Yellowknife (Aug 16/06) - More Canadians than usual are casting lures at area fishing lodges this summer, but lodge owners would like to see more effort put into attracting American anglers.

Henry Waszczuk, host of the TV fishing show Fins and Skins, holds a 53-inch pike caught at the Trout Lake Lodge. Tourism at local fishing lodges outside of Yellowknife is up slightly, with more of a focus on local residents and companies say owners. - photo courtesy of Ragnar Wesstrom

While this fishing season has a few more weeks to go, tourism officials and lodge owners say the industry continues to rebound after a good 2005 season. The number of fishing tourists fell from 2002-2004, said Richard Zieba, an economic planner with Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Approximately 4,000 fishers visited the Territories in 2002, a drop of about 18 per cent from in 2001. In 2003, numbers fell by another 17.3 per cent.

A slight rebound occurred in 2004, and in 2005, the number of Canadian anglers increased by seven per cent. Balancing that increase, the number of fishing tourists from the United States declined five per cent in 2005, a trend that seems to be continuing this year.

"More Canadians have been travelling. There is a shift in the client mix - Canadians are coming to lodges," said Zieba.

Blachford Lake Lodge owner Mike Freeland said the summer has been much better than the last few years.

"We've been doing fairly well. The local market is up," he said.

More Yellowknife companies have been holding retreats and conferences at the lodge this summer, said Freeland.

Almost 95 per cent of Trout Rock Lodge's clients are from the United States, said owner Ragnar Wesstrom.

He said this summer season is on par with last summer in terms of numbers.

"About 80 per cent of clients are repeat clients."

Wesstrom has focused more on local company retreats, but the majority of clients still come from the south.

He said the government needs to put more money into marketing the Northwest Territories as a tourism destination.

"The problem is that we don't get much help from the government," he said.

Tourism is on the back burner in the Territories when it comes to funding, said Wesstrom.

Fishing lodges are still an important piece of the economy, said Zieba.

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment estimates that revenues from the 41 fishing lodges, including small independent lodges, bring in $11 million per year, he said.

As part of the department's Tourism 2010 strategy, $400,000 will be added to the $800,000 marketing campaign for tourism, said Zieba.

Robin Wotherspoon, owner/operator of the Watta Lake Lodge, said she hopes that an increase in $400,000 will help to "pump up" interest in fishing lodges.

"It's definitely time government keeps its eyes on tourism."

The season has been slow at the 12-bed lodge, said Wotherspoon. She hopes to see numbers increase with additional funding for tourism.

"It's the only renewable resource the Territories has," she said.