The Epic Saskatchewan Fishing Trip

 

The epic Saskatchewan fishing trip started on July 21st with a day of driving north through Montana to Saskatchewan.  By evening we were in Saskatoon where we spent the night in a Best Western that didn't serve breakfast!  Next morning started with a stop at Safeway to stock up on groceries followed by another eight hours of driving. We finally reached Dore Lake Lodge in the afternoon.  It is situated at the end of a 40-mile dirt road, and is about as far north as you can go in Saskatchewan.

After unpacking, we got to work preparing our fishing tackle for the next day:

But I couldn't wait, so I went out and tried a little fishing from the pier (no luck):

 

Before I go on, I must show you my luxurious bedroom.  Don't get too jealous! 

 

 

After a night's sleep, we got up bright and early and headed out onto the lake for a day of fishing.  Here's Capt. Noah piloting the boat:

 

 

 And here are Jim & Wanda ready for a day of fishing:

 

And here's Wanda reeling one in:

It was a big one!



Here's one of mine, but we didn't get a picture of me landing it:

After a couple of days, we all got the hang of things and settled into a routine.  I somehow ended up being the fish wrestler.  It was a dirty, tiring job:

Here I am kicking back at the end of the day:

 

Wrestling fish is exhausting!  Those things are all muscle!!

Jim had the dubious distinction of losing the most lures, so we found him one we were pretty sure he couldn't lose:

All in all, the fishing was excellent.  We all caught our limit for taking back home, plus extra to eat.  Here's one of our fish fries:

Pike are very good eating...and we ate our share!

Dore Lake was quite beautiful and BIG.  My favorite thing (besides the fantastic fishing) was the pelicans.  I tried to get some good shots of them, but they aren't very cooperative photographic subjects.  Here are my best couple of shots (out of about 150):

 

We spent 4 days and 5 nights at the Lodge before heading out.  After the somewhat primitive conditions, I jokingly said I wanted to find a place with a hot tub and a masseuse.  Much to my surprise, I was able to find us just that in the form of the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa in Moose Jaw.

I didn't take any actual pictures of the pool myself (I was too busy soaking), but the pool is on the 4th floor of the hotel (you can see it in the picture above).  It's an indoor-outdoor pool.  The outdoor pool is accessed through a swim-through channel.  Here are some photos I got off the internet for you to see.  The swim-through is under the white stairs:

 

Here's the outside portion of the pool:

We spent two days & nights in Moose Jaw at the spa.  While we were there, we took the Tunnels of Moose Jaw tours, but weren't allowed to take photos.  We also visited Moose Jaw's mascot, Mac the Moose.  Here I am posing with him:

While visiting Mac, we stopped for a tailgate dinner and more pike (this time butter poached--YUM!!)

After leaving Moose Jaw, we took a more leisurely pace on the way back home, so I was able to stop and get some photos of Saskatchewan.  I would be remiss if I didn't include a shot of the ubiquitous mustard fields:

There were lots of old, abandoned homesteads all along the way.  Here's one we stopped to explore:

We checked out the Canadian prairie dogs at Grasslands Provincial Park.  They have black tails (unlike American prairie dogs, I guess).  This is the only shot I got before the mosquitos descended:

And of course, there were lots of horses too:

We spent the last night of our trip at the Maltana Motel in Malta, Montana.  An unexpected little gem of a hotel in a tiny out-of-the-way spot.  The rooms had flower boxes at all the windows, fushia doors, and a resident Boston terrier named Lily who tried to lick everyone to death.  It was a great ending to an unforgettable trip.

Oh yeah!  Did I mention that I didn't bring the proper footwear for a fishing trip in the FAR north?  After two days of soggy, cold feet, we devised some redneck fishing boots for me out of plastic grocery bags and duct tape.  Ain't that classy?

Sorry it's been so long since the last posting.  Just been busy (and lazy), etc.  I know...excuses, excuses.  At least I hope you enjoyed reading about this, the latest adventure of Buckskin & Noah.  Until next time...

I'm yours most sincerely,

Buckskin Lily, Fisherwoman