Finally, after nearly two decades I was able to return to Lloyd Lake and visit the Lodge. As a kid and young man I spent many summers playing, fishing, and working at the lodge. Living next door to the owners and being the same age as their kids, when the owners would leave for the lodge in the spring, their kids would stay at our house until school was out for summer, then we’d fly out to the lodge for the summer.
Time past, I moved out of McMurray and on with life, returning to the lodge only once before the lodge was sold to the first new owner, and unfortunately he didn’t have the same passion for the lodge as the previous owners did and the lodge went down hill. Then tragedy struck and the original owners, Richard and MJ both passed away.
Their son still has a cabin on the lake and is still a close friend of mine, and as luck would have it, was building a filleting shack and was in need of some windows. I just happened to know a fellow AO member who was an avid fisherman and happens to build windows.... so I arranged a deal they both would love, windows for a fishing trip, Win Win!!!
So, after a few weeks of anticipation the windows were ready, my leg was good enough to go, and we were off. After a 4+ hour drive we arrived in Fort McMurray and after a quick trip to the grocery store we were at the airport loading up to go.
The weather was overcast but it was smooth sailing, we spent most of the flight above the clouds so it was rather boring, then after about 40min we dropped below the clouds and there it was, Lloyd Lake!
After a smooth landing by our pilot Arnold, we were at the dock offloading the windows and our gear.
It was right to business, we installed all the windows to get that part out of the way, then a few drinks and plan out our coming days.
It was then I was given the honor of meeting the new owner of the lodge, Derrick. After the original owners sold the lodge I was doubtful it would ever be as great as it once was, but after spending just a couple hours with Derrick it was fairly obvious if anyone could turn the place around it was Derrick. Not only does he have the passion it takes to run a outfit like the lodge, he has a history with Lloyd Lake Lodge, one that goes back 29yrs! His first trip out was when he was 4yrs old and he’s returned every year since, sometimes several times a year. I’ll touch more on Derrick and the lodge in a bit, but for now I’ll get in with fishing.
Lloyd lake has pike and walleye, but my favorite part of the trip is the short ride through the sandy trails to Big Fish, home of some big pike and lakers. My guest and his father had never caught lakers so today was going to be a treat! Not only did we find the lakers, we slated them! What a great day of action and laughs, plenty of laughs!!! Here’s a stringer of lakers, and a couple pike. I wish I had a picture of the shore lunch but we were too busy fishing to partake. We did however get some leftovers and our first taste of the increadible Lloyd Lake Tartar sauce, I forgot to mention that Derrick is also a chef, graduate of culinary arts at U of A!
Here’s a shot of Derrick, the new lodge owner and a friend filleting up some lakers.
Now we had our limit of lakers it was time to get back to Lloyd lake for some walleye. Saskatchewan Gold, these walleye are not only the tastiest walleye you’ll eat, the color is amazing!
Did I mention there are some mighty fine walleye in the lake and rivers that flow in to Lloyd? Here’s one of the biggest ones of the trip that I hooked into.
Return to Lloyd Lake Lodge (long winded and pic heavy)
Linear Mode
