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Whenever I think of the far north of Canada, I get goosebumps. After all, it is my favorite place on earth.
We are talking many hundreds of miles north of the border. These are big lakes often in Nunavut territory. (Nunavut is the northernmost territory in Canada and is the least populated and home to about 32,000 Inuit native indians.)
The lakes have been formed by glaciers long ago which hollowed out the land to make the lakes, leaving piles of stone as eskers and intermediate islands. They can be miles wide and miles long with rivers flowing in and out of each lake.
Winter is cold and harsh. Summer is short with open water fishing without ice being a short season of about two months. This is the place for wolves, grizzly and brown bears, black bears, weasels, beavers and other furbearers, moose, caribou, ptarmigans, Arctic terns, loons, eagles, parasitic jaegers, mosquitos and blackflies.
This is also the place for dead silence. When the boat motor is turned off, it is like stepping into a mausoleum and shutting the door. You hear nothing, no boat, no motor, no background noise, no cell phone beeping, not even the water lapping against the shore on a calm day. You hear nothing but your own breathing.
Of course, when you are away from camp, everything looks the same. It takes years of time on a lake to be able to maintain your presence of mind, to pick your way among the hundreds of islands, inlets, bays, rocky points, underwater can openers (large boulders just under the water surface that can tear open the bottom of your boat), and fast currents at the mouths of rivers.
This can be literally deadly for a novice without a seasoned guide. Water temperatures can be in the 30’s fahrenheit to the 40’s mid-season before starting to cool down again. Being lost or thrown out of the boat is not an option. Thunderstorms with dangerous high winds are a common occurrence as weather changes quickly over the flat terrain.
All of this yields some of the best fishing on earth. Lake trout grow to more than 50#, northern pike are 40” to 50” and weigh 30# to 35# and Arctic grayling can top 5# which are the largest in the world. And for expert fly fishermen the white fish are huge!
I remember several years ago when my best friend and spouse, Maxine, and I were booked into a camp. For several weeks before we were to leave I implored Max not to wear makeup, perfumed deodorant, hair spray, hand lotion or anything else that had an aroma. And like the wonderful trooper that she is, Max complied. The idea is that black flies for the most part will leave you alone if they are not attracted by perfumed products or residue remaining on the skin for several weeks following the use of those products.
For the entire time Max was in camp, on the lake fishing, or on shore having lunch, she was rarely bitten. But, and I have to love her, on the last night we were in camp, Max decided to get spiffied up for me. And as she likes to do in the evening, Max also decided to take a walk along the lake.
As luck would have it, Max was perfectly OK until she got a hundred yards or so from camp, when a swarm of black flies seized the moment. Now black flies are the size of tiny gnats, but when they get together they can swarm by the thousands. The swarm can be 10’ high, just as wide, and so thick it’s difficult to see through it.
These black flies were not in the mood for mercy. They covered her, and she ran as fast as she could for camp. By the time she got close, I heard her scream, opened the door and she burst into our cabin. I grabbed her and literally pulled her into the shower. A combination of the water, my wiping the black flies away with a wet towel, and her and my ripping her outer clothing away, washed many of the black flies down the shower drain. I then sprayed the room with insect killer and began the job of picking the black flies out of her hair.
Max looked like hamburger meat. Blood was streaming everywhere, Wherever black flies bite, they leave a tiny wound that bleeds. Think of black flies as teeth with wings. Now think of hundreds of bites.
The next day and for the following weeks, Max looked like she was in a prize fight and lost… badly.
Max, and as I said I have to love her, has returned back to the north fishing with me, and each time since she has decided to take my advice regarding perfumed products.
A year later on one of her evening walks, Max was met at the far end of the runway by a cow moose and her calf. This could have turned ugly. But that is a story for another time.
Bill Gindlesperger is a central Pennsylvanian, Dickinson College graduate, Pennsylvania System Of Higher Education (PASSHE) Governor, former Shippensburg University Trustee, awarded numerous patents, as well as Founder and Chairman of eLynxx Solutions. eLynxx provides cloud-software for automated sourcing and managing of mail marketing, swag, packaging, and all things print. He is a board member, campaign advisor, successful entrepreneur, published author and commentator. He can be reached at [email protected].
