 
                                                    


 Pretty quickly into the trip, I hooked up with my first Tree River char in almost a year, a small female. After landing it, I took a break and took over net-man duties for Steve, who hooked up with another female. Female char are good-looking fish, but they definitely take a back seat to the males in terms of coloration. As the evening light starting to fade, I hooked up with the fish I was hoping for. A short chase downstream to slower water and I was able to land the most vibrantly colored male char I had ever seen. I was dumbstruck at the coloration of that fish.
Pretty quickly into the trip, I hooked up with my first Tree River char in almost a year, a small female. After landing it, I took a break and took over net-man duties for Steve, who hooked up with another female. Female char are good-looking fish, but they definitely take a back seat to the males in terms of coloration. As the evening light starting to fade, I hooked up with the fish I was hoping for. A short chase downstream to slower water and I was able to land the most vibrantly colored male char I had ever seen. I was dumbstruck at the coloration of that fish.

Over the course of the next 10 days, I managed to get back upriver a few more times and connected with a few char each outing. I also fished downriver for fresh sea run arctic char. I’d spent a few days chasing these fish with clients and had come to realize they were the hardest fighting fish I had seen in freshwater. I’d caught a few smaller char and ok lake trout in the lower river, but I wanted to connect with a bigger char fresh from the ocean. On my last night at the Tree, I managed to get out fishing downriver with another guide, Pandelis Kolkas, who is the master of fishing the downriver sections of the Tree. Early in the night, I hooked into a good-sized fish. After a fight that did not disappoint with multiple aerial displays I landed what turned out to be a chrome male char, and the only large char I landed that night.
Upon flying out the following day I couldn’t help but wonder if I would be lucky enough to find myself back at the Tree River in the future. If all goes as planned I’ll be finding myself back at the Tree in August 2018 for another season of chasing these beasts.
Chance Prestie is a fly fishing guide for Plummer’s Arctic Lodges focusing on big Arctic Char. Check him out on Instagram @ccprestie!
Want to see more epic Char action? Be sure to check out the articles below:
https://theflylords.com/2016/01/02/the-biggest-arctic-char-on-the-planet/
https://theflylords.com/2017/10/30/arctic-obsessions/
https://theflylords.com/2017/11/27/how-to-catch-giant-brookies-in-manitoba/
https://theflylords.com/2017/01/26/behind-the-scenes-with-western-waters-media/