PPS Destinations Report 

Wolf Lake, Yukon, Canada, Cuba

Date:        July, 2007

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

So close and yet so far away!  The Yukon Territories are a mere 2 hour and 15 minute flight from my hometown of Vancouver, yet this is a far more remote region than any other place I know of!

All travellers to this region eventually end up in Whitehorse, the Capital city of the Yukon Territory.  Famous for its role in the Klondike Gold rush of '98, this tourist hub is better known as the main en-route stay for the famous Alaska Highway.  Situated right on the Yukon River, this capital city; population 25k, holds about 98% of the Territory's population and is the jumping-off point for all visitors.  Whether you are on the Alaska Highway, planning to visit Kluane Park, Haines, Skagway, Dawson City, the Dempster Highway to Inuvik or do an adventure in the wilds of this region, the traveller would do well to spend at least one day in this hub.

Upon arrival in Whitehorse we rendezvoused at the Schwatka floatplane base and were transported to Wolf Lake Wilderness Lodge via Alpine Aviation .  The first thing that struck our group was the way business is done at the floatplane base!  Once I called up Janet at Alpine, she quickly informed me that there was no need to do anything other than take a quick taxi ride to the floatplane base and she would lend us the company van so we could go sightseeing.  "I'd come myself right now but I have to hold the fort until one of the planes get back.  Take the van, no need to rent a car!"  So, armed with the company van, we quickly managed to 'kill' a few hours sightseeing until we were to head out.  The second thing that struck us on the flight to Wolf Lake was the scenery.  As soon as you leave Whitehorse, its pretty clear that the hand of man has had little to do with this place.  Essentially, in one hour of flying time, we crossed one gravel road!  That's it!  Beyond that, we flew along several mountain ranges, lakes, rivers and rainbows.  In short, the scenery was fantastic and just gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

In no time, we arrived at our base camp for the next 8 days and were greeted by lodge owner-operators, Wes and Michelle Walker and escorted to our lodgings.  Again, the first thing we noted as we arrived was the surrounding scenery.  This huge lake is rimmed by two mountain ranges and there is really no sign of man for as far as the eye can see.  Accommodations at the camp are rustic but clean and neat and serve the purpose for a fishing adventure.  One of the 'strengths' as far as the logistics of this operation is that all the cooking is done by Michelle and Wes.  This speaks not only to the consistency of the food services guests can expect to enjoy but to the level of personal cooking skills that these two possess.  Again, being the seasoned traveller that I am, I simply employ the standard litmus test to gauge quality of food; namely my 12 year old son, Stefan.  When he tells me that he is amazed at how much he ate (simply because he found it so delicious), I can take that to the bank.  Later, while fishing on the lake after a particularly 'usual' meal, Stefan bragged to me that he ate one whole 'drunken chicken' by himself!

During our 8 day stay, we did a lot of fishing!  Wolf Lake is a large lake which takes over one hour to motor from end to end.  Despite its huge size, there are an amazing number of shallows/shoals that range from 3 to 20 feet, providing numerous eutrophic zones which foster the large insect and bait-fish populations.  The main focus in this lake is the attractively coloured  Lake Trout, pure and simple.  On some days when the weather would become calm and warm, we would enjoy casting and hooking as many as 30 fish in an afternoon.  These powerful char would average four pounds  and would frequently embark on voracious feeding frenzies, while at other times, would take a break from our offerings.  Wolf Lake is noted for the large fifty pound plus fish that are caught each year although fly fishing will more commonly yield specimens up to the twenty pound range.  Being above sixty degrees latitude means that the angler can fish right into the wee hours of the morning.   Its not uncommon to find the best fishing of the day to occur at midnight (see photo above) with the sun not truly setting until after 1am, yet still being light enough to fish right through the 'night'.  Without a doubt, this makes for some of the best sunset photos that your camera capture card could ever dream of holding.

Wolf Lake boasts more than just the lake fishing, particularly what is regarded as the best grayling fishing in the world.  Well, whether this is boasting or not, the fishing in the Wolf River is simply beyond belief.  The shallow crystal-clear waters of this river are not only scenic and easy to wade, but they provide dry-fly fishing which can easily yield a skilled angler over 40 fish in an afternoon.  What's more, they are not your average 14 inch grayling as several of us managed to hook and land fish that were over 3 pounds.  Wolf Lake is a catch-and-release fishery, however, shore lunches are the norm at least once or twice during your stay.  One of the highlights for us was the grayling shore-lunch on the Wolf River where not only the most tasty fish fry was conjured up but it was accompanied by Wes's bean dish (secret recipe he tells us).  The final chapter in the fishing at Wolf Lake is the Pike fishing.  These fish were not really abundant in the Lake with the exception of two areas of the lake where Pike seem to be in abundance.  This most certainly had to be a factor of warmer waters as well as concentrations of bait fish.  In abundance, means in abundance.  Hans, our Dutch friend who is a keen pike fisherman back in his home Netherlands, claims to have had some spectacular pike fishing in the 3 foot shallows of two of the lake's remote warm-water bays.  Whether fishing bait fish patterns or surface poppers, these fish were so aggressive it occasionally became difficult to remove some of the single-hook barbless flies from their throats.  One other 'trick in the bag' for Wolf Lake was a hike-in lake of crystal-clear (well, actually all waters fished were crystal clear) water with good shallow-water pike fishing as well as abundant red-fin lake trout.  This smaller version of the lake trout are mainly insect feeders and have characteristically red-ish fins and markings.  This is a great afternoon getaway during the early season.

What would wilderness be without the wildlife?  Of all the places I have visited, I have never seen so many large moose in one place.  This was truly one of the great treats, whereby, on a daily basis and with absolute predictability, one could always see several of the large Alaskan Moose feeding on the lake edge or along one of the many shallow bays/ponds connected to the lake. 

Overall, I'd rate this adventure as one of the must-do's for anyone wanting to try the challenge of lake trout on the fly and enjoying the surrounding pristine wilderness that the Yukon has to offer.  Wolf Lake Wilderness Lodge is well-run and is perfectly situated to take advantage to fish for three different species in a variety of waters.   On top of this, its a great place to bond with friends and family and I would rate it as an excellent location to take young fishermen.

Ernst 'Ernie' Schmidt

For more photos of this trip, please click on the thumbnails below.  To return to this page and to select another photo, hit the back arrow on your browser.