched the oft-patched, vintage craft and were off—threemen in a leaky tub off to see the walleyewizard.
Bill, who was at the helm, took iteasy—appropriately enough—on the 4-mile up-lake run before slowing to an idleas he turned into our targeted inlet stream.After picking his way right up to the tailend of the fast-running rapids, weanchored up and flipped our plastic-tippedjigs into the swirling pool. And in lesstime than it takes to write this sentence wewere all hooked up with solid 18- to 19-inch, gold-plated, black-backed beauties.It was on.
That little waterway, as we’d found it inyears past, was packed wall-to-wall with
post-spawn walleyes. And they werehungry. No stealthy, light-hitters these, the‘eyes attacked anything we tossed at ‘emlike piranhas. Requiring no skill, thiswasn’t fishing. It was catching at itsfinest. And that’s what we proceeded to dofor hours.
Now, we never get tired of catchingwalleyes, especially in such goodcompany. But we—especially Joe and Ibeing the old-timers—are and do get soreand boat weary. So it was with that good,tired feeling that we dragged our buttsback to camp in time for the fish fry.
While we experienced the “big bite,”we were happy to find the other guys whohad the “great” mixed-bag day they werelooking for. So all was well around thecampfire. And that, I thought, was how itwas going to stay until Bill, ever therestless one, announced he was goin’pikin’ for the last hour or so of daylight. Itwasn’t with a lot of enthusiasm, I’ll admit,
February 2016Page 76 MidWest Outdoors “Helping you enjoy the outdoors”
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Trophy fish ing in the heart of a natural paradise
Fly rod line-class, world-record char.
Arctic char being released.
For more information...For more information on lodging inNunavut:High Arctic Lodgehigharctic.com 250-497-2000
Plummer’s Arctic Lodges – Tree RiverCampplummerslodges.com800-665-0240
or Nunavut Tourismnunavuttourism.com800-363-7566
Charming Nunavut......continued from previous page
Swirls, Boils, Bites: A Fantastic Day in Fish Camp
Joe Liebham with one of the many ‘eyes he caughtduring the ‘the big bite.’ Photo: Jack Hirtstory continued...
