# Sutton River Brook Trout



## Mike Borger (Jan 30, 2015)

Hey guys, figured you might get a kick out of this video. I was fortunate enough to fish the Sutton River last August in Ontario's far north and had the experience of a lifetime!

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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Awesome we did a self guided trip up there back in 94'. 4 of us ,back then the logistics were a nightmare but a great trip with many wild sea run and resident big brookies , my best was a 23" resident that went over 4 lbs but my buddy got one around 7.5 lbs!! 29" is memory serves me anyways within a few years the guides were up and down the whole river according to my buddy who wen another 2-3 years then gave it up since it had been overrun with fishermen. Did you see any caribou or polar bears? Just tracks fir us but the following year my buddy had one paw his tent while he was sleeping and he got a few pics of it. Talk about scary. Lol
Most of our fish were 17-19 sea runs but the residents were what we targeted as they were brighter colored fuller bodied and bigger. Thanks fir the memories. Ill try to watch the video from home chunking bad on the phone. Oh yeah did you have to sign your life away to get into the polar bear park?? We had to rent a emergency gps in case if medivac and all had to have bear spray training and all had to carry canisters at all times. They wouldnt allow us in without that

Salmonid


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## Mike Borger (Jan 30, 2015)

Hey cool! Surprised the logistics were a nightmare even back in '94 - anglers have been flying into the Sutton for a long, long time! I know there was an outfit out of Pickle lake that did trips on the Sutton for a short period of time but they went under long ago. For a long while now Hearst Air has been the sole outfitter flying in anglers and no, the river is neither overrun with anglers or even close to being fished out. For sheer numbers of 3-5lb brookies it's the best in the world - and I've pretty much fished them all.

This past August I stayed in a native run tent camp about 1/3 down the river then traveled back upstream to Hawley for the pick up. Three summers ago I spent 11 days paddling the entire river all the way to Hudson's Bay - and yes I saw a polar bear! We were fishing a large pool just upstream from the Aquatuk river junction when a huge polar bear emerged from the water right in front of me. It floated downstream exactly like a hippo does with just its nose sticking out. I had a fish on at the time and it was distracted by the splashing trout. We ran for the canoe and my buddy pulled our shotgun loaded with slugs out of its hard case and ultimately fired 3 shots at the bear before it sauntered away. 

Many many years ago I was trapped on the roof of a boarded up native cabin on the lower Winisk on a solo canoe trip by 3 polar bears - but that's another story LOL!

We caught insane numbers of fish last August, some quite large. If I could I'd do that trip every year 'till I die.


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## Mike Borger (Jan 30, 2015)

Side note, but if you're into brook trout I also fished the Asheweig River last July. It's a very much unknown and unfished tributary of the Winisk. Natives in Kasabonika Lake invited me up as they have a camp on a widening of the river they wanted to reopen to anglers in 2016. Tons of fish, again some quite large, and the nature of the river is drastically different from the Sutton. It's on the shield so it's a high gradient river with lots of heavy water and rapids. The trout are vibrantly coloured as well and entirely river bred - there's no sea run fish. 

If you're interested here's my write up on the trip with lots of photos and video (warning some fish were caught on hardware LOL!)

http://www.canadafishingguide.net/brook-trout-of-the-taiga-exploring-the-asheweig-river/


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Mike Borger said:


> Side note, but if you're into brook trout I also fished the Asheweig River last July. It's a very much unknown and unfished tributary of the Winisk. Natives in Kasabonika Lake invited me up as they have a camp on a widening of the river they wanted to reopen to anglers in 2016. Tons of fish, again some quite large, and the nature of the river is drastically different from the Sutton. It's on the shield so it's a high gradient river with lots of heavy water and rapids. The trout are vibrantly coloured as well and entirely river bred - there's no sea run fish.
> 
> If you're interested here's my write up on the trip with lots of photos and video (warning some fish were caught on hardware LOL!)
> 
> http://www.canadafishingguide.net/brook-trout-of-the-taiga-exploring-the-asheweig-river/


Great info and yeah, it was a great trip, when we went, I think we went in mid July and we were only the second group of anglers that had been down the river that year, only Guide was Joe the cree Indian and his wife who lived on the lake, nothing else there, no cabins, no camping spots nothing, we went down in an inflatable raft and a folup canoe with a 3 hp to get us back up, with that we were limited to only going as far as the park since no motors allowed in the park and not sure how you had shotguns as we had to all get permits to be able to bring out bear spray into Canada and got repeatedly asked if we had any guns and they checked all our stuff, we took train to appiwatipak ( sp? ) and then 2 of us flew Air Creebec to Winisk while 2 guys took floatplane up from there ( most expensive part) then he dropped off two guys at lake then came to winisk to pick us up, same on way back, take 2 of us to Winisk, then go back and pick up rest of group and fly them back to Appiwatipak then train back to Timmons where we left car, I might add that tip of cigars, beer and a nice Columbia jacket went further then anything Ive ever witnessed, thought Joe and his wife had won the lottery!!
they next rip my buddy took back up there, a few years later there were 3 other groups on the river all hop skipping each other and he decided he would never do it again. We had both fly gear and some spin gear, but fly gear worked as good if not better then the egg beaters
Salmonid


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## Mike Borger (Jan 30, 2015)

Some pretty crazy logistics, wow LOL! I'll guess you took the Polar Bear express to Moosonee then flew into Winisk. Regardless it's a moot point.

Anyone going now you simply drive to Hearst, hop on a float plane and Hearst Air flies you right in. They pick you up at the end and bring you back as well. They have a bunch of canoes cached at the native camp on Hawley for their guests to use so it's all very seamless.

There's only ever been one native family on Hawley Lake - the Chookomolin's. Xavier is passed away now but his son Albert (67 years old) and his grandson Gilbert host and guide anglers now. Joe (I'm pretty sure) is Albert's cousin.

As far as the gun goes the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources provides anglers flying with Hearst Air a permit to carry a firearm through the park for safety. Only stipulation being it's a shotgun loaded with slugs. When you book a trip with Hearst Air they mail you all that with your trip package confirmation.

I always bring extra stuff for the natives when I go - fillet knives, smokes, fishing tackle, food barrels, etc. It's always hugely appreciated so I can relate to what you're saying.


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## Riverbum (Jan 27, 2013)

This is the trip that dreams are made of.
I hope to be able to swing the financing for a trip up there for my son when he graduates. Brook trout are his favorite fish.... We go down to the smokies a few times a year. Just generally what kind of money is a guy looking at for a trip of this sort?
You certainly are blessed to have done this a few times ...... Thank you for sharing


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## Mike Borger (Jan 30, 2015)

Hearst Air charges $2895 Canadian for the self guided float down the entire length of the river. You're basically paying for air charter in and out plus canoes - you supply everything else. It's a great value imo when you consider comparable brook trout fishing in Labrador costs more than double.


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