Week 17 Fishing Update
We Had Anglers
In the 27 years of operations at Scott Lake Lodge, there have been some with lousy weather, but no week in our history compared to what our week 17 guests encountered. There was wind, big waves, rain, clouds and exactly two hours of sunshine (around noon on the third day). Oh, and there was morning fog on four of the five days that precluded any fly outs. Yet, our intrepid group kept a positive attitude and most fished through most of the challenging weather. They apparently believed in the wonderful quote from 60s era songwriter and cultural provocateur Tom Leher: “Bad weather always looks worse from the window”. We didn’t have window watchers. We had anglers.
Pike Love the Sunshine
We would love the happy ending here where we could say that they had the best fishing of the season, but there is no such ending when there is no sunshine. Pike and sunshine go together like ham and cheese. Sadly, the pike fishing was slow. In cold and cloudy conditions pike typically go on a hunger strike not a Mepps spinner strike. There were some notable exceptions. Steve Martin found a willing 44.5” pike and his son Justin landed a 45.5”. On the one flyout day Paul Box got four trophy pike topped by a girthy 45-incher; Susan Saraka had her best day ever bringing seven trophy pike to her guide’s waiting net, and on the last day Scott Lake offered up a fall fat 47-incher to Carl Sparks and he made sure that fish got in the net. There were some solid trout fishing days in the rain and gloom—lake trout are deep and don’t need that shot of sun to keep them active. Dick Smith bagged a 36” and 39” lake trout. Marvin and Nancy Wehl had a great day fishing trout landing six trophy trout, the biggest a very nice 39.5” fish.
The Resort was More Than Fishing
As our guest discovered this is a fishing resort. There are many diversions other than fishing. The Finnish wood-fired sauna got a real workout with some guests even doing the post-sauna plunge into 60-degree water. The hot tub was in use every day to warm up after a cool day on the water. There were card games, loon watching and even some musk ox watching on the north end of Scott. And a two-hour hike by nearly a dozen guests on the nearby Tundra Trail. There was more time to enjoy the workout room and the two bars on the island. The diner hour became more like a two-and-a-half-hour affair and the dinners were magnificent. The canoes, kayaks and paddleboards though stayed on their rack this week.
Bad Weather, Still Had Fun
The group did get a bonus of sorts. For only the third time in 378 changeovers, the charter flight was delayed to the floatplane flying conditions: they got a bonus extra night at the lodge and had a farewell dinner of slow-cooked prime rib and an evening of free drinks. Our patient and relaxed group did what everyone does on their vacation: they had a great time. And many rebooked for the same week in 2023. They all proved that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. We made sure everyone had good gear and stayed safe and warm. And we proved that even in the worst of weather Scott Lake is a fun place to be.
