August 20-26. The Great Slave Mafia Report

The Weather was too damn nice! We went on a fishing trip and a business meeting broke out!

Taltson 2011….August 20-26

Is it at all possible that could be a problem? Well for the group fishing it certainly was!! Don’t get me wrong, the fishing was still the best 99.9999% of fisherman will ever hope to experience…but for us…a little cool weather would have brought some more fatties into play.

The group of John Mich and Rick Sweeney

Jamie Riani and Bill Kallenburg

and Steve Schmitt and Jim Zarfass

again put a hurt on old Mrs. Esox Lucius during their weeks stay. The group, with the help of golf counters, tallied over 1600 fish for week, with an amazing 124 , 41inches or greater. Jim Zarfasses 47” was the largest in camp.

The fisherman were greeted with temps in the low 70’s and southeast winds for the first three days…sure great weather if you’re in Wisconsin but this is NWT….some 2500 miles north of the cheese state. We wanted 50’s…clouds…maybe a sprinkle or two, hell a flake or two besides Zarfass would have been great, however good weather was to be the norm for the entire weeks stay, we adapted.

Normally a bit of wind from the north and whatever combined would cause the rock islands to explode with fish, but that wasn’t to be. Thankfully the weeds were as good as they’ve been in many years and the fish cooperated in them. Certainly the night trolling bite was a staple as well, with fish being caught well after 11pm on many nights. This night trolling bite for a species of fish that aren’t supposed to be great after dark continues to amaze us…but we’ll take it!

Baits where as they always are for this time of year….Spinnerbaits, Bulldawgs, any and all Storm plastic baits. Colors…natural, wild and everything in between.

Mishaps? Sure!! With three in the group north of 60 yoa…nobrainer! Some hooks in hands..some slashed hands due to fish handling, maybe a broken rod or 4…but we are happy to report no helicopter needed to be dispatched to camp…no stitches were used (maybe warranted) but not used…no chucks of meat needed to be extracted from anyone’s windpipe…and there was enough Ambien, Tylenol PM’s and earplugs to handle snoring, talking and night terrors (yes I said night terrors…don’t ask)

We were treated to the incredible cooking of Tracy once again and her kitchen helper Katya…this was far more than 6 dudes from the states could ever hope to have spoiling them. Our Friday was business formal day and the girls went out of their way to make our lunch experience that day…something to remember.

As I always say…”this is the best pike fishing local in Canada”…and it proved it once again for all of us. 360 days seem like a year away.

John

( a very rare blue pike )

Early August report #2

From Tim Stewart:
Ok so here we go. Two guys from Minnesota show up at camp to fish pike. We were not sure about what we were getting into as we had been to plenty of other camps and been underwhelmed by the fishing. We jump in a boat with the guide stop at the weed edge at becks third cast we land a strong stout 43 inch pike. Bryan and I gave each other a look and I said” game on.” These first timers put almost 600 fish in the boat,586 to be exact 61 of them 41 or better. Two of these monsters came out true 46 inchers no squeezing tails or adding on a little here just true big fish, All hand landed with a quick pic and back for more.

After the first day Bryan said “you know we can’t fish any were else now” . Most of our fish came on rad dog’s in the weeds or madusas out in the open. Becks weeds during the day river channel morning and night. Thubin was nothing more than a boat ride. Next time we will know not to bring all that other stuff, It just is not needed. I will however do some forearm and hand exercises as the both were in pain by the end of the week. Thanks for letting us in on your little secret of the North.

P.S. It also was a lot of fun to talk to those folks coming out of Plummer’s and show them pic’s, as they had at least that week not such a good week. If you land any customers from there I will only take a small cut.

The Golla report from early August.

Just back from an Aug. 6-13 trip. Curiously, my daughter, Julie, and I caught exactly the same number of trophies (over 41") as my first trip 2 years ago, which is/was 43. I must say that Julie did most of the heavy lifting, and at times I felt primarily like a camera man. The most remarkable thing, however, might be the bulky average size of the fish. If you chose a 4-inch bracket that would encompass our most typical-sized fish, it would probably be 35-39" or 36-40". There were A LOT of Big, heavy, burly fish, and when you spot them about 100 stalks of cabbage to dig into and slice through, they can kick your ass just fine, thank you.

The trip got off to an inauspicious start, however. On our first casts, we BOTH snapped the cork handles of our rods right in half. By the end of the first hour, all 3 of Julie's rods, and 2 of mine, had done this. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" No one at camp had ever seen or heard of this happening. My third "first string" rod went on day 3. Upon investigation, there was a subtle dent across my (standard Plano) rod tube, right at that same level, so apparently the tube took a very heavy and sharp blow, and then bounced back to almost normal shape, but the damage was done. Still pretty bizarre. With the crap that the TSA (inspects my rod tube most of the time, and likes to jam stuff back in) and baggage handlers dish out, I' m not buying any more rods without lifetime warranties. By the way, if this happens to you, here is the solution: get a Clorox-type jug, cut off the top and bottom, and slit open the remaining plastic cylinder. Cut in half, that will give you enough to wrap 2 handles stoutly enough to not bend. Then secure with Duck Tape (don't leave home without it!), and you're back in business.

The massive weed bed between camp and Tower Island was the biggest fish magnet, with some off the island itself. Just little ones at Thubin. Went upriver one half day, and caught 4 over 39" (incl. a 45). Biggest of the trip was a 46", by Julie. Some in the trolling channel, too. The other boat in camp, Tim and Bryan, did as well or better than we did, mostly using big, gaudy spinnerbaits (bigger than most of the stuff I had). We had a fair amount of wind, but topwater was fun when it was calmer. I usually drifted back to the old reliable Johnson spoon, and firetiger may have been superior to plain silver or gold. Julie has a favorite spoon, and that is no mean feat to have success in those weeds with a spoon-- has to be small, light, single hook (which is sure nice for the fish and fish handlers, too), and further buoyed by a trailer.

I never put on my rain pants, sweatshirt, or hooded sweatshirt, and I only used my rain jacket (as a windbreaker only) for 2 evenings and the ride upriver. Can't complain about that (but it was pretty windy 4-5 days).

Now, OK, guys. We have a definite lack of fishing reports this year. Don't be shy. Don't be modest. Let's hear from you! Like Jamie says, "There's no shame in talking about kicking ass, in the company of others who also kick ass!" And somebody can certainly post an "angler profile" (so I won't look like a tool being the only one besides Jamie).

Tight lines and solid hooksets, Jim Golla

P.S.Best story: I hooked a 14"-er on my first cast upriver, which was promptly slashed by a BIG fish. I tell Julie to "throw that rubber thing that looks like a pike". She (Julie) does, and she (the fish) also "does", all 43 1/2 of her. Many boatside ambushes, and many "companion" fish following in hooked fish, seemingly always bigger than the one you've got on! No other species can give me the rush these guys do.

And finally, I promised I would do this: I made a big mistake going to laker's unltd on Athabasca last year. I would urge you not to make the same mistake.

The first 2011 reports are in!!!

Here's the first report from Herb Guarascio:

Got back yesterday from the "arctic". Highlights from our fishing trip to Taltson Bay Big Pike Lodge on June 11 to 17, 2011 include:

Being joined this year by my sons James and Joe, as well as Matt. (Doug had to work.)

The Numbers:
Biggest fish was Joe's 48.5" northern pike out of "Beck's" or Hook Bay. It was just enough to edge out Matt's 48 last year which in turn had edged out Joe's prior Ontario record of 47.5, so the brotherly competition continued. Not sure what Joe's 48.5 weighed but all the fish were BIG and HEAVY. I bet the 43" fish were close to 30 pounds! So, go from there... Next year, we bring a scale and will use a cradle to weigh some.

My biggest was 46". As an added bonus, she came straight out of the water and "danced" vertically on her tail. We had more than one trophy completely clear the water by more than a foot! The fights were amazingly insane - better fights than even last year. One almost pulled Matt in on the strike, and that's saying a lot. There were many boat side strikes (including when you accidentally dropped your lure in the water) and many times I thought we'd break a rod against the side of the boat with "runs" under and around the boat. Tons of fun - literally!

Matt's biggest this year was 45 and James was 44 (though the guide lost one for James at the boat that looked like it might have been bigger while trying to hand land it).

Everyone of us caught 6 to 9 REALLY nice fish that were 42" long or longer.

We had well over 60 trophies between the 4 of us (over 40"). Frankly, we stopped counting and measuring for trophies after Wednesday unless they looked like they were 42" or more, just to go easier on the fish. Releasing them in the water had the added bonus of getting your lure back out there quicker during the famous "turn on" or feeding windows. Our guides appreciated it too since they both looked like they need half a dozen stitches in the hand after getting bit or hooked while releasing fish. (Good thing we brought first aid kits with fancy supplies and adhesive stitches.)

For our Ontario fishing buddies, where 38" is a trophy, I know we had well over 100. Honestly, just too many to count. Really.

We didn't usually do daily tallies but one day, James and I caught 150 pike and walleye between the two of us.

The walleyes were really "in thick" this year. For whatever reason, we hit those perfectly with our week. There were places you could catch them every cast. They were the hardest fighting walleyes I have seen anywhere. And like the Northerns, the walleyes were FAT. Without ever fishing for them, there were days when we caught several dozen just while fishing for Northerns. There was no need to target walleyes; they hit "Doctor Spoons" and musky bucktails. Most were 20" to 26". We kept a few stringers for the camp that were so heavy it took two of us to lift them.

Matt caught a 29" walleye that was 9 to probably even 10 pounds.

Everyone set a personal record of some sort....what else can you say? Great fishing, as always.

I will try to send a few pictures later.


The Wildlife and Outdoors

I have enjoyed wildlife since I was a kid, so it was a real treat to be surrounded by it for a week. And overall, we had nice weather, so in the "land of the midnight sun" where it never gets dark in mid-June, it was hard to come in off the water. Many a night we were still fishing after midnight.

We had a 500 to 600 pound black bear wander out to Beck's Bay while we were fishing. Our guide said it was a mature 5 year old, but "only average" in size. It was really an amazing creature. I thought the guide had been bluffing when he said he wouldn't let me skip lunch and leave me behind to shore fish "because of bears".

We had quite a few moose sightings. To our guides, its like having someone offer you a free black angus steer for your freezer, so for the rest of the week they were...."prepared". Fortunately for the mooses, they didn't make encore appearances.

It must have been mating season for the whooping cranes. They were dancing around in the marsh.

The eagles were everywhere. We saw 5 in on place at the same time. We got some great videos and photos of one from 15 feet away.

When we got off the plane in Yellowknife, NWT, James and Joe laughed in disbelief at how big the mosquitoes were. One night, James got 40 bites on his right arm that he left out of his sleeping bag. After that, no one cared about the warning labels against indoor use of mosquito coils. Our roomed looked like LA smog in the summer, but you could sleep without donating a pint of blood.

For the Taltson Bay regulars-
They claim the water is even lower this year. It didn't seem like it to me, but Don and others would know.

Becks was good to us, as always. Thubin didn't turn on until the very end of the week and even then didn't have the really big fish it held for us last year....probably a hand full of trophies at 41 or 42. But man, was it fun when it was "on" and you had a hit every cast.

In general, the fish seemed more scattered this year. They were outside Becks and at the same time way back in the shallow bay; and sometimes right down the middle. Though you would find the occasional "pot of gold" (say where the wind had pushed some to the back of one bay or on the wall), in general, it was one or two at a spot one day, and none there the next. You usually had to move around vs just camp out in Becks or Thubin.

The weeds grew a lot just during our week. The cabbage was still well below the surface, but you had to pull through it in spots by the end of the week. After Sunday, we had a week of warm sunny days so it grew a lot.

Lure size, shape, or color seemed irrelevant.

The diamond mines are in full swing and new ones are in the plans. Yellowknife hotels are booked solid.

It was great to fish with Rick and Steve again, and also a lot of fun to have Taltson first timers Mike and Tom (and James and Joe).

We had a great trip. I wish you the same!

~~ <*)########<

The next report comes from the team of Mike Podracky & Tom Driscoll. Mike writes:
I just returned from my trip to the Trophy Big Pike Camp with my long-time Lake Erie fishing partner, Tom Driscoll. Also in camp with us were Herb Guracio and three of his sons (Matt, James and Joe) along with Rick Sweeney and Steve Ciambros. First, it was a great group of hard core fisherman like Tom and I. It was a pleasure to be in camp with them, and I was amazed to find people who fished as hard as us. Rick and Steve took the prize, however, for staying out the longest each day. Very impressive they could pump out casts like that all day long.

The fishing more than lived up to our high expectations. The weather really cooperated as it drizzled the first hour or so we were in camp, and not a drop after that. The winds basically were cooperative too. Now on to the results.

Tom and I caught 25 pike over 41 inches between both of us. Our best day was ten trophies when the fish were suicidal hitting any lure that landed in the water. Conservatively, we caught about 110-115 pike between 38-40 inches. We fished Thubin two days: one day was good and the last day very good. The fish were smacking the Stalker in Thubin with abandon, although we missed more bites that we caught with the Stalker. We fished part of the other five days in and around Becks, and the main river channel. Tom and I both caught our largest fish at 45 inches at Becks. Everyone in the group caught as many if not more trophies than even we did. Herb's sons are quite the fishermen.

The best pike baits were the Stalker in firetiger, a Mepps Musky Maribou bucktail, gold doctor spoon and silver/gold Williams Wabbler. I loaned Tom my only Williams Wabbler that I brought along, and hadn't fished with in ten years. He caught most of his trophies on it and refused to give it back even hiding it from me at night.

It was also amazing how many walleyes we caught and their size. We landed about 125-130 walleyes during the week "accidentally" while fishing for pike. Probably 25% of them were 24-25 inches with the biggest at 26 1/2. Those walleye hit so hard sometimes you thought it was a pike. Tom caught one 14-15 inch walleye that a large pike attached while reeling it in. As usual, the pike released the walleye before it was landed, but that was exciting.

A large number of hawks hung around Becks most of the week. A few times we fed one particular hawk a small walleye, and it was awesome to see the hawk swoop down and snatch the fish with those huge talons. The talons looked as big as my hand. We also saw about a 500 lb black bear near Ray Beck's old cabin that lumbered away after sniffing us. The bear must not have liked the smell of pike slime.

Tom and I never fished so hard in one week, and hit the wall around day five. We rallied later that night, and finished the week strong not wanting to go home. Bruce ran a good camp and our overall experience was terrific. The great group of guys we fished with made it even more so, and we thank them for their friendship during the week. The best testimonial I can give the Trophy Big Pike Camp is we will be back in 2012 ready to do battle as the lodge lived up to its name. Also, we will be much more educated on how to catch those huge fish.

Mike Podracky & Tom Driscoll.

Profile of Jim Golla aka "Pikeman"

Name: Jim Golla
Age: 56
Occupation: Gastroenterologist (you know, the one with the flexible 5 foot lighted tube that has an a-hole on each end of it).
Background: I live in OK, but grew up in the only county in Minn. without a natural lake. As a boy, I fished Green Lake in central Minn., a clear lake with extraordinary structure. ( Roland Martin just did a smallmouth show from there on today's episode.) My depth finder was a heavy sinker on clothesline cord, wrapped on a rolling pin. Northern pike were the biggest fish available to me, and we just sort of hit it off, I guess. I love the sneer, the attitude, the teeth, the slime, the gorgeous spots, etc., etc. I can't believe my parents let me take out our old steel pontoon and 9 1/2 Johnson by myself when I was only 9-10 years old. Often I'd dunk perch for them, since every pike I ever cleaned had perch in its belly. While catching the perch for bait (with worms), I'd get excited when the perch all of a sudden would turn off. That meant Mr. Big was back in town - a pretty cool system for a kid. Then, my Dad took me to Canada when I was 16. The biggest fish was 14 lbs., and I couldn't believe how unbelievably great it was! Second trip - same thing. Funny how those "fabulous" trips that gut hooked me for life would now be considered a total disaster.
My wife and I took our 3 kids to a flyout numerous times, until increased fishing pressure caused the fishing to crash (with a stunningly rapid thud). Since then, we've sampled Manitoba, Saskatchewan, NWT, and Alaska, with some hits and some misses along the way. I'm not a guy who likes to "play the field". I like to find a place that I can "get married to". Laugh if you must, but my license plate and e-mail address are both "Pikeman". I'm done trying to explain it. I just love Northern Pike!

What brought me to Taltson? I'm afraid that's another long-winded story. It was on my "short list" from magazine articles, I guess, Then, 2 years ago, I'm packed for a trip to Lac La Martre, and the scumbag owner calls me 5 DAYS BEFORE I LEAVE that "he is financially unable to open the lodge this year" (after he has all my money, of course). REALLY? ARE YOU SERIOUS? Well, thanks to John and Don, we hurriedly made some lemonade out of that lemon, and I was made welcome at Taltson. Here's hoping that that unhappy story winds up being a blessing in disguise, long term. [By the way, LLM is under new ownership, so don't hold the other jerk's sins against the new guy.]

Biggest at Taltson: 46" (hey' I've only been there once).

Favorite Lures: Really? you guys don't mind spilling all your "secrets"? Oh, all right. Bucktails, Vibraxes, Spinnerbaits, Johnson spoon, Kamlooper spoon (another long story, should you ever have the misfortune of sharing the lodge with me), bunny flies, and assorted "big rubber fish".

Stories: Only been there once, but it did show me the biggest walleye I've ever seen (32+, by my wife). Got chased into a hut by a T-storm one day, then caught a 43" on the first cast afterward. On an umpteenth pass at Thubin, it seemed time to try something different, so I went with a spinnerbait, and asked my son (2000 miles away, at home), who is the spinnerbaitmeister, to send me some psychic energy. First cast=43 1/2". My wife made Don a blueberry pie during another T-storm break.

2011: I'm taking my daughter up the 2nd week of Aug. She won't like me saying, but she (despite being an excellent fisherwoman) has the family's "smallest lifetime biggest" at 47". We'll see what we can do about that!

Comment: Like I said, Im not a guy who likes to try a different place every year, so I'm hoping to commence a long relationship with Taltson (seeing that many of you are thusly "married" to her already). When asked, I will say that if you have a place where you can consistently get 2 trophies per person per day, you are usually going to be wasting time (and money) looking for a better place. From what I know so far, that bar seems too low, when it comes to Taltson, however. To be continued.............

Jim Golla with a monster caught from The Thubin Trench