As I boarded the plane in Saskatoon this past fall and headed north to shoot a show for The Complete Angler television series I couldn't help but notice how dry the countryside below looked. Many of the potholes had dried up in the farmland between Saskatoon and Prince Albert and as we headed further north past La Ronge, most of the forest below had some blackened sections from years of forest fires caused by drought and heat. Still the lakes glistened below and despite the dry years there was water everywhere, huge bodies of water like Reindeer Lake and mighty Wollaston Lake that I had visited four years ago. This time though the destination was to be Theriau Lake, a medium sized body of water just a short 20 minute float plane ride from Points North Landing. During the summer months, travelers from all over the world are converging by plane or vehicle on Points North, a small little settlement and airstrip in the middle of nowhere. From here the adventure begins as outdoor enthusiasts hop on a plane to a remote destination either in the Northwest Territories or to one of the myriad of lakes or rivers that stretch across the top of Saskatchewan.

Soon we arrived at the lodge and were greeted by owner Tony Gorham, an Albertan who always wanted to own a fishing lodge and was fortunate enough to buy Theriau when it came up for sale four years ago. While the lodge is not overly large, it is modern, clean and comfortable with a homey atmosphere. Add to this a pike fishery that is as good as any in the world. Theriau Lake also has excellent equipment, big roomy boats and four stroke engines, easily accomodating the fly fishers. Theriau Lake Lodge also has top notch guides who know the lake inside and out.

Over the last dozen years of travel and filming I have been on some outstanding pike water but this northern section of Saskatchewan around Wollaston Lake and Points North continues to record monster fish. It might be a gene pool thing or maybe just a little longer growing season than the lakes right on the Northwest Territories border but this section produces pike each year caught by anglers that are longer than 50 inches or 127 centimetres. In fact in 1999 Tony Gorham had a pike at his lodge measure 54 inches or 137 centimetres from a series of lakes that are connected by one river system, our destination the second day into our trip. To say anticipation was high the bright cool late September morning when the Single Otter pulled up to the dock, was an understatement. There aren't too many opportunities in an anglers life to head to spot that has jumbo pike in abundance, a system that will only see twenty anglers in the whole year!

After watching the float plane disappear in the distance we headed back east across the lake to the narrowed down section at the bottom of the lake.Tony figured that this would be the hotspot of the day, an area that had a deep hole, current and weeds, all the right ingredients to hold hungry pike.After casting and drifting for twenty minutes with just a couple small fish to show for it, Tony was scratching his head. All that changed as we slowly motored downstream along Ward Creek. I was wearing my polarized Maui Jim sunglasses, peering down into the stained water in front of the bow. Soon I was seeing passing schools of suckers and whitefish, all slightly spooked by the shadow of our boat. Maybe they thought it was one of the huge pike that made their life a constant danger. Suddenly we got to see one of these monsters. I had cast out a Mepps # 5 Aglia bucktail spinner along the side of the river channel and as it started slowly to sink with a flash and wobble something suddenly stretched the line tight. Quickly setting the hook, my seven foot Berkley flippin' stick bent from butt to tip.

There is no better feeling in the world to a fisherman when you lean on something below the water and it refuses to nudge. This was a snag that moved! As Fireline disappeared from my spool we drifted down the river with the fish, the bow slowly rotating as the fish surged back and forth from one side of the river to the other. Grudgingly a solid 45 inch or 114 centimetre pike came to the side of the boat, a fish with impressive girth, not usual on pike this far north. Obviously this monster was enjoying a steady diet of sucker, whitefish, grayling, walleye and anything else that happened to come its way.

As soon as our lures hit the water we had a double header in this narrowed down section of river littered with fair sized boulders.

Action continued non-stop for at least an hour and at one point Tony hooked a fish in the 12 pound range, with two monster pike right behind trying to latch on to this 38 inch or 96 centimetre pike. Talk about a big lunch! As Tony fought the pike I dropped my Mepps Aglia down and vertically jigged. Wham! One of the monsters came over and just slammed it. Setting the hook I hung on for dear life with biggest pike of my career on the line with the cameras rolling. As Tony was releasing his smaller fish mine came to the surface a short distance from the boat, gave one huge head shake and fired the lure right back at me. Wow, talk about an adrenaline rush. All in all that day I personally caught 15 pike over 40 inches with Tony catching the longest pike at 47 inches or 119 centimetres. We did see two fish that were probably over the magic 50 inch mark, making this one fishing day that I will remember for the rest of my life. For information on Theriau Lake Lodge visit their website at www.theriaulakelodge.com.