It was one incredible week! Plummers Arctic Fishing Lodge tucked in the northeast part of Great Bear Lake, in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Almost nine (9) years have passed, yet I can transport myself back with all the sights, sounds and feelings as if it were yesterday. My recollection of that Plummers experience is as vivid as the hundreds of photographs and video footage captured during this dream working vacation. The hospitality, the gourmet meals and the unending attention to detail exhibited by Chummy Plummer and his staff at the Great Bear Lake Lodge provided the rooted harmony that balanced the sometimes overwhelming awe of nature that constantly and completely surrounded us. Mother Nature reigns supreme in this Arctic wilderness. People are insignificant participants in the daily cycle of life in this true north.

This ‘up close and personal’ touch with nature makes Plummers Great Bear Lake a must-go-to Nature Vacation destination. A rustic destination that has now been discovered for its “not just for anglers” amenities. Ideal for capturing first-rate photographs. And perfect enough for President George Bush, Senior, along with a few of his closest Canadian friends, to visit every summer.

Visiting remote Canada, north of the Arctic Circle, in late August was one of those ‘planets-all-lining-up’ opportunities. Accompanied by my business associate John, our week long adventure leaves memories as crisp as the early northern morning air. And what better way to start our morning than hearing a Plummer’s staffer call out “Coffee gentlemen.” A carafe of steaming coffee placed outside of our door accompanied our 6 am wake-up call each day. That first coffee of the day set the pace for the short walk to the lodge dining building and for a ‘whatever your heart desires’ breakfast.

Just flying to The Great Bear Lodge is something in itself. We flew out of Winnipeg, Manitoba on a Boeing 737 Jet, first landing at the Great Slave Lake Lodge on a gravel runway and then on to the Great Bear Lake Lodge, once again landing on a gravel runway! The jet had special flanges behind the front wheel to prevent stones from being ejected into the jet engines. It is something else to look out the airplane window to the rear of the plane as it lifts off and seeing a cloud of dust coming off the runway. Once airborne, it sure looked like some good ol’ boys were rippin’ up a gravel road below us!

The fishing on this Lake is nothing short of THE BEST. Great Bear Lake is the eighth-largest lake in the world and fourth largest in North America. Awesome! Incredible! Some o f the world’s largest lake trout have been reeled in on Great Bear Lake - 72 lbs . Seventy-two pounds makes this fish over 140 years old! It’s sport fishing only at Plummers. All catch and release. Plummers practices strict conservation rules, so there will be plenty of fish to catch for centuries to come.

For every two anglers there is a guide assigned for the week. He or she takes care of operating the boat (18 foot aluminum), determining the best location to fish each day, preparing the fresh fish lunches on one of the hundreds of islands (now there’s a culinary treat!) and any fishing tips/tricks. John and I were not preoccupied with fishing and so we turned our attention to aggravating our guide, a young University of Manitoba student named Kelly. And we drove him to the limit; asking him all sorts of stupid questions. We did have some coaching from a few of the Plummer’s staff on the top ‘best stupid questions’ to ask, so we mixed them in with our earnest questions:

“So how many pounds of potatoes do they go through in a season at this lodge?” (Stupid)
“How many trout do you figure are in Great Bear?” (Stupid)
“How big is this lake anyway?” (Earnest)
“How much Red River Cereal do they go through in a season?” (Stupid)
“Who is that lady that drops the coffee carafe at our door each morning?” (Stupid)
“How many gulls do you think are on this lake?” (Stupid) Gulls, nature’s garbage disposal crew, always showed up when the guide was finished cleaning the trout for lunch.
“How cold is this water?” (Earnest ) If you are wondering, 42- 45 degrees Fahrenheit is the correct answer.

John and I arrived at Plummers with only our clothing and camera equipment. No need to bring any fishing gear of your own. Plummers equipped us with all the rod, reel and tackle gear we needed. They did a great job because, as novice anglers, John and I caught over 40 fish between us! An activity that we never tired of was enjoying the afternoon Northern Sun and scouting out the many islands that dotted ‘The Bear’. Much to our guide Kelly’s chagrin, we really weren’t there for the fishin’ - we were the sightseer type of tourist that comes to Plummers. The solitude afforded us with the gentle rhythm of the trolling boat and the anticipation of when we would see the next eagle, or caribou or musk-ox on ‘The Bear’ shores was just the ticket to help two hardworking executives from the big city of Ottawa, Ontario to unwind.

We became known to other guests at the lodge as the two ‘anglers’ to stay away from! Perfect! Come to think of it, we always had fishing places completely to ourselves. Bob Izumi was filming a show for his “Real Fishing” TV series at the same time as our visit. Even he didn’t seem the least bit interested at my elation that I had snagged what our guide said was the smallest trout he’d ever seen - less than 1 pound ’soaking wet’! Kelly said the lure weighed more than my prize catch! Now there is fishing talent I don’t often forget to boast about! John was on the opposite end of the scale from me as far as being a sports fisherman. He did capture, and I mean capture, a trout that was the size of a dog - a 34 plus pounds! Wow! Ya gotta see the pictures!

I went camera crazy here! Images of fishing in the 9 p.m. dusk light, casting right off the lodge’s shore. Wolves near the camp, caribou that hadn’t been seen this far south of the Arctic Circle so late in the summer season! The ultimate trip within the trip was our fly-out to the Tree River Camp, Nunavut. This camp consisted of eight (8) tarpaulin-roofed, stilted bunk houses and a cook house in the middle of ‘no where north’. Flat tundra and low bush were contrasted by mountainous visas that could only be described as a “black grand canyon”, moon-like terrain. We were on the Canadian Shield. Tree River itself is edged with hardened mud river banks where arctic squirrel-gopher-like creatures known as ’sik-sik’ were housed in borrows within the river banks. The camp cook, Carol, and her helper, Mary, treated us to a incredible dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. To top off this sumptuous meal we had ice cream and cake for dessert. Did I say we were in a remote camp on the Arctic Ocean? Sure felt like the Ritz!

We unsuccessfully tried our hand at Arctic Char fishing. Enough of that story! With our guide Kelly we continued with our boating down the Tree River river to touch upon the shores of the Arctic Ocean. We stood next to an authentic inukshuk, saw weather bleached caribou bones, ate some not-so-sweet blueberries and walked the bluff at the mouth of Tree River. We scanned the Arctic ocean waters and could see a sliver of land on the horizon. Victoria Island maybe?

A desolate yet primitive beautiful land in August, we imagined how harsh the winter climate must be to those living here in Canada’s north. No time for those chilly thoughts now! The late August sun was warm; perfect for standing near the cliff shore while watching seals play in the mouth of Tree River below us. At that moment we felt as though we were a small speck in the northern universe. I’m certain it was the solid black rock of the Canadian Shield beneath our feet that kept us from being swallowed up by this “Arctic Vortex”. Everywhere I turned there was a photo to be taken. My Canon EOS A4 ‘photo-exercised’ through 20 rolls of film that trip. I scanned these pictures and share some of the best ones with the world. Go to Flickr.com and search on “plummers arctic fishing”.

Returning to our base camp at Great Bear, we fished a couple of more days and then continued this incredible nature trip with one more memorable experience: we jumped into the frigid Arctic Circle waters of Great Bear Lake. Good news! We did receive a special Plummer’s tee-shirt for our stupidity to brave this dunking. Printed on the tee-shirt is ” I was Stupid enough to Swim in the Arctic Circle”. Yes, in our finest dress of long red underwear we jumped off the wharf at the Plummers Lodge into the 43 degree Fahrenheit water! For the record, at that temperature everything shrinks! To this day, my tee-shirt is proudly displayed in our family room.

Plummer’s Arctic Fishing is one of those destinations you should put on your must do list. “GREAT FISHING OUR CLAIM, MOTHER NATURE OUR FRAME.” What a perfect way to experience the beauty of Canada’s north. Take your whole family on a trip of their lifetime!

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Fishing has been a part of our survival for as long as recorded history and probably much longer. Ancient cave paintings from 10,000 years ago depict fishing along with fish bone remains and animal bone hooks. Even ancient stone anchors are currently being displayed in museums.

Everywhere on this planet, what ever culture, each has its own history in fishing and techniques, most of which are still used today. In fact, almost all ancient cultures have used boats, hooks, nets and spears of some kind.

The ancient Romans used rods and lines, nets and spears. The ancient Greeks used rods and woven baskets and woven cages that stay under water where caught fish are kept alive until they are needed.

Some cultures have been more creative than others and have very interesting techniques such as the night fishing in Japan. It is called cormorant fishing. It requires 7 to 8 cormorant birds that have handlers to train them. Once trained, they go out at night on a long narrow boat that has a long rod in front of it with a hanging basket that is in flames, the birds are each on a leash and are trained to dive down and catch fish, which they are experts in. This technique is still being practiced today and if you are for any reason going to Japan, you may want to sign up to see this phenomenon.

In the Columbian basin, ancient tribal salmon fishers have past down a fishing technique that is still being practiced today. Tribal families for many generations have built wooden scaffolding that is very strong and stable that spans the river. This enables them to drop the nets that capture many salmon at one time. In the smaller rivers of the basin, dip nets are used because you can control them better. These nets historically have been made with hemp twine, sinew and tree pitch. These nets have a long pole attached to them and one stands in the water and scoops up the fish.

In medieval Europe, V shaped structures were built to herd fish into waiting nets.

Some cultures have used poisonous plants to stun fish so that it is easy to catch them. This is a dangerous practice and has been made illegal to fish this way due to the obvious safety issues. One does not want to risk eating a fish that has been poisoned.

Fishing today is not only for survival but is a huge sport all over the world. But when you really look at it, not much has really changed in how we fish. The major difference really is in the advancements made in hooks and nets.

How ever you fish, may the ones you catch be as big as the ones that got away.

With more and more great companies producing great fishing rods today, finding the right rod for you could easily be a daunting task to say the least. While you will have to take into account the type of fishing you plan on doing, there are many different rods that you can purchase to do the job. While we all know that ice fishing rods would not be practical for bass fishing on a lake in the spring or fall, so too would the impracticality of using a deep sea rod for a cold February day in an ice hut.

When it comes to fishing rods, the great thing is that you do not have to go to a special store to purchase them. What this means to the consumer is clear savings, when it comes to fishing equipment. There are some great rod/reel combos to be had from the likes of Walmart or virtually any other department store that would sell sporting goods in your area. There are of course the outdoors shops such as Cabela’s that specialize in the best of fishing equipment and they have a wide array of fishing rods, and fishing reels to suit just about any particular fishing trip.

Some of the more popular brands to look for when it comes to fishing rods include:

· Mitchell

· Abu Garcia

· Zebco

· Shakespeare

· Shimano

All of these fine fishing rods offer the latest and most productive manufacturing techniques when it comes to development and assembly. These rods are the best of the best and will give you years of great service on the lake of in the streams. When buying a new fishing rod, one of the first things you must keep in mind would have to be what exactly do you plan on catching, or what would be the species that you most likely will be fishing for on a regular basis. When you determine this, you will have a better picture as to what strength and flex you will need in the fishing rods.

Some of the more recent fishing rods released to date offer much in the way of flexibility and strength. When the rod is bent under great force of a fighting fish, the last you want is for the rod to snap and be faced with an expensive replacement of the rod and still not landing that big catch. Take your time and review fishing rods in a comparison chart and see what might be the weapon of your choice to tackle that big catch of the day.