Denali's Dream Destination: Michael Murphy - Canadian Fly-in:
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August is one of the hottest months of the year for the majority of the country. Sweltering heat makes the fish go deep and the fishing can get pretty uncomfortable for the majority of the day. Getting away from that heat and the promise of world-class fishing are the reasons that FLW Pro Michael Murphy chooses a Canadian Fly-in for Northern Pike as his August dream destination.
"It's really hard to describe how beautiful the landscape up there is, and the fishing is just tremendous." Murphy says about the trips. "You are typically fishing for Northern Pike and Lake Trout, and the potential for trophies is unbelievable, with 40 and 50 inch fish being fairly common at some of the lodges."
There are literally thousands of lodges and resorts scattered across Canada and most have amazing fishing, so do a little research on the areas closest to you if you are planning a trip. Murphy recommends the northern Manitoba area since it is close to Winnipeg, which has an international airport and is relatively inexpensive to fly to from most parts of the country.
Typically, once you book the trip, all you have to do is arrive and the lodge will do the rest. Murphy says that "most of the lodges will pick you up from the airport and drive you a couple hours up to basically where the road ends. Once you're there, you board a small bush plane and fly another couple hours out to the lodge, where you spend the rest of your trip." The flight out is for some the most incredible part of the trip, and few from the United States have seen wilderness vistas like those seen from the windows of a small float plane flying just a couple thousand feet above the Canadian wilderness.
The resorts themselves range from just a couple log cabins on the water to private mansions equipped with the latest in GPS phones, satellite internet and gourmet meals. "There are so many options that you can find a resort offering just the level of hospitality and comfort that you are comfortable with." Murphy continues.
As far as fishing, Murphy still gets excited thinking about the wake a 40+ inch pike makes as it comes from 25 feet away to smash a lure. "The pike up there act like they haven't ever even seen a lure, which at some resorts is probably the case." Murphy explains, continuing "The growing season is so short up there, the fish don't have any choice but to put the feed bag on and you will have some of the most aggressive strikes you've ever seen in your life."
As far as baits and tackle go, it doesn't pay to be too complicated, and the old pike standbys like large spoons, inline spinners and minnowbaits will work well, but Murphy recommends trying some other baits as well. "We've really had great luck swimming big 1 to 2 ounce skirted jigs with paddle-tail trailers or huge 8 inch grubs on them. You could probably also catch them pretty well on some of the newer swimbaits that have come out in recent years."
Whatever you're fishing though, make sure you have stout enough tackle, as a 40 inch pike weighs over 20 lbs and puts on a pretty impressive show once hooked. "I usually bring a couple of Denali flipping sticks, stout reels and at least 50lb braided line when I go up there, because those pike are downright mean!" Murphy says, and don't forget your leaders. Pike fishing requires a minimum 12" steel leader to protect against their razor-sharp teeth.
After a long morning of fishing, you almost always stop in the middle of the day for a shore-lunch, something that you may think would get old after a couple days, but that's not so according to Murphy. "I figured we'd all be sick of fish after a couple days, but those guides do such a good job with it and it is so fresh that you could eat fish for every meal up there and it wouldn't get old. In fact, some of the best fish I've ever had was on the shore of a Canadian lake."
Because there are so many options across Canada, there is also a lot of competition which has driven prices down to where you can find an option that will work with almost any budget. Do your research and you can still find week long trips for well under $1000 per person, which is cheaper than a good many vacations in the States and certainly most other foreign destinations.
There are a lot of options out there for fishing destinations, but if you're like FLW Tour Pro and Denali Pro-staffer Michael Murphy, you'll check out a Canadian Fly-in this summer, as according to him "the unbelievable scenery, incredible fishing, and beautiful weather combine to make it one of the best trips I've ever gone on, especially once the dog-days set in across most of the country."
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