King Salmon Lake is a remote northern lake that offers the angler a shot at a true trophy rainbow.

Guy Anttila, owner-operator of Taku Sport Fish, rummaged around in his big tackle box. We watched as Guy sorted through his collection of diving crankbaits, carefully inspecting each one before setting aside several in an empty tray. There didn’t seem to be any pattern as to brand, size, colour or the depth-governing length of bill. Curious, Suzanne asked, “What are you looking for?” Tying on a big, multi-coloured deep-diver with fiery tiger stripes, Guy answered, “Teeth marks.”

We had put small, shallow-running lures on our own lines — well-proven Wedding Band and Apex Hot Spot trout lures that we had successfully used in southern BC waters. As we trolled slowly along the shoreline, we figured that Guy must be fishing for northern pike. How wrong we were.

Written by David Y. Wei and Suzanne L. Clouthier