WEEK 6: “THE BEAT GOES ON” WITH STEADY FISHING
We were coming off a record-breaking trophy week at Scott and it would have been reasonable to assume that our big fish needed a rest. But the bruiser pike, fat lake trout and acrobatic arctic grayling had no intention of taking a break: they kept on their quest for an easy meal and ended up instead on our Week 6 “Stat Parade”. But as is our policy and practice at Scott all were returned to the lakes and rivers, ready to be fooled again by future anglers. It was another exciting week on the water with 167 trophies landed; pike lead the parade with 130 trophies in the net. The generally warm and sunny weather kept our pike active and roaming the shallow waters like heat-seeking missiles, always looking for their next meal, even if the tail of their last one is sticking out of their mouths. At one large group shore lunch for our island staff two of the eight pike kept for the occasion had burbot (one of the favorite prey species for pike) in their bellies. This is our summer: all our critters are active now. Our local wildlife species were on the move too with numerous sightings of moose, bear, eagles, osprey, loons and even a rare fisher. That last critter was a visitor right our island.
It was our second consecutive week where everyone of our guests landed a trophy fish. Even on good fishing weeks that’s not always the case. Luck is not evenly distributed. Nor is fishing skill. This week everyone enjoyed the thrill and adrenaline of that big jolt on the other end of one’s line. Of course, some guests had more of the luck/skill combo than others. It’s always the right place/right time. Wholdaia Lake, a Scott flyout lake, was the right place for many of our guests during Week 6. That’s where Kevin Hassett picked up a single-day six-pack of trophy pike and where Jamie Hasset and Matt Parker had a four-pike day. Dan Keenan found Wholdaia’s waters friendly enough to hand him five trophy pike in a day and Bob Noble got his five-trophy day there too. Smalltree Lake handed Andy Puzder his five-trophy pike day. Randy and Amber Lail joined forces for an eight-trophy pike day on Selwyn Lake. Nancy Wehl had her four-trophy day without getting into a float plane by landing her big pike on adjacent Wignes Lake.
The big fish were taken all over our nine-million-acre fishing universe. And big fish we had. Our guides like to categorize our trophy-sized pike into “regular” (40-43”), “mid” (44-46”) and “mega” (47-50”) trophies. While this group didn’t get a “mega”, they did land a bunch of “mids”—18 to be exact, well spread around our group of anglers. Pike of 44” were landed by Matt Parker, Dan Keenan, Bill Woodard, Roland Larbig, Mark Bixler, Ray Hedgecock, Jamie Hassett, Sarah Hackworth, and Randy Lail while 45-inchers were landed by Kevin Hassett, Bob Noble, Mark Bixler, Amber Lail, Jamie Hassett, Josh Makal and Missie Scheider who along with Suzanne Nobel also put a 46er in her guide’s huge net (we don’t like to lose big fish at boatside).
Some impressive arctic grayling were in the mix this week. As the rivers that connect our lakes start to drop down in volume, the grayling fishing gets better and better. This was our best week of the season so far for the “sailfish of the north”, a name given to describe their large dorsal fin. While they are not sailfish size, they are tough fish for their size, often providing an exciting acrobatic display. There were 25 trophy grayling landed this week including some very large ones: Andy Puzder had an 18.5-incher; Mark Bixler got a 19 and Craig Hackworth got a pair of 19s while Cindy Bixler landed a 19.5-incher, about as big as grayling get around here. There were a bunch of Trophy Triple hats (earned by guests who land a northern pike, a lake trout and an arctic grayling in trophy size) handed out at our nightly trophy ceremonies. Bob and Suzanne Noble, Mark and Cindy Bixler, Andy Puzder and Matt Parker all took home a memento of their fishing adventure, but Bob, Suzanne and Mark upgraded to the 100+Club and earned a custom jacket showing that their three trophies added up to 100 total inches or better, a mark of angling achievement. There needs to be special mention of one of the most unusual catches at Scott Lake Lodge—the lake whitefish. The whitefish is clearly a gamefish but mainly feeds on tiny nymphs (small aquatic bugs). Rarely do they hit a lure or fly. But Dan Keenan landed a 25-incher. In early September a few of our anglers do target whitefish when they congregate at an inflow into Scott just before their spawning season but it’s been many years since one was caught “accidentally”.
Now a third of our way through the 2024 season, the logistics and various operations here at Scott are running smoothly and predictably. Thankfully the very short WestJet strike did not prevent a single guest from making it to the lodge. While the weather hasn’t been perfect (not quite enough sunny days), it’s been good enough to ensure that every day since June 9th has been a fishing day. There has been only one day where some guests decided to stay onshore due to nasty weather. The weather is pretty simple up here. If the wind is from the north or east, it’s cold and pike fishing is slow. If it’s from the west or south, it’s warm and the pike go into attack mode. We’ve had winds from all compass points but rarely two days in a row of the same. That keeps life interesting for our guide team as they try to find just the right shoreline or bay where the water might be just a little warmer and the pike slightly more aggressive. With an average tenure of 15 years at Scott and 20 guiding they can handle it. Steady fishing it is.
