It’s around 4 p.m. on Tillei Lake in the southern Yukon, and DJ Tudino is reading the fish finder mounted to the stern of his 14-foot Lund fishing boat.

“There’s a steep underwater wall here that drops 40 feet,” says DJ, a 25-year-old guide with Inconnu Lodge, a top-notch fishing outfit that’s been putting guests on top of the biggest lake trout and northern pike in the Yukon Territory for longer than DJ’s been alive. It’s the reason I’ve crossed Canada from Toronto—a distance of nearly 3,000 miles—to spend five magnificent days in country that’s as rough and dangerous today as when American author Jack London visited during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s—and lost his front teeth to scurvy.



Over the last couple of days, I’ve landed quite a number of nice fish, but so far not a trophy among them. However, I feel like my luck’s about to change, and this is just the kind of rocky feature we want to troll—the edge of an underwater reef whose contours mirror the ridges, spurs, and slopes of the mountains that hug the western shore of Tillei. It’s where the heavyweight lake trout in excess of 25 pounds, with enough attitude to rip the rod and reel out of an angler’s hand, like to hang out.

Tillei is perhaps the best lake in this corner of the Yukon—a region twice the size of Oregon, with more moose than people—for massive lake trout. But after working this underwater wall for 20 minutes, we don’t get as much as a bite. Then my silver Half Wave spoon is smacked in about 55 feet of water.

Going Old School

“Fish!” yells DJ. I pull up hard to set the hook and start reeling. This deep-water scrapper immediately tears out about 100 feet of line. I work him with every bit of skill and ingenuity I can muster, letting him run out as much line as he likes, then quickly reeling up to make sure there’s never any slack that would allow him to spit the hook.

When I finally get “Tommy Two Ton” port side of the Lund, it’s just to say hello. He runs hard a couple more times before we finally get him inside the boat. This bull elk of the deep is the color of gun metal, with green streaks and white spots all over his flanks. He measures nearly 4 feet in length and weighs 35 pounds. But what is most impressive about this slab is his girth—this bruiser has probably been swimming in Tillei for 40 years, and his majestic belly makes him nearly as wide as he is long.

“Nice fish,” says DJ, who’s in his second season guiding for Inconnu Lodge.

This is the biggest fish I’ve ever caught. And that’s saying something, because over the years I’ve hooked into a number of king salmon weighing in excess of 30 pounds—truly big and impressive tyee trophy fish—on angling expeditions at some of the top lodges on British Columbia’s Pacific Coast.

Tommy Two Ton is too much fish for just one man to hold, so we forgo the traditional trophy photo in favor of video from a GoPro mounted to the aluminum boat’s gunwale. I kiss this lake monster on the back of his head before we release him into the blue-steel waters of Tillei. Indignantly he shoots back down to the icy depths like a killer harpoon released by a commercial swordfish fisherman.

Inconnu (inconnulodge.com) is an angler’s paradise, located deep in the Yukon wilderness about 90 minutes northeast of Whitehorse by float plane. It’s near the border with the Northwest Territories, and the crossing from the Pelly Mountains to reach McEvoy Lake offers stunning views of alpine peaks with grazing caribou and mountain goats. 

Warren and Anita LaFave, who opened Inconnu Lodge 28 years ago, deliver warm northern hospitality and plenty of four-star luxuries, including heated guest cabins with giant down duvets and a chef who knocks it out of the park every night.

The fishing at Inconnu Lodge is crazy good because no one else has access to the ice-cold lakes, lagoons, bays, and streams in this part of the Yukon Territory. Also, Inconnu flies guests into a different spot each morning in its DeHavilland Beaver to keep fish off guard and offer different angling experiences.

Trophies With Teeth

Back onshore, I’m grateful to have snagged a lake trout that is the local equivalent of the Colossus of Rhodes. Now what I need to complete my trophy collection from this Yukon fishing safari is a huge northern pike. 

My quest begins on my third day at Inconnu on the borders of a weed bed in about 8 feet of water on Fortin Lake. Spin-casting, I hooked into some impressive pike, including a 33-inch torpedo with rust-colored fins. But the trophy I had in the crosshairs of my mind is waiting for me on Incognito Lake, where a grizzly wrecked Warren LaFave’s cabin that winter.

There, on my last day, alongside a forest of cabbage weed, during a break in an intense storm, I hook into my second Yukon monster. When he swallows my Fire Tiger spoon, he bends my rod nearly in half. It’s my fourth pike of the day, but this one is the world-class heavyweight I’ve been dreaming about.

After a long scrap, I finally manage to maneuver the brute into DJ’s hands. He removes the barbless hook from the fish’s jaws without a scratch, though getting bitten and raked is an occupational hazard in this line of work. Especially if you work without a net, which Inconnu guides are not allowed to use because they damage the protective slime covering the fish’s epidermis.

“This was definitely a fair fight,” says DJ. “We like to give fish a sporting chance to get away to keep everyone on their toes.”

Holding up all 43 inches and 20-plus pounds of this northern gator for a trophy photo, I fumble my catch. In regaining a grip on the hard shell of his slippery pointed head, I gash a finger on the pike’s lower jaw. 

It cost me a bit of blood and flesh, but I had bagged both my trophy laker and trophy pike, and I feel on top of the world. The Yukon lakes have been kind to me.

 

Photographs by Erik Heinrich

The Fairview Parks Department and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) invite children ages 16 and under to take part in one of the world’s oldest and most-loved pastimes – fishing!

This year’s Fairview Youth Fishing Rodeo will be held once again at Veteran’s Memorial Park at Evergreen Lake off of Hwy 96 in Fairview. It is a relatively new addition to the Fairview Park System located on Black Pine Road across the street from Leatherwood Inc.

The Rodeo will be Saturday, June 11 from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m. as part of the statewide Free Fishing Day. Registration will begin at 6:30 a.m. with a drawing for prizes at 10 a.m. Prizes have been donated by TWRA and include $1000 worth of fishing equipment to be given away.

In addition to having a chance to catch catfish and win prizes, participants will be treated to free hot dogs and bottled water, courtesy of Publix in Fairview.

Participants will have the first shot at catching hundreds of pounds of catfish that TWRA released into the lake at Veterans Memorial Park. Participants should bring one fishing pole per child participating in the Fishing Rodeo. Please leave extra rods in the car. Once the drawing for prizes passes at 10 a.m., the stocked area will be opened to everyone and extra rods are welcome.

Free Fishing Day events have been held across Tennessee since the early 1990s and the event in Fairview continues to grow every year. It is a statewide and national celebration that offers an opportunity for anyone to fish without possessing a fishing license. The day is also meant to allow anyone to fish for free with the intent of introducing more people to fishing, or to rekindling an old passion for the outdoors. 

All public waters will be open to fishing without a license requirement this Saturday, according to the TWRA.

FISHING FORECAST

 

Not often do I have the opportunity to hear and report of a rare catch, but one was made this past Sunday Jamie Mobley of Fort Myers, Fla. and who as a teenager lived briefly in the Savannah area.

Mobley was fishing in the Pine Island Sound area off Captiva Island in the Gulf waters off Fort Myers in about five feet of water when he hooked into what he first thought was a shark, fought it for 45 minutes on 30-pound test mono line, then when it finally bringing it to the surface, realized he had hooked a smalltooth sawfish — one estimated to be about nine feet in length.

Not knowing a thing about such species, I immediately Googled for info, finding out from Wikipedia that sawsharks and sawfish are somewhat similar in appearance, but differ in species, families, size and more.

Also learned there are both smalltooth and largetooth sawfish – the size and number of teeth on the snout differentiating them, with the smalltooth the most common to Florida waters. They can grow to over 20 feet in length.

Once common in Florida waters, but now on the endangered species list, some groups claim the smalltooth is critically endangered, their numbers having declined by as much as 95 percent worldwide.

Florida once had many and now extremely few, over fishing and habitat loss said to be the main reason.

Mobley apparently had his hands full when the fish was finally brought along side his Whaler, concerned that when taking photos the sawfish might “freak out” and “start knocking holes in my boat with its jagged snout full of tusks.”

After the photos were taken, the sawfish was cut loose, then almost casually was seen “swimming back toward the bottom and out of sight.”

Mobley then notified the Florida Wildlife Commission of the catch and release as required. He closed in his report by saying “what a great way to end a day on the water. You never know that you are going to catch.”

Now to bring up to date some reports we received last week but were unable to include. I held a couple of fresh water reports for this week, one coming from John Adams who had just returned from Tennessee and some brown trout fly fishing, the other from David Wood, who passed up a weekend on the salt due to weather and headed to the Ogeechee River.

 

Tiny baits, big fish

Adams made one of his annual treks to Tennessee, fly fishing the Holston River for brown and rainbow trout with long-time friend Bob O’Laughlin and his son Patrick.

According to Adams, both O’Laughlins tie their own flies, including some nymphs, less than the size of a dime, which impressed Adams with how well they attracted big fish.

“All the fish caught were big,” Adams commented in an email, noting that he landed a 22-inch brown and Bob O’Laughlin landing a rainbow measuring 19.5 inches in length. On day one of fishing, the large fish count was 18, while on the day two, shortened by rain, 14 were large. Adams closed by saying “they tie some of the best flies around.”

 

Ogeechee catch

For David Wood, salt is where his heart is, but it was on the fresh that he got his start, so Memorial Day weekend he headed to the tidal waters of the Ogeechee, catching a mix of pan fish, starting first with artificial and finishing with live crickets. Total catch for the day was 16 crappie, 28 redbreast and bream, two largemouth bass and a couple of blue catfish. Lots more were caught and released, Wood estimated over 100 fish were brought to the boat that day.

 

Kids Derby

The past weekend included a drop by visit this Saturday to the DNR’s Richmond Hill Fish Hatchery where youngsters and adults lined a couple of the ponds for the annual Kids Fishing Derby, sponsored by the Richmond Hill Exchange Club.

It was the 26th annual, and when I arrived around 9 a.m., the two fishing ponds already were lined with excited youngsters fishing and scores of adults watching and helping.

Don’t know the exact number of youths who participated – registration was at 160 when I asked and more were arriving. Lots of catfish were landed – along with a turtle or two caught and released.

On the salt

From the emails — mahi, cobia, sheepshead, sharks, grouper, tripletail and more are being landed.

Raymond Landin forwarded a note about a recent blue water trip he made to the Gulf Stream wih Trey Thompson. In perfect weather, the group caught eleven mahi, his son Cameron, age 13, landing two. Also in the group were Joby Ireland, Benjamin Landin, Andrew Swan and Gil Werntz.

Justin Rahn occasionally sends us reports of his inshore trips, mostly about trout, reds and sheepshead. His latest trip with Marissa Prouse targeted sheepshead. The two caught several — Marissa landing the largest.

We received two cobia reports, one coming from David Wood, the other from Alan Lockett.

Wood, along with cousin Ricky Williams and friend Rand Waite Sr., not only got into some hefty cobia, but also stirred the wrath of a very large hammerhead that went air-borne with a couple of leaps before breaking loose. They also added a big grouper to the count and lost an even larger one that apparently straightened the jig-head hook.

Lockett, along with Walter Ballew and his son Thomas, were fishing with Capt. Brian Woelber (One More Cast Charters, 912-898-1331). Catch count was seven cobia, including the one by Lockett weighing 50 pounds, one king mackerel, several sharks and more.

The tripletail report came from Marvin Metzger and Coffee Bluff Marina — Metzger telling of a Coffee Bluff resident getting into the tripletail, landing two this past Saturday and another on Sunday, all caught in Ossabaw Sound waters.

 

The outlook

Spring tides brought some excessive high tides and some low-land flooding over the weekend, and are now are dropping back into the six and seven-foot range for the remainder of June, even through the full moon phase (full moon is Monday, June 20).

Currents should be slowing and coastal waters showing more clarity on all stages of the tides.

Weather allowing, look for a definite increases in both inshore and offshore catch action. The old saying is — the best fishing of the month is the week before a full moon.

In closing, the availability of local live bait shrimp continues to be skimpy in some areas and more plentiful in others. Brown shrimp now are the main source.

We noted last week that Adams Bait Shop, located adjacent to the public boat ramp on the Wilmington River now has reopened for business and as of the last call, had a supply of live brown shrimp. The new phone number is 912-856-0398.

I'm almost afraid to say this for fear of jinxing it, but based on the weekly reports so far this year things are shaping up to be a memorable summer. As almost everyone knows, the rockfishing has been outstanding since March, white perch are fat and just about everywhere, and now with some of the summer gang showing up — croakers, blues, specks, and even some flounder as well as the oddball tautog — that gives us even more options. And the crabbing is finally catching fire above the South River, as far north as the Patapsco.

Of course, warmer waters also brings the armada of cow-nosed rays up our way, and they have. I heard reports of them as far north as Middle River. Several of my spots in Eastern Bay that produced nice rock two weeks ago are now roiled with these winged fish, looking to help their pups.

Let's start with crabs. We're finally seeing some reliable catches over here on the Chester and Wye, and the creeks around Kent Island. And the same is true on Western Shore, says Bud at Fishbones. He reports crabbing has improved markedly in the Severn and Magothy, and even as far north as Bodkin. He adds that the chumming for rockfish is fair to steady at the typical spots — Muds, Hackett's and Podicory — while the lumps above Baltimore Light are improving, and white perch are just about automatic.

Jim at Marty's reports that the rockfish pattern remains much as it was last week, with rock being caught from Thomas Point to below buoy 83. He was happy to report the crabbing in the West, Rhodes and South Rivers seems to get better by the day.

On Tuesday, Mike Killelea and friends scouted the lumps above the bay bridges for rockfish, and though they found them the fish weren't biting.

"On our way back we came across a few acres of keepers breaking and had our three-man limit in 5 minutes with fish up to 26 inches," he said.

ishing from Shady Side, Captain Jeff of Vista Lady says he's putting his party on rockfish right out front of the West River, fishing in water depths between 35 and 55 feet. Sometimes he'll venture south of buoy 83, and on occasion, even as recently as Monday, he's found rock rolling on the surface, with maybe just a few birds working. One time, he said, there weren't any birds and the stripers were still busting bait. Another good reason to work that meter. Jigging and trolling are both effective tactics, depending on the day and tide.

According to Captain LJ of G-Eye Jigs, "fishing has been good here out of Chesapeake Beach. I have been finding nice rockfish in deep water in the mornings while others are finding their fish on structure in shallower water." He has been doing well on seven-inch Bust 'Em Baits (green, white, and mackerel colors) attached to either a 1-ounce and 3/4-ounce G-Eye Jigs.

"Put Pro-Cure super gel on your baits like suntan lotion at the beginning of each drift to get more strikes," he suggests. "Also, I don't normally use skirts on my jigs, but the skirts are making a big difference in my catch ratio of larger rockfish right now."

Also having a very good week of fishing was Captain Shawn Gibson on Wound Tight, who says they've experienced "a little more variety of fish to start the month of June. Since the striped bass fishing has been so good we have spent time looking for other species. We found the black drum on several trips near the Choptank River and even got on a good white perch bite near Thomas Point." He adds that his party boat Miss Lizzy had some good bottom fishing trips for perch recently. "We caught a citation 13 1/2-inch white perch last week at Thomas Point," he said. "We are hopeful that the Choptank River will begin to produce some spot and croaker in the next few weeks."

Off Breezy Point on Monday, Caleb Gill was fishing when he saw a humpback whale, reports Mike Stranddquist from Breezy Point Marina.

"Lots of bait in the mid Bay, and 28- to 32-inch stripers are mixed in with 20- to 24-inchers," Mike said. "The fish are being caught trolling and jigging off Parker's Creek, Breezy Point, and the Radar Tower. Croakers have been caught off Dares Beach and off Sharps Island Light."

Further down the Bay at Buzz's Marina, Mike Henderson said both the bluefish and croakers have shown up, with the latter species there in decent numbers and the former bigger than the snappers we're accustomed to during the height of summer.

After looking for hardheads in their typical haunts on oyster beds, "We finally found the croakers in shallow water, about 10 feet deep, north of the state fishing pier," he told me. For the bluefish, he plans to troll red and white hoses, about 12 inches long with 4/0 or 5/0 hooks — "the skinny ones!" And finally, there were six snakeheads — that's right, six! — caught at the head of St. Jerome's Creek. Mike thinks with all this rain they either swim or walked from a nearby pond.

Over on the Eastern Shore side, Don Jackson said that he and his son Sam had a good trip on the Pocomoke Sound flats, with Sam catching then releasing a nice 22-inch speckled trout. The speck hit a Zara Spook retrieved at dusk. There were also rock of 30 and 32 inches, as well as a bluefish that hit on red drum baits — but no red drum, Don told me. "Lots of 16– to 18-inch rock on artificials," he added.

Captain Walt of Light Tackle Charters reports similar: large numbers of stripers and speckled trout in small numbers.

"Both species come over our rails every day," he said. "When the numbers of specks get to half the numbers of stripers, everything will be golden. Golden days are a coming."

CCA MD-Kent Narrows tourney: Craig Sheridan and his teammates were catching some nice rockfish right out of the gate during last Saturday's Bass Pro Shop-CCA Kent Narrows Light Tackle & Fly Catch and Release Tournament. All was going according to plan, he said.

"Our game plan was to fish 30 to 40 foot of water, put in our time in and work south (from Thomas Point,)" he said. The bite was early, and Sheridan said the edges around buoy 84 proved to be holding good rock. But they also knew they needed a "kicker fish," as he called it, to win the whole thing. And that kicker prover to be a 38 3/8-inch striper the Davidsonville resident hooked on a seven-inch Gulp! jerk shad, before 7 a.m. The tournament is a catch, "click" and release tournament; no rockfish are checked in at the dock.

The South River grad, now a sophomore at Eckerd College in Florida, was fishing with Ron McMorrow (Edgewater) and Joey Cover (Kent Island). Though he's been fishing since he was a youngster, Craig has only been light tackle fishing for about four years. He's spending his summer working with Jim Bieler at Marty's Bait & Tackle in Edgewater.

Nearly 200 anglers fished the event, making it the largest turnout in the tourney's 13-year history. Jack Mister of La Plata landed a 30 3/4 inch rock to take top honors in the kayak division, while the Fly Division winner was Mike Dunlap of Chestertown, who caught a 31 5/8 inch striper.

The other top finishers were: Light Tackle Division, 2nd place, Chris Richardson, Grasonville, 35 1/2 inches; 3rd, Jess Rossman, Baltimore, 35 1/4 inches; Fly Division, 2nd, Doug Romaine, Washington, D.C., 26 inches; 3rd, Ed Liccione, Queenstown, 25 1/4 inches; Kayak Division, 2nd, Dan Frank, Middle River, 29 7/8 inches; 3rd, Chuck Chambers, Easton, 27 1/2 inches.

Outdoors calendar

June 10-12: Maryland Watermen's Association 21st annual Pro-Am Rockfish Tournament, Rock Hall. Register at 410-216-6610 or marylandwatermen.com.

June 11: Maryland "Free Fishing Day." No license required, all creel and size limits, as well as other restrictions, apply. Visit DNR website for details.

June 11: CCA Central Region Chapter & Piney Run Park & Nature Center's "Youth Fishing Derby." Fishing tackle prizes. To volunteer email relyar@ccamd.org

June 12: Annapolis Decoy Show, Annapolis Elks Lodge #622, 2517 Solomons Island Road, Edgewater, 10 a.m-4 p.m. Call 703-912-2949 for details.

June 13: Pasadena Sportfishing Group Meeting, Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company, 161 Ritchie Hwy, Severna Park at 7:30 p.m. Info at pasadenasportfishing.com.

June 15: MSSA Annapolis #1 Chapter Meeting, American Legion Post #7, 1905 Crownsville Road, Crownsville at 7 p.m. Speaker is Captain Chris Dollar. Info at mssaannapolis.com.

June 17-19: MSSA's 27th annual Tuna-ment. Visit mssa.net.

June 20: MSSA Broadneck/Magothy #10 Chapter Meeting, American Legion Post #175, 832 Manhattan Beach Rd, Severna Park at 7:30 p.m. 410-757-9070.

July 1-3: 34th annual O.C. Marlin Club Kick-Off Tournament, 9659 Golf Course Road, Ocean City. 410-213-1613 or ocmarlinclub.com.

July 1-30: 8th annual Pier Point Marina Flounder Tournament. Dewey Beach, DE 302-227-2808.

July 3: Waterman's Day, Rock Hall Bulkhead at 12 p.m. 410-639-7298

July 6: MSSA Kent Island #7 Chapter Meeting, American Legion Hall #278, 800 Romancoke Rd, Stevensville at 7:30 p.m. Info at kifishermen.org.

July 6-9: Canyon Club Junior Angler Offshore Challenge, Cape May, NJ. 609-884-2400

July 8-10: 29th annual OC Tuna Tournament, O.C. Fishing Center/Sunset Marina. Info at 410-213-1121 or octunatournament.com.

July 8-10: MSSA Frederick Chapter Cobia Tournament at Kiptopeke, VA. Info at 443-277-5289 or mssafrederick.com.

Water laps up on the shore of Carter Lake near the marina, April 10, 2015.

Heading north on Interstate 25 from Denver, just prior to exit 250 (Berthoud), one sees a sign that says “Carter Lake.” But that sign is misleading. The road west goes to Carter Lake, which is a great destination, but that is only the beginning.

Continuing a short drive west up the foothills, there are two more recreation areas: Flatiron Reservoir and Pinewood Reservoir. These “three in a row” reservoirs — Carter, Flatiron and Pinewood — are part of the Big Thompson water system that diverts water from the mountains for storage.

Bass Pro Shops in Branson is donating fishing rods and reels to Kids Across America – a sports camp at Table Rock Lake that works with kids from urban areas.

The Branson store is donating the equipment as part of Gone Fishing -- a nationwide effort to get kids to put down their digital devices and go outside.

Other Bass Pro stores will donate rods and reels to other organizations in their areas, as well.

The rods and reels were donated by customers who turned them in for a discount on new fishing gear.

This weekend and next are also free fishing weekends at Bass Pro stores.

Kids are encouraged to come in and try their hand at fishing at the catch and release fish ponds set up at the stores.

If they catch a fish, they can get a "First Fish" certificate.