Let the Good Times Roll: Week 9 Update

WEEK 9 UPDATE

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL- MIDSUMMER FISHING

It’s midsummer fishing season in the far north. And considering that Scott Lake Lodge is just a long cast from the 60th parallel, that magical line that separates the busy world of the south from the empty expanses of the north, it’s pretty warm. Our only connection to the heatwaves down south is the comments from our guests about what they experienced back home. It’s wonderful to be where hot means 70s and low 80s. Those three-digit temps we keep hearing about are a vivid reminder of why a lot of our guests love coming to Scott in July and August. While most of our guests hail from the upper Midwest, an increasing number of our mid- to late-summer anglers are from the hot spots of Arizona, Texas, Florida and southern California. Some don’t even care if they catch a lot of fish (but they will); they just want some cool evening air that doesn’t come out of a machine. Our air conditioning springs from the 250,000 acres of cool water that surrounds our lodge. Our Week 9 guests spent a lot of time sitting on the Laker Lodge deck before and after dinner, just soaking in the view and the soft evening breezes off the lake. The Cornhole boards got a lot of use again this week. With our long days still hanging on (sunrise around 4:30 AM and sunset at 10:00 PM) it’s just hard to call it in day when soft late evening light of the subarctic is so intoxicating.

But there is a strong incentive to get up early—FISHING. That’s why all our guests are making the trip here. The long days and cool weather are just frosting on this very nice cake. It was another great week of fishing with 161 trophy fish landed. (Just a reminder: a trophy pike is 40”; a trophy lake trout is 35” and a trophy arctic grayling is 15”.) There were plenty of each species with 105 big pike, 35 trophy trout and 21 trophy grayling. The headline for this week should be IT’S TROUT TIME. As we have been reporting, the big trout have slowly migrated into their deep water summer homes where they can be effectively targeted by the experienced guide team at Scott (our 14 guides have nearly 300 years of combined guiding behind their tillers). The big trout were on the move. Of the 35 trophy trout eleven were what we call “supersized”, trout over 40”. Those giants were landed by Gratz Peters, Garek Peters, Rebecca Graf, Ron Spork, Betsy Spork, Maria Koszewski (a pair), Joni Schackmuth (also a pair) and two of our own Scott Lake team members, Evan Barlow and Graham Coulombe, who landed their monsters during our annual staff Trout Derby. All were impressive fish between 40 and 43 inches, except for one. Joni Schackmuth landed what will probably be the Lake Trout of the Season, a massive 45.5” laker. There were many others in the still huge 38 and 39” range caught thei midsummer fishing season.

There were also plenty of pike that graced the big screens after dinner. One was exceptional, a 47.5” beauty landed by Gary Peters. We had a pair of 46s, taken by Joni Shackmuth (a true switch hitter) and first-time guest Cole Boback. Three anglers got their “supersized” pike at 45”—Lou Koszewski, Eric Klein and Gary Peters. Mark Graf had an incredible single day, bringing a six-pack of trophy pike to his guide’s hand.

Some hog grayling were scored by Ella Boback, an 18” and 19”, and Scott Boback, a 19”. Four anglers left with their Trophy Triple hats, catching trophies of all three of our species: Garek Peters, Gratz Peters, Jarret Peters (it was a great week if your last name was Peters) and Ella Boback. Garek and Gratz upgraded their catches to comfortably reach the 100+Club level, each at 103.5 total inches for their three trophy fish.

A fine week: plenty of fish, some warm midsummer fishing weather, an exciting nighttime thunderstorm for a little drama and all the usual Scott Lake Lodge things—great dining, exceptional shore lunches and the kind of warm, embracing customer service that keeps our guests coming back year after year. Our thanks to all our Week 9 guests for bringing their good-time attitude to the island. See you next year.