Northern
Labrador is a most unique lake trout fishery.
Normally considered a deep-water fish, in certain
areas of Labrador large numbers of lake trout
are concentrated in shallow, fast flowing water
for most of the season, where they offer fly-fishermen
and light tackle enthusiasts the unusual opportunity
to tangle regularly with 15 to 25 lb. Lake Trout
What is truly astonishing is the sheer
number of large fish. We believe
that Labrador offers the best shallow-water
fishing for lake trout in North America.
In
the summer of 1999 we discovered that Northern
Labrador lake trout routinely take mouse flies,
and catching 10 to 20 lb. Lake Trout on a floating
mouse was commonplace. The fact that Lake Trout
will take a mouse pattern is not so surprising
when one realizes that the area around Northern
Labrador supports a prolific mouse (lemming)
population. These 5 inch-long dark gray rodents
with their short dark tails and white bellies
can be seen most days scampering around camp
looking for food. When dead-drifting a mouse
fly, Lake Trout will frequently jump completely
out of the water to grab it. At other times
they simply "roll" over the mouse, and at still
other times they explode violently on the mouse,
often snapping tippets while doing so. Every
year a few monsters are hooked and then proceed
to spool hapless fishermen.
During
our spectacular caddis hatch (which reaches
blizzard proportions and usually lasts a full
week), 15 to 20 lb. Lake Trout can be taken
on dry flies (# 10 Elk hair caddis). This
fishing has to be experienced to be believed.
It is no exaggeration to say that we have "unofficially"
broken every fly-fishing
world record for lake trout several
times over the years. When it comes to fly-fishing
and lake trout, Northern Labrador is in a class
by itself. Peak time for shallow-water lake
trout is usually the first 3 to 4 weeks of the
season, but frequently shallow-water Lake Trout
fishing remains consistent throughout our entire
season. It takes a drought or a few consecutive
weeks of unusually warm weather to force these
fish down into deep water, and for most years
this does not occur. We also have a tremendous
but largely unexplored lake fishing opportunity
for these fish, along with the potential for
all-tackle world records. The hardest thing
is finding guests willing to tear themselves
away from the river fishing long enough to explore
the lake fishery. We encourage any and all inquiries
to this end, as we are anxious to learn more
about and develop the lake fishing. An afternoon
spent trolling for Lake Trout in Northern Labrador
would be a good way for fly-fisherman to rest
a weary or sore shoulder.
