“IT HAPPENS” ONLY 89 TROPHY FISH

Fishing is a lot like playing the lottery: you buy your tickets, and you take your chances. For several consecutive weeks we had a ton of winning tickets. Weeks 4 through 6 were particularly gangbuster groups, averaging 179 trophy fish per week with an average of 18 pike that hit or exceeded 44 inches. That was a lot of winning. Then the Week 7 group arrived bringing, of course, high expectations. Most of our guests follow our season online, checking the Tundra Times daily and our weekly Blog posts as well. But this time when the winning tickets were posted only a few of our Week 7 guests had a trophy payout. The simple truth can be framed in raw numbers: 89 total trophies were landed with just five of those pike at or above that 44” mark. And if your last name wasn’t Myhre there was only one really big pike. Peter Myhre and his son James claimed four of those five giant pike including a 45, 46 and 47. So they had a memorable big fish trip, as did Todd Phillips who won the tussle with a Scott Lake 43.5” lake trout, a massive fish that will be a lifetime memory for Todd. There were other bright spots: Mike Manship had a wonderful four-trophy day on pike; Mike Sackash caught three trophy pike and a trophy lake trout in a single day; Rob Williams pulled an 18” grayling out of the rapids on a fly out; Arin St. Cyr and Patrick Finan found heavy 38” lake trout at the bottom of their guide’s net. Those were the fishing highlights, but it’s a short list compared to the previous weeks.

As usual, the culprit for low trophy weeks is easy to identify—the weather. Great pike fishing and sunshine go together like ham and eggs. But the weather for this group was more like an egg on the face. It was terrible. The total sunshine over five days was measured in minutes not hours and whatever we got was on the last afternoon when most of our guests were enjoying their wrap-up late shore lunch. The low point was the cold, nasty fourth day of the trip when only eight trophy fish were brought to the boat with the biggest pike a 41.5-incher. The week had started great with a 38 trophy-day on the first day when conditions were cloudy but still warm. If you look at the photos in the Tundra Times for Week 7 you can see the anglers without coats on Day 1 and for the rest of the week you see an abundance of coats, hoodies and stocking caps (toques here in Canada). Ironically if we look at the long history of trophy totals at Scott Lake Lodge, going back 27 years, standing tall as the #1 top trophy week is Week #7 (or back in our early days of a 7-day trip the week closest to the second week of July). Fishing, like life, often just isn’t fair.

But this was mainly a group of Scott veterans, many with a long Week 7 history. They remembered the blue skies, sunshine and aggressive, active pike and grayling ready to eat anything that floated over their heads. So it will be again. Bad luck just happens.

What also happens every week at Scott Lake is extraordinary customer service with options for a lot of non-fishing activities. With the cool weather the sauna was fired up and the hot tub was busy. So was the workout facility. Some of our guests even did a dip in the lake, cool but energizing. The dinners were lively with conversations and many fish tales were told, some even true. Actually, there were plenty of fish landed over the week. In cool weather the non-trophy, smaller pike fish are still quite cooperative. The numbers were great for most anglers and there were plenty of pike for shore lunches. Bent rods were not the issue; it was the size of the bends compared to past years. The recent fires on Scott Lake provided a good foraging ground for morel mushrooms, which the kitchen cooked up as steak toppers for the last supper. As has been the case all season, wildlife sightings were common with moose, bear and muskox spotted. For first-timers at Scott, it was still amazing fishing. Compared to fishing in guest’s home areas even this low trophy count still provided more big fish action than they could have imagined. Everything is relative, including fishing success. A measure of our guest’s confidence in this fishery? Most of the crew re-booked right at the lodge and will give Week 7 another chance in 2025. Let’s hope the lottery numbers tumble around and bring back a regular Week 7 with a higher trophy fish count. Odds are: it will.

OK, let’s start with a dandy fish story. And we know that all anglers love fish stories; it’s in our DNA. It goes like this. Long-time guest Dan Spielman was already having a great trip with some trophy pike and grayling in the books. Then on his last day he and his guide, Jan Phoenix, decided to go for one of the more elusive gamefish on Scott Lake—the Lake Whitefish. Whitefish are the prime prey for big lake trout and pike, but are substantial fish. Big ones on Scott can hit seven or eight pounds. To get one an angler needs to be in just the right place at the right time. On Scott Lake those two variables need to be the Northwest River (in logically the northwest corner of Scott Lake) and late August or early September. Covering those two bases, Dan was drifting his tiny nymph (a very small sinking fly) on his equally tiny 4-weight fly rod. Getting a big whitefish on this rig is a thrill and Dan had subdued three nice ones, over two feet long. Big fish on a 4-weight. Then something grabbed his fly that really meant business. This was no whitefish: it was a freight train with fins. It turned out to be a trout and not just any trout but a massive 42.5-incher. Under normal circumstances, it would be almost impossible to get a trout that size on such light tackle. But the trout made the wrong move, running parallel to the boat, and the guide was quick with his net. Jan scooped up the trout before he made it to deep water where the battle might have lasted for an hour or more with an uncertain ending. But everything fell into place for a fish story for the ages.

There were a lot more fish stories on this final week of the 2023 season. One of our top flyout lakes, Wholdaia, provided many of our fish stories this week. The McClain group went there to get into some arctic grayling, a beautiful and bit exotic fish that frequents the rivers of the subarctic. They got a bunch. Between the four anglers (Bill Clawater, Jim McClain, James McClain and Clay McCain) dozens of trophy-sized grayling were landed with eleven of them hitting our “Supersized” standard of 18-inches or better. In that batch were two at 19.5 inches, the very top size of grayling in these parts. Grayling in the far north are “chunky” fish and very strong fighters, especially in the fast water they love. Two other anglers had an equally exciting grayling fest. This one was on Smalltree Lake where Bill Sandbrook and Sonya Boone landed a baker’s dozen grayling trophies with six of them over 19-inches.
Pike came in bunches as well. Wholdaia was a multi-species provider and offered Mark and Rebecca Graf with some great story material. They landed nine trophy pike on a single day. They liked that lake so much they went back for a second bite of that apple and Rebecca got four more trophy pike including a 44-incher and her personal best, a fat 46-incher. Tom Caldwell was fishing Wholdaia and landed not one but two 45-inch pike. Other flyout lakes offered more fish stories. On Selwyn Lake the father/son team of Peter and Jon Myhre had an eight-trophy pike day with two 44-inchers and a massive 47-incher that Peter subdued. Jon had a three-trophy day with a 46-inch pike on Sandy Lake.
Even when they didn’t come in bunches, the trophy fish were quite cooperative for our fall anglers. A total of 151 trophy fish were caught, one of our higher totals of the season. In addition to all the big pike listed earlier, 44s were taken by Heidi Becker and Sara Caldwell who also got a 45. There were plenty of big trout as well, some taken while casting for pike. Finally, some of the bigger trout made their journey from the deep holes and offered some wonderful angling opportunities. Trout of 38-inches were caught by Bill Sandbrook, Heidi Becker and James McCain; 39-inches by Greg Rothman, Jim McCain and James McCain; a 40-incher by Bill Clawater; a 41-incher by Julie Heinmiller and that fabled 42.5-incher by Dan Spielman.

Quite a few anglers (Kathy Norton, Heidi Becker, Bill Sandbrook and Sonya Boone) left with their Trophy Triple hats. Three anglers upgraded to the 100+Club. James McClain got his entry as Done In One getting huge pike, lake trout and grayling on the same day. Bill Clawater hit the mark as did Dan Spielman, propelled by his big laker.
Scott Lake Lodge has a slogan: World Class Fishing And More. For Week 19 the “More” covered a lot of ground and sky: the northern lights that showed up for two of the five nights, the remarkable fall colors that made every view one look like a Monet watercolor, the evening bonfires with the calls of loons in the background, the fantastic shore lunches, the incredible evening dining and the exceptional camaraderie that evolved over the trip. Plus, one of the best parties we have ever thrown on the island. On the evening of the third day, we went back in time and hosted a Disco Party that put John Travolta’s Saturday Night Fever film to shame. (And it was on a Saturday night.) Having been warned about the event, many of our guests dug out their best 70s outfits to the island; some really committed. Mark and Rebecca Graf brought up a few hundred pounds of party equipment (a major league fog machine, seven dancing lights systems and piles of bling) to give this an authentic disco feel. It was way over the top. The event was even crashed by Big Foot (we’re not making this up). At Scott we do fishing and fun-ing well. Apparently, we did save our best for last. The team that had been on our island for around 100 days (some longer) threw all their energy into these final five days. And the guest evaluations showed it. With warm weather all week it was the perfect way to end our season. Our thanks to all the 2023 guests for making the season one of our best. We’ll see most of you in 2024.

FULL ON FALL FISHING

When you think of fall in the far north, you naturally conjure many images: migrating loons and geese; the fall colors of brilliant yellow birch leaves, the smoky gold of tamaracks and the vivid reds of many groundcover plants; low scudding clouds, powerful east and north winds; wet boat seats from rain or heavy dew, and just maybe the mental image of an achingly beautiful day with puffy white clouds sailing through a perfectly sapphire blue sky mirrored in the transparent waters of Scott Lake. Well, our Week 18 crew saw all of the above (Day 4 was that perfect day) and enjoyed a very sensory week with the calls of the migrating geese and loons of several species, the pleasant smell of a nightly campfire by the main lodge, the wafts from the kitchen (duck, lamb, steak on the big Traeger to name a few) and the unmistakable pungent smell of just plain fall. It was Full On Fall—the real thing, not the teasing signs that we’ve had in prior weeks. For many of our guests, hailing from Arizona, Texas or even the upper Midwest, stepping off the floatplane onto the dock at Scott was stepping into a new and much cooler world, a wonderful transition. But not cool to the point of cold. For these five days it was just right for fall fishing, cool enough to be refreshing but not requiring five layers of clothing or gloves. Not yet anyway. Everyone fished all day, every day. And everyone caught a lot of fish with nearly everyone getting a trophy pin (25 of our 26 guests to be exact). There were plenty of trophy sized fish, a trophy count that hit the Century mark (exactly 100) for the second time this season. Most of those big fish were pike, 81, with only a few grayling this week. Just enough grayling though for one Trophy Triple hat. Paul Lorusso accomplished a rare “Done in One” day on Ivanhoe getting trophy pike, lake trout and grayling in a single day. There were plenty of big pike. Repeat guest Peter Myhre continued his torrid pace this season getting three 44-inch pike and a 45-and-a-half. Kay Myhre also got a 44-and-a-half pike along with Tim Maclean and William Friedman. William landed a 45-and-a-half pike as well, joining Rebecca Graf, Larry Noesen and Peter Myhre in the ranks of our Supersized pike collectors, anglers getting pike of 45” or better. Lake trout were in the mix too. In this transition from deep to shallow, some were hooked at 80 feet and others at 8 feet. They can be anywhere now making them harder to target but more of a surprise when casting for pike. We had 18 trophy-sized trout with Tess and Paul Rowland and Rebecca Graf landing heavy trophy trout. Jason Sikenga got a 40-incher and Shanna Bohac topped the big trout list getting a 41.5-incher.

Fall fishing is an exciting time to be at Scott. The days are shorter of course but the change of season brings its own magic. Everyone this time of year will get to experience two fall seasons—the one at Scott and the one back home in the lower 48. The northern lights were a no-show this group, but typically they light up the trip for our fall guests. The migrating birds, the fall colors, the frequent sightings of bears and muskox and the hard fighting pike made up for their absence. The senses were full to the brim. It was a great package.

P.S. There were no new 100+Club inductees this week but we did miss listing a couple of new members in our Week 15 update. On that week Adam and Brad Courvelle were part of one of our biggest weekly group ever of 100+Club members. With Adam and Brad we had eight that week. Brad at 106.5 inches is in third place on our 2023 list behind Connor Patrick and Mark Graf.