The First of Many – Week 13 Update

The First of Many – Week 13 Update

by | Aug 15, 2022 | 2022 Fishing Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike, Website Fishing Blog

WEEK 13 UPDATE

REMEMBER WHEN (Fishing Memories)

Most anglers remember, even if it’s vaguely, their first fish or their first fishing trip. For nearly all that first fish would have been a six-inch bluegill, crappie or maybe a twelve-inch black bass. Lachlan Williamson has a different story. The fourteen-year-old had his first fishing trip with his dad, granddad, and other family members. So far that’s typical. What’s not typical is on your first ever day of fishing catching, not one, but five northern pike over 40 inches long, the biggest at 43”. The first came on his second or third cast of his first day of fishing…ever! Just where do you go from there? Well, you might add two days later three more trophy pike with a fat 45 at the top of the list. The next day you get a 37” trout and on your final day of your first fishing trip you fly to a pristine river that a handful of anglers have ever seen and get a bunch of big grayling. The biggest is eighteen inches long and put you in the Scott Lake Lodge 100+Club, something usually reserved for older, more experienced anglers. But that’s exactly what Lachlan did. Where do you fish after an experience like that? Back next year to Scott Lake Lodge of course. On the other end of the experience spectrum, Gus Ruetenik, our eldest angler, at 98 years has caught and released many trophy pike at Scott Lake, his last day 43″ being the latest.

Hundreds of Fishing Memories

Lachlan wasn’t alone in making memories. His dad, Bill Williamson, also entered the 100+Club, catching a 46” pike and a 41” lake trout on his way to the Club. Karen Flynn got her Trophy Triple hat with a monster 41” trout as part of her catch of all three Scott Lake Lodge trophies. The group had as most groups have some sunny days and some cloudy days, but the fish were there with just over 100 trophies bagged. Big fish were all over the board: 45” pike were taken by Ketta Robertson, Matt Thomas, Jason Loughran; 46s by Bill Williamson, Jim Williamson, Leland Williamson and Eli Coleman; 47.5” pike by Leland Williamson (same day as his 46) and Jim Flynn who had two other trophies on that memorable day. Like the previous week we’re seeing a lot of big pike and lake trout. It’s been the pattern here for decades: early season has huge numbers of fish, but the late season produces the huge fish.

Another pattern is clear. People have fun at Scott Lake Lodge. This week had some fascinating highlights (yes a pun). The northern lights showed up and on an entrancing final evening most of our guests sat around a big bonfire by the main lodge and watched the supermoon rise while northern lights danced. That’s the way to close a wonderful fishing trip. All part of August at Scott Lake Lodge.

August 9
Return of the Trout: Week 11 Report

Return of the Trout: Week 11 Report

by | Aug 3, 2022 | 2022 Fishing Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WEEK 11 UPDATE

IT’S THE LAKE TROUT RETURN

In last week’s highlights we gave the abundant lake trout of Scott Lake and our many fly out lakes a clear ultimatum: they had just a few more days to figure out where they should be! Apparently, they listened. While only sixteen trophy lake trout were caught in the prior fifteen days, our Week 11 anglers in just five days slid an impressive 23 trophy trout into their guide’s waiting net. These were not a bunch of barely over the line trout either. Nearly all were in the high 30” zone and many were monster trout; there were ten that broke the 40-inch supersized mark. Incredibly five of those 40s were landed by one angler on one day. That lucky and quite skillful angler was Rod Pace. He totaled seven trophy trout that day, his biggest a whopping 44.5” with two 42s, a 41, a 40, a 38.5 and a 36 backing it up. Now that’s a day of lake trout fishing. His son, Austin, added three more for a boat total that hit double digits. That is a day the Pace team and their guide will remember for the rest of their lives. Another big trout that the angler will not soon forget was on the end of the line of Kim Brown. On the last day of her trip, she tied into a brute of a 42-incher that put a 100+Club jacket in her future. She ended up with a very impressive 106 inches with that trout, a 45” pike and a 19” grayling. The big trout parade wasn’t over: Ron Spork got a pair of 41-inchers; Win Scott laned a 41.5- and a 40-incher. Dana Albright almost hit the 40-inch mark but was very happy with her 39.5” beauty. So, from typically being buried in the last paragraph of our reports, lake trout made the headlines for Week 11. Lake Trout season at Scott is late but officially ON.

Terrific Trophy Pike Fishing

There were some big fish besides trout. Pike trophies did outnumber trout trophies by over two to one, but the lakers were more impressive. Down from the prior week, pike trophies still were in the bragging range at 73, so big pike weren’t exactly sleeping, especially the big ones: we had eleven pike over 44 inches. Ron Spork got a pair of 44s while Austin Pace, Rod Pace, Win Scott, Aris Moulopoulos, Levi Rosenberg, Lonnie Thompson and Eric Davis all got 44-inch northern pike. At one more inch, we term our pike supersized and we had a few of those. Aris Moulopoulos landed a pair of 45s; the father/son team of Todd and Levi Rosenberg got theirs on the same day, and Kim Brown brought a 45 to the boat. It was by many anglers’ accounts a sensational week for those “almost” trophy sized, the 38s and 39s that typically are the hardest fighting fish in the lake. Let’s just say it was a terrific week for both lake trout and pike.

Arctic Grayling Trophies

We can’t forget Arctic Grayling either. They had their moment in the sun with 24 trophies, five in the supersized category of 18” or better. Dana Albright pulled a pair out of the rapids, a 19 and a 19.5”, tied for the biggest of the season. Bill Russell and Kim Brown landed 19s. Scott Sheldon caught an 18. Now that’s enough big grayling to produce some hats and jackets. Indeed, Trophy Triple hats were earned by Todd Rosenberg, Dana Albright, Win Scott and Kim Brown. In addition to Kim, Dana Albright and Win Scott entered the celebrated 100+Club where the total inches of all three of our trophy species hits or exceeds 100”, not an easy feat. Congrats to them and to all the Week 11 guests for hitting the trophy FUN mark. Everyone had a great time, as reflected in the bar tabs for the week. The abundant sunshine certainly had something to do with it. After many less than sunny weeks, we had four and a half days of glorious sun and pleasant breezes—just a perfect week to be in the far north.