The 15th Week Fishing Report at Scott Lake Lodge

The 15th Week Fishing Report at Scott Lake Lodge

by | Aug 21, 2018 | 2018 Season

THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES

What a pleasant week at Scott Lake Lodge. It’s early fall, a wonderful time to be in the far north. While we had, (again) stronger winds than we would have liked for easy boat travel, we still had great fishing. It was another week with a triple-digit trophy result and a perfect mix of trophy pike (68), lake trout (20) and grayling (20). Everyone had lots of action as well. And again, lots of our supersized fish: eight Pike over 45”; four Trout over 40” and six Grayling over 18”. What made the week so interesting and enjoyable though was another mix—we had a lot of couples in camp. It changes the chemistry—for the better. Our women anglers bring a measure of civility and calmness to the proceedings. With the all-male groups (we’ve had a few), the testosterone gets a little heavy.  While still outnumbered 19 to 7, the women brought some balance to the week—some estrogen to even things out.

This was not a true battle of the sexes like the Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King tennis match, but there was an element of unspoken competition between spouses—there always is. Like Billie Jean in that famous match way back in 1973, these women brought their A-Game to this fishing trip. We’re not naming names here, but in every case the wives brought bigger fish to their guides’ nets than the husbands. Were they all just lucky? Were they better anglers? Or maybe they just listened more carefully to their guides? We’ll just let the results speak. These are facts: Mickey Moret landed a heavy fall pike that stretched the tape to 47”; Rhonda Trueman landed a 46”; Anne Harold on one of her first fishing trips got a 45” pike; Veronica Strobel pulled in a girthy 42” lake trout (with no help from anyone), and Patricia Jansma topped the grayling list for the week with a beautiful grayling just under 20 inches. Just luck?

 

Moving right along, the men on the island weren’t just watching the women land all these magnificent fish. They were busy getting supersized fish as well: Randy Moret with a 45” pike; Jon Myhre and Drew Plain with 46s; Peter Myhre with a 47, and Jon Myhre leading the entire pack with a gorgeous pike just over four feet long. Jon and Peter had one incredible day where they landed ten trophy pike between them—a real father/son bonding day. On the trout front, there was another huge day when Jack and Ben Waitkus teamed up to land six trophy trout in a single day, Jack topping out at 43” (just a massive fish) and Ben at 42”. Peter Mancuso got in the big trout game landing a another 42. The grayling fishing just keeps getting better as the season progresses. This was a great week. Everyone who flew to one of our grayling rivers had lots of action and some had some very heavy fish. Just like their trout day, Jack and Ben Waitkus cleaned up on grayling too, both getting a pair of 18” beauties. Dave Jansma landed a fat 19 incher.

With so many big fish, it was simple math that someone would be inducted into the 100+Club. There were three: Veronica Strobel along with Jack and Ben Waitkus. Patricia Jansma wore the Trophy Triple hat. The northern lights made several appearances for the night owls who waited up for them. They got a first-rate celestial show. Actually, the entire week was one perfect show. And almost everyone rebooked to do it all again in 2019.

Week 14 Fishing Report at Scott Lake Lodge

Week 14 Fishing Report at Scott Lake Lodge

by | Aug 18, 2018 | 2018 Season

ROUND TWO FOR NORTEK

This was Round 2 for the Nortek Global HVAC summer fishing retreat. Another crew from all across the US and Canada converged at Saskatoon for the two-hour charter flight to our float base at Stony Rapids, 50 miles southeast of Scott Lake Lodge. That small village holds our closest neighbors. That 50-mile distance provides an incredible level of seclusion: you don’t hear anyone mowing their lawn or starting their car. All we hear other than the occasional roar of a Beaver or Otter floatplane taking off are the lapping of waves, the calls of loons or a guttural cry of a raven. For most of this highly urban group, this kind of privacy and wilderness was a unique experience. One guest though was worried that a bear might get him on his way to his cabin. While there are plenty of bears around, over the 22 years of current ownership there has never been a bear “incident”. We leave the bears alone and they leave us alone.

This corporate group had the typical mix of some experienced anglers, some who had fished a bit and even some who had never fished before. Interestingly our guide team loves to have the last group for two reasons: first, they are very happy catching any fish and second, they always do what the guides tell them, virtually assuring that they will catch some fish. So, rather that the intensity of “gotta get a 48 incher” of many of our long-term guests, this group had a relaxed “let’s just have some fun” attitude. It made for a very enjoyable trip for everyone, guests, guides and shore staff. The goals were simple: have a festive shore lunch, experience the northern landscape, have a fly out over miles of pristine wilderness, maybe see the northern lights and catch some fish. All the boxes were checked and then some.

Everyone caught a lot of fish, most around 30-40 per day and some big fish did end up in the boats. Richard Benjamin had a big day, landing a trio of fat northern pike trophies. Matthew Mellert and Todd Nelson both landed 44” pike. They had a good shot at splitting the Big Pike prize money until Jacob Strum pulled a 45 incher into his guide’s net. The Big Trout pool was just as close. It looked like a heavy 40” laker landed by Gary Kresbach was the winner until the last day on Scott Lake when Don Harris topped that fish by an inch. Trophy Triple Hats, earned by catching a trophy pike, lake trout and grayling, were taken home by Don Harris, Sean Sullivan and Patrick Lloyd. For the night owls there was one spectacular show of northern lights, around the bar closing time, that filled the eastern sky. At this latitude you don’t look north to see the lights you just look up. For these three days everything was looking up. The only complaint the group had as they climbed aboard the floatplanes for their trip south was “three days was just not enough”. We agree.

Week 13 Scott Lake Lodge Fishing Report

Week 13 Scott Lake Lodge Fishing Report

by | Aug 17, 2018 | 2018 Season

GOING STRONG

At the beginning of week 13, we were nearly two months into the 2018 season. It would be reasonable to assume that either or guides or the fish would be getting just a little tired of the whole process. Not so. Both are hitting their stride: the guides finding the fish and the fish responding to our customer’s offerings. It’s a second wind thing. Even with some other strong winds (the kind that makes waves) making boat travel and getting to all the “secret spots” at times challenging, this group just hammered the fish and brought in some huge pike, trout and grayling. Our trophy count for the week (we have five-day weeks here and never know the day of the week or the date—it’s Day 1 through Day 5 for 90 consecutive days, a wonderfully simple life) was again in the triple digits. Our guides just count the big fish—126 this week to be exact—not the many other worthy fish, some just a half inch short of our trophy criteria (a 40” pike, a 35” lake trout or a 15” grayling). So, we don’t know for sure how many fish our guests land in a typical week. But some of our guests bring counters—the little clicker devices. We don’t encourage it because it can take the mystery and romance out of the experience, but some customers just like to know. We had one group of “counters” this week and they came up with some pretty impressive numbers. They had a single day with 161 fish and averaged per person 45 pike a day. If everyone had that average, it would work out to over 5,000 fish for just week 13, a big number.

With that many fish there would have to be some big fish in the batch. And there were—lots of big fish. This week the lake trout were the headliners. It’s been a very cool summer and the lakers were late getting down in their deep haunts in 70-100 feet of water where the guides, with the aid of cool electronics, can spot them as little arcs on a screen. Those arcs often turn into huge trout in the net. There were eleven trout over 38”: Jerry Brown with a 38; Duck Hutson, Dick Emens and Winfield Scott with 39s; Dave O’Donnell with a 40.5; Winfield Scott and Bill Hallinan with 41.5s; Winfield Scott (yes again) with a 42.5 along with Chris Matlock and Dick Hutson who caught 42s; and the top trout of the week, a monstrous 43.5” fatty landed by Paul Tarvin. Those trout alone represent somewhere around 500 pounds of fighting spirit. Lake trout stand with only a few other freshwater fish like the peacock bass,  golden dorado and the tiger fish as fish with incredible speed and stamina. Lake trout fight all the way up from their deep holes and keep a stout bend in the rod right until they are in the net.

While those huge trout drew the most “oohs” and “aahhs” at the nightly fish du jour picture show, there were some fat, fall pike as well. Two anglers (Dick Emens and Bill Notehelfer) landed 45” pike; Matthew Moody went a half inch better at 45.5; Elliot Brown got an impressive 47 and Jackie Scott, after a very dramatic battle with her fish diving under the boat around the motor, finally got a 47.5” beauty in the net. Long time regular Dick Huston had the last word on pike fishing though with a personal best (after many years of fishing Canada), a spectacular 48.5” northern pike.

The very high water this summer has discouraged some anglers who love catching the small but acrobatic arctic grayling. Finally, the rivers where we catch these “sailfish of the north” have dropped, making fishing for grayling more productive. Quite a few of our big grayling showed up for a dance on our ultra-light spinning rods or our 4-weight fly rods. Grayling of 18” (a big one in these parts) were caught by Dick Emens, Priscilla O’Donnell, Trux Emerson, Harry Murphy and Joel Tune; 18.5 was the number for Dave O’Donnell and Bill Calabresa, and a 19” by Dick Emens topped the grayling chart for the week. The grayling factory at the outflow of Smalltree lake was the hotspot of the week.

With those big grayling, it’s no surprise that it was a good week for guests joining (earning is a better word) the 100+Club by getting trophies in all three species whose collective measurement hits or beats 100”. It’s a reel accomplishment (yes, that’s a pun not a misspelling). We had a lodge record for a single week—seven anglers made the grade: Dave O’Donnell, Winfield Scott, Jackie Scott, Joel Tune, Bill Calabresa (son Vince just missed but got the Trophy Triple hat), Dick Emens and Paul Tarvin. Dick and Paul landed right near the top of the high total for the season with 104 and 104.5”, third and second respectively behind Amy Tower’s 105”. Will that 105” number hold for the final six groups? Stay tuned. Did those seven 100+Club inductees have a better time than the other 19 anglers on board for the week? Probably not. They all caught dozens or maybe even a hundred or more fish. They all enjoyed the same northern lights shows, the professional and experienced guiding, the same superb dining, and the same peace and serenity of being on water clean enough to drink straight out the lakes. The big fish—just details.

The Scott Lake Lodge Week 12 Fishing Report

The Scott Lake Lodge Week 12 Fishing Report

by | Aug 13, 2018 | 2018 Season

A Full Retreat

Nortek Global Hvac, LLC, a global leader in air handling technology, decided to send some customers, engineers, sales reps and company executives from all over North America on a three-day corporate retreat to Scott Lake Lodge. But they didn’t retreat. They attacked. And it turns out that they can handle more than air: they can handle fish. In between meetings and bar time, they fished Scott Lake and a few of our 22 fly out destinations, taking up the challenge of moving some northern pike, lake trout and arctic grayling from the water to their guides’ nets. Some were seasoned anglers. Many were not. But everyone caught a lot of fish. Bruno Blasietta led the way, getting a trophy in all three species, to take home a Trophy Triple hat. Dave Williams and Tim Willoughby each landed a 44” pike. Joe Sbarra found himself tied to a heavy 38” lake trout and brought that fish to the net.  Brian Black won the Biggest Lake Trout bet with a girthy 39 incher, a close race. The battle for the Biggest Pike of the trip wasn’t even close. On the last day of the trip Mike Tzimentos was on the winning side of a battle with a monster 49” northern pike, the biggest pike off Scott Lake this season. The scene of the battle was just a 15-minute boat ride from the lodge, a time and place Mike will never forget.

There were many highlights, including some northern lights, for this geographically dispersed group but nearly all rated the final full group shore lunch mid-afternoon on the last day as #1. All hands were on deck as the Scott Lake guides demonstrated their culinary skills. The site was a beautiful beach just a mile north of the lodge—Tundra Beach. There is a firepit there big enough to roast a pig. On this day though it was fresh caught northern pike, perfectly filleted. It’s a show to watch the teamwork of 13 guides, most with 15 or more years at Scott, as they put together an incredible spread of food. The menu included, of course, the traditional deep-fried fish and the “supers”—French fries like you’ve never had them. But our guides go way beyond the standard Canadian shore lunch fare. They had a baked fish, pike stir fry, buffalo jack, butter chicken pike and pike chili. All of that with onion rings washed down with lots of beer.

As the plates emptied everyone knew that the trip was reaching its end. It was all too short. After the final boat ride back to the lodge, it was time to make the mental adjustment to the “other world”, the one with meetings, schedules, deadlines, conference calls, full inboxes and dozens of texts. All that was still for tomorrow. They had one more float plane flight to Stony Rapids ahead of them and they had memories of  three days of spectacular sunrises and sunsets, the haunting calls of loons, the adrenaline rush of a savage hit by an angry pike and pleasant conversations with colleagues. For that time the only HVAC these guys had to deal with was the breeze off the big, cool lake. They will be back.

Week 11 Scott Lake Lodge Fishing Report

Week 11 Scott Lake Lodge Fishing Report

by | Aug 9, 2018 | 2018 Season

DAMN THE TORPEDOS: FULL SPEED AHEAD

After 50 consecutive days of guiding, cooking, cleaning, flying, fixing and muscling around baggage, fuel and food, the Scott Lake team would have plenty of reason to start slacking off. But that’s not what this group is made of. That’s not what any guest who landed on our island on July 30 experienced. At the opening night orientation session, the enthusiasm, energy and excitement were off the charts. You would have thought it was Day 1 of Week 1 not deep into our season. There is just no half-speed for our crew. There is no half-speed for our anglers either. They came to fish and hit the water hard.

Especially one Amy Towers, one of the Scott Lake “regulars”, who wasted no time getting into big fish. One her first day she accomplished the Done In One—getting into the 100+Club by catching a trophy pike, lake trout and arctic grayling whose collective measurements reach or exceed 100 inches. She was full throttle, getting a pike of 45”, a lake trout of 41” and a grayling of 16.5”. But having 102 total inches was just not good enough for Amy. Before her five-day stay ended she had “upgraded” to an 18” grayling and a 42” lake trout. That put her at 105 total inches to lead the season’s 100+Club standings. She also tallied no fewer than 22 trophy fish for her week. Congrats to Amy. And to husband Jeff, who quietly landed 8 trophies and also joined the 100+Club. The action wasn’t limited to the Tower clan. There were bragging rights all around.

Ryan Robbins had an epic day with lake trout. In one of the best lake trout days in recent memory, he pulled 10 trophy lakers into his guide’s big net. They were not just barely “over the line” trophies either—he got two 38s, a 40 and a 41 incher. That’s a day. There were lots of big days this week. With just over a hundred trophies, it’s not surprising that there were many memorable fish. Fish like 45” pike taken by Dave O’Donnell, Tonya Mcgraw and Bob Chadwell. Or like the 46s landed by B Juno Francis and Bill Golz. Bill had a sensational trip, also getting a fat 47” pike which tied Bill Mcgraw’s for the biggest pike of the week. Our menu for the week included big trout. In addition to Amy and Ryan’s haul, Rob Neumann contributed a 41 incher and Betty Chadwell a 40 to the week’s abundance.

As our season has progresses the arctic grayling have been making a more dramatic appearance. The season started with very high water, making fishing for the sailfish of the north tough on the fast-flowing rivers of the area. Now, as the waters are dropping, the grayling are rising and getting within reach of our ultra-light spinning rods and 4-weight fly rods. Some very nice grayling were landed on our rivers: 18 inchers by Amy Towers and Jono Francis and a 19 by Jeff Towers. While not all of our guests go for grayling, those that do love it. It’s a more contemplative fishing experience that going one-on-one with savage pike or pulling lakers out of the depths—the contrast is wonderful.

For many guests there were other trophies besides the ones that earn pins at the nightly trophy ceremony. This week we had the first northern lights of the season (that gets better week by week as we start to get some nighttime darkness, something we don’t have in June and July). We also had a lot of moose and bear sightings as well as the daily sightings of loons, eagles and osprey. There were trophy moments too just enjoying the evening campfire or the conversations at dinner. Scott Lake is about fishing but it’s about more than fishing. Some anglers left with lots of trophy pins or the 100+Club jacket (besides Amy and Jeff Towers, Juno Francis and Ryan Robbins earned that). All our week 11 anglers left with a strong sense of satisfaction after spending five beautiful summer days in one of the most pristine and private settings imaginable. The big fish are a bonus.

 

Mid Season Update

Mid Season Update

by | Aug 6, 2018 | 2018 Season

As of July 24, we have hosted nine five-day groups at Scott Lake Lodge, exactly half of our 90-day 2018 season. So, is this glass of perfectly clear Scott Lake water half-empty or half-full?

We’re kidding. Of course, it’s half-full. Scott Lake Lodge is that kind of place. Actually, we don’t even like half-full glasses—be it water, wine, beer or spirits we make sure all the glasses around here are brimming full. And that’s exactly what happened over the first 45-days. We have half of a glass and half of a season that’s full of huge fish.

It’s hard to imagine a better overall half-season that what we have experienced this year. There were some weeks with better fishing of course. Fishing in the far north is all about weather: typically, the warmer the better. Some of our groups encountered nasty cold fronts that dramatically slowed things down, but overall, the fishing was sensational. This is, after all, not the kind of fishing lodge where you should have been here last year, or ten years ago. This was the year to be at Scott Lake Lodge and we’re not indulging in speculation. We have the numbers. They do tell a story.

Big smiles and big trout.

That story has been BIG FISH, lots of big fish. In our first 45 days our intrepid anglers have landed 1,164 trophy fish. That’s a bigger number than the full season totals for all but six in our twenty-one-year history, all of those within the past eight years. It’s the really big pike though that have this half-full glass just jammed with huge fish (it’s a big glass by the way). By our standards a huge pike is one in our “super-sized” category, a fish of 45” or more. That’s for most anglers a true fish of a lifetime. Well, that adrenaline-inducing experience of tying into a 45+ pike has happened 100 times already this season.

“That adrenaline-inducing experience of tying into a 45+ pike has happened 100 times already this season”

To put that number in perspective, over the past 21 seasons the average number of super-sized pike was 42—for the full season. We are well on our way to blowing away our all time over 45” number of 138 set last season. It will happen. The second half of the season is typically when the giants go one the prowl in their annual fall feeding binge. If we look at pike over 47”, a size we call the “megas”, we have a similar story. Our anglers have landed 20 of those so far this season, against a 21-year full-season average of just 9.  Between 2004 and 2010 the average was 4.5 of the mega size. So, something is happening here. We have had roughly the same number of guests every season since the 2000 season. It’s not more anglers. For pike, both the total number of trophy fish (40” or more) and the super-sized numbers have exploded. Why? Lots of factors: more fly out options with fish that haven’t ever seen a lure (from 3 to 22 over the past 21 seasons); more experienced guides (average tenure now is 17 seasons at Scott); better fish handling (lower mortality); better anglers (our repeat customer rate is now around 85%) and maybe most importantly, warmer water that creates conditions for faster growth rates. All speculation of course but the numbers are real.

Behind all those real numbers are real stories. Probably every one of the 240 anglers who have jumped off a floatplane onto our docks this summer has three of four stories of big fish landed or lost; stories of over-the-top shore lunches and superb dinners at the lodge ; stories of friendships made or renewed; and simple stories of loon calls, the sight of an eagle arcing across the sky or the sound of the loons calling in the night, and the rare experience of being in a pristine wilderness with all comforts of home (probably more comforts). No one’s story, though, can match Jim McDougal’s who on a single day landed seven trophy pike including a 45, a 46 and a whopping 49.5 incher. Kurt Vincellete has his 49.5 story as well. Russ Geseme has stories involving two 45s and two 47s. Dave Dalvey can remember fourteen trophies from his trip. Peter Myhre would have a difficult time remembering all his trophies—29 pike trophies in five days! Andrew Troop will always remember his massive 44” lake trout as will Brian Spaly remember his fat 44. And some youngsters will have memories of Scott for a long time as they kicked off their fishing careers. Fifteen-year-old Linus Maurer and thirteen-year-old Ben Matherly both landed 48” pike. Fourteen-year-olds Thomas Purcell and Greta Hall become some of the youngest members ever of our 100+Club. So many fish. So many memories. Now we will wait and see just how full that glass can get as we fish out the remaining 45 days of the 2018 season.

Now’s The Time to Book for 2019

If you don’t think that this is the time to book your 2019 trip you should read the above report again. In our long history we have never seen so many fish and so many big fish. If you were at Scott 10, 15 or 20 years ago, you would find a different place—better facilities, more experienced guides, better equipment and most definitely better fishing. We always allow guests to rebook their week, guide and cabin before they leave the island so we are not booking for August of 2019 yet but we are open to book for June and July. A few of our 2019 weeks are fully booked but many are open for your next fishing adventure.

Don’t miss your chance to get a prime week. Email our guide/sales manager Jon Wimpney at j5@scottlakelodge.com right now. He’s on the water during the day but catches up on emails/phone calls in the evening. He will call you the same day or the next day after you contact him. Our wifi calling works just fine here on the 60th parallel. For general information about the lodge or travel options call our customer service office in Wisconsin at 888/830-9525 (call 715/362-7031 from Canada). Yes, do it now.