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Northern Territories Arctic Char

5K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  PGK 
#1 ·
Hi Guys,

I'm hoping to get up to the Northern Territories later in the year after some big char on the fly and was wondering if anyone has experience of fishing up there on some of the best rivers? and if so could you suggest any successful fly patterns? any info would be greatly appreciated!

SG
 
#2 ·
Whereabouts in NWT?

Best known river is the Tree River, however it's in Nunavut. In fact most of the true Arctic Char rivers are in Nunavet. Virtually all ocean flowing rivers will have char in them.

I've fished the Coppermine River while on a 20 day canoe trip. Very good char river if you time it right. Plummers used to have a camp on it. Plummers has a permanent camp on the Tree. Tree is known for the size of the char. 20+lbs possible. Coppermine more quantity but still the average size is 10-12lbs with some approaching 20lbs.

There's Victoria Island's Ekaluk river and other coastel spots.

Ungava has char fishing as well but the fish are small in comparison to the central arctic.

You time some of these artic rivers right and you can have silly number (i.e. 100+) fish days.

Char are aggressive. Any fly will work but I would focus on bright and bold profile. Shrimpy patterns are the obvious as that's why they go out to feed in the ocean in the first place from their native lakes and rivers. If you really hone in on a spot and spend time there you can get them to rise to the dry fly.

I always tell my steelhead buddies that the arctic char is way underrated. They hit harder than a steelhead and often fight harder. Also the best eating of any fish I've had among the char/trout/salmon category.

Good luck.
 
#4 ·
I had great success swinging olive/black and olive/white rabbit strip leeches on the Kongakut (far NE Alaska) in June 2013.

Caught this fellow while breakfast was being cooked.

 
#8 ·
Jason, that is a Dolly Varden. All N Slope Alaska/Yukon chars are Dolly Varden.

The Tree is famous for a reason. If you have the money, go there. Hands down the best in the world.

Ekaluk, while having probably the best and brightest fish, is heavily utilized by a commercial net fishery and the fishing can be very spotty in some years. There are also plenty of cheaper, easier to access rivers in and around cambridge bay which will produce, but not as famously as the big name systems. Most of the systems around cam bay have commercial fisheries on them of one kind or another, which obviously can impact angling.
 
#10 ·
I haven't fished the Tree, but have thought about it. Only thing I found in my research that wasn't awesome to me was that because it is a high gradient river, there isn't a ton of nice swinging water on it. A lot of the fishing seems to be very short casts into tiny pools in or on the edge of torrent waters where the char collect to rest. Ideal for those with spinning gear, not as great for spey rods. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong!
The Tree definitely has the reputation for the biggest char though (they need to be big and strong to get up that river).

Rivers like the Ekaluk and others in Cambridge Bay area are lower gradient and consist almost entirely of good swinging water.
 
#12 ·
Visually there is almost no difference between the two. You have to see a lot of both to be able to tell the difference. Off the record, there are both Dolly Varden and Arctic Char in the Tree and Coppermine, that information isn't published in the scientific literature but is well known in the char community. Both fantastic fish, ecologically they fit similar profiles and are basically arctic steelhead, except tougher! If you ever get the chance to fish them off the beach, do it. On a different angle, there is no 'proper' fishery in Ulukhaktok (Holman) but they are currently pumping out fish to equal the Tree. I have seen some caught off the beach right in town that were absolutely over 20#. The flight costs an arm and a leg though. Not much of a guide service the way we know it but you can hire locals to tour you around. Pretty DIY though. I'm dying to get up there.
 
#13 ·
Not trying to stir things up but isn't saying a dolly isn't a chart the same as saying a steelhead isn't a salmonoid? I grew up in AK catching dollies but it has always been my understanding that they are in the char family?

Either way GREAT fish Jason! I hope this winter has been good to you!
 
#16 ·
...and both are also closely related to (in the same genus) as:

Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus)
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
and
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)

among others...

...all of which are really char, not trout in the strict sense.

"True" trout belong to the genus Salmo - which includes brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)!

All of these genera of fish, along with Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus, which includes rainbow trout and cutthroat trout), grayling (genus Thymallus), whitefish (genus Coregonus), and some other evolutionary oddballs scattered in the northern hemisphere, belong in the species rich Salmon family (Salmonidae).

Confusing, I know. Kramer got it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLB2-RNv2w8
 
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