Our Story
Gord and Kathy Gin are the owners/operators of Yellow Dog Lodge. We purchased the lodge in 2006 and over the past 17 years have made vast improvements and expanded the original operations. Prior to purchasing the lodge Gord was a geomatics professional and surveyor for consulting and multi national pipeline companies based in Calgary, Denver and Houston. His achievements and papers on remote sensing, GIS and offshore bathymetry mapping were well received in pipeline conferences across the globe.
We named Yellow Dog Lodge in honor of the Dogrib Band of the Yellowknives Dene Indigenous Peoples, but our first guests logically assumed it came from the original camp pup, our friendly yellow Labrador retriever named Casey whose favorite job was to greet arriving guests.
Yellow Dog Lodge is a family run business catering to our guests. Do a puzzle, play a game, go fishing and hiking, karaoke or just hang out around our camp fire or hot tub. We’ve set up our operation to offer our guests a variety of options and activities in a very relaxed atmosphere; and more importantly, to allow them to enjoy themselves on their own terms in their own time — without a lot of structure and scheduling. We serve our guests like we want to be served ourselves and we affectionately refer to our services as “Yellow Dog Style”.
The Lodge
Located near the channel between Duncan and Graham lakes, about 35 air miles north east of Yellowknife, our Lodge can accommodate up to 24 guests at a time — 12 guests in the four-bedroom main lodge, up to 4 people in each of the two private cabins, and up to 6 guests in the Executive Cabin, plus 6 more in our floating tent camps.
Unique to Yellow Dog Lodge are the 2 self-contained floating tent camps. Affectionately named the “Dog Houses,” these facilities are anything but. Each Dog House features a wall tent that sleeps up to 4 people and is equipped with a wood stove, propane grill, portable toilet, cooking utensils, coolers and a casting deck. Each unit is also powered by a small outboard that allows guests go and live where they please on the lake.
They’re the perfect choice for guests who prefer to get away from everything and do it all themselves. It is the best and safest way to get out there and really experience living in the wilderness, where the only sounds you’ll likely hear come from the loons, owls and eagles.
Fabulous Fishing
Canada’s beautiful Northwest Territories continues to serve up the world’s finest sport fishing. As a result, the North been a bucket list destination for a number of generations of anglers.
We welcome guests who have wide ranging interests, the fishing is simply outstanding. We also offer optional fly-out daytrips to a handful of other lakes for those who want to catch walleyes, as well as trout and grayling — or just get a change of scenery.
Our waters are known more for numbers of fish than for trophies, but anglers do see their share of trout approaching 40 pounds, and pike in the 40 to 50-inch class. Several regular guests book trips in every June just to target big pike in the shallows. Shore lunch of fresh caught lake trout or pike is always a highlight amongst our guests.
Many of the lakes’ best fishing areas are within a stone throw of the lodge, including a spot 30 metres from the back door where in September anglers catch trout on nearly every other cast. This is the type of fishing is where everyone can be successful and have a lot of fun. For a change of pace, guests seeking even more solitude and scenery can travel up one of the rivers or make a short hike to one of the nearby lakes.
Award Winning
Catering to aurora adventurers as well as serious anglers transformed Yellow Dog Lodge into something more than the traditional fishing camp. And it’s this forward-thinking approach that helped our lodge earn high praise and recognition.
We received the prestigious 2017 Operator of the Year Award from “Spectacular Northwest Territories,” the NWT’s tourism agency. In 2011, Destination Canada recognised Yellow Dog Lodge as one of Canada’s Signature experiences and to this day our lodge remains as part of this prestigious Collection.
When it comes time to choose this year’s adventure destination, start with Yellow Dog Lodge in Canada’s Spectacular Northwest Territories. Just a bit different!
