DAMN THE TORPEDOS: FULL SPEED AHEAD
After 50 consecutive days of guiding, cooking, cleaning, flying, fixing and muscling around baggage, fuel and food, the Scott Lake team would have plenty of reason to start slacking off. But that’s not what this group is made of. That’s not what any guest who landed on our island on July 30 experienced. At the opening night orientation session, the enthusiasm, energy and excitement were off the charts. You would have thought it was Day 1 of Week 1 not deep into our season. There is just no half-speed for our crew. There is no half-speed for our anglers either. They came to fish and hit the water hard.
Especially one Amy Towers, one of the Scott Lake “regulars”, who wasted no time getting into big fish. One her first day she accomplished the Done In One—getting into the 100+Club by catching a trophy pike, lake trout and arctic grayling whose collective measurements reach or exceed 100 inches. She was full throttle, getting a pike of 45”, a lake trout of 41” and a grayling of 16.5”. But having 102 total inches was just not good enough for Amy. Before her five-day stay ended she had “upgraded” to an 18” grayling and a 42” lake trout. That put her at 105 total inches to lead the season’s 100+Club standings. She also tallied no fewer than 22 trophy fish for her week. Congrats to Amy. And to husband Jeff, who quietly landed 8 trophies and also joined the 100+Club. The action wasn’t limited to the Tower clan. There were bragging rights all around.
Ryan Robbins had an epic day with lake trout. In one of the best lake trout days in recent memory, he pulled 10 trophy lakers into his guide’s big net. They were not just barely “over the line” trophies either—he got two 38s, a 40 and a 41 incher. That’s a day. There were lots of big days this week. With just over a hundred trophies, it’s not surprising that there were many memorable fish. Fish like 45” pike taken by Dave O’Donnell, Tonya Mcgraw and Bob Chadwell. Or like the 46s landed by B Juno Francis and Bill Golz. Bill had a sensational trip, also getting a fat 47” pike which tied Bill Mcgraw’s for the biggest pike of the week. Our menu for the week included big trout. In addition to Amy and Ryan’s haul, Rob Neumann contributed a 41 incher and Betty Chadwell a 40 to the week’s abundance.
As our season has progresses the arctic grayling have been making a more dramatic appearance. The season started with very high water, making fishing for the sailfish of the north tough on the fast-flowing rivers of the area. Now, as the waters are dropping, the grayling are rising and getting within reach of our ultra-light spinning rods and 4-weight fly rods. Some very nice grayling were landed on our rivers: 18 inchers by Amy Towers and Jono Francis and a 19 by Jeff Towers. While not all of our guests go for grayling, those that do love it. It’s a more contemplative fishing experience that going one-on-one with savage pike or pulling lakers out of the depths—the contrast is wonderful.
For many guests there were other trophies besides the ones that earn pins at the nightly trophy ceremony. This week we had the first northern lights of the season (that gets better week by week as we start to get some nighttime darkness, something we don’t have in June and July). We also had a lot of moose and bear sightings as well as the daily sightings of loons, eagles and osprey. There were trophy moments too just enjoying the evening campfire or the conversations at dinner. Scott Lake is about fishing but it’s about more than fishing. Some anglers left with lots of trophy pins or the 100+Club jacket (besides Amy and Jeff Towers, Juno Francis and Ryan Robbins earned that). All our week 11 anglers left with a strong sense of satisfaction after spending five beautiful summer days in one of the most pristine and private settings imaginable. The big fish are a bonus.
