TESTIMONIALS
The food just keeps getting better and the bears just keep getting bigger. Once again, hats off to the boys at Ubiquity. Two out of three years, bears that will make the book. I don't think I have ever heard of an outfitter with those numbers. I'll be back to raise the number next year.
- Mike Carr, Springport Mi.
I've always wanted to make a trip to Canada fishing and I am very happy that my first time was with you folks. Wyatt and I could not have felt more welcome anywhere (except home, I think). We've been here for a week and it feels like we've known you people my whole life. You are very special people. The meals, lodging and great stories will be hard to beat.
- Kenny and Wyatt Blackman, Buffalo Wyo.
Great fishing, excellent fly-rod action for Pike and Trout. Best luck on a fly was with Bunny Hug, red and white w/long rabbit tail. Used split shot to make it sink. Couldn't keep the Pike off at Esker Lake, they tore the sh** out of it. Good food, especially the deep fried and breaded Pike fillets. Saw several large black bears, bald eagles, moose tracks, several kinds of ducks, king fishers, etc. Guides were excellent and very friendly. All in all a fantastic trip to the Canadian Wilderness.
- Jeff Jordan
This year was even better than last year. Ten 20 plus pounders in one day! For the next group the location was ______________ .
P.S. Thanks to the hosts.
Bryan Sather - Folsom Ca.
First fly-in experience. You can bet it won't be the last, great food, friendship etc. There will be stories for years. It will take years to wipe the smile off my face.
- Barrie Buzby, Lanigan Sk.
This has been one great week. It had great food, good fishing and good company. All of you went out of your way to ensure we had a great time. You made us feel like guests rather than customers. Thanks, we will see you again.
- Dr. Louis Hoffman, Folsom Ca.
What a place, what a group. Anymore excitement and I'm sure we could write a book. Don't keep this place a secret. People need to see this to experience it. Once is never enough. If this is any taste of heaven then boy are we in for a treat. Have so many stories to tell that the grandchildren will be amused for hours. The scenery was spectacular, the fishing awesome, but the cook and the guide topped it all. Linda and Rod you make it all come together and what a package. We're already figuring out how to bring the family here. It is simply too wonderful to miss. Words cannot express our gratitude nor our wishes for your success. Bless you both.
- Larry and Patty Henbib
Officially Rugged Testimonial
Ubiquity Lake Lodge may be one of the best kept secrets of Saskatchewan's pike fishing industry. That's because Ubiquity is a relatively new establishment that been in operation since 1997. Three partners, headed up by Steve Ackerman from Watrous, Saskatchewan, have a common goal when it comes to the operation of the camp: Great service means happy campers. Happy campers are "return campers" too.
The main lodge is very well put together with enough room for twelve guests at one time. This is one of the things that I liked best about Ubiquity. It's a quiet camp with personalized service. There is a separate eating/dining area, a separate lounging and hanging out area, as well as separate sleeping quarters. You can expect hot and cold running water with showers.
Okay, now the meals... be warned, you will NOT go to bed hungry at night. For the three days I was in camp, we had prime rib steaks (and not those little sissy sized one either), huge roasted hams with salads you expect to see in a Calgary restaurant, and for breakfast.... just trust me. The food was outstanding! The most important thing a fishing camp must have is, of course, great fishing, and Ubiquity not only has great fishing, it has unbelievable fishing!
June 2002, was the time when we went to Ubiquity to tape an episode of "Officially Rugged" TV. Along for the ride, was Wes Eppinger from Eppinger Lures from Michigan and Gord Ellis, outdoors writer and radio host, from Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The first morning found Wes and I catching 5 - 10 pound lake trout with ease, just out from the camp. And, I'm talkin' 200 yards out from the camp! The first fish came to strike in about one minute of fishing. Now that's RUGGED! Steve showed us a reef that runs from about 8 feet deep down to forty, and it is literally stacked with lake trout. My cameraman commented that he wished taping fishing shows was always that easy... Some quick footage was captured there, then suddenly, Wes yelled out, "Is that camera on?" Jason Kallio quickly hollered back, "Rolling!" And, the battle was on. You're thinking about a huge laker at this point, but to our surprise, we realized that Wes had cranked into a "Jaws calibre" northern pike! What a bonus to the morning. Lake trout after lake trout, and now this? Too good to be true. All within 200 yards of the camp too. After a twenty minute drag burning affair, I reached over with my Lucky Strike cradle and Wes guided this big blob of a pike in to safety.
Final measurements were 45 inches long and 27 pounds! One of the fattest pike I had ever seen. It looked like a big spruce tree with teeth! You'll see this hog on both our TV episode and a promo video that we produced for the lodge. Couldn't resist puttin' that big boy in there!
Meanwhile, Gord Ellis and Steve were in a nearby bay with giant pike on their minds. Gord had landed several fish in the high 30 and low forty inch range on a fly rod. I know Gord well, and I can tell when he's having a good fishing day.
He gets this giddy little smile and he had one that morning. After meeting up with Gord later that morning, it was obvious that he was blown away by the quality of the pike fishing at this lake. When Gord says, "WOW" really loud, you know he's not kidding around... The next day saw Ellis team up with Wes for a tag team, fly fishing rumble on Ubiquity. Both of these guys caught many truly huge northerns in the mid to high 40 inch range, and Ellis nailed a 48 incher that would have weighed closed to thirty pounds, conservatively. Remember, we're talkin' fly rods here. After a twenty minute drag burnin affair, that saw Gord down to the backing several times before it was a closed deal. Gord kept on saying his favourite word.... "Wow!"
Just from that day's fly fishing footage alone, I had enough video tape to produce two, full length feature pike fishing videos. Between the two of them, they caught at lease a dozen northerns over the trophy size of forty inches. And, they did this in about two hours!
Ubiquity is a fairly small lake, only about six miles long, which is good, because on days where wind is a problem, the lake is still small enough that you can find plenty of bays out of the way. The whole lake has great fishing for pike and trout. Nearby Carpenter Lake is part of Ubiquity Lake Lodges' territory and they have a nice (rugged) little log cabin there that they are renovating. It's an easy boat trip, then a short walk through a bush trail and you're there. Boats are stationed there with plenty of gas to keep you busy for the day. This lake is where we whipped up a classic Canadian shore of fresh northern pike and trout. Nothing beats it! On the day we fished Carpenter, I caught a huge pike that came in at 42 inches, and very fat. (Okay, full figured... Sorry.) This beast tried to kill me once I got him into the boat. Teeth!
Carpenter is just one of the additional lakes you get exclusive use of. They have several others that are just as easy to get to. Five to ten pound lake trout are everywhere and will bite just about anything. This, to me, is the best part of a trip... a smaller lake all to yourself! Awesome!
If you're interested in bear hunting, you might want to contact Steve and the boys. They are a licensed bear outfit and in five days I personally saw more than a dozen bears! And some of those were huge. There were bears everywhere. I did not personally hunt bears on my trip. Looking back now, I wish that I had. What a way to spend a few days... fishing all day, then hunting bears in the evening. After speaking to Conservation Officers in Saskatoon, it was obvious that the area that Ubiquity Lake is in has a large number of bears, with a higher than usual percentage of colour phased bears. Since the operation is a relatively new one, this would be a good place to nail a trophy bear of 400 pounds plus.
Simply put, Ubiquity Lake is a pike fisherman's dream, especially, if you like to catch these brutes with a fly rod. Now, that's what I call rugged! Oh, did I mention walleyes? There's plenty of those too, as Gord Ellis kept yelling out, "WOW" during an evening of jig tossing, just across from the camp.
Ubiquity is also a laid back, fun place to be. Steve, Rod and Chuck will make sure you have a good time when you're there. Guides, you wonder? Not needed. Just go out in the boat and start casting. There... I just saved you some money.
Gord Ellis with his 48" pike, "Wow!"
