PPS Destinations Report
Ekaluk River, Nunavut, Canada
Date: September 2010
fish for sea run char during the second week of the two week season.
For those of us who fished the first week last year we saw what being
early for the run was like-hard fishing with limited success.
Reports from the following week were a different story with almost eight
times the number of fish plus significantly larger fish as well.
Needless to say I was excited about the prospect of a great week.
As far as details of camp life, food, and the surrounding areas I would
advise you to read Ernie’s excellent report from last year.
It is wonderfully detailed and accurate-not much has changed in a year.
The week began on Sunday August 29 and in just a few hours that afternoon
everyone in camp had hooked and landed several fish.
I personally landed 5 out of 8 hookups in three hours with one fish of 32
inches and two of 33 inches. Everything
looked like it was shaping up for an excellent week.
What we later discovered is that that same day the Inuit had place gill
nets across the entire river mouth as opposed to up in the lake as previous
years. What we would be fishing for
was fish that were already in the river form that point on.
To be fair this situation caught Jack and Bill Lyall completely by
surprise. They only found out about
the nets just before we arrived and were told they would not completely block
the river and they would only be up until the quota was filled (45,00 pounds)
but when we flew out we could clearly see the nets still in place and people
still hauling in fish despite the quota being reached.
No one seemed to know why things changed but it was certainly a
disappointment.
Despite the nets we all caught fish every day.
My best day was 11 fish and my worst (the last day) was one.
Our group took between four and five hundred fish as compared to about
one hundred last in 2010 for our group. I
went 30 for 41 with ten fish over 30 inches and the largest of 35 inches.
All the fish were quite fat and very healthy looking.
It must have been a very good year for shrimp in the bay.
Other than the fishing, highlights included seeing a lot of swans, sand
hill cranes, and quite a few musk ox. One
group allowed me to get quite close before the herd bull got very nervous and
actually rushed at me stopping 30 yards away.
That was nerve wracking and I decided that was as close to a musk ox as I
ever wanted to get. We did get to
see the northern lights one night and on the last evening we were entertained by
Charlotte Lyall, Bill’s daughter, with some Inuit throat singing.
The only way I can think to describe is as an arrhythmic combination of
hums, groans, and clicks interspersed with Inuit words.
If ever there was inspiration for an extraterrestrial language this was
it.
The group was diverse and interesting and while not as much fun as a PPS
trip it was entertaining to get to know a nice bunch of guys.
All but one were repeat fishermen and all were disappointed by the number
of fish they took. Since it was a
lot better than last year for me I was pleased if not ecstatic about the
fishing.
The big issue will be the nets. If
they do stay at the mouth of the river as opposed to up in the lake it would be
difficult to recommend the trip. I
truly enjoy Jack and Bill’s company, the setting is wild, and when there are
fish in the river they are eager, hard fighting game.
Keeping them where they were this year will certainly diminish this as a
game fishing operation and possibly endanger the river as a viable fishery. That
would be criminal. I can only hope
the locals work this out so there are two viable business enterprises on the
Ekaluk.
Brian Griffith
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