ParadisePike Fifty miles long, Manitoba’s Utik Lake produces giant pike daily for every – well, almost every – angler. by Ron Spomer

ometimes the catching of transformed into Leviathan pike slayers. forgot that stringer of long, lean, angry- the fish isn’t as important Every week the newspapers pictured looking pike. I began casting into wet as everything surrounding the them, brown arms and white foreheads but fishless ditches. catching of the fish. The dreaming, over blue coveralls, hoisting chain Except in my dreams. There massive planning, preparing, traveling, stringers decorated with 15-pound, then pike lay like submarines, dark and exploring, casting, anticipating . . . 20-pound and finally 30-pound pike that menacing. I would cast only to find But it’s still good to catch the dang looked capable of eating small boys. my reel tangled. Or the Daredevle things now and again. I was a small boy. would sail high and wrap the around a At North Haven my wife did. I, But I loved to fish, probing dark fence. The knot would break and the not so much. creeks and farm ponds for anything lure would splash unattached into the Maybe it’s karma. that could draw me into its mysterious water. A tractor would rumble down the Whether the fish know it or not, waterworld via line and rod. Bullheads, road and spook the fish. Or they simply there’s been bad karma between me perch, bluegills, crappies, bass – but wouldn’t strike. Cast after cast, the spoon and Esox lucius, northern pike, for half a pike were king. And pike I could not flashed right past them, right over their century. It began in the 1960s in South catch. So I dreamed. A recurring malevolent eyes, nearly nicking their Dakota, a time of flooding. Melting dream. About a flood, a ditch, giant jutting jaws, and still they wouldn’t snows in Montana’s Rockies swirled and pike and frustration. grab it. Dream after dream, year after pooled behind dams newly erected on Ditches were ubiquitous in the year, right into a mid-life crisis. the Missouri River. The rising waters flat prairies of eastern South Dakota, flooded prairie grasses, spring after necessary for keeping roadbeds high orth Haven Trophy spring. Those underwater grasses lured and dry. During spring snowmelt Fly-In Resort on Utik northern pike that writhed in spawning most ditches filled and slowly drained Lake, Manitoba, was my S toward the Missouri. Pike swam last chance to stop that frenzy. Their fry emerged to flood the rising reservoirs and terrorize every up their currents, pioneering new psychological trauma. spawning routes from rivers to creeks N“We are going to Utik Lake and minnow, frog, mouse and duckling unlucky enough to flounder within to the labyrinth of man-made ditches you are going to fish until you get this range of a quick dart, a gaping maw stitching the quilt of cornfields and monkey off your back,” Betsy said, and slashing teeth. Within a few years roadways. Cousin Mike once found a which struck me as odd – until I Dakota dirt farmers, historically happy spawning swarm and picked it clean to catch two-pound bullhead catfish, with a red-and-white Daredevle. As a wide-eyed second grader, I never

SPORTING CL ASSICS 136 discovered the North Haven brochure the lodge, but into the boat, too. Every hook is reset. The line is recalled zipping she’d brought home from the Dallas morning, rain or shine, she stood on the like electrostatic discharge through the Safari Club convention. dock, awaiting the big Lund and our surface film, hinting at the hitched but Here was a five-star resort with fully guide, Paul Jamie Canada. Imagine that. yet unseen power attached to it. The modern lodge, 30-foot ceilings, satellite The country was named after our guide. mass of the fish is once again telegraphed TV, game room and bar, workout He had to be good. To Betsy, he was. through the dangerous bend of the rod, center, massage room, spa, sauna and “Keep your rod up! Keep the rod up! the line now as straight as laser light. Did cozy cabins with fireplaces and decks Lean out. Follow her around the bow. you hear it? Like sizzling bacon! It almost from which to watch the sun set over Let her take line if she wants. Lead her pulled you in. I thought I was going to 50-mile-long Utik, a trophy pike “fly-out” to the net. Whoo hoo!” lose the rod. Thank you. No, thank you! lake famous among rough-and-tumble “How big is it? How big anglers willing to tent on its rocky shore, is it?” Betsy squeals. Jamie braving winds, rain and mosquitoes to heaves the big log of a catch giant pike and toothsome walleyes. fish over the gunwale and North Haven’s facilities are slightly more lays it gently on the floor advanced than canvas and nylon. beside his tape measure. Utik is now the place to wrestle the “Forty-three inches!” pike of your dreams – and nightmares – And then photos – click while bolstered by a crack crew of whir, click whir, click guides, an executive chef, hostess, wait whir – before the massive staff and grounds keepers. Gourmet female is lowered back food. Soothing liquors. Crackling into the lake, her spatula fireplaces. Hot showers and massages to head parting the inky soothe aching shoulders. And no ditches. waters before her broad, My cure was underway. stippled back follows like Never let it be said that my bride a torpedo into the depths. isn’t willing to suffer in support of her Then ensues the familiar husband’s psychological well-being. Not hugging, the jumping, the only did she agree to accompany me to giggling and crowing. The cast is recast, the

B etsy Spomer and her North Haven guide hold the first of several huge northern pike she pulled from the dark waters of 50-mile-long Utik Lake in Manitoba. The spacious lakeside lodge offers five-star accommodations.

SPORTING CL ASSICS 137 I’d endured the same euphoric banter when she’d caught the 46-incher the previous day. I’d also heard it our first day on the water when Betsy’s partner in psychological hazing, Dean Shaver, caught his 47.5-inch behemoth, winner of the Big Fish of the Week plaque at the lodge. The deadly duo started an exclusive club with a motto: “Slime on!” The Pike Masters toasted one another at dinner. Only those who had landed a pike in excess of 41 inches could join, which left Dean’s wife, Susan, and me disconsolate, forced to find solace in double helpings of dessert and extra glasses of Argentine Malbec as our spouses recited ribald pike-catching songs.

efore this degenerates into full-blown whining, let me assure you I was quite enjoying myself while not catching the pike of my nightmares because I knew I Bwas about to. Utik is one of those trophy catch-and-release lakes that kicks out giant pike daily. We caught them in the rain, sun, wind, calm – well, Betsy and Dean caught them. I excelled at hooking small to medium pike, once taking nine 24- to 36-inchers with nine consecutive casts. So I knew that each day, each new bay, each cast into silver wavelets dancing above hydroponic fields of “cabbage” brought me ever closer to the inevitable. Hope springs eternal in the hearts and psyches of piscatorially handicapped anglers. And I had Susan’s complete sympathies. “How are you doing Ron?” she

SPORTING CL ASSICS 138 inquired warmly each time our boats hook into – nothing. Nothing! It merely casting platforms. Shore lunches consist passed within commiseration range. pulled between her lips (what are the of fresh-caught walleye prepared several “Got some nice walleyes!” odds?) and she turned back to her secret ways, accompanied by salads, potato “Me too.” Whereupon she reared life as psychological tormentor. wedges, vegetables, fruits and deserts. back and whooped as her line smoked My second chance came after I’d If the hundreds of sunken islands, the water like hot steel cable, straight as a decided to class things up by fishing a eskers, bays and inlets on Utik don’t feel laser beam. This was no walleye. She had Rainbow Leech, a flamboyant collection right, fly-out in a turbo Otter to Bear, to be careful so her fish wouldn’t tangle of gaudy feathers assembled by Michael Hackland or Bigstone lakes for pike, lines with the big one, another one, Small who slays pike and muskies with walleyes, lake trout and whitefish. Dean was battling. I had to look away. them in Wisconsin. The sun was out, A conference center is set up “Come take pictures Ron!” Susan the wind down and the pike beginning with wireless internet, conference call shouted. How could I refuse? Aha, to rise toward the surface when I began access, multi-use printer/scanner/fax and her fish taped just 38 inches. I still my workout, casting a 9-weight St. Croix multi-media presentation capabilities. had company. I snapped a few shots rod with a Wet Tip III. Whew. I’d landed The workout center includes eliptical and pulled out before Dean’s fish several small males before one of those machine, treadmill, stationary bike, free revealed itself. bathtub bulges dented the bay. I reared weights, yoga mats and multi-use gym. “Slime on, partner!” he shouted to back, felt a heavy weight, saw within that Call (866) 531-3848 or e-mail: Betsy while leaning back against a deeply bathtub ring a bronze flash the width of [email protected]. bent rod. Jamie quickly motored us to my thigh – and lost the connection. For more information visit fresh waters. The hook had pulled free. www.northhavenresort.ca. The nightmare continues. ver our four days of fishing, But Betsy is enjoying sweet dreams, EQUIPMENT REVIEW I actually encountered two remembering not just the massages and Betsy and I kept travel simple by life-changing pike. One gourmet meals, not just the dual-fireplace renting St. Croix casting, spinning and came in a deep, shadowy lodge and classic shore lunches, but giant fly rods from North Haven. They were pool at the base of a small falls on a pike that clamp onto silver spoons and in perfect condition and effective. Ocreek pouring into Utik, one of those Mepps spinners and don’t let go. She ExOfficio BugsAway long-sleeved isolated, intimate spots way back where asked me to convey a message to Dean: shirts kept the sunburn away, too. The you imagine you’re the first human since “Slime on.” lightweight and packable Rain Logic some ancient Native American passed waterproof jacket turned spray, splash through with a spear. IF YOU WANT TO GO and rain during long runs against big I was again hooking small male pike on North Haven provides weekly winds and waves, enabling us to stay every other cast and beginning to suspect charter flights from Winnipeg to Utik dry, warm and comfortable for a full day this was a confirmed bachelor pad when Lake where you can rent any and all of fishing under the wettest conditions. the matriarch of the clan rose up from gear needed if you don’t wish to bring Waterproof LOWA Renegade GTX the depths, opened a maw about the size your own. You’ll fish from 1825 Lund boots provided ankle support and grip of your average five-gallon bucket and Pro Guide boats with 75-horse Yamaha when rock-hopping while keeping our nonchalantly gulped my spoon. And then, outboards, GPS locators, two-way radios, feet dry in the boat. just like in my recurring dream, I set the padded seats with backs and large, flat

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