NEAR THE PAS, Manitoba -- We hadn't even wet a line, the sun still was high in the afternoon sky, and the day already had served up several weeks' worth of adventure.

Miles more of it awaited on the horizon.

The destination was Reed Lake, a northern Manitoba jewel nearly 500 miles northwest of Winnipeg that's known for serving up some of the best drive-to fishing in western Canada. Reed is perhaps most famous for its trophy northern pike, but the big lake also offers good fishing for lake trout (at times) and walleyes. Check out the pages of Manitoba's Master Angler Guide, which recognizes anglers who catch big fish, and Reed is well-represented.

The seed for this late March trip had been planted several months earlier by Andre Desrosiers and Stu McKay of Selkirk, Manitoba. McKay is well-known in catfish and walleye circles as owner of Cats on the Red in Lockport, Manitoba, and Desrosiers is a natural resources officer for Manitoba Conservation in Selkirk.

Frequent fishing partners, the pair both had caught their share of walleyes and were ready to finish off the winter by matching wits with lake trout, a fish that can be difficult to catch under the best of conditions.

Desrosiers also had spent several years working in the North, and a fishing trip to Reed Lake offered the perfect excuse to return.

"I love the North," Desrosiers said. "I needed to get back up there."

The journey begins

And so we set out, eight of us in three vehicles, in the predawn darkness on a rainy Thursday in late March with four snowmobiles and a tracked ATV in tow.

Also making the trek north were Desrosiers' dad, Lucien, of Winnipeg; Mitch Walker, who works for Manitoba Conservation in Lac Du Bonnet, Man.; Dale "Eso" Esopenko, manager of a Winnipeg golf course; and Jim Stinson, a retired RCMP officer from Lockport.

Two Yankees - Brad Durick of Grand Forks and myself - rounded out the delegation. We'd both fished with McKay and Stinson several times over the years and willingly took the bait at McKay's invitation.

Rain would have been bad enough on this morning, but it quickly gave way to sloppy snow that stuck to pavement and turned the highway into a slippery mess. There were a few close calls in the first two hours, including a trailer that narrowly survived a jackknife encounter, but conditions gradually improved as we traveled north.

By the time we pulled into Grand Rapids, Manitoba., and crossed the Saskatchewan River shortly before noon, Manitoba Highway 6 _ the gateway to the North - was mostly free of slush and ice.

We were on the home stretch.

The countryside also evolved as southern Manitoba passed into the rear view mirror. Unlike the rugged, granite cliffs and islands that make up the Canadian Shield, this part of northern Manitoba is flatter, highlighted by spruce bogs in the low country and jack pines and limestone outcroppings on higher ground. Spindly poplar and birch trees dominate in many areas, the result of a massive forest fire that roared through the area in the late 1980s.

Woodland caribou, grouse, moose and black bears make their homes here. The terrain is beautiful in a sparse, yet striking, way.

As for the fishing, the opportunities are nearly as limitless as the country itself.

We all felt a sense of accomplishment and anticipation as we pulled off Manitoba Highway 39 into the Reed Lake Campground, some 10 hours after our morning drive through rain, snow and slush had begun.