Frontier Fishing Lodge 2018 – 3 Species of Trophy Fishing

Frontier Fishing Lodge

Last Fall I decided I wanted to do something Epic. I was turning 50 this year and due to all of the normal life stresses I had limited most of my past trips (30+ in total) to NW Ontario. I had just returned from a really great trip to Northern Manitoba that showed me how awesome the furthest reaches of Canada could be and I figured the next obvious choice was Northwest Territories. The issues that would separate the lodges were 24×7 power, Wi-Fi, quality of water, species of fish available, and guided / unguided. In a perfect world I would have full time power, Wi-Fi, fantastic water, unguided, and fantastic pike fishing. I reviewed my options, which included (Plummer’s, Taltson Big Pike Lodge, Trout Rock Lodge, and Frontier Fishing Lodge). My decision came down to Trout Rock and Frontier so I contacted both places and learned Trout Rock was totally booked for 2018 so it would have to wait, or so I thought. Because my primary target was pike I booked Frontier for opening week. I paid my deposit in October and the wait began.

Fast forward to June 14 for my trip starting June 16 or so I thought. In late March Trout Rock contacted me to say I could have a 3 day trip in June if I wanted it. I quickly said no it would have to wait, but just for grins what were the dates. It turned out the dates lined up perfectly with the Frontier trip. Dang! If I could come up with the money I could fish both and I needed a buddy to fish with me. Well you only live once. Now fast forward to June 14. ☺

Due to the fact it was opening week I would get 7 full days of fishing at Frontier but I had to fly in on Friday night vs. the normal Saturday am. To get to Yellowknife then required me to fly in the day before June 14 Thursday. I spent Friday in YK resting up for all the epic fishing I expected over the next 10 days. The Black Knight pub helped kill a few hours with good food / drinks / chats with the fellow pub patrons.

The bays on Great Slave and Stark Lake were cold and holding many big pike. One in particular turned out 4 41+ pike in 2.5 hours. That was definitely the high point of the week but in general I caught a lot of very nice pike (6 over 41 inches) with the largest being 44. The hot lure was an Orange and Copper Doctor spoon, but Williams Wobblers worked as did regular 6 ½ inch Big Hammer swim baits and #5 Blue Fox spinners.

The Lake Trout were just waking up due to the sheet of ice covering most of the big lake. In the end I had several 30+ trout sessions (4 hours am or pm) with the fish averaging over 15 lbs. The best lures for trolling were Husky Junior spoons in Chart / Pink / Pearl / Yellow / Half Waves in (Gold / Red) and (Silver / Red). When I was jigging I used Water Wolf tubes in 5 / 7 / 9 inch. The larger ones on harness the smaller ones on large 2oz jig heads.

The biggest and best surprise of the trip was the Graylings. I had never caught one coming into the week. The more I asked about them the more the guides kind of’ shrugged and said bring some small Mepps and tiny spoons. I figured ok, I sure hope I can catch one. Well….WOW….They are super beautiful, super fun fighters, and best of all for someone who knows nothing about them, SUPER easy! All you need to do is watch for the telltale fish feeding on the surface and cast to the spot. The Stark River is world class Grayling fishing with numerous rapids, pools, and eddies. I REALLY REALLY loved fishing in the super clear fast moving water for the Grayling. I’d see them feeding and cast my size 0 Mepps spinner that had a bug dressing on the tiny treble and hook up. Then it was game on. Jumping / spinning / running into the rapids those grayling are AWESOME! Another cool thing was they could be found on the big lakes while having shore lunch. The fish in the lakes are a bit larger and having them available at lunch was really a ton of fun. If I go back to FrontierI will definitely spend a bit more time fishingthe “sailfish of the North”.

Overall the experience at Frontier was excellent – Excellent guides / professional shore staff / good food / good communication with the owners. The price tag for a week at Frontier is not cheap but the overall experience is worth the price. If you are looking for big pike, abundant big trout with a chance at a monster, and fun frisky grayling look up Frontier Fishing Lodge.