Monday, August 28, 2017

Fly Fishing Trip of a Life Time to the Arctic Part 4-Day Two at the Tree River

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Day 2 at the Tree River was one that  Karen and I will never forget. Jay, Rick and Leon headed upstream on river right with Alex and Lars. Reid took Karen and I up the left side as you face upstream! It was a special day for so many reasons. Reid was at the top of his game as a guide. He knew where to look for the char on this big brawling river and his keen eyes spotted char we would have walked right by! Reid was also quite confident that our 10 weight rods and egg flies would work great and he was right on the money! Walking up the left side, the terrain was rougher but it was certainly worth the effort!

We worked our way upstream to a very fast section of the river that had small slots that had char. Today we hauled the spey rods but it was the egg flies that got all of the action. 

Tomorrow's post will include more action on the Tree River with video. I also have some pictures from the other side of the river! The guys had a decent day there too!


As you can see, the rest of our group headed upstream after a short boat ride across the river!



Reid quickly saw the first char and Karen hooked up on the second or third cast. The char got into the fast current and headed downstream. Time to hustle downstream. We were using 25 pound tippet and Karen used every bit of it to control the char. Karen's first char was a big male that she landed 300 m downstream of the hook up! There were a few tense moments but Reid skillfully helped Karen get through the rocks. It was a great moment. Mission accomplished!





Karen's First Arctic Char on the Tree River


It was my turn and in a slot about the size of two cars was a beauty red male. It grabbed my egg fly and I was lucky enough to keep it in the small slot. Reid deftly netted the colourful char as I slowly backed up the willow covered side hill! Yep, I was excited!





First falls is spectacular!



I managed to hook several colourful males during the day and a few chrome females. Every char fought incredibly hard and I was glad to have beefy tippet and a 9 weight fly rod.











Reid spotted two big males just downstream of this big rock. He helped coach Karen to get just the right drift! Karen hooked and landed both char!






This big male was definitely a monster close to 20 pounds. It was definitely a beauty!



Karen caught the last two char of the day. We made it only up to the second falls. These two big tomatoes capped off an amazing day!

 Both Karen and I appreciated Reid's skills as a guide. He was on his game all day. We hooked every char in the mouth although I foul hooked a whitefish at the first falls. We even caught a nice lake trout at the second falls. There are lots of lakers in the river. 

We called it a day close to 7 pm and hot footed it to supper. There was lots to talk about. Everybody had lots of stories to tell. 









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