The Yukon Territory: Down a Windy Gravel Road

The Yukon is located in the northwestern corner of Canada, bordering Alaska to the West and the Northwest Territories to the East. It is mostly known for the famous Klondike gold rush, which brought thousands of people to the Territory in the late 1800s’ and turning Dawson City into the largest city north of San Francisco and West of Winnipeg. The rush didn’t last too long, but there is still gold to be found in the Territory as highlighted in the many popular TV shows broadcasted in recent years. The Territory is larger in size than California, and has a population of less than 40,000 people. This alone should give you an idea of just how good the fishing can be. Gabe and Justin from Fly Fish Yukon spend their summers exploring the Territory searching for the many different species. Here’s a glimpse at two recent trips in Fall 2020.

By: GABE RIVEST Photos by: Justin Kennedy and Gabe Rivest / www.flyfishyukon.ca

As I am driving on this narrow and windy gravel road, I keep worrying about what the wind situation will be on the big lake for the first of our two Fall fishing trips. We have a large crew for the first trip; my brother is with me as well as Taïga (the golden retriever), and Justin is coming in the next morning with his wife Dani, as well as their 2-year-old son Cole, and their dog Avalanche. I only have a small 16’ boat for this trip, as we need to cross an open lake followed by heading up and down a narrow, shallow river to access the area we are hoping to fish.

Our first look at the lake is a blessing; glass! My brother and I load up the boat with all the gear and head down the chain of lakes and rivers to find a camping spot for the weekend. The Fall colors are in full swing, with a mix of yellow, orange and green surrounding us. After getting all excited over a few schools of giant arctic grayling spotted in the river, we find a nice, secluded beach near a creek mouth that looks promising and decide to make it our home for the weekend. Early the next morning, I trace back up the river and lake to pick up the rest of the crew. Once we make it back to camp, and unload all the gear, we all hunker down and warm up by the fire and get ready for 3 days of exploring and fishing.

The Fog Lifts

The next morning started off with a low hanging fog, which is an ever-present sight this time of year. As the fog started to lift and the coffee ran out, we decided to test out the creek mouth first, since it was right next to our camp.

The creek was less than a foot deep but flowed into a steep drop where the bottom was nowhere to be seen. The fishing was what dreams are made of. Everyone’s first cast was rewarded with beautiful large arctic grayling. They were simply eating everything you would throw at them, even large lake trout streamers, which is what we had hoped for, but the grayling did not let anything past them.

After about a dozen grayling, Dani tried casting wide and lining up her Clouser along the current line, and BOOM something takes but is not coming up... lake trout!

After a round of high fives and the relief that our instincts were right, we had a closer look at the laker. They are beautiful at this time of year, as they are getting ready to spawn about a month later. Dani had the magic touch, casted wide, let it sink slow and low and ended up landing the only three lake trout of the trip. Everyone caught their fair share of fish, and Cole even got to feel what a line feels like with a grayling at the other end.

Esox Lucius, Thymallus Arcticus and Salvelinus Namaycush

On the next day, Justin my brother Raph and I headed out to another lake further downstream to look for large pike. After a few hours of search, we finally found a nice weed bed and spotted a few fish. We tried a few different flies without much luck before the wind picked up and forced us to retreat back to camp empty handed… I promised Justin and Raph that it would be better on the next trip the following week.

“We all hunker down and warm up by the fire and get ready for 3 days of exploring and fishing”

In the Yukon, arctic grayling are probably the most common fish to catch, being in almost every river and lake systems in the Territory. They are also a very sought-after fish, known for their beautiful fan, mesmerizing colours and acrobatic type takes.

Lake trout on the other hand, are common to catch deep down in the lakes, but are harder to find on the fly. Early spring along the edges of drops in lakes or fall time at creek- and river mouths are usually your best bets. Northern pike are also very common in southern Yukon, cruising the weeds and shallows of most lakes.

The crystal-clear waters of the territory offer amazing opportunities to sight-cast for some impressive specimens. These apex predators of the north are one of our favourite fish hands down. When you get a clear, shallow, wind free day, sight casting for these fish is world class. Electric takes, deep runs and strength keeps you on your toes when getting towed around in a canoe!

Another Excursion into the Unknown

The following week, we headed out into a different area, where pike and bull trout would be our target species. Our first stop was a small remote lake where I have had great luck with pike in the past. In the fall, they tend to hang around in shallow white sandy bottom bays, which makes it easy to spot them. They are also feeding hard at this time of year, making it ideal for us.

The other fun fact about pike in the Fall is that they are usually most active later during the day, when the sun warms things up, so no need to beat the sub-zero temperatures in the morning for these guys. It’s one of my favorite types of fishing, as these fish will basically attack anything you throw at them. I therefore always use big floating flies, and no matter how many bites I get, it still surprises me every time.

The crew this time were myself, Justin, my brother and our friend Norm, as well as Taïga, who simply comes on every single trip I do.

We were using 18’ canoes, as there were no boat ramps in the area.

The weather was on our side, on the first evening, we were gifted with an incredible show of aurora borealis, which kept us up late in the night. We woke up to a perfect blue sky morning with heavy frost surrounding us and a fog floating over the lake. The weather continued into a perfect calm afternoon to go looking for the monsters I had promised all summer.

Raph and Norm went on one side of the lake while Justin and I worked the other side. It didn’t take long before we spotted our first fish, and the size did not disappoint. Justin caught a couple medium-sized ones before we finally spotted the fish we had been waiting for. The first cast, Justin delivered a popper on top of the pike followed by a quick jerky retrieve motion. Immediately, the giant pike launched out of the water and hit his big, green, homemade fly. Since the lake is fairly small, housing only a small population of pike, we decided that we were satisfied with our experience and retrieved back to camp and got ready for the next part of the trip, where the goal was to find the elusive Yukon bull trout.

The Yukon Bull Trout

We pack up camp early the next morning and head out on the river for a couple days of canoeing, camping and of course, fishing. The weather is on our side again, and we arrive to one of my favorite camps on the river in mid-afternoon. After setting up camp, everyone throws their waders on and gets ready to fish in freezing water, hoping to catch a Yukon bull. Bull trout are only found in south-east Yukon and can be hard to catch depending on the day. I had had luck at this specific location in the past, but it was never incredible. That said, the campsite location is just too good to pass, so we decide to give it a shot. I put on my favorite streamer (a juvenile salmonid imitation) and cast in the pool. First cast provides me with a beautiful small bull trout. Good start! Second cast, a nice big arctic grayling. Won’t complain!

I decide to give Norm and Justin a bit of time to throw a few casts before going in again. Justin finally manages to catch a nice medium size bull, his first one ever. I then decide to make another cast…

The Size of a Salmon

The bite feels like I just hooked into a salmon. When it surfaces a few seconds after, I quickly understand why. The bull rolls on the surface and is the size of a salmon. After a 10-minute battle with my 7-weight Beulah, I manage to bring the fish in close. This is the biggest bull I have ever caught, measuring 72cm.

The afternoon continues with Norm also catching his first ever bull on the fly, another nice medium sized fish. We decide to give the pool a break and start preparing the two medium bull trout we kept for dinner.

“Everyone’s first cast was rewarded with beautiful large arctic grayling”

“Electric takes, deep runs and strength keeps you on your toes when getting towed around in a canoe”

All char species are good eating, but I have to admit, bull trout is one of my all-time favourite. We make a feast, laughing about how easy it was and how we are going to catch a few more the next morning before continuing our journey.

The next morning, we put on the same fly and get ready for the action, but to our surprise, we didn’t even get a bite. Nothing! We knew the fish were around, but simply could not get them to take a fly, which goes to show how tricky bull trout fishing can be sometimes.

We paddled further down river and had very little luck with our fishing for the rest of the trip. We were, however, rewarded with the sight of a giant bull moose standing in the freezing river as we paddled by.

The two trips were all we had hoped for; great weather, incredible fishing catching all four species we were targeting, all of good sizes and in beautiful fall colours.

The Yukon – in Short

The Yukon is a hidden paradise for fly fishermen. Compared to the other two Canadian Territories (Northwest Territories and Nunavut), the Yukon is relatively accessible. There are many great fishing locations accessible by road, otherwise a short float plane trip can give you access to some world class fishing.

The fly fishing guide reference in the Yukon is Steve Hahn at Headwaters to Ocean Troutfitter.

Steve has years of experience under his belt and runs the only fly fishing specific store in the Yukon, as well as providing guiding services. If you decide you want to explore on your own and need to rent kayaking/canoeing and camping equipment, Up North Adventures is a great place to look. Both stores are located in downtown Whitehorse and will be more than happy to help you.

As the seasons start to turn and soft waters come back into play, make sure you reach out to Justin and Gabe at Fly Fish Yukon, and make sure you follow their Instagram at @FlyFishYukon to get a feel of what the Yukon has to offer!

www.flyfishyukon.ca

www.h2otroutfitter.com

www.upnorthadventures.com