Urban Angler Ashby M gets some "northern" exposure

Ashby came into the shop showing off a few photos of his trip to Canada.  Boasting of the ridiculous numbers of northern pike caught, he writes:

"I was at Hatchet Lake which is in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada about 100 miles south of the border with the Northwest Territories.  This is my second trip and I am looking forward to another in 2011.

This was a fantastic trip!  Northern pike are the main draw, at least for me. I caught over 300 northerns in the eight days.  While many were under 30", I did have 7 38"ers, 3 40"ers, 2 41"ers, 1 44"er, and the big one which was 46". The walleye was 24". 

The others were not measured.  All fish were caught on a fly rod.  The 46"er  was the biggest pike taken in the eight days I was there and most people were using spinning tackle.

 I used 9-weight rods for the pike, walleye, and lake trout and a 5-weight rod for the grayling. Fly patterns were almost exclusively size 3/0 Clousers, Half & Halfs, and Deceivers.  The first four days the predominant color was white and the last four days (different guide) I could use any color I wanted as long as it was Black. 

These worked on the Pike, Walleye, and Lake Trout.  For Grayling I used a size 14 Elk Hair Caddis.  All fishing was done from boats and I did fly out via a turbo-Otter to other lakes on three occasions."

I think after seeing these photos, we're all a little envious.  Good work Ashby.  Hope all your gear worked flawlessly.
 
To learn more about the Hatchet Lake Lodge, please visit: www.hatchetlake.com