Beautiful sunset over northeastern Alberta. -- Photo courtesy Tourism Alberta

The images of Alberta familiar to Ontarians are well-worn: The Rockies; Lake Louise; the Calgary Stampede; Ralph smirking yet again on TV and asking the rest of us if we can spell DEBT FREE. And the jokes: Why do cowboy hat brims roll up at the sides? So three Calgarians can sit side-by-each in a pickup truck.

But there's so much more to wild rose country that it's not even funny. Simply, many Easterners have yet to discover some of Alberta's fascinating travel secrets.

Sure, it's necessary to step off the beaten track, but the rewards add up to far more than just the fact there's no provincial sales tax.

The north-eastern part of Alberta is a vast region of very diverse character. Here, amid dense boreal bush that from the air resembles a prairie wheatfield, is an economic dynamo, ecological paradise and outdoor adventure playground rolled into one.

Oh, there's more than a touch of Newfoundland, too.

As has happened so often in my life, fishing was the initial lure that took me there, but rarely has the catch been so intriguing.

The hub of this area is Fort McMurray, undisputed holder of the title Boomtown, Canada. The reason is the oil sands, which have (as any local will proudly tell you) more deposits than Saudi Arabia. As world oil prices have risen, and technology developed to make extraction simpler and less wasteful, the viability of the sands burgeoned too.

The sheer status of this resource in Canada's future should make the region a must-see for vacationers with any sense of curiosity and adventure.

'Fort Mac' today has a population of about 60,000. Oil work pays well, so there are many Harleys and other mechanical toys cruising the summer evening streets alongside spanking new diesel quad-cab pickups. The airport sees more big-buck execs than any other remotely comparable facility. Golf courses are top hole.

Edmonton is five-hour, 428-km drive away, but the city is entirely self-contained and there is no shortage of excellent accommodation.

This town is where Canada's oil buck starts and stops, and while the giant crude-making operation is not an obvious attraction it is, in my view, more interesting than Disneyland and more informative for the kids. There are packages to tour the oil sands.

And the Newfoundlanders? Well, when the cod went south hard-working fishermen went west. About one third of Fort McMurray's population is either from Newfoundland and Labrador or connected to it by marriage.

From Fort Mac you can steep yourself in the lore of the old fur trade -- it was a major voyageur centre, sitting at the confluence of the Athabasca and Clearwater rivers -- or see some of Canada's most important and magnificent natural beauty.

Head north from Fort McMurray, over dark tar sands where from the air crawling 150-ton trucks look like Galapagos tortoises. At the 160-km mark the land changes dramatically into light-coloured dunes rolling into the distance. The Lake Athabasca dunes are Alberta's -- and Canada's -- Sahara.

Alberta's spectacular scenery is just one of the many features that lures tourists. -- Photo courtesy Travel Alberta

It is possible to drive to the dunes, but after that most access is on foot to protect the unique landscape.

The next star in the galaxy of good stuff is Canada's largest national park. Wood Buffalo was formed in 1922 to protect the last free-roaming herds of bison and to throw a shield around the Peace River/Athabasca delta, one of the largest freshwater deltas on the planet and considered vitally important internationally as a migratory bird wetland.

The park is a UNESCO heritage site, and birds from all four North American flyways pass through in spring and fall.

The south end of the park is accessible through Fort Chipewyan -- Alberta's oldest settled community -- which is a mere 40-minute flight from Fort Mac.

And the fishing? Ah, the fishing! An Ontario sportsman would feel right at home in far north-eastern Alberta, due to the fact the Canadian Shield pokes its granite head through the earth's crust here and creates highly familiar terrain.

The province's waters teem with a variety of fish. -- Photo by Rob Miskosky

As befits the northern latitude, the water is cold and pristine. A large proportion of the lakes in an otherwise water-shy province are centred in the tight area below the Northwest Territories border. All access is by air.

The waters teem with lake trout, northern pike, walleye (pickerel), whitefish and some arctic grayling. Big fish (really big fish) of all species are possible anytime, as I found out, and the populations -- particularly of northern pike, lake trout and walleye -- quite astounding.

There's also the chance of black bear, moose or wolf sightings.

The easiest way to deal with this kind of trip is through a package, and while there are several options I found Northern Mikisew Sport Fishing and The Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre to be exceptional operators.

The Sawridge Inn group also have hotels in Jasper and Slave Lake, and the recently renovated Fort McMurray hostelry is large, inviting and has a worthy wine cellar.

Anglers will surely savour frying up some of their catch for lunch. -- Photo by Peter Brewster

Northern Mikisew Sport Fishing, based at Fort McMurray airport, runs clean, self-contained camps on 10 remote lakes in the rugged area north of the Alberta portion of Lake Athabasca, and has been in business 25 years.

While anglers usually bring their own tackle, sleeping bags and food, Northern Mikisew can outfit a complete package including cook and guide. Fishing is from modern aluminum boats with good motors.

Sawridge and Northern Mikisew combine to provide multi-day packages with accommodations at either end, and are in the process of setting up special options for busy corporate suits who want quick -- and very remote -- R&R.

Fly-in time from Fort McMurray is typically 11/2 hours in a big Cessna Caravan, with spectacular views of the boreal forest, oil sands, Lake Athabasca and the dunes along the way.

The anglers' camp at Colin Lake. -- Photo by Rob Miskosky

Contact with Northern Mikisew's general manager Tim Gillies is by camp satellite phone whenever necessary. Fishing typically runs from late May until the end of September.

I fished at Colin Lake, a large waterway dotted with islands. It was July and very hot, and the trout were in the deep basins but we had many fish up to about eight kilos. Pike were everywhere -- around the islands, in shallow bays, even in the deep water -- and while I have caught pike all over this country, and in Europe, I have never encountered pike that fought so strongly.

My largest fish of the week were well over nine kilos and I lost count of the smaller ones. I used a medium-heavy baitcasting rig but whenever possible switched to a 9-weight flyrod and big pike flies. A 13-kilo pike is entirely possible at Colin Lake.

Alberta law requires barbless hooks, a philosophy I heartily support. Our fish mortality for the few days we were there was restricted to the ones that graced the fry pan at a shore lunch. I knew that the fishing would be good as soon as I entered the Sawridge Inn and looked up into the massive, timbered lobby.

The native peoples of the north believe that dreams can be intercepted by a dreamcatcher -- a delicate, circular woven web of strings and feathers. The belief is that bad dreams will become snared in the web, and good dreams will pass through a centre opening to slide down sacred feathers and bless the dreamer. Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre at Fort McMurray boasts what is said to be the biggest dreamcatcher in the world. It is three metres across -- now that would be some fish!

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BOTTOM LINE

GETTING THERE: By road -- a long way, but if you're on that cross-Canada car trip the scenery is well worth it. When you get to Alberta turn north!

BY AIR: Both WestJet and Air Canada can get you to Fort McMurray from Toronto daily, but you'll have to change planes in Calgary or Edmonton.

LODGING: Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre, Fort McMurray, 1-800-661-6567 or sawridge.com. They also have packages for the Jasper area or sightseeing (including kayaking) on Lesser Slave Lake, the largest lake entirely in Alberta.

FISHING: Northern Mikisew Sport Fishing, 1-888-268-7112 or mikisewsportfishing.com

MORE INFORMATION: Fort McMurray Tourism, 1-800-565-3947 or fortmcmurraytourism.com.