Reunited friends enjoy the great outdoors

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/07/2021 (1883 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After staying close to home for so long, it was hard to believe I was on an airplane headed to northern Saskatchewan.

It was all quite surreal. A few minutes earlier I had been renewing acquaintances with several old friends from the outdoor industry. It was all part of an outdoor media tour sponsored by Tourism Saskatchewan and hosted by Ena Lake Lodge. I originally wasn’t going to go, but my second needle allowed me to be fully vaccinated before I left.

Ena Lake is located at the top half of the province, near the border with the Territories, just to the north of mighty Lake Athabasca. Along for the ride were Gord Ellis from Thunder Bay, TJ Schwanky from Cochrane, host of TV’s Outdoor Quest, and Outdoor Canada editor and writer Ken Bailey from Edmonton.

I had not seen TJ or Gord for more than 20 years and I knew this was going to be a special trip. It might be the last chance for all of us to share adventures once again in the outdoors.

Ed Houck, the general manager of Ena Lake Lodge met us at the dock as the float plane glided to a stop. The staff quickly got our luggage to our respective cabins as we had a quick lunch in the main lodge.

Soon we would be out on the water with one of the four experienced guides there. I was lucky enough to get Paige Chandler, who happens to reside in Gladstone, Man., when she is not guiding in the North. She grew up fishing with her family and after high school decided to make it a career. In the winter, she commercially fishes Lake Manitoba.

Each day we traded guides and partners, making it that much more enjoyable, spending time with everyone. On Day 3 TJ and I decided to portage into Bulmer Lake with guide Calem Watson. I had brought my fly rod along and I was itching to throw out big streamers for the trophy pike. Bulmer has some monster pike to go along with some chunky lake trout. After an hour of casting with nothing to show for it, Calem figured we better troll to cover water. On our first pass over a main lake point, bingo. I hooked a 41-inch pike that co-operated for a couple of pictures. TJ was also filming for his show that airs on the Sportsman Channel in Canada. It is called Outdoor Quest and is just starting its 22nd season on air.

Calem put the boat back in gear and we headed back on the same trolling run with the same result. I hooked another big pike in exactly the same spot. I got the fish even with the boat and both Calem and I got a good look at this monster. It was way bigger than the last fish, wide across the back and a lot longer. I fought the fish straight up and down, taking no chances of losing this one. There was one big problem, however. He had just clamped down on the big spoon and as soon as he got tired of this game, he opened his huge mouth and exhaled the lure out straight back at me. Confused about what had happened, he slowly sank into the depths. It sure made for a great story around shore lunch.

On our last morning Ken Bailey and I got to fish with Brendan Birch, one of the veteran guides at the lodge. We had a beautiful dead flat calm morning. While great for relaxing, not always the best weather for catching the big lake trout Ena Lake is noted for.

I started out catching a decent laker on our first pass on a long sand bar, then it got quiet for another hour. Brendan figured we better move, and it paid off in spades. We trolled a big sand bay in water from 40 to 50 feet deep using T-60 Flatfish. Ken Bailey then proceeded to put on a clinic, landing six lakers over 30 inches.

With about a half hour to go before we had to head back to the lodge Brendan put on a Lucky Strike Half & Half spoon on the end of my line. Five minutes later another trophy laker was hooked up. It was a special trip and one I won’t ever forget. The food, accommodation and company was outstanding.

Thanks again to Tourism Saskatchewan and Ed Houck for making it possible.

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