A year of fishing -- by the numbers

<p>The past year I did something I always wanted to try but was either too lazy or sudsy to execute &ndash; I counted and recorded every fish I caught and every day I went fishing. I&rsquo;m definitely more latter era Gordie Howe than Bobby Orr these days but, over a period of one year corresponding with the commencement and expiration of my 2016-2017 NWT sport fishing licence (April 1 to March 31), I still managed to bag 528 fish. That&rsquo;s 493 freshwater fish, 35 saltwater, and 45 species (27 fresh water, 18 saltwater).</p> <p>I added 14 lifelisters during this time, having fished on 58 days, whether for 15 minutes or eight hours (mostly short sessions). This constituted 218.25 hours fished and 2.4 fish per hour of fishing (does not include travel time, lunch breaks, etc., just fishing).</p> <p>I also recorded notable catches (large fish, unusual catches) and some elements of the weather, which proved kind of irrelevant in places such as Florida and the Bahamas. No surprise but the most caught species was northern pike at 107. They&rsquo;re in every fishable body of water in my area. The runner-up was burbot at 90, even though I only caught them on five occasions. I suspect the previous year&rsquo;s catch of burbot surpassed even pike as they&rsquo;re easy to catch in large numbers and I was trying more often then. Number three is inconnu (55), all caught on a single weekend during Hengelaar&rsquo;s visit last September. I&rsquo;ve hit this spot three, four times a year in the past so you can imagine how high this number would&rsquo;ve gone before.</p> <p>A downward trend for sure was my catch of lake whitefish (22). I know I have caught more than 22 in a single day in the years before and on multiple occasions. Lake whitefish were just complete dicks last year that&rsquo;s all I can really say. I had more luck than Moose I suppose so that&rsquo;s a blessing.</p> <p>Historically, in my pre-marriage/pre-children prime, my catch volume would&rsquo;ve far exceeded last year&rsquo;s, although the number of species caught would&rsquo;ve been much smaller. Ten years ago I spent almost every summer weekend in the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, catching mainly lake trout and Arctic grayling. As you can see by last year&rsquo;s paltry numbers on those species I haven&rsquo;t been doing much of that lately. In fact, I didn&rsquo;t visit the East Arm once last year. It&rsquo;s just too damn far away for a quick outing.</p> <p>Of course, with tons less money spent on beer (and other things) and a family that wants to see stuff, I&rsquo;ve been travelling more. I&rsquo;ve also become keen on lifelisting, even for something kind of stupid, like mimic shiner.</p> <p>Anyway, here&rsquo;s my list. I think I&rsquo;ll do another one this year. I can&rsquo;t say it&rsquo;s 100 per cent accurate. There were times when I was standing on the river bank asking myself, &ldquo;am I at 16 creek chub or 17?&rdquo; I had to make my best guess a couple of times. If you find these numbers don&rsquo;t quite jive, that&rsquo;s because I suck at math.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>* REDACTED means I don&rsquo;t wants peeps to know these spots</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>SPECIES:</p> <p>90 burbot</p> <p>35 lake trout</p> <p>9 mountain whitefish</p> <p>8 arctic grayling</p> <p>107 northern pike</p> <p>10 walleye</p> <p>22 lake whitefish</p> <p>34 smallmouth bass</p> <p>6 largemouth bass</p> <p>3 river chub</p> <p>3 hornyhead chub</p> <p>2 rainbow trout</p> <p>1 muskellunge</p> <p>36 bluegill</p> <p>1 pumpkinseed</p> <p>2 sauger</p> <p>2 channel catfish</p> <p>1 rock bass</p> <p>5 northern redbelly dace</p> <p>25 striped/common shiner</p> <p>1 mimic shiner</p> <p>1 spotfin shiner</p> <p>3 golden redhorse</p> <p>1 greater redhorse</p> <p>27 creek chub</p> <p>3 lake chub</p> <p>55 inconnu</p> <p>1 longspine squirrelfish</p> <p>2 common squirrelfish</p> <p>2 slippery dick</p> <p>1 great barracuda</p> <p>2 mutton snapper</p> <p>1 yellowtail snapper</p> <p>1 schoolmaster snapper</p> <p>6 white grunt</p> <p>3 blue-striped grunt</p> <p>1 French grunt</p> <p>6 sailor&rsquo;s choice</p> <p>1 porkfish</p> <p>2 jolthead porgy</p> <p>2 coney grouper</p> <p>1 queen triggerfish</p> <p>1 rock hind</p> <p>1 gulf toadfish</p> <p>1 gray reef angelfish</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Burbot came in second for number of fish caught from one species in 2016-17. I imagined to sneak a few waiting for my son to be born last year.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/P1170198_zpssklzc8wl.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 549px;" /></p> <p>April 2 -- REDACTED: 20 burbot, one lake trout, -18 C, 4.5 hours<br /> <br /> April 6 -- REDACTED: 10 burbot, -20 C, 4 hours<br /> <br /> April 13 -- REDACTED: 10 burbot, -4C, 4.5 hours<br /> <br /> April 23&nbsp; -- Kakisa River: Six mountain whitefish, two Arctic grayling, 4 C, 8 hour, water quite low<br /> <br /> April 24 -- Kakisa River: three mountain whitefish, 6 C, 3 hours, water quite low<br /> <br /> May 1 -- Tibbitt Lake: zero fish, 17 C, 20 minutes, water low</p> <p>May 2 -- Martin Lake: two pike, one walleye, 19 C, 3 hours, water very low, opening from ice about 50 feet wide</p> <p>May 6 -- Martin Lake: three walleye, two pike, 11 C, 2.5 hours, still low, still some ice and drifting ice pans<br /> <br /> May 14 -- Martin Lake: two pike, including one over 40 inches, 20 C, three hours, 15 minutes, water low, no ice<br /> <br /> May 21 -- Kakisa River: no fish, 18 C, one hour, water very high<br /> <br /> May 22 -- Stagg River, 18 C, 30 minutes, water fairly high, caught no fish but saw white suckers spawning</p> <p>I had an incredible day of fishing May 29, landing 12 pike over 40 inches long. The one I&rsquo;m holding here, a really fat 46 incher, wasn&rsquo;t even my largest.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/P1080742_zpsbxijfsg1.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /></p> <p><br /> May 29 &ndash; REDACTED: 13 pike, 12 of them over 40 inches, three lake whitefish, one walleye; 14 C, 5.5 hours, water levels normal, maybe a bit high<br /> <br /> June 8 -- REDACTED: 5 lake whitefish, one pike: 19 C, 3 hours. Suckers were spawning in the rapids,&nbsp;with huge numbers of whitefish interspersed eating the eggs</p> <p>I always bring a fishing rod when I travel. The keiryu rod I received as a gift last year proved particularly handy while fishing for smallmouth bass and other stream fish during a quick family get-together in June.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/P1080786_zpskrlemeqh.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 518px;" /></p> <p>June 12 -- Bighead River, Ont: nine smallmouth bass, three river chub; one hornyhead chub, one rainbow trout: 16 C, 2.5 hours.<br /> <br /> June 13 -- Bighead River: two smallmouth bass; 1.5 hours; 13 C<br /> <br /> June 18 -- Trout River; no fish; 1.5 hours; water high; 19 C<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; -- Redknife River; 2 pike; 2&nbsp;hours; water high; 19 C<br /> <br /> June 19 -- Axehandle Creek; 1 pike, 20 minutes, 23 C; Kakisa River, 1 pike, 1 hour<br /> <br /> June 20 -- Great Slave Lake, REDACTED; 15 pike, 22 C, 4.5 hours<br /> <br /> June 25 -- Kam Lake, 17 pike, 2.5 hours, 16 C<br /> <br /> July 3 -- Great Slave Lake (Drybones area), 2 Arctic grayling, 6 pike, 5.5 hours, 27 C<br /> <br /> July 15 -- Rideau River, Ont., 3 smallmouth bass, 1 muskellunge! 4.5 hours, 25 C</p> <p><br /> Had some more fun with the keiryu rod fishing for bluegills and largies with Eli in Quebec.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/P1080838_zpszuukceqg.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 552px;" /></p> <p>July 16 &ndash; REDACTED, Quebec: 36 bluegill, 6 largemouth bass, 1 pumpkinseed, 4 hours, 22 C</p> <p>Caught a couple beauty sauger last summer.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/P1080843_zpsjq492zwr.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 624px;" /></p> <p>July 17 -- Gatineau River, Que., 2 sauger, 2 channel catfish, 1 rock bass, 1 smallmouth bass; 3.5 hours; 23 C</p> <p>July 19 -- Lac la Chip, Que.: 4 smallmouth bass, 1.5 hours, 23 C<br /> Ottawa River, no fish, 5.5 hours, 26 C<br /> <br /> July 20 -- Lac la Chip, Que.: 1 northern red belly dace, 10 minutes, 24 C.<br /> <br /> July 21 -- Lac la Chip, Que., 6 smallmouth bass, 2.5 hours, 29 C</p> <p>Golden redhorse was one of 14 lifelisters I caught during the 2016-17 sport fishing year.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/P1080891_zps7mvn1elw.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 564px;" /></p> <p>July 25-- REDACTED, Ont., 9 smallmouth bass, 1 striped shiner, 1 mimic shiner, 1 spotfin shiner, 3 golden redhorse, 1 greater redhorse (26 inches!), 6 hours, 31 C, water low.<br /> <br /> July 28 -- Bognar Marsh, Ont., 9 creek chub, 4 common shiner, 4 northern red belly dace, 90 minutes, 26 C<br /> <br /> July 30 -- Beaver River, Ont., 18 creek chub, 20 common/striped shiner, 2 hornyhead chub, 1 rainbow trout, 2 hours, 25 C<br /> <br /> Aug. 7 -- Yellowknife River, 4 lake whitefish, 3 lake chub, 6 hours, 16 C<br /> <br /> Aug. 11 -- Giant Mine boat launch, 2 pike, 45 minutes, 18 C<br /> <br /> Aug. 13-14 -- Buffalo River, REDACTED, Kakisa River, 16 hours, temps mid-20s, zero fish, lost three spectacular rainbow trout at REDACTED<br /> <br /> Aug. 22 -- mouth of Yellowknife River, 2 hours, low 20s, skunked<br /> <br /> Aug. 28 -- Prosperous Lake, 7 hours, 13 C, 1 whitefish, 3 pike, including one over 40&quot;<br /> <br /> My family and I was invited to McKay Lake Lodge last fall to watch the tundra change colours &hellip; and catch some lake trout and grayling.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/P1090074_zpseeclpkvt.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/P1080984_zpsyfskn6lw.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 539px;" /></p> <p>Sept. 2 -- McKay Lake, 1 hour, 6 C, 1 lake trout<br /> <br /> Sept. 3 -- McKay Lake, 7 hours, 11 C, 11 lake trout<br /> <br /> Sept. 4 -- McKay Lake, 4 hours, 8 C, 4 lake trout; King River, 1 hour, 3 lake trout, 3 Arctic grayling<br /> <br /> Sept. 5 - Cossack River, 2 hours, 8 C, 8 lake trout, 1 Arctic grayling<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p>46 inconnu is a actually a pretty slow day at the Pike Jam.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/DSCF1240_zpsivb55drs.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 517px;" /><br /> Sept. 11 &ndash; Pike Jam, 10 hours, 15 C, 46 inconnu, 7 pike, 1 lake whitefish<br /> <br /> Sept. 12 &ndash; Pike Jam, 2.5 hours, 16 C, 9 inconnu, 4 pike<br /> <br /> Sept. 13 -- Yellowknife River, 3.5 hours, 3 whitefish, 11 C<br /> <br /> A fine 44-inch pike from my son&rsquo;s namesake, Mason Lake.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/DSCF1270_zpsqefgkw2v.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 573px;" /></p> <p>Sept. 15 -- Mason Lake, 1.5 hours, 2 pike, 9 C<br /> <br /> Sept. 16 -- Mason Lake, 5 hours, 11 pike, 13 C</p> <p><br /> Last fish of the open water season &ndash; a nice sized lake whitefish. These fish were dicks all year.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/IMG_3494_zps8akdl6ha.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 586px;" /></p> <p>Oct. 9 -- Yellowknife River, 2.5 hours, 5 lake whitefish, River heavy with ciscoes, 3 C<br /> <br /> Winter came Oct. 30. 3.8 mm of snow<br /> <br /> Dec. 11 -- Madeline Lake, 4 hours, 1 northern pike, -26 C<br /> <br /> Dec. 26 -- Walsh Lake, 5 hours, 2 lake trout, -14 C<br /> <br /> Jan. 17 -- Grand Cayman, 1 hour, 1 longspine squirrelfish, 2 slippery dick, 24 C<br /> <br /> Coney grouper and queen triggerfish were some of the cooler fish I caught during a brief visit to the Bahamas earlier this year.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/DSCF1442_zps1ych8fsd.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 593px;" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/DSCF1435_zps8cemgjia.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /></p> <p>Jan. 19 -- Castaway Cay, Bahamas; 3 hours; 1 great barracuda, 2 mutton snapper, 5 white grunt, 2 jolthead porgy, 2 coney (grouper), 1 yellowtail snapper, 2 squirrelfish, 1 queen triggerfish, 24 C.<br /> <br /> Jan. 20 -- Key Largo, Fl; 2.5 hours; 1 rock hind; 1 porkfish; 6 sailor&#39;s choice; 1 French grunt; 3 blue-striped grunt; 1 white grunt, 1 schoolmaster, 24 C.<br /> <br /> -- Key Largo, different location; 1 hour; 1 gulf toadfish; 20 C<br /> <br /> Jan. 22 -- Duck Key, Fl., 15 minutes; 1 gray angelfish, 25 C.<br /> <br /> Jan. 25. -- unnamed lake, Ont., 7 hours, no fish; 0 C.<br /> <br /> Feb. 19 -- REDACTED: 5.5 hours, 3 walleye, 7 pike; -11 C.<br /> <br /> March 15 -- REDACTED, 3.5 hours, 14 burbot, -16 C, gale force winds!<br /> <br /> March 19 -- REDACTED, 7 hours, 2 pike, -19 C, high winds again<br /> <br /> March 24 -- REDACTED, 4 hours, 5 lake trout (no burbot), -12 C<br /> <br /> I didn&rsquo;t do a lot of ice fishing this winter but I did catch some nice pike while checking out a winter road last month.<img alt="" src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz229/salvelinus2003/lauder%20lake3_zpsd40jojq8.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 548px;" /></p> <p>March 26 -- REDACTED, 6 hours, 2 walleye, 6 pike (including a couple hogs), -1 C<br /> <br /> March 29 -- REDACTED, 2.5 hours, 36 burbot, -3 C</p>