Another Amazing Return to the North Seal!
Father and son team Tom and Erik Sandsmark are repeat Ganglers guests who returned in June 22 after our 2 year shut-down. They had an amazing trip, nicely representative of a visit to Ganglers. We asked them to share their story with others and Erik sent us the below writeup and photos. Enjoy!
Tom and Erik Sandsmark – North Seal River Lodge 6/18/22-6/24/22
“What an amazing and memorable trip my father and I had at Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge. The charter flight from Winnipeg to the lodge took off without a hitch and the breakfast service was fantastic. This was a nice change compared to our commercial airline service a day earlier. After a delicious bowl of beef stew made with prime rib our guide greeted us on the dock ready to get fishing. We made quick work of the pike that first afternoon bringing 49 to the boat as well as a handful of lake trout. The evening was filled with fantastic food from start to finish. If you come to Ganglers, don’t expect to lose weight!!! Egenolf Lake was on fire again in the morning! Pike, lake trout, and even a nice walleye came to the boat in the morning. The walleye made a delicious shore lunch cooked to perfection by our guide. By day’s end we had caught in the ballpark of 100 fish with pike measuring up to 39 inches and lake trout up to 34 inches.
The following morning we flew out to McDennon Lake. We have fished McDennon in the past and love the lake. McDennon has multiple river mouths and is very productive for both walleye and pike. Walleye were eating bugs and minnows on the surface as we came to the first river mouth. We had caught about 3 dozen walleye from the river mouth before spending the rest of the morning catching pike before lunch. When I say 3 dozen walleye these are not your average little walleye found in so many waters south of the border. These walleyes are fat and healthy, donning beautiful yellow and gold scales coming out of the cold tannic water. Our resourceful guide cooked a few of the walleyes for lunch and we were back on the water. The afternoon was filled with dozens of walleyes and pike including a 38 inch bruiser so fat even the guide wanted a picture of its belly. The next morning, we woke up to the ravens nesting near our cabin letting something in the area know they weren’t happy at its presence. Dad looked out our window and proclaimed ‘wolf’. Sure, enough we had a gorgeous wolf walking along the bog behind our cabin. We frantically grabbed for our phones and snapped some pictures as the wolf hunted the edge of the bog.
We were flying out again today to what has quickly become my favorite lake. Atimkameskak Lake is its name but don’t ask me to pronounce it. The lake is gin clear and boasts an amazing population of both big pike and trout. The day we had on this lake will be etched into our memories for the rest of our lives. Between the two of us we caught 25 pike over 34 inches with the biggest of these being a 45-inch monster that looked like he belonged in the most recent Jurassic Park movie. We also caught several bonus lake trout while pike fishing with the biggest of them measuring 35 inches. We could have gone fish less the rest of the trip and been happy but that certainly was not the case. Our raven pair was once again on high alert in the morning. I looked out the window and this time it was a black bear just outside the cabin on patrol. We fished Egenolf today and started the day walleye fishing within sight of the lodge. Walleye were biting and we caught fish for lunch in addition to releasing some big fish to fight again including a brace of 25-inch fish as well as a 28-inch trophy. The rest of the day was filled with good action on both pike and lake trout.
After a delicious dinner I decided to take advantage of the kayaks available for guests to use at their leisure. The fishing was great as I jigged up numerous walleyes from 24 to 28 inches and several pike only a few hundred yards from the launch. The highlight of the night, however, was having a big boar black bear swim across the bay right in front of my kayak. Shortly thereafter a pine marten swam across the bay probably another 50 yards down the bay. We flew north the next day to fish Booth Lake. This was our first-time fishing Booth but it certainly won’t be our last. The fishing was fantastic, and we boated over 100 pike up to 40 inches and 7 lake trout. We finished out the week at Egenolf. The last day the fishing was slower but a slow day at Ganglers is a banner anywhere else.
Best Regards
Erik Sandsmark”
