Arctic Coast

The Coast Mountain Angler has had the opportunity to explore the Canadian high arctic.

The Arctic Ocean is a nutrient rich environment that is habitat to a plethora of fish species, animals and mammals, including seals, several species of whale and the King of the Arctic, the Polar bear. The Arctic Ocean and the rivers and lakes that feed it are home to the Arctic char (salvelinus alpinus), a high quality sport fish.

The lakes of the tundra are small oceans in themselves often teeming with huge schools of Cisco herring that turn into bait balls when attacked by water birds from above and roaming lake trout (salvelinus namaycush) from below.

Lake trout are found in lakes and rivers and feed in shallow areas near the surface. Lake trout provide good sport to anglers using fly fishing techniques.

Traveling the endless tundra is an experience in itself, exotic wildlife viewing opportunities are gauranteed as herds of caribou, muscox, packs of wolves and lone barren ground grizzly bears roam this land of the midnight sun.

Back to the fishing:

Arctic Char from the Hamilton river drainage.

Merkley Lake narrows Laker.

Overlooking Hadley Bay. Until next time...

From the Ammundsen Gulf in the Beaufort Sea all the way east to Ungava Bay and the shores Labrador, prolific migrations of Arctic char occur along the beaches and into the rivers and lakes that feed these bodies of water.

Intrepid anglers seek out these unexplored waters, but the season each year is short and due to the extreme isolation of these places, these waters remain relatively untouched by human activity.

North of Canada's arctic coastal mainland lies Victoria Island. Small outpost camps are the only places that provide lodgings, food and transportation.

Caribou, muscox, wolves, grizzly bears and polar bears roam Victoria Island year round and are easily spotted from aircraft or while trekking overland.

The Nanook river winds across the northeastern part of Victoria Island...

until it reaches the arctic ocean at Wellington Bay.

The fishing is spectacular!

Arctic Char from the Nanook river drainage.

Hadley Bay Arctic Char.

At the beach in Wellington Bay.

With my pilot Bill at the Hamilton river.