Northern Saskatchewan’s Wollaston Lake is the largest bifurcation lake in the world. This means it drains in two directions. To the northwest it drains into Lake Athabasca via the Mackenzie River system and on into the Arctic Ocean. The other drainage flows into Hudson Bay via Reindeer Lake. The lake lies 330 miles northeast of Prince Albert, with the last 200 plus miles being a gravel road that leads to the Rabbit Lake uranium mine. While we drove the approximate 1500 miles to Wollaston, many or most of the anglers fly in from Saskatoon.

Wollaston is over a hundred miles in length and reaches depths to 400 feet. Art Jones, Scott Jones, and Carter Jones, a grandfather-son-grandson trio, and I fished Wollaston from Sunday, June 23rd through Friday, June 28th. Some ice still remained on the main part of the lake when we arrived on Sunday. We stayed with Bruce & Miriam Jacobs of Wilderness Family Outfitters.

If you have read my book, A Dakota Rod and Nimrod, which is available at Amazon.com, you know I like to find the best of hunting and fishing at prices a guy/gal with a modest income can afford. The world class fishing we experienced at Wollaston could not have been any better, and Wilderness Family Outfitters made it possible.

Weather was a factor. Monday and Tuesday we fished in strong wind, pelting rain, and low forty degree temperatures. The pounding we took in the boat was brutal to the point that Art held a glove in his mouth to protect his lips and tongue. Wednesday moderated, and it was downright pleasant Thursday and Friday.

The lake’s three lodges lie in the southern portion of the lake. A thirty-mile boat ride north brought us to Trout Narrows where one entered the main body of water. We hired the talented and personable Brendon Jacobs to be our guide on Monday, and he led us to Trout Narrows as I marked points along the way on my hand-held GPS. These marks proved to be invaluable to us through the course of the week.

I have longed to fish Wollaston for years, but I felt I couldn’t afford it as the lodges I knew about currently charge about $1200 per day per angler. Art learned of Wilderness Family Outfitters (info@wildernessoutfitters.com) on the internet where our “light housekeeping” package for four included a two bedroom cabin with bath, full bedding, full kitchen, two excellent boats with Yahama four stroke engines, electronics, and gas for $630 per day. That’s $157.50 per day apiece while those in neighboring boats were paying eight times that. Check out the Wilderness Family website for other packages.

We hired Brendon to guide us on Monday and Friday at $150 per day or $37.50 apiece. Boat wise, I wouldn’t pull my boat over that gravel road for any amount of money. The optional main lodge’s restaurant meals by Miriam were excellent, and the anglers at the pricey lodges didn’t eat any better than we did. Brendon’s shore lunches of fresh walleye and trout were also top drawer.

In deciding when to go to Wollaston, one has to decide on his/her fishing priorities. Lake trout go deep as the water warms. By going in June, we easily caught the lakers in shallow water before they headed for deep waters via Trout Narrows. I asked Brendon about laker fishing in July and August, and he said they troll the deeper water with improvised down-riggers of lures, heavy sinkers, and three-way swivels.

Like June fishing, July-August has its advantages. The big northern pike are easier to catch, and to many, big pike is what Wollaston is all about. However, we caught big pike by working at it. Warmer weather might also be a consideration. During our stay, many of the Wilderness Family guests were bear hunters with all of them being successful.

Now that you have the necessary background information, I’ll get into our action-packed fishing in next week’s column. See you next week.