Fishing Great Slave Lake can be very difficult if your not familiar with the area. Take a read and hopefully it will help with a better understanding, keep you safe and help you land a trophy fish!

Great Slave Lake is located in the Northwest Territories, Canada and the City of Yellowknife is situated on the northern part of the lake. Great Slave Lake is the 2nd largest lake in North America and is the also the deepest(2014 Ft). Just those 2 statistics alone raise all kinds of questions for fisherman. Where do you start? What do you use to catch fish? Where do you have to go? And how do you stay safe? With being the deepest and one of the largest lakes it also helps with producing some of the best Lake Trout fishing in the world.

Let's start with safety!

Knowing from fishing Great Slave Lake it is one nasty piece of water. I have personally seen waves over 8ft tall, then add in all the subsurface rock shoals. If you don't know what you're doing out there then you're asking for trouble. So here's a list to stay safe;

-Ask a local for information. There are lots of Yellowknifers that spend time on the lake and will gladly help with advice. Or contact me!

-Get a nautical map of the lake. Study this map and get as familiar with the lake and your routes of travel. I ordered mine from Captain Supplies and then had then laminated locally.

-Buy a chart plotter with the map of the lake on it. There are several brands of chart plotters that have this map available, the cost of a chart plotter is a lot cheaper than a new prop or a new boat.

-Pay attention to the weather forecast. More importantly the wind, there are several apps that you can download that give you wind predictions that are fairly accurate.

-If possible travel with a friend. If something happens to your boat you at least have a way back.

-Plan for the worst. Pack extra food, shelter, and communication devices. Having a way to communicate via satellite phone or Inreach.

If you can't get to or return from the fishing areas safely then what's the point of going. No fish is worth your life or anyone else's. Stay tuned for more information on fishing Great Slave Lake.

Keep calm and fish on!
Andrew