Fishing for New Stories

Late last year I visited Yellowknife and Inuvik to give a keynote at a conference for tourism in the Northwest Territories.  It was a terrific event, resulting in several great stories about things to do in Yellowknife beyond the northern lights (which always seem to soak up all the headlines) and finally driving the legendary Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway to the shores of the Arctic Ocean.

Every time the Canadian Bucket List takes me north, I’m always impressed by the thriving and resilient communities that live there, by how light (or dark) it gets. So few people get the opportunity to experience the culture and vast northern lands of our massive, beautiful country.

That conference led to a new line on my bucket list:  go fishing up north. Anglers have many ideas of what represents a bucket list fishing trip.  Catching giant sailfish in the deep ocean?  Hooking the Triple Crown, a multi-species achievement which I tried and failed to do on the St John River in Fredericton last year.  Those musky, striped bass and short-nosed sturgeon appeared to swim a mile from where-ever I cast my rod.  Catching bonefish in Belize seemed to be very popular when I visited the country a few years ago. Heli-fishing along the Skeena River in northern British Columbia was right up there, although I was catching and releasing pink salmon as opposed to the more sought-after steelhead. In the prairies, the catfish are monsters.   In the north, a Triple Crown refers to a 20lbs Lake trout, a 40-inch Northern pike, and a 2lbs Arctic grayling.  Catching piranha in Venezuela’s Orinoco Delta was pretty cool, as was fly-fishing for salmon and landing cod in Labrador.  Whatever floats your boat.

 

While I have some experience with a rod, I defer to anglers who fly into the NWT’s Lac La Martre year-after-year to battle some of the biggest freshwater fish you’ll find anywhere, swimming in a lake almost three times the size of Toronto, and in water so clean you could drink it.   A comfortable lodge, owned and operated by the local Tlicho Nation, offers mind-blowing action on the line, where it’s not uncommon to land a half dozen or more trophy sized fish, every single day.  Taking my 10-year-old on his first fishing trip to Lac La Martre was like taking him to Raja Ampat, Indonesia for his first snorkel trip.   One of the first things he ever saw underwater was a whale shark and pod of friendly dolphins. The second fish he ever caught was a 39-inch Lake trout.  I don’t know how to tell the kid that it’s all downhill from here.

Check out my story about Lac La Martre in Canadian Geographic, or watch the video below.  Hopefully there will be a fourth edition of The Great Canadian Bucket List, because this will be a highlight chapter, hook line and sinker.

I had a 24-hour turnaround at home before taking off again for my final trip of a very busy summer, this time to the lakes and valleys of rural Ontario.  I wanted to explore the legacy of the family resort in the region, some of which have been welcoming loyal guests for over a century.  Joining me was my 13-year-old daughter, book-ending our Daddy-Daughter trips that began when she was a 4-years old helping me tick off The Great Australian Bucket List.  I love watching the video of a skinny little kid ziplining through the Daintree Forest, and seeing her all grown up as a sparky teen in the video we put together from Ontario this summer.

We visited Hockley Valley Resort, Fern Resort, Bayview Wildwood Resort and Elmhirst’s Resort over a week. This is a good illustration why travel writers are not on permanent holiday. Nobody should spend 7 days visiting 4 different resorts unless you’re on a serious mission to compare, contrast and report (as I was).   If you’re visiting a resort to relax and recharge, any of the excellent resorts above will ably assist you.   If you’re looking for more options, check out Resorts of Ontario, a non-profit association that represents over 90 properties in the province.  As my story for Canadian Geographic explains, there truly is something for everyone.

It capped off another epic summer on The Great Canadian Bucket List, starting off in Montreal, road-tripping through the Eastern Townships to Charlevoix, followed by a motorcycle trip to the BC interior, a cycling trip to Nova Scotia, fishing in the Northwest Territories, resorting in Ontario, with time to hop over to Aruba, Vienna and Salzburg too.  There was also an opportunity to check out new experiences closer to home, like the excellent Squamish Canyon on the way from Vancouver to Whistler.

September is a rare time for me to recharge and refresh at home, and begin planning another year of peak experience both in Canada and abroad.  On a piece of paper, I’ve written down new ideas which may or may not come to fruition, depending on the cosmic will of the bucket list gods.  In Canada, I want to do a story about the student town of Kingston, Ontario.  I want to get back to the prairies to dig up unique new experiences we should all know about.  I want to visit Kicking Horse on a family ski trip, and Mont Tremblant too.  I want to visit Nunavut again, but Nunavut appears to want none of it.   I want to explore more stories about health and wellness, more stories about culinary and authentic Indigenous experiences.  When you finish off one bucket list, it’s amazing how another one almost immediately manifests.   I hope you’ll continue to join me on the journey, wherever it leads next.