Lake Trout Fishing in Northern Saskatchewan at Scott Lake Lodge

Week 7 Recap: It Happens…Only 89 Trophy Fish

by Jason | Jul 19, 2024 | 2024 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

“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.

Week 6: The Beat Goes On, Steady Fishing

by Jason | Jul 13, 2024 | 2024 Season, Arctic Grayling, Guides, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WEEK 6: “THE BEAT GOES ON” WITH STEADY FISHING

We were coming off a record-breaking trophy week at Scott and it would have been reasonable to assume that our big fish needed a rest. But the bruiser pike, fat lake trout and acrobatic arctic grayling had no intention of taking a break: they kept on their quest for an easy meal and ended up instead on our Week 6 “Stat Parade”. But as is our policy and practice at Scott all were returned to the lakes and rivers, ready to be fooled again by future anglers. It was another exciting week on the water with 167 trophies landed; pike lead the parade with 130 trophies in the net. The generally warm and sunny weather kept our pike active and roaming the shallow waters like heat-seeking missiles, always looking for their next meal, even if the tail of their last one is sticking out of their mouths. At one large group shore lunch for our island staff two of the eight pike kept for the occasion had burbot (one of the favorite prey species for pike) in their bellies. This is our summer: all our critters are active now. Our local wildlife species were on the move too with numerous sightings of moose, bear, eagles, osprey, loons and even a rare fisher. That last critter was a visitor right our island.

It was our second consecutive week where everyone of our guests landed a trophy fish. Even on good fishing weeks that’s not always the case. Luck is not evenly distributed. Nor is fishing skill. This week everyone enjoyed the thrill and adrenaline of that big jolt on the other end of one’s line. Of course, some guests had more of the luck/skill combo than others. It’s always the right place/right time. Wholdaia Lake, a Scott flyout lake, was the right place for many of our guests during Week 6. That’s where Kevin Hassett picked up a single-day six-pack of trophy pike and where Jamie Hasset and Matt Parker had a four-pike day. Dan Keenan found Wholdaia’s waters friendly enough to hand him five trophy pike in a day and Bob Noble got his five-trophy day there too. Smalltree Lake handed Andy Puzder his five-trophy pike day. Randy and Amber Lail joined forces for an eight-trophy pike day on Selwyn Lake. Nancy Wehl had her four-trophy day without getting into a float plane by landing her big pike on adjacent Wignes Lake.

The big fish were taken all over our nine-million-acre fishing universe. And big fish we had. Our guides like to categorize our trophy-sized pike into “regular” (40-43”), “mid” (44-46”) and “mega” (47-50”) trophies. While this group didn’t get a “mega”, they did land a bunch of “mids”—18 to be exact, well spread around our group of anglers. Pike of 44” were landed by Matt Parker, Dan Keenan, Bill Woodard, Roland Larbig, Mark Bixler, Ray Hedgecock, Jamie Hassett, Sarah Hackworth, and Randy Lail while 45-inchers were landed by Kevin Hassett, Bob Noble, Mark Bixler, Amber Lail, Jamie Hassett, Josh Makal and Missie Scheider who along with Suzanne Nobel also put a 46er in her guide’s huge net (we don’t like to lose big fish at boatside).

Some impressive arctic grayling were in the mix this week. As the rivers that connect our lakes start to drop down in volume, the grayling fishing gets better and better. This was our best week of the season so far for the “sailfish of the north”, a name given to describe their large dorsal fin. While they are not sailfish size, they are tough fish for their size, often providing an exciting acrobatic display. There were 25 trophy grayling landed this week including some very large ones: Andy Puzder had an 18.5-incher; Mark Bixler got a 19 and Craig Hackworth got a pair of 19s while Cindy Bixler landed a 19.5-incher, about as big as grayling get around here. There were a bunch of Trophy Triple hats (earned by guests who land a northern pike, a lake trout and an arctic grayling in trophy size) handed out at our nightly trophy ceremonies. Bob and Suzanne Noble, Mark and Cindy Bixler, Andy Puzder and Matt Parker all took home a memento of their fishing adventure, but Bob, Suzanne and Mark upgraded to the 100+Club and earned a custom jacket showing that their three trophies added up to 100 total inches or better, a mark of angling achievement. There needs to be special mention of one of the most unusual catches at Scott Lake Lodge—the lake whitefish. The whitefish is clearly a gamefish but mainly feeds on tiny nymphs (small aquatic bugs). Rarely do they hit a lure or fly. But Dan Keenan landed a 25-incher. In early September a few of our anglers do target whitefish when they congregate at an inflow into Scott just before their spawning season but it’s been many years since one was caught “accidentally”.

Now a third of our way through the 2024 season, the logistics and various operations here at Scott are running smoothly and predictably. Thankfully the very short WestJet strike did not prevent a single guest from making it to the lodge. While the weather hasn’t been perfect (not quite enough sunny days), it’s been good enough to ensure that every day since June 9th has been a fishing day. There has been only one day where some guests decided to stay onshore due to nasty weather. The weather is pretty simple up here. If the wind is from the north or east, it’s cold and pike fishing is slow. If it’s from the west or south, it’s warm and the pike go into attack mode. We’ve had winds from all compass points but rarely two days in a row of the same. That keeps life interesting for our guide team as they try to find just the right shoreline or bay where the water might be just a little warmer and the pike slightly more aggressive. With an average tenure of 15 years at Scott and 20 guiding they can handle it. Steady fishing it is.

Week 5 Recap: So Close… to 200 Trophy Fish

by Jason | Jul 6, 2024 | 2024 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WEEK 5 RECAP “SO CLOSE” TO 200 TROPHY FISH

At Scott Lake Lodge our fishing is all about having fun, not setting any records. Over the years we have probably set a few International Game Fish Association (IFGA) line class records but we’re not into that. We’re into guests enjoying their experience of world class angling with opportunities for catching that fish of a lifetime. But we do keep an account of the success of each group. And our fifth group at the lodge had extraordinary success. They were so close to hitting a number we’ve never seen—200 trophy fish in just five days. The cool, cloudy last day dampened the surge toward that lofty number with only four trophies on the final day. But the total was still 195 trophies (an all-time record of 169 trophy pike, 21 trophy arctic grayling and a lonely five trophy lake trout). Don’t worry about that trout number. Our hot “trout season” will start in a couple of weeks. With the kind of pike fishing we had no one wanted to stop to fish deeper for lakers. We know one thing for sure: we had a lot of happy guests. Every one of our 26 guests participated in the trophy haul with an average of 7.5 trophies per guest.

Our pike were on a search and destroy mission, attacking everything that came near them. There is a measure of skill involved with both our guests and our guides, but to understand what drove this fishing bonanza one simply had to look up. In June and early July, it’s sun on the water that makes our pike go a bit crazy. The first three days of Week 5 had abundant sunshine and high temperatures. It’s no surprise that 80% of the big pike (135 of the week’s 169) were landed during those three sunny days. Our shallow, silt-bottom bays were swarming with eager water wolves, attacking our guest’s offerings—flies, spinners, plastics, anything thrown at them.

When the guides found hot spots, those spots produced in abundance. Our guests were often getting more than one big one a day: 52 times our anglers landed two or more trophy pike in a single day. Jim Kusar and Ron Juergens accomplished that feat seven times out of their ten chances and ended up with an astonishing 37 trophy pike between them. We had a lot multiple trophy days. Four trophy pike a day were taken by Andrew Troop who accomplished that twice, Christal Stover, Kevin Edwards, Nancy Wahl, Gerry O’Brien, and Ron Juergens; a five trophy pike day was enjoyed by Bruce Kozlowski, and a six-pack of big pike was taken by Ron Juergens while his fishing partner, Jim Kusar, was landing 10 trophy pike—that’s a day of fishing. On the Dubawnt River Andrew Troop had a nine-trophy arctic grayling day, getting a trophy lake trout as a bonus.

So many huge pike. The angler list is long, but each fish represents a lifetime memory. Pike of 44” were landed by Darin Lyn Williamson, Cody Slover, Christal Slover (2), Chris Harris, Larry Noesen, Jim Kusar (3), Brian Grossenbacher, Marvin Wehl and Bruce Kozlowski (2); pike of 45” were taken by Christal Slover, Marvin Wehl, Cody Slover (2), Debbie Harris, Jack Libra, Bruce Kozlowski, and Larry Noesen who along with Jim Kusar got a 46.5-incher. The top fish of the week belonged to Nancy Wehl at 47.5”, a fish that at many Canadian lodges would be the biggest of the season. This year it’s just one of many of that size. At Scott Lake we think of the “good ole days” of fishing as right now. Week 5 was one for the books. When else can you almost, to 200 trophy fish.

Week 4: Fishing Fun in the Sun!

by Jason | Jul 1, 2024 | 2024 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WEEK 4 RECAP FISHING “FUN IN THE SUN”

It keeps getting better and better. We thought Week 3 was great fishing until Week 4 showed up. With abundant sunshine the big pike and the pike anglers were happy and energized. On 176 occasions a trophy fish brought smiles to our guests and a graceful return to the lake to the cooperative fish. With all those trophies (141 pike, 20 grayling and 15 lake trout) this recap writes itself. Our group didn’t waste any time: the week started out with one of our all-time high single-day trophy counts of 56. Just one day. Leading the Day 1 charge was the Kristo Clan. If your last name was Kristo, you had a good day and a good week. On that first day on Wholdaia Lake, 10-year-old Coyen led the charge with five trophy pike, topped by a 45-incher. Older brother Griffin landed three, also topped by a 45. Uncle Tom took the prize though with three, including an absolutely massive 49-incher, the biggest of the season so far. Steve Kristo, the proud dad, added a pair of trophy pike. As a group, they had a Lucky 13 day. Team Kristo went on to catch a total of 35 trophies with Coyen getting nine of those. Will there be stories back at school this fall! While most kids will be talking about the bluegills or crappies they caught, Coyen will be talking about pike almost as long as he is.

Another young angler got a taste of big-time fishing. Loki Johnson at the tender age of nine (yes, not even double digits) landed a dozen trophy pike, including a 45-incher and not one but two 46-inchers! His dad, Odinn, had to settle for just three big ones. Who’s teaching who how to fish? But Loki was just oozing in paternal pride. His encouragement was admirable. Another father/son team put on a big show. How’s this for bonding? On Sandy Lake, Rory and Brian Wright demonstrated perfect family symmetry. Each landed a pair of 41-inch pike. That’s common enough. But each also landed spectacular 47-inchers, another story altogether. (There were a few years in our 27-year history where a 47” pike was the biggest of the season.) The Wright’s showed us the right way to create a lifetime memory. Interestingly, the two huge pike were the first and last big fish of the day, but were caught at spots less100 yards apart (and no they were not the same fish caught twice—we have picture proof). You can bet their guide will be back to that part of the lake again soon.

The big days just keep rolling along. You don’t end up at 176 big fish by getting them one at a time. Rich Kracum landed seven trophy lake trout including a fat 40-incher and three trophy grayling on his flyout to Wholdaia Lake. (That was the hot lake of the week, but next week it will probably be a different lake.) long time guests, Frank and Susan Saraka, landed eight trophy pike on Smalltree Lake. For Susan her 46.5” beauty was her personal best. Matt Kracum picked up five trophy pike on Wholdaia on his memorable day. Andre Lechowicz picked up four nice trophy pike on a sunny day on Flett Lake. The big fish were spread all over our flyout system and on our three “home” lakes—Scott, Premier and Wignes.

Just so many big fish. In addition to all the huge pike, referenced earlier, there were some very big trout. Matt Kracum, Steve Kristo and Curt Frisbie all landed 39 or 39.5” lake trout. Matt and Rich Kracum got 40-inchers. Big grayling of 18 or 18.5-inches were pulled out of the rapids by John, Rich and James Kracum, Joe Novicki and Bill Calabresa. With all those big grayling there must have been some Trophy Triple hats handed out, right? Of course, all those anglers took home a hat; all except John upgraded to the 100+Club, our first members of the 2024 season. To enter this prestigious club, one needs to land trophies of all three of our gamefish (pike, lake trout and grayling) whose collective measurements hit or exceed 100-inches, not an easy task. Members receive a custom jacket with the lengths of their trophies embroidered on the front, a wearable reminder of a serious angling accomplishment.

The week ended on yet another sunny, though windy, day. Most of the group had a final leisurely shore lunch before they wrapped up their amazing week. Memories will focus on fish caught but memories of the long evenings with spectacular sunsets (the evening light really doesn’t end this time of year), the haunting calling of loons and the rare opportunity to experience pure, pristine wilderness will linger for years or until this entire group comes back again next season for more fishing fun in the sun. It’s that kind of place.

Week 3: Much Better Than OK Fishing

by Jason | Jun 27, 2024 | 2024 Season, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WEEK 3 RECAP “MUCH BETTER THAN OK”

At Scott Lake Lodge there are OK Weeks, Good Weeks, Great Weeks and Fantastic Weeks. Our Week 3 anglers who made the journey to the 60th parallel in far northern Canada had one of the latter. The week had it all: an incredible total number of fish, a very respectable number of trophy fish and most importantly an impressive number of monster fish. Our group landed fourteen pike over 44” and two lakers over 40”. For many Canadian fishing lodges that would represent a full season not five days in June.

The big fish came fast and furious, and in bunches. We had some over the top single days of fishing excitement. Like Patrick Lynch landing eight trophy pike on Wignes Lake (an adjacent lake reached from our dock); like Dave Thome putting nine huge pike in his guide’s net including a 44-, a 46.5- and a 47-incher on Wholdaia Lake; like Greg Larson bagging five trophy pike with a 44- and 45-incher on Ingalls Lake; like Rachael Bandt and her dad, Steve (AKA Big Dog) getting ten big pike on Selwyn Lake, like Rory Wright and John Kroner landing the same number on the same lake, or like Joe Novicki having another of his sensational days with five trophy pike topped by a massive 48-incher, the biggest pike of the season. So far.

The really big fish were well spread out among our angling group: Barbie and Ross Purpura, Rachael and Steve Bandt, Rory Wright, John Kroner, Hunter Larson, Greg Larson, Joe Novicki, Debbie Creigh, Boyd Meyer, Troy Phillips, Pat Lynch and Reggie Sullivan all landed pike over 44 inches. Ross Purpura got a 45, Rory Wright and Reggie Sullivan topped 46 and Joe Novicki had the 48. Everyone of our 28 guests landed at least a pair of trophy fish. We had a dozen trophy lake trout as a bonus with a 40-incher taken by Grant Larson and a magnificent 43-incher taken by Bill Calabresa.

And that’s just the fish! With a few pleasant, sunny days there were many epic shore lunches, served with skill and ceremony on rocky points throughout the 250,000 acres of the connected lakes of Scott, Wignes and Premier. And our Executive Chef always tries to outduel our guides by serving up epicurean dinners every night at Laker Lodge. And our course we have continued the long tradition of our “fish du jour” show, putting up photos of big fish, wildlife sightings or just pictures of guests caught having fun. With many of the photos of trophy fish that graced the TV screens, there were cheers and gasps. We had so many huge fish to show off. Our guests love all fish but there is a special recognition of the BIG FISH; honoring the big ones really gets the crowd going. Trophy pins were handed out left and right every evening. Our goal is always the same: having fun. That can be done with big fish, small fish, many fish or few fish. It’s all about spending time with friends and family in a spectacular corner of the world surrounded by a team that loves to define what customer service is all about. It’s all part of the summer scene at Scott Lake Lodge. Definitely “MUCH BETTER THAN OK FISHING”.

Week 2 Recap – When The Going Gets Tough…The Tough Catch Trophy Fish

by Jason | Jun 22, 2024 | 2024 Season, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH CATCH TROPHY FISH

Our second week at Scott Lake Lodge, typically June 14-19, can be absolutely idyllic with blue skies, warm southwest breezes, warming waters and aggressive, hard charging pike that just engulf anything that comes near them. Can be. However, that wasn’t the case this year. The second chapter in the Scott Lake Book of 2024 was a lot more challenging than most years. Except for a very pleasant first day (a day with 40 trophy fish), the weather conspired against our intrepid group of anglers. Even though they had to layer on the layers, they made the best of the conditions and pressed on. And they did just fine. It was cold and windy without a lot of aggressive fish, but with the help of a guide team averaging over 20 years of experience, they caught plenty, a total of 113 trophy fish, mostly pike. In cold conditions everything has to slow down–the retrieve, the hook set and handling the fight. With a surface temperature of only in the mid-40s, more finesse was required than in warmer water conditions when anglers just need to cast, crank and hang on. A lot of slower moving plastic baits and flies were in order. The group did great in adapting their techniques to the tougher than normal conditions.

And we had some nice surprises like Don Luke’s 40.5” gorgeous lake trout caught on Scott Lake on a fly on Day 2. And the number of really big pike. Cold conditions and huge pike usually don’t go together up here, but we did have some very impressive fish. On that first day Mike and Kent Mathis had an incredible day on Wholdaia Lake, one of 24 of the lodge’s flyouts. They boated nine trophy pike including a 45-incher by Mike and a 46 by Kent. In between stormy weather and yes, even a snow squall, some big fish were taken. Pike of 45 or 45.5 inches were caught by long time guests Judy Schmidt, Clayton Jennings, and Peter Myhre (a pair). Barbie Purpura got a 44-inch pike as well. Despite conditions not conducive to fishing for arctic grayling, a species that loves warmer water than what we had this week, Don Luke got a few trophy sized grayling and earned the Trophy Triple hat, catching a trophy in all three of our species—lake trout, northern pike and arctic grayling. Hats off to Don. And hats off to Brigitte Jennings for also leaving the lodge with her Trophy Triple hat.

In our twenty-six years of operation, we have averaged just one “lodge day” a year—a day when it’s so ugly that all or most guests just don’t want to get out on the water. We checked that box on Day 3, a day with clouds, wind and even some snow. Just plain miserable. That didn’t stop some anglers though from getting out even if for just a few hours. Don Luke got his second big trout, a 38.5-inch beauty, while fly fishing in less than desirable conditions. On that tough day only three trophies were taken–Don’s trout, a 36” trout caught by Jonah Oberloh and a 40.5” pike landed by Jeff Quick. We salute these hardy anglers. Obviously a day with only three trophies did depress the weekly trophy total but card games, a hot lunch in the main lodge and a mid-day nap by some eased the pain of missing a day on the water. Scott Lake Lodge has plenty of creature comforts.

The week was a reminder for everyone on our island that fishing in the far north is not always predictable, but it is always inspiring. Fishing is never predictable. If it were, it would be boring. That’s one thing that never happens at Scott Lake. Our service team makes sure of that. A testament to the quality of our customer service program and the loyalty of our guests is one number: twenty of our twenty-six Week 2 guests, despite the tough weather, rebooked for next season. We thank those guests and thank our staff for making a wonderfully sweet lemonade out of the lemons the weather handed us. In fishing (and sports) there is always next year . . .