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I've just returned from my first ever trip to a fly-in fishing lodge and I am left speechless as this had been the best fishing experience I have ever had! The destination was Brabant Lodge, on the great Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories. On my arrival in Yellowknife, I was greeted by a province that was lit up a the time by over 100 forest fires. Simply getting to my float base in Hay River proved difficult as the only highway out of town was closed. After several attempts, we finally made it trough, and as we drove through the charred remains of what use to be a forest, I had no clue what was waiting for me once we got there. The Lodge Brabant lodge was perfectly set on the waters edge of this enormous river system and I was very excited upon getting my first look. The main lodge was very roomy and comfortable, their boats were 18' Alaskan Lunds powered by 50 HP Hondas, and their cabins were handcrafted log cabins that were kept just as clean as your standard 5 start hotel room. The meals were amazing and their complimentary bar didn't go unused. The guide we were assigned had been working with the lodge for over 30 years, and had even more experience with the waters we were on. I couldn't wait to wet a line! The fishing The quality of fishing and the shear numbers of fish blew me out of the water the very first night out. Some places you could catch pike on one side of the boat and walleye on the other side. At some points it was literally a fish every cast. During our stay we continuously switched back and forth from walleye to pike and went out occasionally for arctic graying in the evenings. But by far, the most exciting was the pike fishing. The average fish we were catching was in the 36-39" range with several dozen fish over 40". This experience has probably ruined my pike fishing here in Ontario haha There are way to many pics to post so I will choose my favorite. Arctic Grayling We caught these drifting a #2 mepps spinner in fairly fast current, maybe 4-5 fow with a rock/cobble bottom. It wasn't difficult to catch 10-12 fish per pass. They have amazing colors, especially when they are still in the water, and put up a decent little fight. And of course, look at the dorsal fin!!! Walleye were abundant with the average size being 4-5 lbs and schooled up by the hundreds. I don't think we caught anything smaller then 3 lbs. The pike was the highlight of the trip. Never in my life have I been able to pull up to one small weed bed and continuously pull out giant pike after giant pike. I'll let the pics do the talking. As my week concluded, and as we attempted to get back to Yellowknife, fires again prevented us. After spending the night in a truck at a gas station, the rd opened and this is what it looked like for over 20 km. I'll never forget this trip. Thanks to Max from Maximum Limit Fishing for bringing me along! If you would like to see exactly how this trip went, tune in to Maximum Limit Fishing on WILD TV sometime in December or January or visit him at www.maximumlimitfishing.com or on Facebook!