by Jason | Nov 11, 2017 | 2017 Season
What a year! Not only was the quality of the fishing record breaking, the quality of the operation was smoothness in action.
All but one of our changeovers was textbook. From the time our charter flight from Saskatoon landed at Stony Rapids to the time the last guest stepped on our dock was always just a few minutes either side of an hour (yes, we do measure those things).
Everything just clicked this year: our entire guide team was able to stay for the entire season; there were very few motor issues with our outboards, other than the two at fly out lakes that were literally eaten by bears; fly out departures were almost always within a minute or two of planned times; our power system never failed, despite some problems with our inverters; the weather was warmer and sunnier than average (only a few days of the dreaded east wind) and most importantly our guests all appeared to leave happy as our evaluations have testified.
In short, it was a season of low drama, except for the fishing.
Tom was a very happy customer to land this 47″ pike beauty.
And there was plenty of drama with our fishing. It was again the season of monster fish. We thought 2016 was a season that we could never replicate. Starting with Joe Novicki’s 51” pike in June last year and going right through the season, the 2016 season was magic. We even dedicated a special four-page spread to capture the 34 pike that stretched the tape to 47 inches or better. We thought that would be a one-year deal. Not quite. Joe Novicki did it again this season with another 51” pike, from a different lake—not the same fish. And the giants just kept coming. By the time we closed shop on August 29th there were 39 more pike over 47 inches, a new record. Those big fish were spread over a huge swath of the far north—nine different lakes including a dozen from Scott Lake itself. Going back just a few years our pike over 47” rarely totaled more than a dozen from all lake combined. Total trophies also set a record with 1,965. Over the previous seven seasons that average was 1,371. That’s 594 more times that someone said “that’s a gorgeous fish”. Pike trophies also hit a record with 1,487, almost double the 882 that we averaged over the previous seven years. Lake trout and grayling trophies came in at very respectable numbers of 213 and 263 respectively.
“So many big fish. In the 21-year history of the lodge we’ve never seen anything like it.”
The Board-Up: Post Season Activities
While the last guests left our island on August 29th, the season didn’t end there. Not by a long shot. Fall in the far north is a compelling season, with the sunny, blue sky days mixed with far more cloudy, wind blustery days, but they are all wonderful. For starters, it’s a totally bug-free period of the season (our bugs happen in late June and early July); the skies are usually filled with the sights and sounds of migrating geese and loons and the reefs are full of trout. Throw in the birch trees with their lovely yellow splendor and the ground cover in rich russet and you have quite a picture.
It was the picture that the two dozen parents, children, boyfriends, girlfriends and just plain friends who came up to join our staff for our annual Friends and Family Week enjoyed. They did it all- plenty of fishing (and plenty of trophy fish and trophy experiences), a couple of nights of spectacular northern lights, and most importantly a lot of relaxed conversations around the dinner tables and fireside.
Jackie and her mom enjoying Friends and Family Week.
The atmosphere was casual except for the first evening when the kitchen staff wanted to show off a bit with table cloths and a fancy, guest-quality dinner. It was an opportunity for them to find out just what the Scott Lake Experience is all about and to find out if their friends or relatives had been exaggerating about it. No one had. The reviews were top notch. No one was counting the drinks but let’s just say that there were not too many folks eager for early morning fishing. This was a relaxed party, a perfect way for our staff to end their season.
When they left it was down to the Scott Lake Lodge worker bees who tackled the shut down process which is many days with many people and the main lodge renovation. That group lead by Scott guide Paul Hamilton, teamed up with his dad Ted, hit the ground running. Before they wrapped up the fall work on September 17th, they had the addition fully closed in and had put new shingles on the entire roof. There turned out to be a lot of talent hidden (not so well hidden it turns out) on the Scott Lake guide team. Who knew that Mike Demyen had been a roofer and that Cory Craig had framed houses in Calgary years before? We know now. Those projects never had a chance.
There were other just plain good workers diving into the construction tasks—Riley Epp, our Beaver pilot who can hammer as well as fly and Mason Merz, our office manager, who was all over the island helping to get things done. Guide Graham Coulombe took the lead in making the rounds of our 20 fly out lakes to service the outboard, repair lots of bear damage to boats and turn over the 16-foot fly out boats. That was a full three days of work with Otter pilot, Travis Peckham, working along-side Graham. Gerry Yanish, our own Silver Fox, directed the lodge shut down which involves boarding up every door and window on every building—all 28– on the island, draining the water system, beaching and winterizing the 15 guide boats based on the island and doing so many other things that this screen couldn’t quite hold it.
A different crew lead by Hospitality Manager Danielle Grunberg started staining log exteriors, cleaning all the guest cabins, doing mountains of laundry and putting it away for the winter. Claire Markle, Brenna Savery and Jackie Tourand all worked on those tasks. The big job cleaning and putting away everything related to the kitchen went to Eli Mahoney and Rachael Basler who stayed on after the Friends and Family week to cook for the construction crew.
But it wasn’t all work. Everyone got out for some fishing, especially some early evening trout fishing. If you followed our Facebook posts, you would have noticed some remarkably beautiful fish. A fall spawner, lake trout like all the other char species, have a complete makeover for their spawning season. By around the 10th of September the smaller males (small in this case being between 20-30”) were up on the shallow rocky reefs all over Scott, resplendent in their fall colors, a sort of mimic of the fall landscape. Flies, spinners, spoons or baby pike plastics—it didn’t make any difference. They crushed whatever came near them. It is that rare time when you can sight cast for lake trout, a special privilege. By around the 16th the bigger trout were starting to come up. The final Scott Lakers to leave (Jason Hamilton, Mason Merz, and Paul and Ted Hamilton) had some fantastic final fishing. Then the island for the first time since mid-May was quiet and empty except for the ravens, our many snowshoe rabbits, and some late-leaving loons.
by Jason | Dec 27, 2016 | Guides
It is amazing after the concentration we get on the island at Scott Lake Lodge how far the guides spread out in the off season, after spending the summer chasing trophy northern pike and trophy lake trout at what we think is the best fly in fishing lodge in Canada, home is worldwide, travels as well. This off season we have guides living in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan (maybe the highest concentration is around White Fox), British Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and South Africa. They travel, live, work, farm, guide, fish, hunt and spread the word about the special place they have returned each summer now for many years. Each brings his own twist to the boat, each makes life on the 12 acre island great in a unique way. Here is a sampling, in photos, of what the group was up to, and where they’ve been so far this fall.
by Jason | Mar 29, 2016 | 2016 Pre-season
The crew were welcomed by warm weather…temperatures up into the 40’s were settling the snow and starting to give things a spring-like feel. Paul, Georgie and Aaron (Paul’s brother) went north to move some material, check out the snow vs. roof interaction and try their luck on a few lake trout.
The report is as follows: no snowmobile traffic apparent on the lake, also no caribou tracks (perhaps a correlation!) 2.5′ of snow on the level. 36-40″ of ice on the lake around the lodge. Lake trout proving adept at avoiding the frying pan.
Have a look at these photos, what a beautiful place to visit in the winter. That said its even better in the summer. Haven’t locked in your spot?? There’s still hope! Get in touch with J5 our sales guy and make sure you don’t miss out on 2016! j5@scottlakelodge.com
by Jason | Feb 17, 2016 | 2015 Season, 2016 Pre-season, Island Life, Website Fishing Blog
From mid September the 13 acre island that houses Scott Lake Lodge is a pretty quiet place, the silence only broken by the coming and goings of the few hardy creatures that spend their winters in Canada’s northern boreal forest, and perhaps the odd trapper’s snowmobile passing by. An island that sees impressive amounts of activity in a short period in the summer gets a long rest for most of the winter; most being the operative term here. Having a fly in fishing lodge located on the border of Saskatchewan and the Northwest territories presents a number of challenges in getting people, groceries, fuel and materials to the site. When that fly in fishing lodge happens to be one of the few left in Canada on a lake with no winter road access or runway, there are a few more considerations when getting ready for the new season. For this reason the winter trip to Scott Lake by a few folks is an important part of the system that allows us to provide our guests with a first rate fishing trip. Our motto for many years has been, constant, incremental improvement of all facets of the Scott Lake experience. For this reason each spring and fall sees new construction projects to repair, replace or build new the infrastructure that we use to host guests, now in the 20th season of operation under the current ownership. Taking into account the ice breakup period in May and early June where nothing can access the island but helicopter, all new material for spring work needs to be in place in winter when the twin otter can land on skies on the hard water out front of the lodge.
It’s an exciting trip up to Scott Lake in the winter, even early (early) spring, the long milk-run flight stopping at all points from Saskatoon to Stony Rapids, some frenzied running around in Stony securing the last few items needed for the trip and a ski plane flight into the lodge…all in the shortened daylight hours of the North at this time of year. Getting off the plane one never knows what will be found, memories of a squatting bear still fresh in the mind. Now comes a whirlwind of activity that the crew seems to fall into with no planning. The plane is unloaded and a weeks worth of food, gear, beer, snowshoes and fuel to keep things running. Shovels are donned and the process of digging into cabins and the solar room are early priorities. Start a fire, get power going, kick out any unwanted bears, dig out the snow machine (hope it starts) and toboggan, haul gear, start the ice auger and bore a water hole trough almost 4’ of ice, pour a cocktail, check Facebook. After the initial flurry the crew falls into a few days of dawn to dusk work, moving a few lifts of lumber that the ski plane drops off, cutting dead trees fro firewood and for wood chips come spring. It’s a busy time but always a fun time with a portion of each day set aside to check on Scott Lake’s populations of northern pike and lake trout, we want to ensure there are still a few big ones around.
A week seems to fly by in no time at all and then there is a hurried boarding of doors and piling into the plane always thinking there is no way we are going to make the flight south from Stony Rapids in time. What do we have in store? Well, we aren’t going to let on just what improvements are on the docket for his winter and spring, you will have to come see for your self!
Book now or forever lose your spot for 2016
We are very proud to announce that Scott Lake Lodge is over 85% booked for the 2016 season, this is no small feat and we must thank the continued support of you our customers for your business and loyalty to the place. Sales manager Jon “J5” Wimpney has again done an exceptional job matching people with dates to make sure no one misses out on their fishing trip this year. He is doing such a good job filling spots we thought it was only fair to warn you. Book now to make sure you have a place in the boat for the 2016 season! As we mentioned above there are good things brewing and we want to show you what we’ve been up to.
