Ekaluk 09

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PPS Destinations Report

Ekaluk River, Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada

Date: August 23 to 30, 2009

Speaker and Topics:

Dr. John Pawlovich MD; Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office.

Reported by Dr. Ernst 'Ernie' Schmidt, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The long lead-up to this trip made this one of the most anticipated trips PPS has ever taken. With over 3 years in the planning, PPS was able to place 13 - out of a possible season's total of 24 - anglers into this much rumoured destination. Without a doubt, this has been the most remote and rustic adventure destination many of us have ever undertaken.

Victoria Island is Canada's second largest Island and resides in the arctic archipelago just north of the North American mainland. Separated from the mainland by the famous North-West Passage, this area conjures up historical names such as Amundson and the Franklin Expedition. Nunavut, home of the Inuit People (formerly referred to as Eskimos), is Canada's newest Territory having come into existence on April 1, 2009. It is a huge area and is considered the least inhabited land-mass (with the exception of un-inhabited Antartctica) on the face of the planet.

Our prime objective was to encounter the elusive Sea-Run Arctic Char, certainly much talked about lately in all angling publications and journals. Although the fish is to be found in large numbers, it's geographic habitat makes this one of the most difficult and costly sport fish to pursue. Just getting there is an adventure! Our group met up in Edmonton, Canada and, the next day, boarded a Canadian North 737 flight to Cambridge Bay (on Victoria Island) via Yellowknife and Kuglugtuk. The latter is of interest as this was formerly called Coppermine and is a small settlement on the mouth of another famous char river, the eponymous Coppermine River. Once in Cambridge Bay, we were shuttled to our base-camp at the mouth of the Ekaluk River, via a short 30 minute float plane ride. Next to the amazing desolate scenery of the tundra, the highlight for some of us was to be transported from the airport to the float plane dock via the courtesy of the local RCMP paddy wagon For those of us seated in the rear - complete with metal bars, locked doors and windows, I must admit I found it a bit claustrophobic in the cramped conditions.

Once at the camp, we were greeted and introduced to our short-term home by owner Bill Lyall and head-guide Jack Elofsson as well as camp handyman Dave and Jack's son Robbie. Our camp consisted of ultra-basic plywood shacks with corrugated plastic roofs, a fabric lined Quonset hut which acted as our Mess hall (complete with crude shower in the back) and an outhouse about 100 metres/yards across the open tundra. Our shacks had three plywood sleeping benches each with foam pads, the most basic furnishings, a basin and a jug of clean water. Electric light, complete with socket for recharging batteries, and a propane heater were ultra luxuries. Still, it was not uncommon, as temperatures plummeted, for members to go to bed with more clothing than many of us embrace the outdoors with. Needless to say, this might not be a place to bring a fussy spouse/partner. Of interest to me, was that the camp sat on a bank above the river, the bank consisting entirely of tiny sea shells from a bygone era. Owner Bill Lyall, and his wife Jessie, are Inuit residents of Cambridge Bay and have been in the area for all of their lives. Bill has been described by some as "Mr. Nunavut", has been a past member of the Territorial Legislature and has a famous father, Ernie Lyall, author of his autobiography, "An Arctic Man" (Goodread Biographies). Before visiting this area, I would recommend this reading as it is an account of a 'white man' from Labrador who turns to the Eskimo way of life. The value of this book, other than its pure entertainment, is that it gives an account of life and history in the far north from both perspectives. In contrast to the quieter Bill, head-guide Jack is a transplanted Swede, living in Calgary, Alberta and gives the camp a degree of 'colour' to be sure. Cooking duties were shared among all the camp-staff and fare was basic but wholesome and consisted of much of the local fare. In addition to the char (cooked and sushi style), we ate Musk Ox as well as Caribou. Despite the enormous cost of bringing vegetables to this area, all of our meals were served with fresh vegetables.

Ok, we came for the fishing! Before we even embarked on this trip, we knew that timing would be critical and, in the past, some groups, did not 'hit' the run. This was to be our case as the Char Run set a new 'standard' for the latest run in history. Ok, it wasn't a total bust by far. Although the fish did not come in waves of thousands as we were expecting/hoping, there were enough 'scout' fish to keep us occupied. Although pickings were slim in the first 2 days, after that if one fished hard, one could expect anywhere from 2 to 8 hook-ups in a day. Fish varied greatly in size as very large fish were mixed in with jacks and other scrawny stragglers. Having said that, most of us were able to experience at least one or more 'quality' fish during our week. These fish are handsome brutes, fresh from the ocean and amazingly powerful. Despite the very cold waters, a big fish could turn and peel the majority of your backing from the reel and most bigger fish had to be chased either up or down the river. It would not be uncommon to have to bypass three or four anglers and land the fish somewhere a half-mile closer to the ocean. Part of this was also due to the river structure. The Ekaluk River is a very short river (some 3kms) which runs from the huge Ferguson Lake into the nearby Wellington Channel. Despite being short, it is quite wide, very shallow and amazingly fast for this type of fishing. Typically, a fish would enter the river and 'run' it within a day. During that time, it would occasionally rest against the heavy current, sitting behind one of the many rocks creating the riffles. Anglers would quarter across the river and swing/strip the fly across these boulder-strewn lies.

Now, the battle that I just described was one using a 14+foot Spey rod and a reel with huge amounts of backing. Once the fish begin to run, the combination of the river current as well as the fish's strength meant that you either had to walk or run after the fish, depending on the strength of your tackle. For those anglers using single handed 7 or 8 wt rod/reel combinations, there was a fair bit of frustration when a life-time fish could not be turned or landed. Indeed, there was one case where one or more anglers in our party were unable to land a quality fish during the week. Despite the 'steelhead' like fishing where the angler had to make many casts to achieve a hook-up, at least there was enough action in the latter half of the week as the fish started to trickle in in greater numbers. We knew that as soon as our week was over, the next group would be 'reaping' the benefits. Indeed, the thirteenth angler could not join our group and was lucky enough to get a spot in the second group. He reported that......"Yes, the fish came up and we landed by some accounts over 600 fish among the 12 anglers in camp. I landed 32 myself, the largest about 36 inches". Head-guide Jack later reported to me that..... "The fishing during the second week? It was indeed super good (sometimes almost ridiculously fast) and many many huge/fat silvery fish ended up on the grass. Total and final count for the second week 2009 was 820 fish (plus some 40 or 50 staff fish). The best second week since we started in 2000!" Be that as it may, for those of us who caught a quality fish, it was certainly a thrill to have 'tasted' the allure and power of these fish. I count myself lucky to have had this privilege.

As I alluded to earlier, this is a difficult fish to pursue. Not only is its geographic distribution outside the range of scheduled flights by major airlines, the timing also makes it a challenge. This fish has a unique biology in that it cannot live in the salt water during the winter. Basically, the fish lives in fresh-water lakes for 8 to 10 months of the year and, when the ice melts in June, the fish travel 'en-masse', via the river to the ocean where the fish remains in the general vicinity of the estuary opportunistically feeding and fattening up during the warm summer months. Once the weather starts to turn, the fish head back up the river, again 'en-masse' as some 80,000 fish travel the 'gauntlet' over a span of 2 to 3 weeks, as they head back to the lake in order to spawn and then hunker down for the winter. Biologically, the fish can survive fresh water but cannot survive salt water when it gets below freezing. Salt water must become several degrees colder than OC/32F before freezing and these fish cannot maintain viability in these temperatures. On a positive note, warming trends (yes the North West Passage was open this year) has meant longer times at sea with more feed and therefore, a bigger size of the returning fish.

Despite the landscape being described an 'Arctic Desert' and appearing at first glance to be very bleak, nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, this is a photographer's dream. Yes, its a matter of perspective, but there is a fair amount of wildlife to be seen (mostly Musk Ox and Artic Foxes) as well as bird-life, interesting flora and an amazing geography. Sometimes, one just had to look at the amazing big picture from a viewpoint and other times, the minute detail of the tundra with its lichenous rocks or its small shrubbery. On top of this, there is a lot of history here, with many preserved archaeological remains of previous Innuit peoples. Indeed, the lifestyle that was present for several thousand years had only vanished within the last few generations and is still remembered by many of the elders. For those that could 'rip' themselves away from the fishing, there is a lot of great hiking and exploring to be done as well. I took the time to make at least 3 good hikes during the week. All were good but the most memorable was the trek to the nearest high-point of land. It took about 1 1/4 hours to reach this spot and it gave up a magnificent view of the surrounding areas including Ferguson Lake the sweeping tundra and the North West Passage. The height of land is marked by an ancient Inukshuk (Inuit Rock Statues) which was used, at one time, as a sort of marker or 'road map' for the nomadic peoples of the past. A bonus for us taking this trip was that we could see, far in the distance, a herd of Musk-Ox and we made it a point to stalk and photograph this tundra-roamers. After another 25 minutes, we were able to get within photographic range of the small herd which included at least three calves. Once we got close enough, the herd formed into their characteristic defensive posture, a distinctive formation designed to protect the young calves from predators. I should point out that it certainly helped having such brilliant unseasonable weather. At night, temperatures dropped to just under freezing whereas the daytime left several wearing shorts and flip flops in the middle of the day. Understand, this is not the norm for this region.

As usual we had a great time. Something tells me that we may not be finished with this venue just yet. Something about 'unfinished business'. For anyone looking to book a trip to the Ekaluk or to get more information, just go to B&J Flyfishing Adventures.