Fishing: Local guide becomes ‘pike specialist’ in Manitoba
Twin City fishing educator Jim Crowley admits to being addicted to northern pike, though he’s perhaps best known as a Central Illinois bass fisherman and guide.

The pike affliction is inherited from his father, who first took him to Canada as a boy to hunt the big toothy fish.

Dad would be proud. As of this month, Crowley is officially recognized in Manitoba as a “pike specialist,” a title reserved for fishing aces who boat at least five pike over 41 inches in their lifetime from Manitoba waters.

Incredibly, Crowley hooked and landed three of his qualifying northerns on his latest trip to Dunlop’s Fly-In Lodge & Outposts in northwestern Manitoba, where he was researching an upcoming story for the Canada Fever edition of Midwest Outdoors magazine and to take pictures for Travel Manitoba.

The adventure lasted just 2½ days. In that brief time, he and his boat partner, lodge owner Jerry Dunlop, boated and released six fish over 45 inches. Crowley’s biggest was 46.5 inches. Dunlop nabbed one that stretched 48 inches.

One of the major pluses was the fact long boat trips were unnecessary. Crowley either caught or witnessed seven pike reaching 41 inches or more within sight of the lodge.

“I don’t know how I’m going to top this one. If I’m going somewhere in Canada, I’m not ever going anywhere better,” he said. “The forage base is so strong, it just grows monster fish.”

The lodge is on Lake Waskaiowaka at the mouth of the Little Churchill River. The lake is teeming with eelpout, an oil-rich fish that provides one of the main food sources for major predators. As a result, Waskaiowaka boasts big walleyes and its pike have big shoulders like they’ve been taking a cue from Barry Bonds. Of 331 pike over 45 inches caught in Manitoba last year, 31, or nearly 10 percent, came from Waskaiowaka, Crowley said.

“These were the thickest fish I’ve ever seen. Without question, it’s the best place for big pike I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Before Crowley arrived, the region experienced unusually hot weather for the far north, with record highs reaching 104 degrees. Northern pike as well as other species had moved away from shore. Lake Waskaiowaka is a clear lake, so weed lines are relatively deep. That’s where pike were centered, and Crowley and Dunlop used large 1½-ounce jigs with 5-inch plastic swimming baits like Sassy Shads to reach them.

After a cold front passed through, bigger pike moved shallower into the weeds. The anglers targeted them by swimming ½- to ¾-ounce spoons or Mepps spinners over the top off the vegetation or letting them flutter down into holes like wounded baitfish.

The pair averaged 130 fish a day. Most were in the mid-30 range or larger. Dunlop used a 6½-foot heavy bass setup with only 14-pound line. Crowley used a heavier 7-foot All-Star pike rod and 50-pound Stealth line. Provincial law requires all hooks be barbless.

Visit www.dunlopfishing.com for information.

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