THE FISHING

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To begin, how about an overview with details to follow?  All of our fishing was with fly rods. All of our flies were barbless. All of the fish were released (excepting a few small ones kept for shore lunch).  All of the fish were landed by our guide Tauno by hand---he feels that netting can injure the fish!  This year we boated a trophy pike (one which is 40” or longer) on 6 of the 7 days we fished.  The one day we did not boat a trophy, we had a great picnic lunch and then spent the afternoon teaching one of the Selwyn team (Kelly) how to fly fish.  It was a perfect way to relax between those trophy days! By the way, Kelly did catch several really nice pike on the fly!!

Back to trophies, we were able to boat nine of those monsters this year!  The largest was 48” (x 21” girth) and landed by Ed on a fly-out to the Striding River.  Lindy got her biggest too – a 47” pike, again on the fly-out to the Striding River.  That being said, five 40" or better pike were boated on Selwyn Lake, with three being 42” or better (the largest at 43 1/2” weighing ~25 lbs).  All pike were caught on flies tied by Ed.  The most successful fly was “Ed’s Deceiver,” his own version of the classic Lefty’s Deceiver pattern that he tied specifically for pike in a variety of color combinations.  This year’s most successful color was red & yellow (while on the 2001 trip, the blue & white pattern landed the big ones).

In summary, it was an incredible fishing experience!  For those of you who like the details, read the daily details below.  If you’re just into enjoying great pike trophies, just browse through the photos that accompany each day.

September 1 – We arrived at the lodge and were out on the lake by mid-rnorning.  In only a few casts, we had pike on the fly rod.  It was an action packed day with Ed landing some 20+ pike, his largest being a 38” pike that put on a great show.  Our highlight today was watching our guide, Tauno (T.L.) Linder land a 41” trophy.  It was great fun because it was so unexpected.  We had decided to put on rain gear pants due to threatening weather so we put the rods down.  So, Tauno asked if he could give Ed’s Orvis rod a cast to see what it was like.  Well, Tauno did the infamous double-haul and placed the fly about 40 feet from the boat.  In the first seconds of his retrieve, pike on!  What a great thrill to see that big one on the line, esp. on day 1!!

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September 2 – This was our first full day of fishing and boy, what a blast!  We had continual action with over some 60 pike successfully caught and released.  Ed caught 4 pike in the “30”+” size range.  He also got his first trophy of the trip, a 42” beauty.  Lindy too got her first trophy.  It was a 40” fighter.  Another first - Ed's first lake trout on the fly.  An outstanding day!

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September 3 – Today was cold and rainy but it didn’t bother the fish!  Our 3^rd day of fishing was again great fun.  We both had lots of fish on the line.  We christened one bay as “P.P. Bay” (“Pike Paradise Bay”) since we caught fish there on almost every cast.  The highlight was watching Ed land a 43½ ” monster in that great bay.

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September 4 – Apart from the small guys we got (those under 30”), we had lots of action in the 30”+ group too.  We took time out today for a great shore lunch – baked pike and roasted potatoes and vegetables – all cooked in wrapped foil packages over the open fire.  Outstanding!  The fishing highlight was Lindy’s 40 ½ “ trophy caught in the afternoon.

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September 5 – This was our picnic and fly fishing school day.  After catching more trophies than we had dreamed, we decided to have a relaxing day.  So, we included Kelly, the lodge’s waitress, in our outing.  After she finished her duties in the morning, we went out fly fishing.  Kelly has lots of fishing experience, but she had never fished using a fly rod.  Well, talk about a natural!  As the pictures will attest, Kelly caught some great pike!  We also all shared another terrific gourmet shore lunch.   With all the fishing, fun and great food, we’re really getting spoiled!

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September 6 – Today was our fly-out to the Striding River.  It was a beautiful somewhat sunny day and the perfect one on which to fly out in Gord’s Cessna 185 to the nearby Striding River part of the Selwyn Lake complex.  This is truly pristine fishing and unbelievable in terms of big fish. Conditions were just right and no one should ever expect to reproduce that day.  Tauno agreed to join us in fishing so we could cover as much territory as possible.  Boy, did it pay off big time!  We all caught incredible fish!!  We quickly learned that a 40” beauty wasn’t king of the hill that day.  Ed caught a 43 ½” pike that weighted at least 25 lbs.  The size and beauty was unbelievable.  Then, he also tied into a 44” beauty of at least 24 lbs.  Tauno caught his biggest pike ever – a 44” fighter.  He also caught a 41” and a 40”.  Lindy didn’t get the numbers like the boys did, but she was able to land a 47” beauty.  The cap of the day was watching Ed land a 48” pike with a girth of 21”, being between 28-30 lbs.  Only in your dreams!  We were all so excited we were shaking in our boots until she was successfully landed some 20 – 25 minutes after she hit.  Afterwards, we sat in the boat for some 10-15 minutes just absorbing what had happened.  Imagine boating a 4 foot pike!!

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September 7 – Well, on our last day of this year’s fishing trip, what more could we do?  The trip had been so outstanding that we decided to relax and have some fun.  That being said, boy did we catch fish.  We had great fun with Tauno filming our 5^th double of the day before we stopped for lunch.  Then, for lunch we went to an island near the lodge.  We previously arranged to have Tauno pick up our two chefs (Lane and Glen) and Kelly to join us on this last day of our visit.  The weather cooperated and we enjoyed a sunny setting and some great pike stir fry.  Everyone was impressed with Tauno’s culinary skills!  After enjoying all we could eat, we then packed up and dropped Lane, Glen & Kelly back at the lodge.  We decided to go for one last cast (every fisherman’s dream) near the lodge.  Well, what a treat when Ed hooked into another 43 ½” fat Northern weighing some 25 lbs.  On that note, we quit for the day at 3:00PM and went back to the lodge to savour an incredible week!! 

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