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by Steve Probasco
I have spent a great deal of
rime in both Alaska and the Northwest Territories fishing for
nearly every species of fish found in these Arctic and
sub-Arctic regions. I had fished all around and very close to
the Yukon, but until the summer of 1994, 1 had never fished
there. When I was invited to spend a week at Tincup Lodge, I
jumped at the opportunity.
My flight took me from Seattle, Washington to Whitehorse,
Yukon. I was met at the airport by lodge owner Larry Nagy and
his son Brian.
We arrived at the float base in the late evening and were met
by the pilot. After cramming our supplies into the Beaver, we
headed off to Tincup Lake.
The main lodge and guest cabins are all new cedar dwellings.
The main lodge has the dining and lounge facilities. The
cabins, which all have a view of the lake, are fully equipped
with private bathrooms and showers. Electricity is provided by
a generator.
It was the first week in June and the ice had just left the
lake. Signs of the frigid Yukon winter were all around. A
frozen waterfall still clung to the face of a vertical
mountainside behind camp. A creek that runs through the camp
was still covered with four feet of ice. But along the edges
of the ice, wildflowers were beginning to bloom. Each day of
my stay more vegetation would magically appear. Spring comes
abruptly to the land of the midnight sun.
I was the first guest of the season at the lodge. From my
experiences in the North Country, I knew that I had arrived at
precisely the right time. Fly-fishing for lake trout is always
the best 4ist after ice-off, as they tend to hang our in the
shallows for a short period of rime. In addition to fishing
Tincup Lake, Larry, Brian and I planned on exploring a few
other waters as rime permitted.
On the first day of fishing Brian and I headed for the
shallow, north end of the lake. The previous year, this was
the hot spot at the beginning of the season and lake trout
were there in great numbers. As we drew closer to the end of
the lake, I tied a large baitfish imitation onto my leader.
When Brian throttled the motor down I grabbed my rod and
peered over the side of the boat. We could just barely see the
bottom. Brian said that there were numerous pockets in the
weeds where the lakers like to hang our. As soon as the boat
came to a stop, I double-hauled my fly line as far as I could
to work a distant pocket.
I began a fast strip and before I had worked the fly hack 10
feet it became target to a savage strike. Those who say that
lake trout don't fight hard have never battled one on light
tackle in shallow, cold water. When the fish came to the boat
we guessed it to weigh around five pounds.
It was quickly released and I began casting again. By this
time Brian had rigged up and within a few minutes we were both
into a fish. Brian's fish broke free, but mine raced around
putting up a battle much fiercer than my first fish. When this
lake trout came to net, we figured it to be in the 15- to
20-pound range. The battle was very much like that of a feisty
steelhead.
We caught fish on nearly every cast. It seems that just after
ice-off the lake trout stack into the somewhat warmer, shallow
water, and according to lodge records they will remain there
in numbers for a couple of weeks. I had arrived at precisely
the right time!
Brian and I were both using a baitfish pattern that I had
designed for salmon in saltwater. However, I have taken
several species of other large fish on this fly in both
saltwater and freshwater and the lake trout at Tincup took it
without hesitation.
Just as we were getting ready to head back to the lodge for
dinner, Brian's last cast, not surprisingly, was immediately
into a fish. We had hooked so many lake trout we could pretty
closely guess the weight of the fish by the fight. Brian
yelled out "feels like a five-pounder!" And then he said, "I
think it got tangled in the weeds." I jokingly replied, "Yeah,
either that or a big one has got it!" And just about that
time, we both saw a giant dorsal fin and tail appear where
Brian was battling his fish. When the battle drew close to the
boat, we witnessed the five-pound fish that Brian had hooked,
crosswise in the mouth of a 40-pound lake trout. Just as I was
getting the net ready, the big laker let loose! Visions of
that big trout haunted me all the way back to the lodge.
Over a scrumptious dinner we made our plans for the next day,
which, in addition to fishing the north end of Tincup again,
included a fly-out to a nearby lake to fish for grayling.
We found the reports accurate and caught dozens of grayling by
casting dry flies to individual feeding fish. The clear,
shallow water around the edges of the lake made it easy to
spot the feeding grayling and, seldom was a properly presented
fly refused. The day came and went, and the grayling came
freely to our dry flies. This grayling fishing was some of the
best that I have ever experienced in the north.
Over the next few days we explored more areas around Tincup
Lake, but found the fishing in the shallows on the north end
to be the best for fly-fishing. Some of the lodge staff
experimented down deep with jigs in several areas and did well
for large take trout. The lake drops off steeply around the
edges and the fish finder on our boat revealed large lake
trout just about everywhere we looked along this drop. Most of
them were well over 100 feet down.
I was using an 8-weight fly rod and found it ideal for the
lake trout that we were hooking in the shallows. I think that
if I return to Tincup Lake I will take a larger rod, and tie
some flies that are 10 inches long, resembling small lake
trout. Combined with a fast-sinking line, some of those large
fish down deep just might be in range.
On the fourth day of my stay, we boarded the Beaver and flew
over to a small lake in a chain of lakes along the Kathleen
River system. It is reported that this river system is the
only one in the Yukon that hosts rainbow trout and we wanted
to find out first-hand. The lakes and river are located right
on the eastern edge of the mountains and the scenery is
breathtaking.
When we landed on one of the small Lakes, fish could be seen
fishing in all directions in the gin-clear water. Our flies
found both rainbow trout and grayling up to 20-inches long. We
only had the afternoon to explore, but one could easily spend
a month poking around the lakes and the river, which connects
them. Maybe next year!
During the summer months the weather at Tincup and the
surrounding area is usually warm and clear. Sheltered by the
St. Elias Mountain Range, this area gets very little moisture
due to the rain shadow effect of the mountains. And since the
sun is up for nearly 20 hours each day during the summer, you
can pack a lot of fishing time into your visit.
The season at Tincup starts the second week in June and runs
to mid-September. Only 10 - 12 guests are booked each week,
providing for plenty of personal attention. |
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