GROUNDHOG’S DAY, AGAIN?

Trophy Pike and Trophy Trout

For the last three groups it’s been like the Groundhog’s Day film. With just a few name changes, the highlights of the past fifteen days have been close to carbon copies. Like the previous two groups, our Week 10 anglers had to endure some low-pressure systems, cancelled fly outs and a distinct absence of sunshine. Like the previous weeks, they also had some great fishing when things lined up. Again, there was just enough warm weather to turn the fishing on when things started to slow down. Just enough to give this group a season’s high total of 158 trophy fish, just over the totals of the prior two groups. The story again was pike and more pike.

Trophy Trout

The surprising storyline of this season has been the phenomena of our MIA lake trout. Typically, this is the heart of our lake trout “season”. Yet over the past three groups we have tallied only sixteen trophy lake trout, just a good single day for some year’s late July tallies. But of the seven trophy trout we got this week three were monsters. On her way to the 100+Club jacket, Julia Percell landed a fat 40 incher; Bob Masters landed a 42 and Eric Hall had the top trout of the week at 43 inches. Why the shortage of lakers? Well, anglers have theories about almost everything—solar/lunar tables, wind direction, water temperatures, how you hold your tongue in your mouth and, of course, bananas in the boat. For this season we’ll go with the highly erratic weather. These poor trout are totally confused about what depth they should be swimming in. By now they should all be in water at least 70 feet deep, but we have been catching trout on windy shorelines and even in shallow pike bays. The cold temperatures throughout this “summer” have allowed this undisciplined trout behavior. It’s the old “everywhere and nowhere”problem. We’ll give them one more week to figure out where they should be.

Trophy Pike

But the pike were exactly where they should be at this time of year—in the weeds, any weeds. Our guides slid their big nets under an impressive number of trophy pike, a 142 to be exact, a record high for this season. Big pike often come in bunches and that was certainly the case this week. When they were on, they were really on. Bob Tiegs and Art Wittern experienced that when they teamed up for five trophies in a single day as did Rebecca and Mark Graf; Ron Helm and Kevin Worthington landed a six-pack of big pike and Paula and Todd Lee had a crazy pike day, landing seven trophies with the top three at 45, 46 and 47 inches. That’s a day to remember. Kevin Denney also landed a 47. Pike at 44” were caught by several anglers: Ron Helm, Bob Tiegs, Art Wittern and Dick McCullough. There were nine trophy grayling including 18 inchers by Julie and Thomas Purcell. It was just enough big grayling to get Julia and Thomas their Trophy Triple hat along with Ava Hall and John Bruntz.
Mark Graf upped his 100+Club total to 108.5”, a big number that may be hard to beat this summer. But who knows? Mark has one more trip scheduled yet this year.

So, there is nothing wrong with carbon copies if the original is great. Lets just do it again for Week 11, but with a little more sunshine.

WEEK 9 UPDATE

DAY AT A TIME

This has been an interesting summer. We are getting it just one day at a time. We just can’t seem to get two warm, sunny days in a row. The pike have been a bit confused; they love warm water and a steady barometer. We’ve had a lot of cool north winds and wild swings in the barometer. But on the good days, things are very good. The big fish, the pike, trout and grayling are out there, just waiting for those perfect days and we’re getting just enough. Just enough was the Week 9 story: some great weather days, some not so great. But the great days trumped the not-so-great and the big fish totals looked wonderful—the second highest trophy count of the season at 141 trophies, just slightly behind the previous week. With the lake trout and grayling seasons moving to their peak, Week 9 offered a nice mix of trophies: 101 pike, eight lake trout and 32 arctic grayling.

Big Fish: Trophy Pike and Lake Trout

Among those 101 pike were four very nice ones. Bob Noble and Suzanne Noble, Mike Thornbrugh and Jeremy Stanford all landed 45 inchers, a length we designate as “super-sized”. But the big fish of the week was certainly the massive 45.5” lake trout that Mark Graf pulled in (after a lot of pulling on the other end). This was a team effort fish. It followed Rebecca’s (Mark’s wife) spoon right to the back of the boat, something an alert guide noticed. He quickly had Mark drop his spoon down to 25 feet, using the dropping, fluttering spoon as the dying whitefish trick. It worked. The big trout clobbered the Half Wave, and the battle was on. It took some time but Mark won. It was Mark’s second huge trout—the first he nicknamed Tubby, a fish that gave him the cover of the Scott Lake Lodge Annual Report. That one was a half-inch longer but no more exciting. Cindy Bixler also got into the big trout game with a 41- inch fish that also could have been nicknamed Tubby. Mike Sumeracki landed a 39 incher. Big grayling were in abundance . Chad Stanford had a 19.25” beauty along with a 19; Gratz Peters got a 19 and Brooks Stanford pulled an 18” miniature sailfish out of the rapids.

Big Fish: Triple Trophy Hats

With all those trout and grayling trophies there must have been some Triple Trophy hats presented during the evening awards presentations and indeed there were. Mark and Rebecca Graf got their hats along with Mike Sumeracki and Chad Stanford. Mark Graf on the back on that giant trout earned entry into the 100+Club. He has 106.5 total trophy inches and he still has five days of fishing to push up that number. With “only” a 43” pike to date he has a good chance of hitting a number we haven’t seen in years. Good luck to Mark.

Big Fish Plus Luxury

Of course all the other elements of a wonderful fishing vacation were checked off: festive shore lunches, splendid dinners in the lodge, high energy camaraderie, relaxing soaks in the hot tub and contemplative moments sitting on the big deck listening to the evening loon concert. It was a good week to be in the far north.

WEEK 8 BLOG POST

NORTHERN FISH STORIES—TRUE ONES

Show and Tell

How about a fish story? Imagine that you just turned nine years old. Now imagine that you are on a cool fishing trip way, way up north with your mom and granddad. You get in a big noisy airplane with floats under it and fly to an even more distant lake. You’re in a boat on a sunny day and you happen to look over the side and see a monster fish. Without really thinking you cast a big fat piece of plastic called a Sluggo in front of it. The fish quickly turns its head, streaks toward the lure, and engulfs it. All in a flash. You hang on for dear life. With some coaching from the guide and mom (but no help) you eventually bring it to the side of the boat where the guide slides a net under the huge fish. It’s over. You have just caught a 48” pike (a fish of a lifetime for any angler) and you are only four inches longer than the fish. That’s quite a fish story but for Cole Booth it’s a true one. He has pictures to prove it. By the way, mom, Jessica Word-Booth, landed a 46 incher the same day and Cole also landed pike of 42, 43 and 44 inches on that once-in-a-lifetime day. Now that’s a story for Show and Tell this September.

100+ Trophy Pike

Every guest during this amazing week had a fish story or two. Now Peter Myhre is a bit old for Show and Tell but he would have quite a tale to spin. In these five days of July Peter landed 31 trophy pike. Over his three group stay Peter did something no one else at Scott Lake Lodge (or maybe anyone at any Canadian lodge has ever done): he brought to the boat 106 pike over 40”. No that’s not a misprint. Over 100. In that incredible number were nine pike of 45”, five of 46” and two of 47”. Those are lifetime totals for most veteran pike anglers and Peter did it in just fourteen days.

Personal Bests

All our guests caught a bunch of fish, and many caught their fish of a lifetime this week. Scott Bixby had a great fishing trip already with a 44 under his belt, but on the last day he landed a very girthy 47 incher. The 45” mark was hit by several guests: David Wallace, Bob Smith, Tom Matthew, and Reece Rhys. On his first day off since he landed by chopper on the island with the early work crew in late May, Dawson Sawchuck had a chance to do more than maintenance work. He got to spend a full day fishing and he took full advantage of it, landing his personal best pike of 46”. There was a great trout story too. On a rainy cool day trout fishing seemed to be the best ticket for Bob Smith. He got a very fat 40” laker not far from the lodge. Along with his big pike and a 19.5” arctic grayling that trout gave Bob a Triple Trophy hat and the coveted 100+Club jacket with an impressive total of 104.5 inches. A pair of 18” grayling were taken by Mark Graf as well. The best time for big grayling is still ahead as the rivers start to lower and the aquatic insects start hatching. Watch for more grayling news in future reports.

Thunder plus Heart Pounding Action

For a week that started with a violent thunderstorm that delayed our guest’s arrival by three hours, the week turned out pretty darn good. It was our highest trophy total of the season at 146, mostly big pike. Lots of fish stories will be told and retold by people lucky enough to visit this far northern wilderness. And these stories are all true.