Nestled in the beautiful boreal forest of northern Saskatchewan, on its own private island, is Stockman’s Lodge. It takes a maximum of 10 guests at a time to ensure not only a quality fishing experience but also a quality experience and outdoor adventure as a whole. Family-friendly and personable, Stockman’s Lodge is an angler’s paradise regardless of your skill level.
I headed there last July and the floatplane taxied to the dock at 9:00 am. Curtis and Corrie, the husband-and-wife owners of Stockman’s Lodge greeted us and a few other guests on the dock and showed us to our cabins. These overlooked Cuelenaere Lake. After getting organized we met at the main lodge for a quick lunch and then returned to our cabins to ready our fishing gear.
I quickly learned that northern pike and lake trout of all sizes, including large fish, could be caught right outside my cabin door. To my surprise, when we began fishing for lake trout in 75 to 90 feet of water, we were well within sight of the lodge, and could even faintly hear guests talking amongst themselves on the decks of their cabin when I set the hook on my first lake trout.
KEEP IT SUBTLE
We were fishing the tail end of a cold front and Curtis said the lake trout were looking for a small subtle presentation. I tied on a 2oz long-shanked jig and baited it with a pearl Liquid Mayhem Jerk bait. I had six feet of 20-pound Sunline Super Fluorocarbon tide with an Alberto knot to 50-pound Sunline PEx8 braided line spooled to a Streamside Predator Elite EP 3000 reel. I had it matched with a Streamside Predator Classic medium-heavy 7-foot rod. I sent my presentation down and let it fall through the water column until it hit bottom. I lifted it about three inches off the bottom and subtly twitched the bait.
My bait was hanging vertically, and the fish finder was marking fish near my presentation. After a few minutes, I felt a bite and quickly set the hook. The boat was positioned in 80 feet of water, so I took my time bringing the fish to the surface. According to the fish finder, my fish was at 40 feet when I saw bubbles coming to the surface. The lake trout I was fighting released his air bladder and it was now ready to come to the surface. This process continued all afternoon, and we quickly lost count of how many lake trout we caught and released all within sight of the lodge.
FREE AND EASY!
One of the many things I enjoyed about Stockman’s Lodge, is there is no agenda or schedule. You can fish as much as you like. After a smoked chicken dinner with all the fixings, I felt I had a few more lake trout in me. We headed out to the same location where we were fishing during the afternoon. I tied on a 1 ½ oz Holographic Spinnow from Buzzbomb Tackle and let it sit right on the bottom. I caught and released four lake trout ranging from four to eight pounds. However, it was the fifth lake trout that caused a great deal of excitement. The bite was hard. My rod instantly bowed under the pressure of a big lake trout. Both Curtis and I knew I had a big laker on the end of my line. Curtis calmly grabbed the cradle and moved everything inside the boat out of the way as if he were setting the stage for the big lake trout that was on his way up. Within a few minutes, the lake trout made its first appearance on the surface.
Curtis and I worked together to maneuver the laker into the cradle. We didn’t weigh or measure the lake trout, but I guessed her to be 22 pounds. After a quick photo, we released her and watched her swim back into the depths. With a healthy release, it was now time to share fishing stories on the main deck at the lodge.
LOTS OF DIFFERENT ADVENTURES AWAIT
If that wasn’t enough, Stockman’s Lodge also features various walk-in walleye and northern pike lakes, where boats and motors await to fish waterbodies only fished by Stockman’s Lodge guests. We made plans for Day 2, to walk the 400 meters into Buss Lake, a lake that is loaded with walleye and northern pike. We spent the entire day fishing at Buss Lake, casting #2 Len Thompson Lures for northern pike and trolling Chubb’s crank baits for walleye. I have no idea how many walleye and northern pike we caught and released but I can assure you I had my fill of fishing for the day.
The next morning after breakfast, we focused on lake trout until 10:00 am when it was time to search for large northern pike in the countless back bays of Cuelenaere Lake. We cast #2 Len Thompson Lures in large and small bays and caught and released countless northern pike. Although we never measured any of the pike we caught and released, I can assure you several of them stretched the tape past the 40-inch mark. We fished northern pike for about three hours until it was time to head back to the cabin for shore lunch. Due to the fire bans in northern Saskatchewan during my stay, we had shore lunch at the lodge. A mixed bag of lake trout, walleye, and northern pike went into Corrie’s favourite homemade beer batter mix and then into the fryer. After lunch, it was back on the water.
Throughout our stay at Stockman’s Lodge, both quality and quantity of lake trout, northern pike, and walleye were caught and released. However, it wasn’t until the last day that the biggest surprise came out of the depths of Cuelenaere Lake.
We were fishing in 102 feet of water. We were letting the wind push us in a slow drift over the deep water. I had the same 1 ½ oz Holographic Spinnow from Buzzbomb Tackle tied on and bouncing just off the bottom when the rod bowed under the pressure of a heavy lake trout. The bite came hard and fast. Without hesitation, Curtis maneuvered the boat so the wind wouldn’t push the boat over top of my line as I fought the fish. The spool would sing with every tail swipe of the big laker, and the head shakes felt more like violent head thrusts and throws.
I would gain some line on my reel only to have him earn it back. He was doing everything to stay on the bottom and with every head throw and thrust of his tail my heart would skip a beat. My rod and reel were handling the fight and there were times when all I could do was hang on. Curtis was watching the whole fight on his fish finder and every so often would call out the depth between me and my opponent. My adrenaline was racing, and I became even more excited when Curtis readied the cradle and cleared the stage. A few minutes later I got my first glimpse of him when he broke the surface. However, I had to stay focused on the fight as we still had to get him in the cradle. I don’t know if I took a breath until Curtis yelled out. “I got him. He’s in the cradle”.
To keep the fish safe, we didn’t weigh or measure the big laker as it really doesn’t matter to me. However, we removed the hook and took a quick picture.
A FISH OF A LIFETIME!
What came out of the depth is what I believe to be my new personal best lake trout. I guessed him to weigh around 40 pounds. The greatest thing about catching your new personal best is watching the fish swim away after the release. There was no need to keep fishing after that so we returned to the lodge to show pictures and share fishing stories with the other guests.
Stockman’s Lodge is one of the most friendly and personable lodges I have ever been to. After a day on the water losing count of the number of fish you did battle with, you can rest your arms in your log cabin with all the comforts of home or share fishing stories with other guests before you eat like a king/queen at the main lodge. That’s if you’re not still full from shore lunch.
You will arrive at Stockman’s Lodge as a guest but leave as friends. And the fishing stories you tell from Stockman’s Lodge really did happen!
Wes David Host and Producer of Fishing the Wild West TV