by Tammy MacDonald | Nov 21, 2018 | 2018 Season, Guides
While you gather with friends, family and football to kickoff this holiday season, we want to pass on our best wishes to you and yours.
Know that what we are most thankful for is you!
Thank you for joining our adventures, thank you for the support and thank you for being a part of the Scott Lake Lodge Family!
After going through thousands of photos, trophy entries and creating much new content the anticipated Annual Report will be heading your way in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for it in your mailbox. It is packed full of memories from the 2018 season.
Technology is amazing. This fall we were able to monitor the freeze up at Scott Lake Lodge via satellite photos. The first signs of ice were captured on October 16. Then the Northwest arm of Scott started to freeze up and by November 16 the whole lake was locked up. Given the average ice out date, that means the fish will be locked under the ice over 200 days!
After the Lodge is boarded up and the last plane heads to Stony Rapids, it doesn’t take long for our staff to spread around the globe. But in the digital age that doesn’t mean work stops. We have been carefully going through our guest evaluations, digesting your thoughtful comments and planning how we can act on them. Lists, and more lists have been created and some items have already been crossed off.
“Given the average ice out date the fish will be locked in under the ice over 200 days.”
A big congratulations goes to long time guide Jan Phoenix on “tying the knot” with his beautiful bride, a reception that hosted many Scott Lake staff and family. Hunting and fishing is a big part of the group’s lifestyle. Guide Steve Yanish hosted successful hunters in British Columbia at his camp.
Greg, Brenna, Jackie and Mason have been working on Greg’s new hunting lodge and guiding whitetail hunters in Saskatchewan. Paul and Curtis, took a break from renovations and harvest to head south to chase some saltwater fish on the fly. After Jan’s wedding in San Jose, Poacher stopped in to visit Cory on his boat in Puerto Jimenez to connect with this nice rooster fish. Back in Saskatchewan, Shaun has been out fishing this fall in the snow to “toughen up in case 2019’s weather is as cold as this year”!
Travel has started for our group: Claire and Nigel crossed paths in Asia, Ross has been sampling cuisine in Italy and Rachael, despite a bum wing, caught some fish with Cory in Costa Rica.
We sent hospitality manager Dani to school; wine school, to expand our ability to recommend and pair wines in 2019. Watch out for an expended wine cellar at the lodge this coming summer.
Whether for your fishing buddy, family member or yourself….a fishing trip to Scott Lake Lodge is the
best gift. You won’t want to miss all of the improvements in 2019: new infrastructure, flyout lakes, and more. Give sales manager J5 a call: 306-209-7150 or
email. He will make sure your stocking is stuffed.
by Tammy MacDonald | Feb 8, 2018 | 2018 Season, Guides
While Scott Lake rests covered in snow and ice, for Scott Lake Lodge there is still lots on the go: we are securing new fly out destinations, ordering supplies, planning island-wide improvements and wrapping up construction work on the new Laker Lodge 2.0.
In short, we have been quite busy. With the help of our own ice pilots, the twin otter on skis landed on the unmarked snow of Scott Lake. Big January winds and cold made unloading the Otter a challenge but Paul Hamilton, Curt Woloshyn and yours truly, Jason Hamilton, who were there for a week, bundled up well and got a load of lumber off the plane. Going to a frozen lodge on the 60th parallel in mid-winter might sound fun, but it’s a pile of work. It goes something like this: unload plane and send it back for the second load of lumber; wade through snow and unboard cabin; attempt to start snowmobile but fail; tear snowmobile apart; attempt starting again and fail, again. Take a deep breath and light a fire to start the thawing of the cabin from -40 C (which coincidentally is exactly the same as -40 F) Now, what time does the sun set???
A blanket of snow covers the lodge and lake.
Unfortunately, its damn early this time of year; there is only around 5 hours of daylight in mid-January. Back to the snowmobile…success, finally; move gear up to the cabin. Now because the snow had covered the solar panel, there is no power. So, thaw small generator to heat up big generator, to get some juice. Wait 6 hours for power, internet, heat, dinner and a drink. That first day was hectic but after this it was time to work. The winter crew finished the electrical work and did the interior pine paneling for most of the lodge expansion. Shoveling roofs and clearing solar panels involved moving a few thousand pounds of snow but the 8000lbs of lumber provided the real tonnage. It’s how things get done though on the 60th parallel in winter. Overall, it was a good trip with considerable accomplishment. The lodge is really coming together. We think you will like it.
“Unfortunately, its damn early this time of year; there is only around 5 hours of daylight in mid-January.”
That first day was hectic but after this it was time to work. The winter crew finished the electrical work and did the interior pine paneling for most of the lodge expansion. Shoveling roofs and clearing solar panels involved moving a few thousand pounds of snow but the 8000 lbs of lumber provided the real tonnage. That’s how things get done though on the 60th parallel in winter. Overall, it was a good trip with considerable accomplishment. The lodge is really coming together. We think you will like it.
Just us and 8000 lbs of lumber.
Only took a few trips through the snow.
Guide Retreat 2018: Tampa, FL
This event is much anticipated and does a great deal to cement relationships within the company, fosters team work and lets the group have a look into the other side of the guiding experience with some fishing. The destination this year was Tampa, FL. Strings were pulled by the owners and prime seats were secured for the NHL All Star game. Now that’s music to the ears of a bunch of Canadian fishing guides.
After a hockey overload and maybe a few beverages, the group hit the inshore waters of Tampa Bay to try their luck. A mixed bag of species bent rods, Pompano, Permit, Mackerel, Snapper, Cobia, Jacks were landed, lessons were learned, and the guide team concluded that it was a great way to officially kick off the 2018 season.
The group left ready to guide NOW, but of course the five feet of ice on Scott will have everyone waiting a couple months to start that game.
by Tammy MacDonald | Apr 25, 2017 | Guides
Christmas came quite a bit early this year for the Scott Lake Lodge Guide Team—Christmas Island that is, an exotic island more formally known as Kiritimati, part of the country of Kiribati. Whatever one calls it, it’s a piece of paradise.
That remote speck of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Fiji was the destination for this year’s Guide Retreat, a hallowed tradition stretching back nearly twenty years. Over the past two decades our guides have chased bonefish in the Bahamas, tarpon in Florida, sturgeon in British Columbia, permit in Mexico, sailfish in Costa Rica, peacock bass in Brazil to name a few. Now the flats fish and blue water offerings of Christmas Island, one of the most storied fishing locales in the world, are part of the collective consciousness of the Scott Lake Guides.
Kiritimati, a spec of land between Hawaii and Fiji in the Pacific Ocean
As we have discovered over the years, there is nothing quite like being guided to improve a guide’s skills; this trip proved that in spades. Led by an energetic and highly organized Head Guide, Bita Kairaoi, the Christmas Island guides from Crystal Beach Lodge were experienced, skilled, professional and very patient. Even during some hellacious winds and rain, these guys keep their poise and carried on, even though they knew that day would suck. It’s what all good guides do. As happens with all fishing trips, the guides make things happen. No one knows that better than eleven Scott guides on this trip, joined by General Manager, Jason Hamilton, and the two Scott Lake Lodge owners, Tom Klein and Ron Spork. Our guys do it for 16 groups every summer on the 60th parallel, just 59 degrees further north than Christmas Island.
The Scott Lake Lodge gang rendezvoused in Honolulu, the jumping off point for the trip to Christmas. Because he wanted the group to have a first-class meal before heading to a place famed for its fishing not its cuisine, Ron Spork arranged an extravagant dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse where we were lavished with course after course of sensational food and wine. We would not see food like that again for a week, but no one cared; everyone was focused on fishing. Looking out the window of the Fiji Air jet on a blue bird morning was amazing, I could see absolutely nothing to see but blue water until we circled the 10X15 mile piece of land 1, 350 miles due south of Hawaii. Prior to GPS, how the hell did pilots find this place? With the highest point of land about six feet, there weren’t any mountains to help. While taxing to the “terminal” (a modest building no larger than the main lodge at Scott), it was a bit odd to note that apart from the plane we were sitting in there wasn’t a single aircraft of any size parked by the runway. Once a week that Fiji jet is the one and only plane in or out. With no nearby airports to land on this would not be a place for a small private plane—where would you go? As we rolled to a stop the sixty anglers or so anglers on board (there are four operating lodges at Christmas) were buzzing with excitement, stretching their necks and wiggling in their seat—kids in a candy store. All the planning, all the fly shop shopping, all the packing came down to this: we’re here. After a very basic custom’s check and payment of $50 for a fishing license, we were met by the Crystal Beach crew. They handed us a coconut drink and festooned our heads with floral garlands; we were the royalty of the Pacific. Very classy. We jumped in the back of the lodge’s trucks, our commuter vehicles for the week, and headed to the lodge in heat that this intrepid group of Canadians were not quite used to. It’s hot at one degree north latitude. Fortunately, each truck had a cooler of beer, a beverage that would be as common a sight in the hands of our guides as a fishing rod.
“As happens with all fishing trips, the guides make things happen. ”
It would be tough to imagine a more picturesque setting than what greeted us when we parked in front of Crystal Beach Lodge. It had it all—palm trees, sand beach, vivid blue water, the atoll’s reef creating pure white surf: it was the whole package, but no one ogled the scene too long. There was gear to unpack and rig. Within an hour the scene in front of the cabins was a forest of rods and reels. With four to six rods each (you need a 7- or 8- weight for bones, an 11- or 12-weight for giant trevally, a surf-sized spinning or casting rig for blue water plus plenty of spares) we could have stocked a decent fishing shop, and those rods got plenty of use. These guys came to fish: we were all on the trucks for the short drive to the harbor at 6:00 or 7:00 AM every morning. Like fishing at Scott, the decision about fishing at Christmas is binary. At Scott, it’s trout or pike. At Christmas, it’s flats or blue water. We all mixed it up over the week.
Unlike flats fishing in the Bahamas, the shallow water wading here brought lots of unexpected encounters; there are more than bonefish hiding out on the miles and miles of flats. Nothing is more surprising than meeting your first triggerfish, a multicolored oddity that tails like a bonefish but is much more finicky eater. While they will sometimes take a well-presented crab fly, everything must be perfect with the cast and strip. When hooked they are a tough customer. Over the course of the week, many nice ones were landed. There were also bluefin and golden trevally to be found, all spooky and challenging. Of course there were lots of bonefish—it’s what Christmas is famous for. We got our share. Some had more luck (or skill) than others. Cory Craig, the Scott Head Guide, was the bone whisperer of the trip. He just could not keep them off his hook. At one stop I was fishing with a Christmas Island guide just a couple hundred feet from Cory who preferred to guide himself. With his fish-spotting eyes why not? Every time I glanced his direction that damn rod was bent. Over and over. Before I had my first bone to hand (with a guide calling the shots no less ), Cory had landed a dozen or more. It’s why his nickname is WCA, as in World Class Angler. He was the master of the flats on this trip.
The biggest fish from shallow water belonged to Graham Coulombe who found himself and his 12- weight fly rod attached to a massive giant trevally. Ripping out about 300 yards of backing, that fish clearly wanted nothing to do with Graham. With an audience of five other Scott guides, Graham kept his cool and kept the fish in check, finally stopping the run by really putting a nasty bend in his rod. These fish are incredibly strong. In an epic battle it was a long “pump and gain” game to bring the fish back but Graham was up to it. He brought the 50 pound plus beast close enough to shore for a tail grab. What a fish! What an experience! Most of the gang landed smaller versions of GTs on the flats as well as a bluefin trevally or two. Wading the flats at Christmas was like cruising around a supermarket, just picking treats off the shelf.
A fresh frigate bird in this alternate Galapagos
Another treat for many of our group was the abundance of seabirds, especially in some inner lagoons that were fished on two days of our trip. There were nesting frigates and boobies that allowed us to walk up within feet of their nests—the new chicks hanging on the most precarious of nests. It was just like being in the Galapagos Islands. The absence of any predators creates a unique opportunity to see bird up close and very personal, just a wonderful grace note to the week.
“The real payoff for Scott Lake Lodge and its guests was the team building process that played out. It was a beautiful thing to watch ”
The blue water teams had some real rocking and rolling over the week. It was blowing for many of the days and, after all, this is the Pacific Ocean. There were some guys green around the gills on the blue water days but the action trolling or jigging made everyone forget about the waves. There was no problem getting into tuna, GTs, wahoo or a wide variety of bottom fish, most unknown species for Canadian freshwater guides. Every day the blue water crews provided the raw material for our evening dinners and probably fed the families of many of the staff at Crystal Beach Lodge. On one day when the wind was down, a single boat brought back around 500 pounds of fish, mainly tuna which were in the 20-40 pound range—all fighting machines. Jan Phoenix and Ron Spork were the ring leaders of the blue water group, going out nearly every day. Jan, who fishes salt water for most of the winter, was looking for a big wahoo. That species eluded Jan but not Steve Lindner, aka Biff Piston, who on the last day nailed a huge wahoo of close to 50 pounds. Another big wahoo was taken early in the trip by Jordan Baker. On the trevally front, Jan Phoenix landed a very nice bluefin and Matt Cornell got a 50 pound plus GT while trolling off the reef not far from the lodge.
There was a wonderful rhythm to the week: up early, fish hard all day, come back for cocktails, conversations with the Christmas guides, some very fresh tuna sushi, more cocktails, lots more beer, fish stories, more beer, and then dinner of fresh fish and rice (with the occasional lobster dinner thrown in) served under the stars, then more beer—a very tough routine. It was not unlike the summer pattern at a lodge 59 degrees further north. Like at Scott the vibe here was quite comfortable.
While fishing was center stage all week, the real payoff for Scott Lake Lodge and its guests was the team building process that played out. It was a beautiful thing to watch. On the water and at the lodge the Scott guides demonstrated the mutual trust and respect that makes the Scott Lake Lodge fishing experience so rich and productive. These guys really like each other. Maybe the roughly 900 beers the guys put down was an element but I don’t think it was a big part of the chemistry that developed. This is a brotherhood, a remarkable group of men who have a passion for fishing and a solid capacity for working together. Not content with just a week together, about half the group went to Molokai, one of the Hawaiian Islands, to chase the monster bonefish that inhabit those flats. It’s never enough. For the other half of the group the fishing trip ended sitting in the crowded waiting area at the airport listening to the anglers from the other lodges tell their stories–stories about bonefish landed, GTs lost and casts missed. Just change the species to pike and trout and you have the Day 5 experience sitting in the Last Cast waiting for the Twin Otter. Fish stories are an echo of primal instincts; our species really hasn’t changed that much since the time when hunting and fishing were survival skills not sports. The fish stories from the Christmas Island expedition will bounce around the lodge and in the boats all summer. Just another chapter in the Scott Lake Lodge story.
by Jason | Dec 27, 2016 | Guides
It is amazing after the concentration we get on the island at Scott Lake Lodge how far the guides spread out in the off season, after spending the summer chasing trophy northern pike and trophy lake trout at what we think is the best fly in fishing lodge in Canada, home is worldwide, travels as well. This off season we have guides living in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan (maybe the highest concentration is around White Fox), British Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and South Africa. They travel, live, work, farm, guide, fish, hunt and spread the word about the special place they have returned each summer now for many years. Each brings his own twist to the boat, each makes life on the 12 acre island great in a unique way. Here is a sampling, in photos, of what the group was up to, and where they’ve been so far this fall.
by Tammy MacDonald | May 27, 2015 | 2015 Season, Guides, Island Life
It’s been hot, incredibly hot for May, on Scott Lake. In our twenty years of operations we have never had the lake open in May. But it just could be this year. The lake is just one windy day away from breaking up. What a contrast to last May when the temperatures were hovering just above freezing for most of the month. Our island in the north has been basking in temperatures in the high 60s, even 70s for a couple of weeks now. An intrepid crew including guides Paul Hamilton, Cody Mychalyshyn and Jan Phoenix flew in by helicopter on May 12th to start the process of getting camp ready for the 2015 season. Instead of wearing down coats as our early-in crew last year did this year the appropriate apparel has been flip-flops, shorts and T-shirts. You can follow their exploits, including an interesting version of a “northern bath” by checking out our Face book site (www.facebook.com/scottlakelodge). At least we have a season when we will have a leisurely and enjoyable opening. After the drama of 2014 we’ll take it and enjoy it.
The crew has a lot to do yet before we are fully ready for our June 10th opener. The gang is putting the finishing touches on a new quadplex staff dorm. We have been increasing our staff numbers over the past few years and now have a lot more elbow room in Guideland. Also on the agenda are the many routine but time consuming tasks we do every season: take down all the plywood boards on all the cabins; connect all the water lines and install the large submersible water pump; unload thousands of gallons of Jet fuel for the Otter, AvGas for the Beaver, unleaded gas for the boats and diesel fuel for the two generators. This year we are also setting up four new 18’guide boats for Scott and four new 16’ boats for the fly out lakes. Of course there are the fourteen fly out lakes to set up as well. We have nearly forty outboards motors to check out and service. And a few hundred spruce trees to cut down, haul to the island, run through the municipal-sized wood chipper and then spread over the quarter mile of island trails. And unload and store several tons of food and supplies. And inspect, clean and maintain the 28 buildings around the island. And the list goes on and on and on. This season all those “ands” will require about 2000 hours of what can only be called what it is—hard labor. But ask any of the Scott Lake crew: it is a labor of love. And the early birds love every minute of their work, especially with warm temperatures making everything just a bit more pleasant.
One guy not working very hard is our Sales Manager, Jon Wimpney. His work is essentially done. We have had very few cancellations this year (a tangible sign that the economy really is back to pre-2008 levels) and he has only a handful, a small handful, of open spots to fill. Call him at 306/209-7150 if you have the itch. If the dates work he can scratch it.
by Tammy MacDonald | Apr 9, 2014 | 2014 Season, Guides
A GUIDE’S WINTER: FUN AND SUN AND HERNIA REPAIRS
The Scott Lake Guide Team was spread all over the map this winter, dispersing far and fast from the comforts of the island on Scott Lake. Heading south was, of course, the top compass point of travel. Most made the trip to Brazil for the Guide Retreat, enjoying the extraordinary peacock bass fishing experience. Many just kept traveling. Costa Rica has become the home away from home for a lot of guides. Scott’s Head Guide, Cory Craig, kicked off this trend about a dozen years ago when he started off season guiding in Crocodile Bay, off the Osa Peninsula. Since he founded Tropic Fins, his own charter fishing business, and started a winter residence there, Cory has had lots of Scott guides as company. Most have visited him in Costa, realizing that it was a wonderful antidote for the brutal winters of Saskatoon or Winnipeg. Jan Phoenix has traveled there every winter for a long time. This winter Mike Demyen, “Nuggets” for Scott regulars, joined the parade to Costa. Cody Mychalyshyn has been a Costa regular but this winter really spread his sails, ending up traveling all winter throughout Africa and Europe, finding lots of sun and plenty of adventure. Steve Lindner, AKA Biff Piston, found mucho sun and who knows what else during two trips to Cuba this winter. Grill Biff this summer about his time there.
Some of the guides stayed in the frigid north this winter. Jon, J5, Wimpney spent the off season (except for his Brazil trip where he got the biggest peacock, an 18 pounder) working the phone and keyboard to get the lodge full this summer. He’s close now but still working. Don’t bother him unless you want to book a trip. Shaun Ledoux spent the winter hitting the books in Price Albert working on a degree program in business management. Steve “School Zone” Yanish spent most of his fall and winter developing Alpine Valley Outfitters in an indeed spectacular valley in British Columbia. He completed camp construction, secured horses, scouted the vast territory and shot a dandy mule deer in the process. He will be ready for serious hunting next fall. Jason Terris, the infamous “T-Bag”, fought off a bitter cold in New Brunswick by spending most of the winter cutting wood and dreaming of warm days on Scott Lake. Curtis Woloshyn worked steady (odd for a Scott guide) during the off season, providing safety guidance for companies in the oil sands of Alberta. Curt will use his safety training this summer as a Safety Officer at Scott Lake Lodge, a new role on the island—you can’t have too much focus on safety. New General Manager Jason Hamilton operated an ice fishing guiding service and headed out almost daily to the vast Lake Winnipeg in 20 to 40 degree below weather. His battle with the elements was a draw but he definitely won the battle with big walleyes.
Chester, “The Poacher”, Porteous spent a lot of time catching double digit “eyes” on Lake Winnipeg but his big news of the off season was Cale Ashley Darrell Porteous, a son to add some androgen to his estrogen heavy family. Congrats to the Poach and wife Hayley. Paul Hamilton was a new father too, of sorts. He was busy chasing whitetails, catching walleyes and fathering his new dog, Cooper. Congrats to Paulie too. While not exactly a guide, Chef Jeff Walker has been guide to shore staff even since Shaun Ledoux upgraded to the official Scott Guide Team. Jeff has wintered in Toronto working full time at a top Asian restaurant and studying full time at Canada’s most prestigious culinary institution, the George Brown Chef School. As he says, “chefs love to work.” Get ready for some spectacular meals this summer at Scott.
And the hernia? Well it made an eye catching headline. Actually, Graham Coulombe lifted so many heavy fish last summer that he had to check in for a full service hernia repair job. He is fully recovered and ready to do it all over again.
SPRING WORK CREW
In mid-April former manager, John Gariepy, and new manager, Jason Hamilton, will take a work crew to the lodge to tackle some big jobs, mainly the installation of a new diesel generator. If you have some heavy equipment and maybe a fork lift getting a 1,200 pound piece of machinery into a small building is a piece of cake. It’s not quite as easy on a remote island where the only heavy equipment will be a snowmobile (a really old one), an ATV (which will not be much good in the snow) and six guys (who will be the next candidates for a hernia repair). They are hoping that they will not need the assistance of a very expensive helicopter to put the generator in its place. Of course there is the annual tree slaughter where the wood for the spruce chipped walkways is brought to the island. And lots of other fix up/clean up work. They will be busy.
SHOW OFF YOUR FISH! VIDEO CONTEST: DEADLINE EXTENDED
Now come on. We know that there are more video clips out there. We recently announced the first ever Show Off Your Fish video contest offering a grand prize of a fly out for two to any lake, but have received only a handful of submissions so far. With a total of three different prizes it really isn’t a contest. So dig into your hard drives and pull out some clips. Lots of Scott anglers have shot video over the years. This is your chance to show it off – any – footage shot at Scott is eligible. The new (and final) deadline is April 30. Get on it and fly for free this summer or on your next Scott trip.
CANCELLATION SALE
It seems to happen every year—a corporate group has a change of plans and cancels their trip. Their lost deposit can be your gain. We have a dozen openings for our August 24-29 trip. This is the time of the season when the really big pike put on the feedbag. In 2013 anglers caught most of the 48”or bigger pike in mid to late August. Numbers are down at this time but size and attitude are way up. It is also the best grayling fishing of the season when the water levels in the rivers are low and the miniature sailfish feast on whatever bugs are available—it’s terrific for dry fly fishing. Actually this trip is in fall not summer (fall at Scott starts in mid-August) and there will be plenty of yellow aspen leaves and the gorgeous gold of the tamarack.
The real pay off though is the opportunity to see the color above—in the sky. August 25th is the new moon which will provide the darkest “night” of the entire season, offering great contrast for the northern lights. This week should be the best light show of the season. Like seeing wildlife, watching northern lights is a powerful but unpredictable experience. Clouds are the wild card, but this will be the best shot. To grab one of these spots for a $1,000 discount and $500 of “mad money” (good for use at the bar, fly outs, massage or the Fishin’ Hut) call Sales Manager, Jon Wimpney, at 306/209-7150 today. Not today. Call him now. He will take your call 24/7, right Jon? We are close to full now but there are a few spots sprinkled through the season. Make this a Scott Lake Lodge summer. All we need is five days of your time and some of your money. We do the rest to give you a lifetime of memories. Such a deal!
