As July begins, we want to take the opportunity to wish our Canadian and American friends a happy Canada Day and 4th of July!
We’ve had a great start to the season and we’re celebrating here at the lodge for another reason this week. We hosted a destination wedding on the island! Congrats to Thomas and Danielle Montgomery:
After the wedding, the crew hit the lake and Thomas celebrated with a trophy lake trout! The rest of the family and wedding party have been spending time on the water chasing big pike and trout around. That’s our kind of wedding!
Tazin TV
Dan Amundson and I arrived in camp on June 29th to film a new season of Tazin TV. Our first few days of filming have included big lakers, big pike, beautiful scenery and great friends.
We tried new baits, proven baits and homemade varieties. Dan had the goal of catching lakers on a chatterbait and it didn’t take long for his rod to bend. We also brought up a handful of Berkley’s 7″ and 9″ glide baits called the “Nessie.” Last summer, Dan caught his PB pike on one and we didn’t hesitate packing a few.
I tied on a titanium leader and attached a 7″ Nessie and it didn’t take long for a fish to bite. After sifting through a few eaters, I had a solid whack just after the lure hit the water. A thick fish with a wide back was on and peeling line. After a quick picture, she was back in the water swimming away.
After a week of storms prior to our arrival, the weather broke and we spent time trolling for big lake trout. This can be a quality over quantity game. Barry started off using a walleye-colored burbot from Savage Gear. I put a “creamsicle” colored spoon on. Both lures have worked in the past. Within 20 minutes Barry was hooked up. He said it was one of the hardest fish fights he’s experienced. When it hit the tape, the trout measured 43.5″. We didn’t measure the girth, but this fish wasn’t missing any meals. In fact, Barry could feel a recent snack in it’s belly as he held it for the picture.
We’ve found that the low 40″ lake trout will, at times, fight harder than the upper 40-inchers. I always want to catch the biggest in the lake, but the tug is the drug.
Being the smart angler I am, I quickly changed to a burbot. The yellow and black ribbon-tailed lure has been a mainstay here in recent years. I dropped it to the bottom and made a few trolls. The wind was laying down and we were just about to switch to jigging when a big tug broke the silence. Soon the fight was on and I was doing battle with my first big lake trout of the year.
This one also had a healthy girth and a bad attitude. She splashed me with her tail and quickly swam back to the bottom after the catch. It measured 44″ and fought like it was twice that size.
One of my favorite places to fish is Taz Bay. It’s on the east end of the lake where the Tazin River flows in. The northwest winds push waves against it’s shores and slowly eat away at the land. This has created tall, sandy cliffs that can be seen for miles.
The river is a magnet for pike and the weed beds can hold big numbers of fish. It’s a beautiful place to spend the day and you could get rewarded with a trophy pike. During our time there this week, Barry hooked into this 44″ fish in the shallows. The drag whined while the northern splashed water in every direction.
It’s been a great start to the Tazin TV filming trip! We also landed a unique lake trout while jigging with the LiveScope. We’ve caught a number of dark fish over the years, but only a handful that were as dark as this one. In my opinion, these are some of the prettiest lakers I’ve ever seen.
This is why we love coming up here and we’re just getting started. If you are looking for a last minute getaway, there are a few select dates still available here this summer. Or if you want to plan something for 2026, get your dates locked in! Visit this page for more information.
If you haven’t seen Tazin TV before, check out our YouTube channel. You’ll see big fish and find out what we’re using to catch them. You’ll also learn a lot about the rich history this region has including the underground tunnel and dam project that took place nearly 100 years ago. I talk about it in this video here:
I’ve been spending the 4th of July at Tazin just about every year for the last 9 years or so. I can’t imagine doing it anywhere else. We might not have hot dogs and fireworks, but we have something better. Hopefully you’re spending the holiday week with friends and family and doing something you love to do as well!
-Bret Amundson
Tazin Lake Lodge 