Reel World Tour

Kanektok Report June 2009

Few fish posses the raw reel busting power of a King salmon fresh from the ocean. And no place offers hot Kings like the AK West camp on the Kanektok River. The Kanektok is Mother Nature's gift to two handed rodders looking to swing large flies for big salmon. Having witnessed these hot kings destroy many reels first hand, I was anxious to test the Traveller NV 10/11 on the notorious Kanektok Kings.

I paired the NV with a 9129 Burkenheimer, aka the "K-tok King Crushing Stick". The 10/11 balanced the light 9wt Burkie perfectly. I fished an Airflo Compact Skagit head in 630 grains, with various custom cut lengths of T-14 sink tip, the reel had plenty of capacity to handle the large spey lines.

As it is on the Kanektok- a super hot 20lb King fresh up on the tidal push, will rip line faster than a 50lb salmon most anywhere else. The AK West guides carry multiple extra fly lines to replace those spooled- which happens often. The Traveller 10/11 put the brakes on multiple kings per day- and it never smoked or squealed. And y'know what? The evening whiskey ritual tastes that much better knowing you've got meat in the cooler while your tent-mate searches for his back-up reel and a new fly line.

Maria Lake, Northern Manitoba Report July 2009

Northern Manitoba is a desolate place. Flat, wet, dark, and cold. The voyageurs made their way to this region looking to trap beaver. And then they paddled their canoes the hell out. West of Hudson Bay, on the southern edge of the sprawling northern tundra, this is the nether land of glacial scratched lakes betwist with a maze of in-and-out flows known as the North Seal River headwaters.

What the voyageurs left behind was a fishing paradise- grayling, lake trout and HUGE pike. Pike that eat baby ducks. And other pike. And just about anything they can fit into their gaping toothy jaws. Big pike want big flies- I was geared up with a 9' 9wt Sage XP, Rio Outbound short line, and wire leader- bombing casts into the shallow bays with huge poppers in a stiff wind. The Traveller NV 10/11 managed the ripping runs as well as the brute lifting required to boat pike to 40+ inches.

Teasing fish to the surface is a proven salt water technique- but teasing big lake trout from the depths as a fly rod opportunity? Why not? Native Minnesotan Steve Bauer had a theory- locate the big Lakers, drop spoons deep, jig up the fish, and cast, strip, cast, strip  baitfish imitations. Genius.

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Bio: Rob Elam is a resident of the Cascadia Nation. He prefers chasing wild anadromous fish with both hands. His autographed DB Cooper FBI Most Wanted poster is not for sale. He blogs at FFJ Tailgate