There are a lot of great fly-in fishing lodges across Canada. What makes Hatchet Lake Lodge different isn’t one particular thing. It’s how the entire trip comes together.
From direct charter access into our private 6,000-foot runway to four lakes accessible from the main lodge, 16 additional fly-out destinations, four trophy fish species and a staff that gets to know every guest by name, Hatchet was built to offer much more than simply a place to go fishing.
We want the entire experience to feel easy from the time you leave Saskatoon until the time you get home. Once you’re here, the difficult part is deciding where you want to fish tomorrow.
Access to 20 Northern Saskatchewan Lakes
One of the biggest differences between Hatchet and a traditional fly-in fishing lodge is the amount of water available to our guests.
You aren’t flying into Hatchet to fish one lake for your entire stay.
Directly from the main lodge, guests have access to four lakes: Hatchet Lake itself and three additional portage lakes—Corson, LeDrew and Thrift. The portages aren’t long wilderness hikes. Each is approximately a three-to-five-minute walk, with boats and motors waiting on the other side. That gives our guests four different lakes to explore without ever stepping onto another aircraft.
Beyond those four lakes, our fly-out program provides access to another 16 remote fishing destinations spread throughout the surrounding northern Saskatchewan wilderness.
Altogether, Hatchet provides fishing opportunities across 20 different lakes.
Fly Into Water That May Only Be Fished a Few Times All Summer
Our fly-out program is one of the experiences that truly separates Hatchet. The 16 destinations aren’t simply a list of lakes that we fish every day throughout the summer. We continually evaluate the fishing and open or rest destinations based on the quality of the experience we’re seeing.
Typically, we’ll have eight or nine fly-out options available at any given time. Some of these lakes may only be fished a few times over the course of an entire summer. We even have destinations that haven’t been fished by our guests in more than a decade that we’re looking forward to getting back into. This creates a completely different experience from fishing heavily traveled water. You’re getting into a Turbo Otter and heading even farther into northern Saskatchewan to fish water that sees exceptionally little fishing pressure.
What a Hatchet Fly-Out Day Is Actually Like
Fly-outs are an optional addition to a Hatchet trip and are not included in the standard package. Depending on the number of fly-outs scheduled that day, departures generally take place between 7:30 and 9 a.m.
Our dock staff and guides take care of loading the equipment and supplies needed for the day into the aircraft. The one thing you won’t bring with you is the fish for lunch—you’ll catch that when you get there.
Groups of up to six guests board our Turbo Otter and fly to one of our remote destinations. Once you’re there, you have approximately eight hours to fish.
At the end of the day, the Turbo Otter returns to pick you up and bring you back to the main lodge.
But choosing a fly-out isn’t simply picking a lake from a list. Every destination has its own personality. If you tell us you want to spend the day specifically targeting trophy northern pike, we have lakes we favour for that. If you want to go somewhere and catch a pile of walleye, we have options for that too.
Other destinations offer opportunities for lake trout, Arctic grayling or combinations of species.
Each lake is unique, and that’s a major part of the fun.
You Don’t Have to Fly Out to Experience Incredible Fishing
The fly-out program gets a lot of attention, but it’s important to understand that some of Hatchet’s best and most diverse fishing is available directly from the lodge.
Hatchet Lake is an exceptional multi-species fishery. Walleye fishing is fantastic, along with excellent opportunities for northern pike, lake trout and Arctic grayling.
One of the most unique areas is where Hatchet flows into Corson Lake. Within roughly a mile, it’s possible to catch all four of our major species—walleye, northern pike, lake trout and Arctic grayling. For someone hoping to complete a Canadian fishing Grand Slam, there aren’t many places where you can pursue all four in such a concentrated area.
The short boat rides are also part of what makes Hatchet special. You don’t necessarily need to spend an hour traveling before you start fishing. Some of the experience we’re known for happens remarkably close to the lodge.
New Boats Built Around the Fishing Experience
For the 2026 season, we introduced a new fleet of G3 177 Outfitters powered by Yamaha 50 HP four-stroke motors on our main lake. They’re comfortable, capable fishing boats designed for the type of water and fishing we experience at Hatchet. Our goal with equipment is the same as it is with the rest of the lodge: remove unnecessary friction from the guest experience.
- Your guide has the boat ready.
- Your equipment is organized.
- You step aboard and go fishing.
A Fishing Trip Planned Around What You Want to Do
With access to this much water, we don’t believe every guest should follow exactly the same fishing plan.
Every evening during dinner service, our lodge manager, Clay, makes a point of sitting down with our guests. He wants to know how your day went. More importantly, he wants to know what you want to do tomorrow. Maybe you caught plenty of walleye today and want to spend tomorrow looking for a trophy pike. Maybe you’ve never caught an Arctic grayling. Maybe you want to explore one of the portage lakes. Maybe you’re interested in a fly-out.
That information gets passed along to our guides so they can plan the following day around what each group is hoping to experience. It’s a small part of how Hatchet operates, but it makes a big difference over the course of a trip.
Service That Extends Beyond the Fishing
Great fishing gets people to northern Saskatchewan. The experience around the fishing is what we believe separates a great fishing trip from an exceptional one.
Hatchet has two Red Seal chefs on staff, and we’ve put a great deal of effort into the culinary side of the lodge experience. Starlink is available in our cabins, allowing guests to stay connected despite being deep in the northern Saskatchewan wilderness. But what Hatchet has become particularly known for is its customer service and attention to detail.
Our staff learn our guests’ names. Whether you’re talking to someone at the dock, in the dining room or elsewhere around the lodge, our goal is to make the entire experience personal. It’s difficult to describe that with an amenity list. It’s simply a culture we’ve worked hard to build.
A Private Runway Deep in Northern Saskatchewan
Getting somewhere this remote shouldn’t have to be complicated. Hatchet Lake Lodge has its own private 6,000-foot gravel airstrip with a GPS approach. Guests fly by private charter directly from Saskatoon to Hatchet. Having our own runway and instrument approach gives us dependable access into the lodge and helps reduce the potential for weather-related travel disruptions.
There’s no long drive north after your commercial flight and no complicated series of transfers required to reach the lodge. You arrive in Saskatoon, and from there we’ve designed the trip to be as seamless as possible.
For us, reliable transportation isn’t just about convenience. Every hour spent dealing with unnecessary travel logistics is an hour that could have been spent enjoying your fishing trip.
There’s Something Different About Hatchet
It’s difficult to explain the feeling of Hatchet to someone who hasn’t been here.
The lodge sits in a shallow, scenic south-facing bay surrounded by clear northern water. There’s the sound of the floatplane leaving the dock in the morning. Boats coming and going. Staff greeting guests by name. Short rides to productive fishing water and the anticipation of knowing that tomorrow you could board an aircraft and fish a lake that may have only seen anglers a handful of times all summer.
There’s a common opinion among people who have spent time here:
Hatchet is special.
Maybe it’s the setting.
Maybe it’s the people.
Maybe it’s having so many different fishing experiences available from one lodge.
We think it’s the combination of all of it.
A Northern Saskatchewan Fishing Trip Done Right
If we had to explain what makes Hatchet different in one sentence, it would be this: It’s a well-designed fishing trip done right from start to finish, with no detail overlooked.
You have seamless travel into a truly remote part of northern Saskatchewan. You have four lakes accessible directly from the lodge and the option to explore another 16 fly-out destinations. You can pursue walleye, northern pike, lake trout and Arctic grayling. You have experienced guides and a lodge team planning each day around what you want to accomplish. And when the fishing day is over, the attention to detail continues back at the lodge.
The goal is simple: Get here when you’re supposed to. Get home when you’re supposed to. Fish incredible water in between.
The only thing we want you worrying about is enjoying yourself.
Experience Hatchet for Yourself
Ready to see what makes Hatchet Lake Lodge different? Start planning your northern Saskatchewan fishing trip and discover everything that’s waiting for you on the water.