Ken,

After much discussion about the late ice-out, we journeyed north for our second trip to Maria Lake. The frozen waters were spectacular as we flew into Maria Lake to begin our annual fishing adventure for 2008. By the end of the 3/4 first day of fishing, our boat alone had totaled several Masters on northern pike and we headed back to camp for dinner. Tom was joking that no one would believe us when we said how beat up we were from hauling 20 lb northern out of the waters that first day.

Upon arriving back at camp our bravado and bragging were quickly shoot down as everyone had had the same kind of day. Numerous Master Anglers, countless northern of 20 lb plus were caught by each boat and it was just our first day. As the week continued on, the fish got bigger, more plentiful and the stories bolder . Every person in the group had countless 20 lb plus fish and too many 40 inch pike to even photograph. We actually stopped taking pictures of fish at 40 inches - waste of time. Danny and I with guidance from camp manager Ken at Maria Lake headed out to catch the one fish missing from our extensive resumes of 20 years plus of fishing the Canadian North, the Arctic Grayling. After a few minutes of working on the technique that Kenny had reviewed with us, Danny landed a beautiful 18 inch Grayling.

The rest of the day was more of the same as we both got in the books with Master Angler grayling. What a beautiful fish! We even saw them gathering at their bottom of the falls in larger groups, circling and surfacing. Our guess was they were in some mating ritual. (we actually caught this on film) Mornings for the majority of the week were spent in pursuit of Lakers and the success there was tremendous. Several 37 inch plus fish were caught, boated and released.

As our fish ing trips go, this was by far the best in quality, quantity and variety. At the end of each day our shoulders and arms ached from hauling huge fish out of the water. Maria Lake is truly a trophy factory on several species of fish. We will see you next year!

Ed Mac Kenzie