Trout Rock 2018 – Amazing Pike Water

TroutRock Lodge – Amazing fishing and super comfortable lodging!

Ok I should start by saying I had just finished fishing for 7 whole days at Frontier Fishing Lodge on the South shore of Great Slave. I had flown back to Yellowknife late day June 22. Then I killed most of the day in Yellowknife waiting for the floatplane ride out to TroutRock which is on the North Side of Great Slave. After dinner in YK on June 23 we grabbed a cab to the Summit Air float base in YK and quickly made the 10-15 minute flight to TR. My first thought was wouldn’t it be quicker and cheaper to boat folks into the lodge. As we flew in I saw never ending islands bays and channels of shallow dirty water. Maybe flying is a better option since navigating that water would be a challenge. This was going to be a very different experience than the cliffs, bluffs, dramatic coasts of the South shore near Frontier Fishing Lodge.

After a quick welcome we were assigned to one of two types of accommodations, all have 24×7 power, cabin or quad-plex. I was assigned to one of the standalone cabins, which has two bunk beds and a sink, but no bathroom. The bathroom options were outhouses or tracking to the main lodge to use the bathrooms in the lodge. The sleeping situation was also not great. The beds where sheets of plywood with a thin 2-3 inch mattress that I would normally see on cots. There is also a four-plex of hotel style rooms, which do have individual bathrooms. I can’t speak to the sleeping situation there.

The food for my 3-day stay was VERY good. Home cooked meals with fresh made bread and deserts. The food definitely exceeded my expectations.

The boats were 18 ft. johnboats with flat bottoms, huge casting decks, and 40hp Mercs but no depth finders. The entire area around the lodge is 2-6 ft. deep with endless bays for perfect pike fishing water. I discussed the game plan for the 3 days with the guide. My focus would be strictly on larger pike. I had caught more than enough fish the previous week and I needed to save my strength if possible for larger fish. 

A quick 5-10 minute boat ride put us in a huge bay 2-3 ft. deep with tons of emerging cabbage. Perfect for bigger pike, the problem was all we found were smaller pike. So we moved on to another bay and found more of the same. A lot guys would have been thrilled to sit in these bays and drift through catching 24-30 inch pike one after another. Being 100% honest nearly every cast resulted in a strike, tap, or a hook up. The problem was all morning around 4 different bays we saw the same thing. A couple of mid 30s showed up but not what we wanted. At lunch all the boats came to a point and the guides prepared a fantastic shore lunch for the entire group of 12 plus guides. The afternoon resulted in more of the same. Huge numbers but no Master Anglers.

That first night after seeing other guys average about one trophy every 4 hours (2 per person day in the boat) I decided we needed to change up our approach. One thing I decided was we needed to move out of the bays into more main channels and areas with cooler water. The temps the week before had skyrocketed into the high 70s F and the bays were probably too warm for the big gals. We at least needed to fish bays closer to the main lake water, which I knew was much cooler. It would’ve been nice to have fish finders strictly for water temps. Good new is the plan worked.

Day two was much better fishing. We worked slightly deeper areas and used the strong 15 mph+ winds to get better drifts through ‘later season’ spots. I managed to pick up 2 41+ fish including a very nice 43.

Day three strong winds and heavy rains made for a less than comfortable day but our patterns held with slightly deeper, cooler, main channels and I netted two more 41+ including a 45. 

While I was in camp (3 days) the largest was 3- 48 with several more 46s. Pretty much all of the boats averaged 2 Master Anglers a person per day. There were a few better sessions where 2 guys landed 7 in an afternoon and a few (my first day) with none. The overall quality of the fishery is really quite stunning. There is a very good reason this lodge is almost impossible to get into during June ☺.  

For my 3 days I had a 45/43/41/41 and I would say I was below the average for that period of time. I should also throw out there I had more than a dozen pike in the 34in – 38in class that were really fun and probably more than 200 total fish. The best lures for me turned out to be Sebile soft Magic Swimmers in 6 inch and 7 inch (white/fire tiger/Gold), Williams wobblers dressed up with a tail, Doctor spoons dressed with a tail, Johnson weedless spoons, Big Hammer swimbaits, and (impossible to find in the US) Rapala weedless spoons.  TroutRock has a single barbless hook policy so you can leave most lures behind. To be honest I am not sure the presentation matter that much. Finding big fish is more a matter of matching the stage of the spawn with where you are fishing. In general the entire area looks amazing and that is where the guides come in. Having one of the most experienced guides can make a HUGE difference. I would make it clear when you book that you want an experienced guide. The price is very high to fish this water and I would want the best guide you can manage.

At the end of the day TroutRock is the best pike water I have ever seen. The number of Master Anglers pulled out on a daily basis is truly amazing 20-40 per day for the group of guests in camp. The food is excellent both in the lodge and during shore lunch. The accommodations for half the guest leaves a lot to be desired for the $. This is fantastic water and if you want the closest thing to a guarantee of catching a master angler I don’t think there is anywhere better than TroutRock.

Now it is time to start planning 2019’s adventures!