NUNAVUT: Fly Fishing the Final Frontier

Nunavut is a remote Canadian province bordering the Arctic Ocean. It is the northern-most territory in Canada and was officially separated from the Northwest Territories in April 1999. Aside from minerals, such as diamonds, gold and iron ore, the extremely cold and desolate territory is known for spectacular fishing. Yngve Ask and Helmut Zaderer recently ventured there to explore the arctic char fishing.

By: YNGVE ASK

As more and more ice keeps gushing through the glacial river I am standing in, my thoughts go to my family. They are experiencing a heatwave at the moment with temperatures in the 30s. It’s late July and the peak of summer here in Nunavut; in this Arctic Canadian province, which is still covered in snow and ice. Helmut and I aren’t here for drinks or for the heat of summer, however. We are, of course, here for the fishing.

Big chunks of iridescent blue ice now float by in great numbers and they start to cause severe problems when trying to mend the fly line. The fish, however, don’t care the least. They hit hard - and they play well.

We have two species of fish on our minds: Arctic char and lake trout. The area that we’re fishing, however, is probably best known for its Arctic char fishing.

In my opinion, fly fishing for sea-run arctic char is some of the coolest fishing you can do anywhere on the face of this planet. When they come directly from the sea, they are as silver as you can possibly imagine. They’er not just silver, however. They are aggressive and actively feeding too, which is great news for a fly fisherman.

Not long after they have entered the rivers and start preparing for the imminent spawn, they will turn bright orange, and the big males will develop pronounced kyped jaws. Along with their physical transformation, they will slowly shift focus and cease feeding.

The good news for the fly fisherman, however, is that the big males become more and more irritable and aggressive along the way.

T-Rex

Lake trout are looked upon, by some, as an unattractive fish. But, hey, if you are one of those people, you are missing out - big time! Lake trout are the T-Rex’es of the Arctic realm.

Up here, a lake trout over 30 lbs is easily pushing 30 years of age. They are aggressive fish with confidence and muscle power, and they are simply a ton of fun to catch.

In most other places, where I have fished for lake trout, they are trolled at great depths on huge lakes with big boats. Here, however, they are in the rivers, which - by and far - are quite shallow. Because they are found here in shallow water they are very attractive to catch on a fly rod. And because they are old and ancient looking predatory fish, which can grow to stupendous sizes, we have come to affectionately refer to them as “the taimen of the Arctic”.

Victoria Island

We are on Victoria Island, which straddles the boundary between Nunavut and The Northwest Territories. Helmut Zaderer, who is the organizer of the trip, has invited me to come along as a photographer, something I am more than happy to do.

It’s been more than 10 years since the last time I was here. Back then, I stayed two weeks in a basic camp on one particular river. It was amazing to experience the runs of fish on that river. In three weeks, 90.000 fish passed through one inlet on their way to a big lake further upstream.

Since then, I have often wondered what the rest of this huge 233.000 km2 Island has to offer. I just sampled a tiny bit of it. This time around, we are fishing the whole island: Lakes, rivers, inlets, and outlets. We have both a Cesna and a Beaver plane at our disposal every day, so we actually get to sample all the different areas of the island. Each day we travel about 300 - 400 kilometers.

The whole group meets up in Cambridge Bay; one of the last outposts in the North West passage. From there, we fly about an hour to what will be the camp for the week. Here, we stay in comfortable cabins, and fly out on daily adventures.

Tricky

I can think of very few aircrafts as iconic as the De Havilland Beaver. The nine cylinder Rotax engine makes a lot of noise. It takes you nowhere fast but it’s not comfortable by any means. Still we love it, because it takes us to some of the most spectacular fishing imaginable and put us in places where great adventures await: Places such as Red Belly and Crome Ally - places with names that resonate well with fishermen. Four anglers fit into our airplanes, which stay with us throughout the day in case we need to move. The first place that we sample is a short river and its outlet. On the way in, we can see a lot of fish from the plane. We take a wide turn coming in so we don’t spook the fish.

My friend Helmut is already half rigged up and, once the plane comes to a stop, he instantly jumps out - like a commando, and finishes rigging up his rod as he sneaks closer to the river bank. It is situations like this one that has earned him nicknames such as “The Helmenator” and “Helmut Never Stop Casting”. Having known him for a while, I completely understand where those nicknames come from! Arctic Char are tricky and, oftentimes, moody fish. If they’re not in the mood, they’re just not in the mood - and they didn’t really seem to be in the mood all the time Helmut was swinging his flies. Helmut, despite all his eagerness, simply wasn’t hooking up.

I launched my drone, set it up right above Helmut, and immediately counted more than 10 dozen fish around him. Paradoxically, the fish were noticeably feeding but, as we would find out, they were gulping down tiny insects that we simply couldn’t imitate - despite going through our fly boxes back-to-back several times. It was like a curse, and after having thrown all sorts of flies at these fish for half a day with nothing even resembling a bite, we finally capitulated.

An Eye Opener

Next up is a really wide river. Maybe 500 meters wide but less than a meter deep. Helmut ties on a huge, pink brush fly and makes his first cast. Soon after, a dark shadow starts drifting slowly downstream looking more like a huge log than a fish.

Helmut starts retrieving the fly faster in order not get snagged on the driftwood, but the “log” suddenly shoots forward opening its bucket-sized mouth and inhales the fly. The reel immediately starts screaming, so does Helmut, and to keep him and his reel company, I start screaming too.

There’s no doubt in our minds that this fish is huge. However, in retrospect, we had no idea that his first fish - a stunning warrior of a lake trout, was going to be the biggest of the whole trip. In the net the fish weighed in at 20 kilos.

This fish was the eye opener of the week. Lake trout were now on the menu, and the lakers were open for business. We got them on both big flies and small flies, but what was probably the most fun was catching them on dry flies. And doing so in near-freezing and gin-clear water made it an even more special treat.

The Waiting Game

Fishing for arctic char isn’t something you can rush. Arctic char will bite when they are ready. And on the last few days they seemed to finally wake up. I really cannot describe the fishing, other than to say that when it turns on, it REALLY turns on.

With their red bellies and big kypes, especially the males look like fish more commonly found along coral reef in the tropics. They seem oddly out of place in the cold arctic realm, but they provide warmth-igniting fights once hooked!

The Land and the People

Inuits have lived in the Nunavut region for thousands of years. They didn’t pick the spot up here because of the weather or for the convenience of firewood and building materials, or because life would be easy or comfortable. They where here, in this harsh climate, because of two things: Food and fur - and because something about the serenity and rugged beauty up here resonated with them. It is incredible to see the remains of the tent rings that they used more than a 1000 years ago. They are still very visible in the terrains along the rivers and lakes.

It’s humbling to walk the same beaches and fish the same rivers they used to. All in all, experiencing the fishing, the wilderness, and the historical gravity of Nunavut is an eye-opening sensation. If you haven’t already, be sure to put this on your bucket list.

Welcome to the 20lb Club

After one week of fishing, I left. The very last day, we had some great fishing. I left for home, but Helmut stayed on for another week. I had gotten no further than to Edmonton before he sent med a picture of a 20lb char that he had just caught.

Do you want to fish Nunavut? Contact Helmut Zaderer at Fly Fish Adventures E-mail: helmut.zaderer@flyfish-adventures.com

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