What a week at Scott Lake Lodge! We had it all: perfect sunny days, a wild storm, four huge pike, a new 100+Club record, the annual staff Trout Derby and a fantastic upbeat group of guests. Most dramatic was an all-day storm on the fourth day that brought big time thunder and lightening with a frog-drowning rain (good thing we don’t have any frogs around here). That storm apparently didn’t bother the pike at all. Fishing right through the rain Bob Chadwell landed six trophy pike; Bill McGraw got four over the 40” mark. Amy Towers had a pike way, way over the trophy minimum size. She landed a massive, beautiful 49” pike. Those inches, added to her earlier catches of a 43.5” lake trout and a 18.5” arctic grayling, gave Amy the new 100+Club record of 111 inches. Getting even one of those three fish would have made a memorable trip. Getting all three is just plain amazing. Congrats to Amy. And to Amy’s husband, Jeff. He ended up with 105.5 inches with his trio of trophies. And to Amy’s mom, Martha Golz, who with the push from her 48” pike landed at 105 inches. What at trip for that crew, they had a blast and the fishing was a bonus!
It was a week for some simply huge fish. Scott Lake Lodge co-owner Ron Spork came north for some relaxing fishing time. He wasn’t relaxing when he landed a 47.5” and a 48” pike. They don’t grow those in Ron’s Chicagoland backyard. Jason Davison waited until the last day to make his big fish statement. Using his fly rod and a mini-leech with a tiny (size 6) hook, Jason put another 49 incher in the Scott Lake Lodge books. Gus Ruetenick Jr. added a 46 incher to the mix. Mike Stanford got a 45 incher and son Chad got a 45.5” beauty. As we see every year, this is the time (late July and early August) when the big fish start going on the prowl. This wasn’t just a big pike week. Finally, some huge trout ended up in the guide’s nets. When Amy Towers got her big 43.5” laker she also got five other trophy trout, three over 40”. Jeff Towers got a 40 and a 42. During the annual staff Trout Derby (an evening fish when the lodge management team serves dinner), chef Rachael Basler got a 40.5 super fat laker, winning the contest handily. Some dandy grayling also put in an appearance. Jeff Towers got the biggest, a 19 incher. Bill and Martha Golz got 18s. So many big fish. The trophy count was substantial at 157 with a nice mix of pike, lake trout and grayling.
It was a wonderful group of guests that made all this happen. We had quite an age span, from 12-year-old Charlie Stanford who earned a Triple Trophy hat to 95 years-young Gus Ruetenik. Gus loves every fish he catches and over his 19 trips to Scott he’s caught a lot. It would be great to report that Gus got a monster pike on this trip, but he didn’t: he was very satisfied bringing in a bunch of pike and trout under the trophy mark but well within the fun mark. He did show everyone at the lodge how to have a perfect trip without the perfect fish. A true sportsman, Gus just loved being on the water with his son and grandson, enjoying the serenity of the lake country and the pure joy of just fishing. We salute Gus and all the guests who made this week one of the best of the season.
