Welcome To Cree Lake Resort

It was a long, cold winter in Alberta and although I did get out for some great hard-water action, it was the warm spring breeze and a new season of open water fishing that I was dreaming of. Our first trip of the year was an adventure any angler would look forward to; a chance to visit Cree Lake Resort in Northern Saskatchewan and fish for HUGE LAKERS and MONSTER PIKE.

Unfortunately, several days before we were to leave for Cree Lake Alex threw his back out, and under doctor's orders, had to stay home. I thought about staying back to offer moral support, but let's get serious; he's got health care coverage and a loving wife. No need for both of us to miss the trip of a lifetime, right? There's big fish a waitin', so Vince Wasch and I packed our gear and took off to this fantasy fishing destination.

Cree Lake Resort is famous for huge Northern Pike and monster Lake Trout. Visitors from Canada, the USA, and around the world travel to this remote destination to hook the fish of a lifetime. Cree Lake didn't disappoint, and for 5 days I had the chance to wrestle with the biggest fish of my life......

Cree Lake is a huge body of water with hundreds of bays, coves and islands. In order to make the most of your fishing time Cree Lake Resort's experienced guides chauffeur you around the pond. We drew the long straw and were assigned to Art, one of the most experienced guides on Cree Lake. Art knew just where the fish would be, and is a master boatman as he proved time and again while traveling over whitecaps, through shallow boulder-strewn bays, and trolling mid-lake structure.

Thanks For The Lift

Scott and Vince in front of the Piper Apache that flew us to the resort. This little plane was packed full transporting 4 guys and a complete load of production equipment.

King Arthur, Our Guide To Glory

Nice To See Ya ... Now Grow Up

Here's a couple of small Lakers that were more than eager to to smack a spoon flat line trolled behind the boat.

From just after ice-out through to late June, the Lakers are in shallow feeding after a long winter. During this time anglers can have great luck catching Lakers from 5 to 40 pounds by casting spoons, jigging or flat-line trolling. After a day of flat lining in 10 to 20 feet of water I had landed dozens of Lakers up to about 8 pounds. This was great fishing indeed, but I came up here for the big ones!

For the most part, guests to Cree Lake travel to this part of the world to tangle with giant northern Pike. Laker lovers will also take a day or two and try their luck trolling for trophy trout. Knowing that there was a good chance of hooking into a 30 plus pound Lake Trout had me revved up and ready to troll, jig, cast, or whatever was required to hook a lunker Laker. My entire focus was on catching a Laker big enough to hug!

Because most guests go to Cree Lake to catch big pike in shallow bays, they have little need for sonar at the lodge. But I knew if I was going to get a big Laker we were going to have to go deep and we would need to follow the structure. Fortunately I had brought along my own sonar, so with the help of our guide Art, we hooked it up to the boat and set out to land a lunker. .

Three Way Rig Will Catch Em' Big

Scott shows off the 3 way rig at left, and at right, a Trout's-eye-view of the set-up. The 1 lb silver ball will get the lure right down to the bottom in up to 100 feet of water. The ball along with a big shiny William's spoon will attract those big bottom dwellers like nothing else.

We started trolling and I got the first bite within a couple of minutes, but due to a new rod/reel setup, the big 1 pound weight, and the rolling water, I couldn't set the hook (at least that's my excuse!).

A couple of minutes later I felt that familiar tap, let the rod tip back a bit and then......set the hook.

One That Got Away

In deep water, with rolling waves and a big lead weight, you really have to set the hook with everything you've got. Here's a Laker that got lucky when Scott just couldn't pull the trigger.

Can't Resist The Flash

Here's another good sized Laker that simply couldn't resist the Williams Flasher/Exude combo. Williams uses precious metals that reflects existing light like no other lure.

They're Gettin' Bigger

As you can see from the picture this lunker was bleeding a bit from the mouth so we took a quick picture and then spent several minutes reviving this hog until she kicked out of my hand and headed back for the bottom .... Let's do that again.

Well the fight was on and I knew right away it was a bigger fish than any I had hooked the previous day. After a decent 4 to 5 minute battle and a few good runs for the bottom, I landed my first double-digit Cree Lake Laker. This beauty weighed in at just over 21 pounds....but I knew there were bigger fish down there, so I calmed down, checked my line for nicks and scratches, and put er' back down to the bottom.....

With Art at the helm, the wind picking up, and the boat rockin' and rollin' like we were at sea, I kept the 3-way rig right on the bottom and we kept trolling. It didn't take more than about 15 minutes when I felt the next bite. This one felt even bigger then the last and my heart was racing as I performed a monster hook-set, kept pressure on the line, worked the drag on my level wind reel, and prayed that I would at least get this hog up to the top for a look. As it turned out I had a good hook-set on him and was able to land this beautiful 28+ pound Laker.

With the wind picking up and the waves turning to whitecaps Art was getting a little concerned for our safety; after all we were right in the middle of this huge lake in the middle of the remote wilderness. I simply hadn't had enough and I just knew there was a bigger fish waiting for my lure. I checked my watch and asked Art if we could please just give it another 20 minutes. If I hadn't hooked the Laker of a lifetime we would head into the calm water bays and do some pike fishing.

For some reason I just knew this was going to be my day. By now the swells were reaching 3 to 4 feet and our guide Art and cameraman Vince were looking at me like I was completely nuts; "Come on, we've got almost 5 days left and there's lots of fish, so let's just move on." Well I wasn't having any of that. I was destined to get a lunker today, so we kept trolling that edge.

Feeling the threat of mutiny coming from my guide and my cameraman, I got a stray loop in the line of my level wind reel. I didn't want to have that potential foul-up spoiling a hook set so I started to let my line out to get to the loop. Just as I was near the nasty knot I tightened my line and felt a good strike on my lure. Forgetting the line knot, I dipped my rod back a foot or two and set the hook. Got em! And the fight was on. I knew this was a big one because it felt like I had hooked bottom. Oh yeah there's the big head shake, come on baby let's wrastle............and then.......pop..........Oh s-t, he spit the hook.

I couldn't believe it, my fish-of-a-lifetime just spit my hook. I shook off this major upset and proceeded to get back to fixing my line. I let out enough line to get to the loop, untangled it, reeled in until I was tight to the bottom and then it happened.....I felt an ever so slight tap on my line....patience....there it is again...... one more time....drop the rod back....and whammo.....I set the hook. Darned if it wasn't the same fish coming back for more and I got a good hook set this time

Hold On Scotty!

With my big trolling rod bent to the max, the boat rocking and rolling and Vince holding on for dear life with one hand while running the camera with the other, the fight was on. My heart was just pounding because I knew this was the biggest Laker of my life and all I wanted to do was get it to the boat. Looking down into the water I could see huge air bubbles rising to the top as this bruiser expelled air on his way up. Right below the bubbles I got my first look at that big white belly and then.......there he was...and oh my gawd...look at the size of this fish. It was all I could do the stay in the boat with this lunker Laker tuggin' away and the boat rockin' and rollin'.

I yelled at Art to grab the landing cradle, thinking I would sacrifice some of the fight just to get this baby in the boat, but Lakers have a mind of their own. With that he kicked his tail, shook his head, and went straight back to the bottom. Yee Haa.........

After another 5 minute tug-o-war I got him back to the surface and held on for dear life as he splashed and thrashed, trying to shake the hook. Art left the helm and climbed up front with the cradle to see if we could land it this time, careful now......here he comes...... and..........Freakin Rights!!!!!! We got him.

With the beast now securely in the cradle I dropped to my knees, took a big breath, and screamed like a mad man.................finally...a Laker I can hug!

On closer inspection I realized that this bruiser was just barely hooked by a small piece of skin in the corner of the mouth, a couple more good head shakes and he would have been just another fish story. As it was, this leviathan of the deep weighed in at 42 pounds and now takes its place in my personal record book as my biggest Laker................so far.

A big thank you goes out to our excellent guide Art for putting up with my stubbornness on a white-capped lake, to Vince, for holding on and getting the footage, and to the biggest Laker of my life for spending some quality time on the end of my line.