| | As Art our Cree Native guide slipped the eight horse Mercury motor into reverse my line hit the water and already my wife’s rod was bent and she exclaimed; "I got one." Little did I realize it at the time, but that one little phase would be spoken more in a seven day period of time than any other phrase I could remember.
My wife and I had flown into Attitti Lake in the eastern portion of Northern Saskatchewan. We were guests of Jerry and Bonnie Johnson, a high school friend of mine, who had recently purchased Deer Horn Lodge. One thing that I think about when someone mentions a fly-in, is a bunch of guys getting together to plan a vacation away from the family and their spouse. Therefore, I decided to take my wife on her first fly-in to Canada and allow her to experience as much fun as the guys do when they come to camp. The reason that I chose this particular resort was two fold. One, I know Jerry and Bonnie and I knew that they would be extremely accommodating for both of us. Secondly, the fishing on a fly-in is second to none. Why not experience it with one of the best friends that you have, your spouse. I know what a lot of you guys out there are probably saying and you figure that your wife doesn’t like to fish, but when the action heats up and you have double fish on all at once your wife might come in with the largest one.
I also selected Deer Horn Lodge because it had an American Plan. We didn’t have to bring tons of food with us or decided after a long day of fishing what we were going to have for dinner. In fact, we had to beg them to have more than one meal of fish a week when we were there because they thought we would be tired of eating fish. The food is even more fantastic than the fishing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are full meals and if you go away hungry from the table it is your fault. Jerry and Bonnie oversee all the meals and they provide huge portions, so bring along your appetite. Of course, if you would like to cook meals on your own and have a cabin to yourselves they also offer a Housekeeping Plan as well.
Deer horn Lodge is nestled on the shores of Attitti Lake. The lake is teaming with lake trout and northern pike. It also has an elusive population of large walleyes and whitefish, but don’t be concerned if you have come for the walleyes. Jerry has boats on twelve other lakes in the area all of them a short portage away from Attitti. The portages are well maintained and you will find a motor, aluminum boat and gas waiting for you on the other side of the portage.
If you are not familiar with the area or terrain, you can also hire a Cree Native to guide you for the day. This takes the pressure off you guys and allows you to have more time spent fishing with your wife rather than trying to fish against your wife. Art, our guide would take the fish out of the net and put them on a stringer, or allow for some photographs to be taken and then he would slip them back into the water.
The camp at Deer Horn Lodge will hold about 32- 48 people if you count the two outposts that they have. Both of these outposts are adjacent to Attitti Lake and one has a waterfall along the portage. There is always something about cascading water that attracts me and I would rather share this experience with my wife than one of the guys. The other outpost is the on the highest lake in Saskatchewan. From this lake all the water drains toward Hudson Bay and it is extremely picturesque.
 As far as fishing is concerned the walleyes, and northern pike that we caught were fairly easy to catch. Most of them were caught in swallow water along the edges of weedbeds or off rocky wind swept points where bait fish had a tendency to gather along with the walleyes. I also took along my BottomLine portable depthfinder, so I could identify the structure and the depth of the fish. Jerry thought that this was a device that made his job a little easier. All he had to do was to concentrate on where the fish were and leave the spots that didn’t seem to hold fish.
Our method of catching walleyes was to use spinning rods with 8lb. test Easy Cast and Sensor line. The line was tied to Rainbow 3-D gold spinners with a crawler harness or a simple gold Sink’n Jig was tipped with a screw tail and tipped with a nightcrawler. All our lures were tipped with either a live nightcrawler or frozen minnow. In Saskatchewan no live minnow fishing is allowed and only nightcrawlers can be imported from the States or another Provinces. Don’t be concerned many times the fish bite on plastic twister tails without live bait.
Our equipment was portable so we could fish a different lake every day and in the course of the week we didn’t get to half of the lakes that we wanted to. Believe me we tried. We would even fish a different lake after supper most evenings, just to get a crack at a trophy fish. We caught and released many walleyes in the 5 ? 7 lb. class and we saw an 8.5-lb. fish that was caught while we were there. So trophies abound and you and your wife have an opportunity to catch one. Ginny and I were only concerned with catching a good size quantity of fish and taking a few good eaters home.
 I know that every time I heard; "I got one." The smile on my wife’s face told me that she was glad to be along on a fly-in and experience a fishing vacation. I think that you will be surprised if you talk to your spouse and decide on spending some time together on a remote lake in Canada.
If you are planning a fishing trip this for next spring, summer or fall drop Jerry and Bonnie Johnson a line at 17 Sather CT. SW, Pine Island, MN 55963 ( 507)-356-2218 or after May 15th have your local operator contact Mobile operator at Saskatoon Saskatchewan (306)-JP-33029 (Pelican Narrows). Also contact Jackson Air Service Ltd. (204) 687-8247 leave message for a call back or write Deer Horn Lodge, Box 715, Flin Flon, Manitoba R8A7N5. If you are interested in this lodge or others in Saskatchewan also call Tourism Saskatchewan (306) 787-9600 or FAX (306) 787-0715 and ask to speak with Nadine Howard.
I hope to see you at Deer Horn Lodge this next summer, plan early and get your reservations in soon. When the word gets out this place will have a waiting line to get into some of the most fantastic fishing you will ever experience. |
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