During the long winter nights, the image conjured about summer in the north is sunny days, calm waters, a loon calling in the distance and of course hungry fish! It helps our guests and staff get through the “off season blues” which tend to set in about 1 week after leaving this special place. The group in week 13 were treated to a show rarely equalled in the northern boreal on the border of Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. They had 5 days of sun, 5 days of light winds and 5 days of incredible fishing.

Long-time Scott guest Dick Hutson set the bar high right off the bat, on the first day Dick pulled a 44.5”er out of a weedbed. Not one to rest on his laurels Dick and guide Jan teamed up for an unbelievable 49” northern. Ed Sauger, a first-time pike fisherman got spoiled right off the hop with a 45” trophy northern pike. Ed’s father Joe came up last year and is already a veteran at catching big fish, brought to net a 46” pike, a 41” trout and a 17” arctic grayling to enter into the 100”+ club at 104”. Another father, son team used to catching big fish, Pat & (owner) Ron Spork got into a couple dandies, Pat caught a new personal best pike at 47” and the trout troller Ron picked up a 42” slob trout. The Texas boys were loving the weather at Scott, while 80F is hot for the Canadian staff, it’s a nice break from the 100+F club that the southern USA is in during the summer months. Jeff Ryan beat the heat and landed himself a fat 46” pike fishing with Poacher. Jeff’s partner Darrell Preston was hot! He landed a 44” pike, 39” trout and added grayling to reach exactly 100”. Seemed like the grayling were cooperating this week and sipping caddis flies off the surface. Kevin Morse and Len Dorr both took advantage of the hot grayling fishing to notch Trophy Triples catching each species in trophy size. Joel Tune put a grayling clinic on up at Labyrinth Lake, he plied the river for 8 trophy grayling….it seems 8 is his lucky number because Joel caught 8 big pike between 40 and 44.5”. Scott Lake’s top-flight accountant was visiting this week, Mike Hauser got into some big fish, he pulled up a couple of big trout at 37 and 39” then switched to the fly rod and to cast to a girthy 46” northern.

We give guests at Scott Lake a full last day of fishing before sending them on their way south. That last afternoon is important because it seems we have many trophies caught to end the trip. Scott Sarason waited until day 5 to reach 100.5” and entrance into the 100+ Club, Scott got a 44.5” pike, a 39” trout and a 17″ grayling. Waiting until the last moment before packing up the boat and heading home, Priscilla O’Donnell tried one last pass on a cabbage bed with guide Steve…it was a smart move, she hooked into and landed a huge 47.5” northern pike…her biggest to date at Scott!

While we can’t profess to control the weather or the attitude of the fish we can control a level of personalized service unmatched in our industry, personal connection with among the guests and staff and the fulfillment of making lifetime memories with friends and family with the striking northern backdrop. It just feels better to do it under sunny skies; skies that change to the canvas for the northern lights this time of year and offer a great reason to have one more cocktail in a chair on our deck…that is unless Owner Tom Klein doesn’t throw that chair on the fire first…it’s a funny story, ask us about it when you’re up here next summer!

What do you get when you mix 26 anglers on a corporate trip sponsored by Nortek with 13 Scott Lake Lodge guides with a passion for creative outdoor cooking, add a big bunch of northern pike that were swimming just an hour or even minutes before becoming fillets, throw in a spectacular beach setting on an equally spectacular summer day (the not too hot/not too cold variety) and season the mix with lots of beer and wine and a primitive ten-foot long fire pit? You get an epic shore lunch, a picnic on steroids. That’s what our recent corporate group enjoyed on their last afternoon of a three-day fishing adventure. This was not your run of the mill Canadian “fish fry”. This was an extravagant feast. To be sure there was one entrée of crispy pike from the giant pans and some “buffalo jack” to kick things off. But there were offerings that this crew had never seen before at any shore lunch—the legendary Scott Lake honey garlic pike; a very interesting pike chili; mouth-watering grilled pike fillets, photogenic and delicious fish tacos, and a to-die-for ranch bake that had everyone returning for seconds. Of course, there was a small mountain of the kind of French fries that can only be done over a hot wood fire. When the eating was done, there was nothing left but scraps for the waiting seagulls and ravens. It was a wonderful capstone on three days of getting down to business—the business of having fun while accomplishing business objectives.

This may have been the capper of the trip but not the highlight. That would have been the encounter at a shore lunch two days earlier. As with most big groups some friendly wagering went on for the biggest pike and lake trout. Well, Tim Prasoloff and Dan Walters were fishing in the same area of Scott Lake Lodge’s 200,000 acres of pristine water and had plans to meet up for lunch. They arrived at lunch with aces up their sleeves: both that morning had hooked and landed huge 47” pike, fish that on a three day trip even with 26 anglers were pretty sure contest winners. One can imagine their mutual surprise when the greetings and small talk about the morning ended up with something like—“so you got a 47 too”. The odds that two fish like that were caught the same morning on the same part of the lake by two guys who had planned to meet for lunch? Way too low to compute but it does make a great fish story (and a true one). Tim did take his catch a bit out of the “just luck” category by landing another giant pike, just a half-inch smaller, the next day. For the trout bet? Even more bizarre. Again two anglers, Brent Snider and Ron Pierce this time, tied for the biggest lake trout, but they did it from the same boat and within minutes of each other. Both got fat 38 inchers. Another great fish story. Nearly everyone of the group caught a trophy pike or lake trout, but everyone did leave with a collection of fish stories and a trophy experience. Maybe they even closed a deal or two.

What a week! Great weather, great company and fantastic fishing! The group from week 11 were fraught with luck right from the start of the week, clouds parted and a nice summer high pressure system settled in to kick the pike and trout into overdrive. It was a week where we had our season’s youngest and oldest guests; nice to see that the fishing bug continues to catch amidst all the other things grabbing attention these days. Fishing wisdom was being passed both up and down the years last week and the group seem to thoroughly enjoy their time shared on this island.

Now to the fishing! There was a grayling bite on day 1 on the Dubawnt River north of Ivanhoe Lake, the Marks (Mark Lackner and Mark Heine) caught grayling on dry flies, wet flies…and just about everything else they threw. Both caught 10 trophies that day on the rapids with 18.5” and 18” being their respective biggest. Jeff Towers took pike honors on the first day with a fat 46.5” trophy northern. The second day was highlighted by a couple of beauty 44 Magnums. Mark Velligan got to sight cast his fly to a big 44.5” pike. Tosh Craig (son of head guide Cory) pulled in a jumbo 44” as well….he wasn’t done yet and added a day 4 giant of 46”. On the trout troll Loren Larson managed to battle a 40.5” laker from the depths of Scott. Loren was lucky enough to catch another half dozen lakers from 35-39” …. his arms must have been sore after that day!

The third day had the ladies in camp joining in on the big fish. Priscilla O’Donnell and Betty Chadwell both notch 44.5” trophy northern pike. Tonya McGraw added a 46” as well. On a calm sunny day what more can you ask for from a fly in fishing trip to Canada? Bryce Tharp was doing some pike fishing on one of the flyout lakes in the Northwest Territories and landed a beauty 46” northern pike. A couple anglers were lucky enough to catch all 3 species (northern pike, lake trout and arctic grayling) in trophy size. Ryan Robbins hit his Trophy Triple with a 41.5” pike, a 36” trout and a 15” grayling…at 14 one of our youngest trophy triples this season. Perhaps the Trophy Triple caught by our eldest angler was completed this week by Gus Ruetenik Sr. At 93 years of age Gus has learned a few things about catching big fish at Scott Lake, he got a 40” pike a 39” laker and a beauty grayling from outflow of Sandy Lake to receive his hat! We had 1 angler hit the coveted 100”+ mark this week. Fishing with Jan, Amy Towers caught a mammoth 48.5” pike on day 4, on day 5 she added a buzzer beater 37.5” trout and a 16” grayling from the base of scenic Lefty Falls on the Grease River. Amy ended up with 101” of trophy fish! Congrats Amy and all the anglers on week 11. Let this be a lesson to all of you folks that think fishing isn’t as good as it is the first week of the season….just ask the week 11 group what they thought of fishing in the dog days of summer!

The 10^th week of our season highlighted the flexibility required to continue the trend of great fishing our guests have become accustomed to. Ever changing weather conditions, sun, rain, smoke, and wind…mother nature threw just about everything she had at this week’s group of anglers. This week the guides were kept on their toes switching the patterns to chase pike on rocks, weeds, drop-offs, and in bays! Big fish have started to set up on windy shores and summer weed beds, having veteran guides pays off in pike; big ones! They have a mental catalogue of milfoil, eel grass cabbage and 100’s of different addresses of big pike on Scott and the 20 odd flyout lakes we fish. Week 10, they fished them in the weeds when it was raining, on the shorelines when the wind howled and right back in the springtime bays when the sun shone. Anglers were treated to a full gamut of our big pike tactics, including the coveted sight fishing action of the shallows. 99 trophies hit the nets or cradles this week. The pike charge was led by John Borden with a 47” trophy northern pike. John and guide Jan didn’t rest on their laurels and added and big trout and grayling to the total to enter John into the growing ranks of the 100+ Club. Nick Tallman split his time between pike and trout, Graham found the right trout spot and put Nick on a monster 41” laker. A hike to the grayling rapids on the Dubawnt River netted Nick a bevy of big ‘lings; then back in the boat a 43” northern pushed Nick’s trophy total over 100”. Jeff Hoskins made his first trip to Scott Lake memorable with a Trophy Triple. The Olsons (Tom and Tim) along with guide Biff, put on a day 4 pike clinic finding big fish hunkered down in Smalltree’s famed cabbage beds. The duo caught an astounding 13 trophy northern pike between 40 and 45” …. truly a testament to what managing pressure on our network of lakes can do. How can you beat it, a flyin fishing trip to the border of Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories at the end of July and fishing for big northern pike? That’s not the end of the story for this week though…

As summer progresses and trout become concentrated in “the holes” opportunities to do battle with the true giants of the northern lakes comes more frequent. Each year Mike Scheidt comes up to fish with guide Paul Hamilton, the pair are a terror on trout. Boating numbers and size the team were successful on many trophies with the biggest a girthy specimen of 39.5”.

A milestone was passed this week, on day 3 Chuck Webster caught a 42” northern pike, that put the total number of inches of just our trophy size pike (those 40” and bigger) over 40,000!!! In Canadian measure that is 1 Kilometer (0.6 miles) of trophy pike caught in 2017. A true testament of the successful pairing of great guests and a guide staff that can take just about any curveball the northern summer can throw at them and hit it out of the park! There is no reason to sit at home and reminisce about the good old days of Canadian fly in fishing…. they were not as good as things are now at Scott Lake Lodge, strict catch and release and fish handling rules and a plan to manage (even the limited amount in a summer) fishing pressure means there are more and bigger northern pike, lake trout and grayling in our systems. What are you waiting for? The time is now!

What is the significance of 100? As most Scott Lake anglers are aware, this number represents a
lofty goal of angling success for a week. While everyone catches fish and most everyone catches
big fish, to put together a near perfect week for 3 species on a number of waterbodies and
under a variety of conditions is special indeed! The 9th week of our season proved to be electric…energy and anticipation of the week ahead was at near fever pitch in the lodge, as
many first timers were welcomed to the Scott Lake family; wondering just what was in store for
them. Further to the electric week, there was quite a few brilliant lightning shows that, while
enjoyable from the lodge window, were less than welcome while our anglers and guides were
running for cover. Sometimes major weather events can shut the fishing right off, sometimes
they are a catalyst to some great things…lucky for the week 9 group it was the latter.

With raingear on, dry bags packed, the anglers and guides set out to prove the weather couldn’t
stop them. Guide Paul Hamilton had 2 sisters in the boat and they got into great fishing right
away…Debbie Blue and Susie Trzos were both on fire this week. Debbie got into a number of
great pike and lake trout then finished off her Trophy Triple with a beauty grayling from Sandy
Lake. A gracious host, Debbie let Susie get a few casts in as well; it didn’t take her long to shake
the rust off her fishing skills under Paulie’s tutelage…Susie hit the Trophy Triple with a 42.5”
northern pike, a monster 42” laker and a 17.5” grayling…for you math buffs out there that adds
up to 102 total inches, making Susie the first entrant into the 100+ club for the week. A big
trout (42”) and big pike (44.5) helped John Kracum reach 104.5 inches. James Kracum, caught
and released some beauties on the way to his entrance into the Club. Waiting until the last few
minutes of his trip Rich Kracum took the lead from his son with 105”!! Punctuated by a buzzer
beater 43” magnum lake trout!! Way to go Rich and guide Greg! Dick Witwer found something
special on the end of his fly line this week. Casting the shallows Dick was lucky enough to latch
on to a 47” giant northern, he added a grayling and trophy laker to secure his 100+ Club jacket
as well. The last entry into the Club this week is by a gentleman that may need a separate closet
for all his 100+ Club jackets…Joe Daugherty, a Scott Lake veteran, hit 101.5” total with some
beauty fish and great guiding by Jan. This pair has teamed up for more than a few beauties in
their careers here at Scott. Congrats on another one Joe!!

So, by the numbers week 9 had 105 trophy fish brought to the boat, 31 of those came on the
second day when incoming storms set the fish on the feed. 7 lucky anglers caught the Trophy
Triple and 6 of those made 100” or better for entry into our 100+ Club. What the numbers don’t
convey is the fellowship, friendship and excitement this island on the 60th line of latitude
breeds, drinks were share, cigars smoked, old friends caught up about the goings on in the last
year and many first-time guests were welcomed into the family. The small details that our
world class (a quote from many week 9 guests) staff consistently deliver on, a quick glimpse of
the sunset on a stormy evening, big fish that were caught (or almost caught!) and time spent
with friends. These are the memories that drive Scott Lake Lodge and the experience here. If
you haven’t made the choice to visit us for your fishing vacation we suggest you do so quickly,
in order to make sure you have a front row seat for 2018.