Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 20/99) - Call 'em hogs, lunkers, monster fish, call 'em what you will, the North is the undisputed heavyweight king of freshwater fishing.

That reputation didn't suffer any this past summer. Northern fishing lodges reported fabulous fishing.

"The fishing was absolutely superb this summer," said Wallace Finlayson, manager of Trophy Lodge. We caught 19 trout over 40 pounds, and all of them went back in the water," said Finlayson.

Trophy Lodge fishermen ply Great Slave Lake waters off Reliance. The biggest arctic greyling caught at Trophy weighed in at three pounds seven ounces. The top pike weighed in at 22 pounds.

About 400 kilometres southeast of Trophy, just above the Manitoba, Saskatchewan border, is Kasba Lake Lodge. It was much the same story there.

"It was unbelievable, the best fishing we've seen," said chief guide and marketing manager Tony Johnson. ""The lake record of 46 pounds has stood for 27 years. It was beat by a 47 pounder and the same day we caught one that weighed 51."

Kasba Lodge also offers greyling fishing on the Kazan River. Johnson said one lucky angler hauled in a five pounder, matching the biggest one caught last year.

Another, using the ultra-light number four flyrod greyling fisherman prefer, latched into something a little larger -- a 26-pound lake trout.

"It fought for over an hour and took him a quarter to a half mile downstream," said Johnson.

In the world of lake trout fishing, Great Bear Lake stands above the rest. Great Bear produced the world record 72-pounder and almost matched that mark this year.

Plummer's Lodge on Great Bear reports that 84-year-old Texan Frank Caraway caught a 68-pounder. He later told his home-town paper the monster, which would be older than him, "felt like tying onto a tandem axel truck."

The laker was 51 inches long and had a 34-inch girth. As is the practice at Plummer's the fish was released after being measured and photographed and is now swimming the crystal clear depths of Great Bear.

For live release, a mathematical formula is used to calculate weight based on length and girth.

The same week the 68-pounder was caught, the first week in July, Wisconsin firefighter John Ziedler checked in with the next biggest catch at Plummer's this season, a 62-pounder.

The lodge also has a camp on the Tree River, mecca for arctic char fisherman. This year's top char was a 36- pounder.