PPS Destinations Report
Dalton Trail Lodge, Yukon, Canada
Date: Sept 23 to 26 2009
Stay tuned for day to day 'live' blog report of Dalton Trail Lodge. Richard and I will be heading out to check out this destination as a potential PPS venue. While there, we will post (depending on connectivity) at the end of each day and evaluate this site wrt:
- Venue, meeting facilities and food.
- Scenery
- Fishing (quality and variety)
- Ease of access.
Keep posted as we update each day and then submit a final report.
Ernie and Richard (aka Ernesto y Ricardo)
Day 1 posting. Basically, this was a travel day from Vancouver to Whitehorse and then on to the Lodge. The lodge is on the Haines Highway, between Haines Junction, Yukon and Haines Alaska.
We had an un-eventful flight from Vancouver to Whitehorse. Wayne met us there and we were quickly off to the lodge. The trip took about 2 hours plus and we could tell that the scenery was spectacular, both for the fall colours as well as for the magnificent mountain scenery. Unfortunately, the weather was light rain, with heavy overcast, really reducing the magnificent scenery to a portion of what it really was. The mountain scenery kept getting better as we got closer to the lodge. The lodge sits right on the edge of Kluane National Park, complete with a magnificent mountain range. The following photo shows the back side of the lodge after a heavy rain. Gives an idea of the mountains right across the street as well as the fall colours. Behind us is a beautiful vista of Dezadeash Lake and another mountain range, complete with golden hills dressed in fall colours. I'll post more pictures if the weather improves.
Richard and I have our own 2 bedroom cabin. Cabins are very roomy, very tasteful (beautiful in fact) and handsomely decorated and finished. This will not be tough to stay here..
As soon as we got to the lodge, we were given an orientation as well as
fishing licenses. We were told that it was 2 hours till dinner and, if we
liked, we could take one of the company trucks, drive down the road and fish the
Kathleen River right at the highway bridge. Mind you, we had to be back
for 7pm dinner. Anyways, we quickly went there and after a bit of
fruitless casting, we quickly figured this out. Now, the water here is
beyond gin-clear. You can actually see the fish sitting in the current,
stacked like cord wood. I could not get any rainbows or whitefish to bite
but both Richard and I caught some Graylings. I changed from my dry line
to a Teeny 150 and a white wooly bugger and hooked about 8 lakers in the
hour. Of those that I hooked, I landed 4, the largest being about 4 pounds
plus. All the fish were over 3 pounds, in excellent condition and fought
amazingly well. It was not unusual to have to give line to the fish
despite using a stiff 6 wt rod. Not bad for one hour's fishing on the
first day. This was the unofficial day of fishing for sure.
Remember, this was done right at the highway bridge. I should point out
that a vehicle goes by somewhere every half to one hour. Not a lot of
traffic here.
Back to the lodge for a nice dinner of Drunken chicken, excellent appetizers and desserts. This isn't too tough to take. Now, let's hope for better weather on our first official day of fishing. We are scheduled to go with Thomas to fish the Kathleen river by Jet Boat. Stay tuned. If you have any questions or comments, send me an email at pps@shaw.ca and I'll post again tomorrow. Ernie
Day 2. Better looking day right from the get go! Got up to an amazing sunrise! Check this out. The first view is looking out from our cabin over Dezadeash Lake and the second view is looking the opposite direction at the main lodge where we have our meals.
Our guide for the day was Thomas, one of the owners. He took us by jet boat to the Kathleen River. We started right near the top and I began by going for my Yukon Slam, that is, to catch all four species of fish from the Kathleen River. The first part, considered the toughest, was the easiest. With a strike indicator and very small nymph, I not only caught a brace of whitefish quickly but also caught several small to medium lake trout. This was looking good. While I was catching these fish, there was a maturing bald eagle sitting right behind me. Gives you a great idea of the scenery and wildlife in this area.
What we noticed was that the fishing was much tougher today. At times, we thought there weren't many fish in the system. Its only when we drifted down over the areas where we were fishing, we were totally stunned to see how many fish were actually in the system. In the end, I did manage to catch all four species on a variety of methods using my dry line. There was no doubt that something had changed and the fish were just not feeding despite the vast numbers. In fact, the whitefish were so numerous that they would, at times, hover around your waders that you could not help but to kick the odd one when turning around.
Just the same, both Richard and I managed to catch quite a few nice lakers in the 4 to 5 pound range. Very colourful fish. The scenery was spectacular and always formed an excellent backdrop to the fishing.
Below are a couple of shots to give you an idea of the scenery we had to endure while fishing. The first is a small lake trout and the second is a nice grayling that I caught on a chernobyl ant.
Here's another shot of the scenery in general. The mountain range ran down both sides of the river and was never out of sight.
Tomorrow, we are scheduled to hit the Aishihik Lake for trophy Lake trout. Its not a secret that the angler who went there today came back a day early. We fear that the weather is not very good and we will be hit with high winds. In any event, there is no internet connection at the lake. Unless we come back early, do not expect any report for the next two days. Ernie
Days 3 and 4. Ok, we're back and we stayed the full two days. As mentioned before, there was no internet connection and therefore no opportunity to update you guys.
This is quite an adventure and logistical feat. After a 2-hour drive to the put-in at the bottom end of the lake, we travelled a bit over a half-hour until we reached the remote cabin where we were to overnight. After dropping off our gear, back in the boat for a 1 hour drive until we reached the other end of this 50 mile lake. So, after a total of 4 hours of travel, we begin fishing. Our target was to catch a trophy lake trout on the fly. The weather was very windy the first day but I managed to catch a 96cm (approx. 22lb) laker within 15 minutes of arriving. Using a solid reel with a good drag and a quality 8 wt. rod, I was uncertain as to weather I could land this fish! After several searing runs, having to lift anchor and move the boat and also to have the fish peel line off with my reel with my rod under the boat, I landed this hefty fish. Not without a very sore and tired wrist. The rest of the day was very windy and spotty. I managed to catch 4 more - 2 of them being hot quality mid-size fish and Richard managed one small laker. This was not easy or fast fishing but we were casting our flies in about 5 to 7 feet of water knowing that there are occasional cruisers and this is one of the best place to catch a big lake trout on a cast fly. After the day was over, we headed back to the cabin after a 1 1/2 hour bumpy ride down the wind-swept lake. The accommodation here was a very remote and rustic cabin where dinner was partially cooked over an open fire and we slept in sleeping bags. No running water, electricity or bathroom facilities here. Beautiful just the same.
Next day, the lake was quite calm and we were able to zip down the lake - at full speed- and hit the fishing grounds in just under an hour. The day was actually calm and where Richard was casting from the back of the boat, I was able to stand on the bow and hit different waters. Today, it was Richard's turn to be 'hot' as he caught 5 lakers in the 10 pound range. It took me a while to get up to speed, however, I managed 4 for the 5 hours of fishing, 4 of which were in the 10 pound range but the last is my new record and even bigger than yesterday's. At 98cm and somewhere around 28 pounds, this is the largest laker I have caught in any manner. As with the others, I caught this casting my fly in 6 feet of water.
Get a look at this
'slug'. Again, this required a lot of line in and out and the constant
full-pressure on the rod in order to turn this fish. Even with an 8 wt.
rod, I had to constantly double up the rod and give the fish maximum stick in
order to bring the fight down to about 20 minutes of hard work. At the end, my
wrist and fore-arm were quivering.
This was the last fished landed in the last hour or so, however, we did see several other very large fish follow or swipe at our fly. This really kept us excited. After this bout of activity it basically died down and it eventually came time to leave and head back to the lodge.
As well as catching the two biggest fly caught lakers of my life, there were a couple of other 'firsts' for us. While travelling down the lake, we saw a small herd of Bisons ranging on a grassy hillside. Also, on the drive back from Aishihik Lake, I was my first Lynx in the wild. this was quite a beautiful animal and it stood perfectly still while I took a few shots of it with my zoom camera.
Here are a couple more images to round out the trip. Tomorrow, its a leisurely breakfast and then we head back to home. Enjoy these images as well. I actually have several hundred but can only pack a few.
Let me know if you have any comments. Ernie pps@shaw.ca
