When I was young I worked in a fly shop
and greeted guides every morning. They’d
walk in with hardened hands and sandal
tans and grab a cup of coffee before
picking up clients. Every day—as I stocked
leaders and tippet, and they headed out
the door to be on the water—I’d think, Man
I want to do that.
Soon after, I was doing that, but just as
a summer job between school years.
Fast forward to today; I’ve fished across
western Canada and during a portion of
summer I guide for northern pike, lake
trout and walleye at North Haven Lodge in
northern Manitoba. As that season slows
in mid-summer, and the pike run deep, I
shift gears and head to southern British
Columbia’s Elk River drainage, just as the
water clears and the region’s westslope
cutthroat and bull trout start to devour
stoneflies.
These back-to-back seasons work
perfectly for me and I love each
opportunity. In fact, during early summer I
can’t get enough of chasing pike in shallow
bays, pushing the boat through inches of
water, searching for dark lines over a light
silt bottom. Some days we catch more fish
over three-feet long than I can keep track
of; we also see fish nearing the 50-inch
mark and that keeps me coming back.
66
Photos by Zach Southgate
Those giant pike, along with the walleye
and lake trout we find in Utik Lake, are
what drive people out of civilization and
into the far north, way above the 40th
parallel in northern Manitoba.
67