Brabant Lodge, Hay River

I have been to, or worked at a number of lodges in Northern Canada. Brabant is bar none, the best place for a trip. Not only can you expect to catch a number of trophy fish, during peak season probably 4-5 per person per day. Later in the year, the numbers decline, but the opportunity for larger fish, 48+ inches will increase. This lodge also offers excellent home cooked food, longer fishing hours. 8am-5pm, 7pm-10pm than virtually any other lodge. The accomodations are top notch, you won't have to worry about a cold shower in the morning, or mosquitos getting into the room at night as you stay in hand built log cabins. The staff are friendly, speak english, and always willing to go out of their way to help you. Shore lunches are on time, and organized, you won't spend more than an hour on shore which means more fishing time. Overall the fishing at Brabant compared to other lodges I have been to. Would be as follows on a scale of 1/10 Pike Size: 8.5/10 Numbers: 10 Grayling Size: 10 Numbers: 10 Walleye (walleye can be difficult to catch before July ) Size: 8 Numbers: 7 Bottom Line at Brabant. You will have a difficult time catching a 30 lb/ 50 in Pike(they do occur every year though, usually 2-3), you have a very reasonable shot at a 46-48in/ 25lb Pike, you should catch a few 44-46 in pike, and if you can cast, you will catch multiple 40-44 in pike every day. This lodge is not highly publicized like others (Wollaston, Knee Lake, Reindeer Lake, Kasba, Enodah etc...) Compare the numbers and the overall experience. The boats at Brabant will be clean for you, don't worry about getting into a floating pig sty. They run 18 ft Lunds with 50 hp motors that are well maintained (won't break down on the water). A few things that people may dislike about this lodge are that you will probably have to ride about 40 mins each way to get to a few of the more consistent big pike areas(there are tons of areas closer to the lodge but likely won't produce the quality I have discussed). You may end up crossing some open water areas that like at any lodge can get rough and make fishing/ riding difficult and may affect the fishing success at the time.

Brabant lodge is not only the best run lodge in Canada, but the fishing for Northern Pike is difficult to describe in a short review. There is no other location where you catch and release more N. Pike than the Great Slave Lake & McKenzie River. The lodge is located where these two bodies of water meet. The cabins are among the best of any lodge in Canada and the owner prepares great meals. She and her husband run the lodge and in the 13 years I've been fishing there, I've never had a "bad" fishing day. Once you fish at Brabant you will not return to another lodge. Gerry

If you want to catch big fish, and lots of them, than this is the lodge for you. Average size of Northern Pike is 10lb-15lbs with a lot of 20+ lb fish caught. The walleye and arctic grayling fishing is also excellent, but if you want a fight stick to the big Pike. Catch them in the weeds and hang on! The lodge it self is situated on the Mackenzie River, and has spectacular views and sunsets. Accomadations are great and the food is amazing. Expect to put on a few pounds while there.