For first-rate brook trout, two long-time fishing buddies, John Martucci and Paul Maitoza, who travel the continent throwing their lines into its finest waters, fulfilled a BIG bucket list item. They adventured to Labrador, Canada - the land of the big fish - an unbelievable landscape where they netted unforgettable catches every day.

In mid-2023, Paul contacted Three Rivers Lodge asking to be added to their wait list - noting he and John were over-70 and avid fly fishermen. Then, in October, they received the news that they would finally have the opportunity to fish Canada’s Woods River System, an angler’s paradise so remote it can only be accessed by float plane.

Few fly fishermen are permitted into this almost untouched wilderness of water (open just 10 weeks a year, from mid-June to late-August). It’s a stunning landscape 800 miles north of Montreal populated with an endless expanse of rushing rapids and pristine pools.

On August 14th, 2024 they boarded a twin-prop regional jet in Montreal for a smooth flight to the small remote town of Wabush, on the western tip of Labrador.

Early the next morning, after the fog cleared, they piled into a vintage de Havilland Otter float plane. John scored the co-pilot’s chair for the hour flight to the Crossroads Lake camp, reassuring their 15-year veteran search and rescue pilot that he wouldn’t touch any of the switches on the old aircraft while they glided above the treetops.

The sight of the Three Rivers Lodge perched on a peninsula jutting out into the spectacular landscape was breathtaking, said John. Guests completed licensing at the lodge (whose owners have been granted exclusive rights to fish this extraordinary environment) while snacking on meats and cheeses as pots of hot perked coffee brewed atop the roaring wood stove.

Hopping aboard the Hudson Bay Freighter canoe with their guide, after approximately 30-40 minutes they reached the low, cool, calm waters of Vezina where they both hooked fish. Paul was the first to land one, a nice pike patrolling for an easy meal.

On day two, they flew out to Marco Two where the plane taxied in three-foot waters while John, Paul, and their guide waded to shore.  It was almost spawning season at the run. The trout were wild and ready for a fight, but John quickly caught a 16-inch brook trout with an intensely red-orange belly.

There was a shout and news that Paul had hooked a big, beautiful, five-pound brookie from the pool below. It was a vicious strike with a mouse pattern fly.  This Incredible feat was followed by one catch after another with small white gurglers and even a red popper. John wondered “Is this nirvana?”

“If I had to leave that day, I would have been satisfied,” he wrote in his journal.

Five days of fishing remained. In the warm air of the Lower Ricks, the mosquitos and blackflies were a bit of a nuisance.  In the deceptively quiet but challenging terrain, they came upon a surreal field of fluffy white caribou moss carpeting the forest floor, no longer vulnerable to the caribou and wolves that once roamed here.  At an even more remote camp, the men braved the howling winds of the Third and Fifth Rapids for fish that fought like bulldogs in the rocky waters.

Back in Vezina, John felt the elusive tug of a beast on the nymph fly that the young guide tied. It was the big one, a 7 to 9-year-old legend named “Old Walter” who’d evaded fishing lines all season. The guide scooped the fish into the lid of the boat’s 40 hp Honda outboard motor (because he had forgotten the landing net that day) to survey his distinctive front fin markings before releasing him back into his deep pool.  Upon their return to the lodge, the news of their amazing catch echoed through this land, where the water is so pure you can dip in your cup and drink straight from the river.