Easy Winter at the Lodge
A crew of six recently spent a week at the lodge starting the process of getting the infrastructure ship shape for the coming season, now just a month away. They installed 96 new batteries (big batteries) for the photovoltaic power system. Even in the still weak early spring sunlight, the solar system fired right up and put a terrific charge in the batteries. The use of power tools to do some cabin improvements did not dent the battery bank’s charge level. We anticipate using far less diesel generator time this season.
No one had been on the island since September and all the buildings fortunately were untouched. The snow was the deepest in many years. Recently retired General Manager John Gariepy has made a winter trip to the island for ten straight years and had never seen as much snow. That bodes well for high water levels after ice out which should allow access to some previously unavailable bays. And it will give the guides a little better clearance over the legendary and nasty Scott Lake boulders. Unlike most winters there was scant little caribou sign this year. The big herds (they are unpredictable) were further east this winter. At least one big lake trout did winter right next to the lodge. New General Manager Jason Hamilton took enough time off of working to pull a fat 42” lake trout through the ice. That one quickly went back into the lake but a lot of smaller ones had a different fate—fish fries were part of the crew’s menu.
Jason also noted the abundance of wolf sign on the island. It looked like they really went to town on the island’s snowshoe hare population. With people on the island for four months in the summer there are no predators to keep the rabbit numbers in check. When the ice is firm the wolves come across to have a picnic.
Temperatures were in the low 60s last week, giving all of the Scott family hope that ice out will be normal this year. The goal is to get a crew in around June first to start the work of getting everything set for our June 10th opening. Keep watching this News page for details.
TIME TO VOTE
It’s time to vote for your favorite entry in the 2014 Show Off Your Fish! video contest. We have five short videos at our Vimeo site. Take a look and “Like” your favorite. You only have until May 31 to cast your vote. And like real elections we hope you keep to the one angler/one vote rule.
Keep your cell phone or camera handy this summer on your Scott Lake Lodge trip. This contest will be an annual event with a top prize of a fly out for two on your next Scott trip.
Cancellation Spots Still Available
There are still four spots available for the week of August 24th—29th. A corporate cancellation of 12 opened up that week and those spots are available at a discount. Give Jon Wimpney an email at j5@scottlakelodge.com or call him (right now) at 306/209-7150. We also have a few spots scattered around the calendar. Just this week we had a four person cancellation for one of our most coveted weeks of the season—June 30-July 5. Historically that has been one of our top trophy producing weeks of the season. That trip is right in the middle of prime time so those spots will not sit around long. Call Jon—now.
Get on the List
Every season we do get some last minute cancellations. If you have a flexible schedule and just can’t get enough of Scott Lake Lodge give Jon an email (see above) to get on the list. Some late cancellations can turn into great values for you.
