Fishing for char

Jacquie and I went on our first char fishing trip yesterday (Monday July 2, 2012)  We went out west of Iqaluit to the Sylvia Grinell River.  We were able to drive the jeep within 100 metres or so of the River.  We took the dogs with us, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake because everytime we cast the lure the dogs went in after it.  After trying to get the dogs to settle, Jacquie finally took them back to the jeep. 

There were a number of others fishing at the river too.  And we knew there were fish since one of the fisherman just down the river caught a good size char.  That exited us thinking that we were next to bring in the big one. 

About my third cast, the reel got all tangled up.  I ended up having to cut the line and start over.  In the mean time, Jacquie was casting and fishing up a storm.  In fact this was only the second time Jacquie had ever been fishing. 

When fishing in Nunavut we are not allowed to use live bait, so we had a number of red and white spoons and meps which are spinnng lures.  I was using a meps with a rubber worm and Jacquie was using the red and white spoon. 

In years gone by I have done a lot of fishing, however almost always with live bait.  When fishing for bass or northern pike, I almost always used frogs, minnows or worms.  Anyway, it showed as Jacquie was by far the better fisherman.  My reel kept on getting tangled and after the third time that I had cut the line and re-fitted the rod with a lure I managed to cast out and watch as the line went right out to the end and kept going.  Well, I had no more line to use.  My fishing for the day had come to an end.  :-(

About the same time Jacquie got her line caught on a rock and I thought I would give her a hand.  Well, her rod separated at the join and half the rod went into the water.  Ooops!  While I was thinking about what might be the best approach to this, I handed the rod back to her and she was able to get the lure free and reel in her lure and the top end of her rod.  It ended that the end of the rod was all we were able to catch on our first fishing trip for char, however it didn't dampen our enthusiasm and we expect to be out there again this weekend if the weather is good. 



We will catch some char this summer, there is no doubt about that. 

Photo from web image