.

Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

ARVIAT/RANKIN INLET - Putting in an eye-popping display of hunting and fishing skills is nothing new for the father-and-son tandem of Joe Savikataaq Sr. and Joe Savikataaq Jr.

Joe Savikataaq Jr. displays his winning entry in the Arviat lake trout fishing derby earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Doreen Manik

About two years ago, the two brought home 100 wolves and 19 wolverines from a single hunting trip.

They are also the first Inuit to hunt in Africa, going after cape buffalo, warthog, hippopotamus, kudo (antelope) and impala.

Earlier this month, the pair entered 10 fish in the Arviat lake trout fishing derby and took nine of the 10 prizes.

Their top fish was measured at 111.2 cm, with their combined winnings at $21,500 and a pair of Calm Air tickets.

Joe Jr., 29, said he learned everything he knows about hunting and fishing from his dad, who is 48.

He said there's nothing secret about where they fish, but you have to be dedicated to get there.

"It's 300 miles from town and very hard to get to," said Joe Jr.

"We made it in 10 hours and 30 minutes this year, and that's serious travelling.

"You have to be well prepared and very careful going that far because if something goes wrong, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble."

Joe Jr. said he and his father released most of the fish they caught.

He said they only kept those measuring 40 inches to the fork of their tails.

"We use store-bought hooks, and take the fish given to us.

"You just put the hook in the water and jig.

"We don't have secrets, but you do have to know where to go."

Joe Jr. said his prize money is going towards the house he just bought.

He said he doesn't really look forward to the derby every year; he just loves to get away fishing.

"We go to that lake every year just to fish for fun, so, this year, I thought we should go during the derby and see if we could win anything.

"Once we were there, I wasn't even really thinking about the fishing derby.

"I really like it out there because it's so peaceful and the land is really nice."

Joe Jr. said a few people are already planning to go to the same spot next year.

He said he'll just have to wait until the next derby to see if they do.

"Nobody's actually done it before because it's such a risky trip.

"If you have any kind of machine or qamutiik trouble at all, you won't get back in time to make the deadline.

"There's no trees, but you have to be careful of the hills and rocky places."

Harry Towtongie took top spot in the trout category of the Rankin Inlet fishing derby with his catch of 42.75 inches.

His wife, Cathy, took fifth and ninth spots with catches measuring 41 and 39.25 inches respectively.

Harry said he and his group also travelled quite a ways outside of town to fish.

He said he only caught three fish all weekend, but the biggest was the one that counted.

"Many people know where our fishing spot is, but they might not want to travel that far," said Harry.

"It's about 115 miles from town, and takes us about six hours or so to get there by machine.

"The best way to get the big fish is to go to a good spot and use a traditional hook.

"A traditional hook is important because it sinks down and moves slower."

Harry said it was a good thing he caught the big ones because he never caught a small fish during the entire weekend.

He said there seemed to be a lot more people going after cod than fishing trout at this year's derby.

"I don't know what the actual numbers were, but there was no line for people getting trout measured when we were there, but there were lots of people lined up to have their cod measured.

"From what I've heard from people, it sounds like the fish really weren't biting all that well anywhere near Rankin this year.

"They bit good for awhile where we were, and then it looked like there wasn't a fish left in the whole lake."

Harry said he hasn't decided what he's going to do with his $5,000 prize yet.

He said he would have tried fishing in more spots during the derby, but the weather just wouldn't co-operate.

"I really like taking part in the annual fishing derby.

"It's one of the things I really like doing every year, along with competing in the Hudson Bay Quest.

"We barely made it to our spot last year because of rocks and melting, but it felt more like March this year because it was so cold and windy.

"Going by the weather this year, I don't know about all this global warming."