When it hit, I knew it had taken the lure. I also knew it would be the largest northern pike I had caught so far by both the force of the fish's strike and because I was wearing Polaroid glasses and could see the large hooked pike fighting in the clear waters of the Great Slave Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories.

After a short fight with it, I reeled the pike toward the boat where Carlos Gonzalez, my guide, carefully lifted it aboard. Quickly we measured it at 37 inches, weighed it -- about 15 pounds -- and then sent it back to the cold water. But that one would not be the largest pike I would catch that day.

Carlos, owner of Yellowknife Outdoor Adventures, believes in catch and release fishing -- weigh, measure, photograph, then sent it back to be caught yet another day -- even in this lake loaded with large pike.

It was Saturday, July 19, and I was part of a party of four fishing the north arm of the Great Slave Lake, the fifth largest lake in North America, larger than Great Lakes Ontario and Erie. The Great Slave is a lake of contrasts, with the island-studded east arm home to trophy sized lake trout (70 pounders have been caught), a large open water section, and the north arm most noted for trophy sized pike. It is a formidable lake that can get very rough, so all but the most experienced anglers use guides and outfitters to fish these big waters.

My companions, besides Carlos, were Terry and Michelle Thompson from Kawartha Lakes, Ontario. Michelle had won a radio contest offered by a Toronto radio station with this trip as a prize. It would be their fishing trip of a lifetime. The day before, the Thompsons had boated 50 large pike in half a day's fishing, but no lunkers, just lots in the 10-15 pound range, average fish for Great Slave Lake.

We were 20 miles north of Yellowknife, the capital city of the Northwest Territories (NWT), fishing a series of weed beds in sheltered bays. The landscape was typical of the area -- bare Precambrian rock of the Canadian Shield dotted with small black spruce and jack pine with the occasional white birch. On our way up the lake we passed a soaring bald eagle looking for fish.

Our technique was a simple one: cast into the weed beds and use a fast retrieve. The pike, if it was interested, would strike fast. A 4-inch silver Tony Accetta spoon with a single barbless hook was our choice of lure to make catch and release easier (only barbless are legal in the NWT). Our St. Croix rods, equipped with 17-pound test, were pointed toward the lure, tipped slightly upward, ready to set the hook while we reeled in.

We had lots of opportunities to perfect our technique, what Carlos refers to as Pike 101, for in the first hour we landed 10 pike, all in the 8-15-pound range, but no lunkers in the 20-pound and over category.

After a short boat ride to another weed bed, the Thompsons and I set up then cast into what Carlos referred to as "big pike water." Here we would catch fewer but larger "jacks," the northern colloquial term for northern pike. Shortly after, Michelle hooked a really large pike and, though she is a small person, expertly played and reeled in the big fish. This was the only one our party would catch that would require a net to boat. Carlos measured the pike at 44 ½ inches long and 21.5 pounds. Michelle struggled to lift the massive fish for the photos.

I was catching my share of pike as well, most in the 32-36-inch range, my chance for a big one yet to come. Just prior to moving on to another bay, I hooked onto a very big pike. As I worked it toward the boat, it made a short run. I soon gained control, though, and up it came, lifted into the boat by Carlos. This fish was 40 inches long and weighed almost 17 pounds, not a trophy for Great Slave Lake, but a nice catch nonetheless. After some quick photos, it was released.

In all, the three of us caught 29 pike, none smaller than 30 inches, in six hours of fishing, half the time spent traveling to and from the weed beds. Had we gone after numbers, we could have fished other areas, as Terry and Michelle had done the day before. However, we were after bigger fish that day, and with the expert help of Carlos Gonzalez, it was a very good day of fishing.

Field Notes

Carlos Gonzalez charges very reasonable rates -- $185 per person for 6 hours fishing (minimum 4 per party) on the Great Slave Lake. Though he has Spanish surname, Carlos was born and raised in Montreal. His family visited Plattsburgh regularly when he was a boy, and as a teenager, he camped every summer in Macomb Park in Schuyler Falls and fished the West Branch of the Ausable River. Carlos is fluent in English, French and Spanish. He also runs bird watching and wildlife observation trips and fishing trips for lake trout to the east arm of Great Slave Lake. Contact him at Yellowknife Outdoor Adventures (867-444-8320) or ykoutadv@yahoo.ca.