WEEK 2 UPDATE
WE’RE BACK- Start of the 2022 Fishing Season
What a joy! On June 14th, after 32 months without a single guest gracing this 12-acre island just a long cast from the Saskatchewan/Northwest Territories border, we finally welcomed a couple of dozen of our long-time guests to Scott Lake Lodge. The excitement for both our guests and our staff was electric. Having lost the June 9th week to a late ice out, our team had extra energy to lavish on the new arrivals. It was a glorious homecoming. And the only ice our guests encountered were the cubes in their drinks. The lake was ready, and the Scott Lake team was ready.
We had an early signal that the fish would cooperate. Before the first boat left the island on the morning of June 15th, Mike Rogers was getting some kinks out of his line. On his first cast his #5 gold Blue Fox spinner went by a lake trout cruising in the shallow water, a trout that didn’t know that Mike wasn’t really fishing. The laker grabbed the lure and officially kicked off the 2022 season. Over the next five days Mike landed a dozen trophy pike and hundreds of fish. Most of the other guests had similar stories. The week was what one would expect in the far north where weather forecasts are meaningless: we had beautiful sunny days, cloudy windy days, some quite cold days and everything in between. But the weather didn’t matter. Everyone was delighted just to be back, just to be fishing again. The colder than normal water temperatures did keep the total trophy count low by our very high standards, but our anglers did average over 20 trophy fish per day, mostly pike with a few trout mixed in and one grayling. That one grayling though was memorable. It was at the end of Terry Jones’ line and its 16.5 inches combined with the lengths of a fat 40’ lake trout and a girthy 44” pike to give Terry just over 100” for the combined length of the lodge’s three trophy species. He became the first member of the 2022 season to join the elite 100+Club. Many more will follow and wear the custom jacket celebrating the accomplishment.
Terry didn’t land the only monster trout. While casting for pike at the mouth of a bay, Steve Tillery landed a 40.5” lake trout did not want to be landed. It was an epic battle and Steve prevailed. While our great trout fishing comes later in the season when trout concentrate in deeper water, getting a big trout early in the season is a wonderful bonus fish. Getting pike this time of year is expected and Scott Lake and the lodge’s many fly out lakes delivered. Don Luke and Simcha Cohen both brought 45” pike to their guide’s waiting net. Joel Tune discovered his lucky number was 44; he landed three 44” pike on three different days. The biggest number though belonged to Clayton Jennings. On his final day on the lake armed with his trusty fly rod Clayton did battle with a gorgeous 48” pike and came out on top. That’s a lifetime angling memory. There were many action-packed days this week including a Father’s Day special. Ross Purpura had a wild day catching seven trophy pike with the top one taped at 43”. But his dad, Ross Senior, took his son to school by landing a 46 incher and four other trophy pike. Every angler left with great fish stories and with memories of traditional Canadian shore lunches, the sounds of loons, of migrating geese and the satisfaction of sharing this far north adventure with like-minded people. Was this the most trophies we’ve ever had for a week at Scott? Not even close but the action was sensational, and everyone left with a trophy experience. That’s what counts. So, one group is in the books; nineteen more to go. We are just so thrilled to be talking about the Start of the 2022 Fishing Season! Stay tuned.
