SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - With thousands of Yellowknifers taking to the water each year to fish, there's no denying the city has a love affair with angling.

To get the most out of this sport in the North, Wolverine Guns and Tackle lure guru Dale Johnston said some baits are really must-haves for every tackle box.

Longtime angler Kearney Dillon and his two-year-old daughter Emily Dillon peruse some old standbys and new designs available at Wolverine Guns and Tackle. - John Curran/NNSL photo

"If you're going after Arctic grayling you really need to carry some #0 Mepps Black Fury spinners," he said.

"Other small spinners work well too, but the Black Fury always seems to go to the top performer."

Its secret, he added, rests in its black and gold colour pattern - which closely resembles the water bugs grayling regularly eat.

"If you catch a handful of those black bugs and hold them up to the sun, you'll see that they actually have streaks of gold on them," he said. "For grayling, you really need to match the hatch and show the fish something it's used to eating."

Yellowknife is also home to some of the best northern pike fishing in the world with U.S. and European tourists spending tens of thousands of dollars a trip to come vie for trophy catches one metre or longer.

"If you're fishing for pike here you really need to have a Rapala Weedless Minnow Spoon," he said. "They stopped selling them commercially a few years ago so we have them custom-manufactured in Finland 500 at a time."

The action of this lure makes it irresistible to pike, he said, adding the extremely effective weed guard allows you to fish through thick cabbage beds where the fish spend most of their time.

Every pike angler should also carry at least a couple of topwater baits, which typically buzz across the surface luring these toothy monsters into some jaw-dropping aerial acrobatics.

"The Rebel Buzz'n Frog is a great one as is the Moss Boss," he said. "The pike explode right out of the water."

If you plan to be heading a little further North in search of Arctic char, Johnston recommends packing a Blue Fox Rattlin' Pixee.

"It's a spoon with a rattle built into it," he said. "When you're fishing in murky water, you have to remember fish are relying heavily on their sense of hearing to feed."

Last summer he spent several fruitless hours on the Tree River, fishing with every standard spinner and spoon under the sun and it wasn't until he tied on a Rattlin' Pixie that the char started hitting.

"My biggest on that trip last July was a 28-pound char - awesome fish, amazing lure," he said.

For most Yellowknife anglers, lake trout remain the most prized catch and the lure of choice for many of them is an old Yellowknife standby.

"I can't tell you how many 40-pounders I've seen taken on a Wolverine Phantom," said longtime angler Kearney Dillon.

The store's signature spoon, it was designed by Johnston in 1989 and is manufactured for Wolverine by Rebel.

"It's available in three sizes and five colours - yellow, black, blue, chartreuse and fire orange," said Johnston. "It's been our number one seller for years; we get phone orders for it from as far away as Ontario."

There are also a few new offerings on the shelves he said trout anglers should be aware of for 2008.

"We contacted Lucky Strike last year at the end of the season and told them how great the Half Wave is up here and explained it would be even better if it were heavier than its largest size, 1 1/8 ounces," he said. "They've come up with a two-ounce Half Wave that they're testing here in the North, and we have it available in both new glow gold and glow silver colour patterns."

There are also a few wrinkles on the other dominant trout bait in the city - the cisco rig.

"We've got a new purple haze colour this year that will glow purple when it's underwater," he said. "We've also got pre-rigged cisco, or herring, baits that include an artificial minnow."

The bait is ideal for novice anglers not anxious to fumble around with stinky ciscoes or for others looking at an extended trip when real bait would likely spoil before it can be used.

Johnston said he was amazed with the artificial minnows' performance when he tried it out earlier this year.

"I was out using one on Prelude with a fellow who was rigging up with real ciscoes," he said. "In less than three hours I had three trout and he only caught one."