The Third Inning: A look at Weeks 5 & 6 at Scott Lake Lodge

The Third Inning: A look at Weeks 5 & 6 at Scott Lake Lodge

by | Jul 12, 2018 | 2018 Season

INNING #3: TALES OF BIG FINS AND BIG WINDS

Well, we’re still hanging onto the baseball theme. And the theme of one smashing at bat followed by another with struggles at the plate continues as well: our fifth group hit it out of the park and our sixth had most of their drives blown back onto the field. Here’s the box score from late June and early July.

Our fifth group in camp came to bat at the top of the third inning. They entered the park at the peak of a vicious cold front, probably the deepest cold front we have ever seen at this time of year, but that savage nor’easter that made the fishing so tough for our fourth group finally moderated. It also seemed like the fish, after five days of hiding in deep water, got used to the conditions and started to roam the field again. Or maybe they were just damn hungry. For whatever reason, the fish responded to the pitches of the new team. Throwing flies, spinners, plastics and plugs, on Day 1 our anglers had a very solid whack at the fish, landing 43 trophy fish, including one monster pike of 49.5” taken by Kurt Vincellete. For Bill and Kurt those big ones were just the frosting on the cake. Together they tallied a cool dozen trophy pike on their first day. Also on Day 1 Bill Williams and Mike Waltrip landed 45” pike.It was a very good day for all our anglers. Mike Demyen, our MC for the nightly trophy announcements, was busy. Before the top half of the third finished, the sun and nice weather returned and Mike was even busier; many more big pike and some big trout were scored.

The list is almost too long but slugging like this deserves an accounting. Pike of 45 were abundant: John Green got two; Debbie and Bruce Kozlowski each got one; Rob Petty, Andy Nardo and Paul Klenk also stretched their guide’s tape to the supersized length. Bruce and Debbie also had a day with a dozen trophy pike. The next set of bleachers up, the 46ers, was crowed. Brent Laing may have a record, getting three 46” pike in a five-day trip. His fishing partner, John Green, got one too as well as Paul Klenk, Bruce Kozlowski and Andy Nardo. Only one angler, Velon Herbeck, was sitting in the 47” section. Day three was particularly productive with 50 trophies announced that evening, just about two for each guest. There were some very nice trout taken as well. Andrew Troop lead the trout parade with two 35s, a 38 and a massive 44” laker. Andrew and his fishing buddy, Gerry O’Brien, pulled off the hat trick (it’s hockey I know but it still fits) by getting the Trophy Triple hat for their trophies in the pike, trout and grayling categories. The grand trophy total for the group—a very robust 152, over 30 a day. It was a very good week without even mentioning all the bear and moose sightings and the spectacular shore lunches.

And then there was the bottom of the third—group number 6. Talk about bad luck. There was for most of the group’s time on the water a huge wind blowing from the outfield; it blew a lot of long fly balls right back into the park. While most of the group did get out on the water most of the time, the conditions were tough. It was both windy and cold, not a good combination. There was only one-half day of sun and pleasant temps. That was the morning of Day 2 and on that day a very respectable number of trophies (35) were landed. That turned out of be nearly half of the 80 total trophies logged in for the group. Historically, week 6 has been on of our very top trophy producing weeks, but not this year; it was just plain tough fishing. The guides, due to rough water, just could not get to all their favored spots and some guest opted for the warmth of the main lodge for lunch and some breaks from the wind. To date no one has landed a big fish in the main lodge. The big fish count dropped from the prior week as well, but there were some highlights. Russ Geseme had a trip he will not forget anytime soon. He brought to the plate two 45” pike and two 47” pike. Those are big numbers for any week. His fishing partner got cramps in his finger taking all those photographs. Harold Goble, Bob Nettune and Ed Reisdorf landed 45s and Dale McCormick late on the last day got a beautiful 46.5 pike. Big trout were taken by Joel Mitchell (37”) and Dale McCormick (39”). Jason Andrade got the Trophy Triple hat. Was it a terrible week? Of course not. Guests were fishing, having great shore lunches and dinners, relaxing and catching more fish on a slow week than most have ever caught before. As it’s been said so many times here, fishing is all about the weather. Next season .  .  .

 

The Second Inning: Weeks 3 & 4 In Review

The Second Inning: Weeks 3 & 4 In Review

by | Jul 5, 2018 | 2018 Season

THE SECOND INNING: THE TALE OF TWO TAPES

 

Keeping our baseball analogy as we document the season, we will make a diving catch to catch up on the fishing at Scott Lake Lodge. The first at bat in the top of the second (our third group in camp) featured some torrid hitting. It seemed like the fish had no answer for the 26 anglers and 13 guides who took to the waters of Scott and its fly out lakes starting on June 19th. These anglers pulled their rods off the rack and just started slugging. The guides measuring tapes were well used for five straight days as sunshine blessed the waters. They put their tapes on no less than 178 trophy fish, nearly all pike, an average of 6.8 trophies per angler. (Anglers and baseball fans love their stats.) There were some real scoring binges. On Day 2 there were 58 trophy fish announced at the after-dinner trophy pin ceremony, an average of 2.2 per angler. Day 4 had 47. Our trophy announcer, Mike Demyen (known here as Nuggets), could barely make it through the evening without taking a break for a drink.

Many of these trophies were not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill just over the line 40 inchers. We had some bruisers in the net this week. There were 18 pike of 45” or more, known around here as super-sized pike. Many of our players (14 in fact) played the supersized game. Pike of 45” were landed by John Sanderson, Jim MacDougal, David Thome, Steve Bandt, John Kroner, Rory Wright, Stan Gertzbein and Amy Blackstone. John, Jim and Rory added 46s to their hitting stats. Jeremy Maunus, Joe Novicki and Bill Calabresa also joined the 46 club. There was an elite group that pulled in 47s: Greg Larson, Steve Bandt and David Thome landed those fish of a lifetime. Then there was Jim MacDougal who had a Hall of Fame Fishing trip. He caught big fish wherever he went—on Scott, on the fly out lakes and probably in his sleep. On one memorable day—all on the fly rod—he brought to his guide’s net pike of 41, 42, 43, 45, 46 and yes, the biggest of the young season, a 49.5” beauty. We just don’t know how he missed getting a 44 for a Royal Flush. All of those fish were caught on a leech of his own design, making the experience even more memorable, if that’s possible. Rory Wright had a similar trip, landing three pike of 46” and many, many more of trophy size. He also became the first angler of the season to join the 100+Club, landing a trophy pike, trout and grayling whose total lengths exceeded 100 inches, not an easy task. What fueled this explosion of big fish? The secret was obvious to all. We just had to look up. We had five glorious days of sunshine. That’s all it takes. The water gets warm and the fishing gets hot.

That sunshine and warm water kept rolling into the top half of the second inning, the at bat for fourth group at the lodge. Life was good for the Mudville Nine on Day 1. With the sun on the backs of pike on Scott Lake and the 22 fly out destinations, our anglers drove their casts into fertile waters, filling up a thick stack of trophies slips for the evenings trophy announcements. There were 43 big fish announced, a great start to the inning. By the next morning though we were looking at a different world. A nasty nor’easter rolled in bringing vicious winds, rain and very cool temperatures. No, not cool—COLD. Our temps dropped about 30 degrees F in 24 hours, hitting a nighttime low of 44. Things were ugly. The big pike went into hiding, as they always do with a temperature drop of that magnitude. The trophy slip stack got pretty thin over the next four days—as low as six (that was a typical one boat total during the prior week). It brought to mind the old fishing doggerel:

“When the wind is from the west, fish bite the best.

When the wind is from the south, the fish open their mouth.

When the wind is from the north, the fish still go forth.

When the wind is from the east, the fish bite the least.”

That may not be true at all places, but it always plays out on this corner of the 60th parallel. Fishing up here is all about the wind and temperatures.

We did have a group of determined anglers (many from Minnesota where cold is part of the culture) who fished everyday despite the conditions. They beat out some ground balls, got the bloop singles, stole a few bases and scrapped out a decent fishing trip. There were some bright spots. Mike Manship landed a 47” pike. Brad Finney and Noel Rush got 48s. Luci Defouw hooked into her first ever trophy pike a 41.5″er on the first day of fishing.  While the previous group had 18 pike over 45”, though this group had just those three. In this Tale of Two Tapes, the guides had their tapes in their pockets for four days. It’s wasn’t that our group lacked the skills; they just needed help from the elements. The cold weather did keep the lake trout on top though. And our guides put this group on some nice ones. Gene DeFouw, Steve Meyer and Randy Doerter caught 35” trout; Dakotah Herr got a 36 and a 38 incher; Mira Lechowicz, after a long battle, pulled in a 40.5” beauty; and, on the last day casting a small plastic pike for big pike, Mike Halloway tied into trout of 36 and 42 inches. Nearly all trout of that size are caught with deep trolling. Getting a monster like that 42 on spinning gear is a thrill of a fishing lifetime. But in summary, the story of the bottom of the second can be summarized with this paraphrasing of a famous baseball poem:

“Somewhere on favored waters, the sun is shining bright;

The loons are calling, and hearts are light;

And somewhere anglers are laughing and want to shout;

But there is no joy on Scott this week, our might Caseys struck out.”

One tough innings does not doom the game. That cold front dampened our seasonal stats but it’s still been an incredible season to date. Through four groups we have tallied 607 trophy fish with a record for this date of 50 pike hitting or exceeding the 45” mark. Of those 50, 14 were over 47 inches. Will we beat last year’s all time highest count of 141 pike over 45? With 80% of the game remaining, that’s a pretty good bet. It depends on two things—our anglers and the sun. We’ll just keep swinging.

Trophy Northern Pike at Scott Lake Lodge

by | Dec 19, 2017 | Northern Pike, video

Here a quick summary of what your pike fishing time at Scott Lake Lodge might look like. Whether you fly fish, spin fish or have never fished. Our guides will get you on the fish! Sight fishing is common and you can stalk Trophy Northern Pike in crystal clear water.

Big Northern Pike T Bones a Smaller one

by | Jan 26, 2017 | Northern Pike, video

Have a look at what northern fishing is like at a pristine Canadian Fishing Lodge. Trophy northern pike eating smaller specimens right off your hook? This takes sight fishing up a notch!! You see the pike, cast, watch him eat and set the hook…all of the sudden the it feels like you’re hooked on the bottom. The food chain unfolds before your eyes! What a story to share at happy hour in the lodge!