February Club Meeting with Mark Neikirk

Mark Neikirk – Fishing the Quetico Provincial Park

Mark Neikirk is a great storyteller. He has been canoeing/camping/fishing in Quetico Provincial Park, a world famous destination for backcountry canoeing, for nearly 50 years. With over 2,000 lakes and 1.2 million acres of remote wilderness it adjoins the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness which adds another 1.1 million acres of wilderness where the fishing and adventure are world renowned.

NKFF member Mark Neikirk first went to Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario with three friends in 1975, using an outfitter who advertised in the back of Field & Stream. He has returned 45 more times in addition to two trips to the neighboring Boundary Waters Canoe Area during the two “Covid years” — when entry into Canada was restricted.

Among the trips was one in the 1990s during which Mark landed a 48-inch, 25-pound northern pike on 4-pound test line. The fish, which took nearly an hour to land, was an unrecorded world record for light tackle, although the record was recently broken.

Mark will share some trip highlights, a few fish stories, and tips about how to go to Quetico or the Boundary Waters (with or without an outfitter). Others in NKFF have been to this unique area, too, and Mark welcomes their stories as part of our evening together.