by Tammy MacDonald | Aug 4, 2013 | 2013 Season
The calendar just flipped over to August but life here on the 60th parallel has been in fall mode for a couple of weeks already. The cold front that hit the area back two weeks ago evolved very gracefully into a new season. And it’s a wonderful one.
The pike are at least two weeks early in their fall feeding spree. We have never seen so many pike and trout with tails sticking out of their mouths. The cold nights have put them in an eating mood. The best thing: we have plenty of time left to enjoy the changing of the landscape and the great fishing. When many (actually most) Canadian lodges are closing up for the year, we have just crossed midfield for our 2013 season. The first birch leaves are turning yellow and our ground cover plants, especially the blueberry and the bastard toadflax (yes that is a real plant), are heading to deep red, along with some of the mosses. Loons are starting to flock and call wildly now. Soon, when a big north wind blows, the first flights of geese will be flying south, small groups first and then by late August, a flood. It’s an exciting time to be in the far north. And a very exciting time to be fishing in the far north. While the number of fish caught is starting to drop, the length and girth of the typical pike and trout are starting to expand to sometimes ridiculous shapes. In the July 15 to August 1 period we have had a lot of huge fish and experienced every imaginable type of weather. Things are rarely the same two days in a row around here. Having three ninety degree wind changes in a day is not at all unusual. Neither are days with several dozen fish per angler and also days with a dozen or less–its fishing. We’ve had fierce gale winds and flat calm days. We’ve had evenings when nothing seems better than sitting around a bonfire by the main lodge and other evenings when poker inside seems like the prudent call.
But going fishing everyday is always prudent, even in cold, windy weather. At Scott we always go fishing. With 500 islands and countless miles of shorelines there is always a piece of protected water. Sometimes our anglers get the big fish and sometimes they don’t. That’s the dynamic tension in fishing: you never know when the next cast will connect with the fish of a lifetime. But even when the fly or lure just comes back empty you are still fishing. We just fish and let the trophies happen and trophies do happen here. Ken Ignozzi found out when he was on the other end of a 48.5” pike. Mike Rosenberg discovered that trophy feeling when he landed a 47.5” pike. Big fish just happen: luck meeting preparation and opportunity. Lightening hit three times one day for Jason Laughran when he landed a 44, a 44.5 and a 45” pike. Mike Thornbrugh had his most memorable trip of many at Scott when he ended his trip with an incredibly fat 46 incher two days after getting a 45” pike in the same bay, and no it wasn’t the same fish with two different tapes. Other supersized pike over the past couple of weeks were caught by Michelle Pyrchalla (46.5”), Larry Elledge (45.5”), Dave O’Donnell (45.5”), Keith Thornton (45”), Greg Johnson (45”), and long time Scott regular Harley Weiss (45”). James Teague got his shot of adrenaline when he connected with five trophy pike in one day.
This is the peak of trout season at Scott and lakers are on the minds of many of our anglers. They have been taken by the dozens when anglers take their eye off of pike long enough to go deep and see what lurks down in 70-100 feet of clear water. In these last two weeks there were 16 supersized lake trout (fat, piggy fish over 40” in length) among the over 100 trophy trout landed. Some of the really monster trout with impressive girths were caught by George Frimel (with an amazing trout of 44”), Rob Borden (43.5”), Jim Borden (43”)Mark Harongody (42.5”), Fred Parker (42”) and Ron Spork (41.5”). These are hard fighting machines, often termed fresh water tuna by our guides. Even the 35” lake trout get anglers fired up. It’s been solid trouting for several weeks and shows no sign of slacking off.
The list of the 100+Club members for 2013 just keeps growing. It looks like Jake Guerin’s remarkable tally of 108.5 total inches (a 48” pike, a 43” trout and a 17.5” grayling) may top the list by the end of the season but he has a lot of fellow members: Aaron Quick, Bill Calabresa, Bridget Manual, Gale Hamilton, Jim Tallman, Joe Novicki, Kale Manual, Mark Garibaldi, Tony Blake, Mike Rosenberg, Fred Parker, Mike Borden and Stephen Bandt.
So it feels great to be just midway through our season when so many fish are still there to be caught. Now that night is really dark all the Scott staff and guests are looking forward to the annual rite of experiencing the northern lights—the real northern lights with multiple colors and dramatic movement. It’s just around the corner, any day now. Keep watching this space. Maybe we will capture it for you.
by Tammy MacDonald | Jul 15, 2013 | 2013 Season
In the far Canadian north discussions about weather and discussions about fishing are one and the same. Hot weather almost always (never say always in any fishing conversation) means hot fishing. The season at Scott started with five cool days and then moved into twenty-five consecutive days of hot, hot, hot weather and some very hot fishing. The weather, the fishing and enthusiastic clients combined to play some beautiful music. There were occasional variations to the motif of hot weather/hot fishing, like when we had a few days of brisk but warm winds, but as in any good piece of music the variations only made the music better. It was a perfect time to be in the north. Every group gets off the float planes at the Scott dock brimming with optimism; it’s in the DNA of every angler and we hope that never changes. This season that optimism was validated big time. It has been thirty days since the first group made their pilgrimage to Scott seeking big fish and indelible memories and they found what they were looking for. By the numbers, in those thirty days 516 trophy fish were landed—405 pike over 40”, 66 lake trout over 35” and 45 grayling over 15”. That music had some volume. With 13 groups to go it looks like we will blow the doors off of the just over one thousand trophies caught in 2012. We are rolling.
The exploits of the first two groups of anglers were documented in earlier reports. While things were good then, the weather and fishing just kept getting better and better in the second half of June and the first ten days of July. The smooth water, almost like a millpond, encouraged guides and anglers to explore the distant corners of Scott Lake and the dozen Scott Lake Lodge fly out destinations. And they found big fish, lots of them. This symphony hit its crescendo on July 7th, the first day of the sixth group at the lodge, when 32 trophies were taken—in just a single day! And these were not run of the mill trophies: they were hogs. The conductor must have pointed his baton at Jake Guerin and Mark Garibaldi. Both landed multiple trophy pike that day and both had a pike that stretched their guide’s tape to 48 inches, a fish most anglers only dream about, even those hard core types who come to Canada every summer and fish every available minute of their trip. Jake kept his good fish karma going for the balance of his trip and landed, among dozens of fish, a 43” lake trout and a 17.5” grayling, giving him an impressive 108.5” total to lead the 100+Club derby (the elite group of Scott anglers who reach or exceed 100 inches when the lengths of their biggest pike, lake trout and grayling are combined). Here’s the kicker: neither Jake nor Mark are hard core regulars. It was their first fishing trip to Canada. Some of the 15 year plus veterans of Canadian fishing trips could only wonder (or weep) as they watched the photos of huge pike and grinning anglers parade by on the screen. The music was playing too for Craig Schrader who landed a 46.5” pike, for Kale Manuel who put a 44.5” pike in the boat, for Tom Granneman who got a 44” pike on that memorable day and it was especially loud and sweet for Tony Blake who landed a 42” fat lake trout followed by one of the biggest ever taken at Scott, a 46” laker with an incredible girth of 27.5”. When the photo of that fish hit the big screen at the nightly “fish du jour” photo gallery there was a gasp from the group and then a huge cheer. It was a show stopper.
That day was just one of many where the music hit all the right notes. Don Hunt, a long time Scott regular, enjoyed the rhythm when he landed his personal best pike, an impressive fish of 47.5”. Gale Hamilton heard it pulling a 46.5” pike to her guide’s cradle. There was a bunch of other big pike in those productive twenty days of groups three through six. Nick Manship, Jeff Quick, Mark Stoering, and Joe Novicki were all at one end of the line with a fat 46” pike at the other. Joe Novicki was really making powerful music during his ten day trip, landing a total of 23 trophy fish, mainly pike. There were so many “super sized” pike, our definition of a pike over 45”. In addition to all the pike bigger than 45, there were eight anglers with super sized pike at 45”: Jack Barko, Craig Schrader, Joe Novicki (yes again), Dave Paulus, Tim Worth, Harris Kaffie, Dick Hutson and young Nicholas Tallman. Another 17 pike between 44 and 45 inches were also put in the books, two in a single day by Mike Borden. A total of 33 pike of 44” or better were caught in that remarkable twenty day run.
Trout season usually starts in mid-July, but with the hot weather the big lakers went deep early where they can be located and more easily caught. For trout our super sized mark is 40”, the length when the girth of lake trout really expands. In just ten days of July there were 50 trophy trout including nine super sizers. In addition to the pair of monsters caught by Tony Blake, there are now huge trout in the memory banks of Jake Guerin (43), Bob Kendrick (42.5), James Meehan (42.5), Bridget Manuel (42.5), Jim Tallman (41), Fran Weil (41), Nicholas Tallman (40), Dave Paulus (40) and Stephen Bandt (40).
And these are just the fishing highlights. There was plenty of music in the air during the festive shore lunches, during the boat rides when the hull cut through the viscous water as soft as the comforters in the cabins, during the excitement of seeing a moose, bear, eagles or loons and during the memorable evening dinners. It was all part of the fishing symphony in this pristine wilderness where solitude and quiet are always options. These were the good old days.
POSTSCRIPT:
Well even at the best party the music has to end. Apparently the hot weather was just too much and it blew the amp. We went from summer to late fall in a twelve hour period through the night of July 11th when a corporate group arrived with the same expectations as all the previous groups. The temperatures plummeted down to the high 40s at night and low 50s during the day: there was no music in the air, only a hissing rain. While the smaller fish stayed active, the big fish just dropped into deep water and took some time off. It was a nasty cold front way out of sync with the calendar. Gale force winds and big waves made fishing a challenge for the next 48 hours. It required some strong character to face the wind and leave the comfort of a warm cabin. And strong character (and characters) we had. Everyone went out and stayed out, sitting closer to the shore lunch fires than previous groups had. By the last day the weather and fishing improved; some nice trophies were landed and fun was still the theme of the experience. They got a good grace note at the end of their three day trip when the wind stopped and the sun peeked out now and then. Some great fish were taken on their last day: a couple dozen trophy pike, grayling, and lake trout including a 39.5” lake trout landed by Maury Wawryk and the two fish that won the fishing contest for the three day trip—a 45” pike caught by Keith McIntyre (just beating out Charlie Paulin’s 44.5” fish) and a heavy 41.5” lake trout caught by Kevin Phillips. It was a great ending for a weather challenged trip. And there is always next year. . .
by Tammy MacDonald | Jul 8, 2013 | 2013 Season
Yesterday was one hell of a day at Scott Lake Lodge. We catch a lot of big fish here on the 60th parallel but July 7th was a memorable day. There were warm up big fish– a 39” and 40” lake trout landed by Adam and Jeff Quick. There were big pike too— a 44” landed by Tom Granneman; a 44.5 incher landed by Kale Manual who also got a 39.5” lake trout, and a fat 46.5” pike landed by Craig Schrader. There were the five trophy pike caught by Matt Caldwell.
And then there were the really big fish: a 48” pike (along with three other pike trophies) caught by Mark Garibaldi and a 48”pike with a 20” girth caught by Jake Guerin. Both incredible fish. But the real show stopper was the monster lake trout pulled in by Tony Blake. It pulled the tape to 46” and had an enormous girth of 27.5”—a girth way over half of the trout’s length. That’s a big fish. And he caught a 42” trout just before the real big one. A total of 29 trophy fish were pulled into cradles and released in a single day, the first day for 26 very pumped up anglers. For some lodges a day like this would make a pretty good season. For Scott Lake Lodge it was just another day at the office, a very nice office.
by Tammy MacDonald | Jul 5, 2013 | 2013 Season
After 20 consecutive days of hot weather and flat water, the spell was broken on the 4th of July. It was cloudy, windy and cool, wonderfully refreshing after a heat wave very uncharacteristic of the 60th parallel. There were a few who missed the heat (often in the 90s) but for almost all the staff and anglers on this island in the north it was a great relief. There were fleece jackets and rain coats to mark the change.
How did the fish like the temperature change? Apparently quite well. We had our 4th of July fireworks not in the sky but in the lake. Like the fisherman, the fish loved the weather shift. Randy Doerter was quite happy with his 44” pike. There were no complaints from Bruce Kozlowski about his twin trout trophies. Or from James Meehan who boated a massive 42 and a half inch lake trout. Arnie Alfert liked his 44 and a half inch pike. And the two young men in camp this week really celebrated. Nicholas Tallman landed his best ever, a 45 and a half inch pike. Another Nicholas, Nicholas Manship, had a real big smile after catching pike of 40, 42 and 46 inches, also his biggest pike (it would be the biggest pike for a lot of anglers who have been fishing Canada for 20 years). All this on the fourth of July, with a red, white and blue cake after dinner to boot. Let’s have a Holiday everyday.
by Tammy MacDonald | Jul 1, 2013 | 2013 Season
It’s now sixteen days and counting!
Sixteen straight days of really, really hot weather. Over the past 17 seasons of current ownership this is the longest stretch of calm, almost cloudless weather we have ever seen. Daily high temps have hovered around 90°F, yes 90°F with nighttime lows (if you want to call the extended twilight here in June and July night) of around 75°F. There have been maybe four or five hours of cloudy skies with just a few scattered showers, none on our island on the 60th parallel. With a fishing region, including the fly out lakes, that sprawls over three million acres of Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, it’s hard not to have a little variance in the weather but little is the right word. It’s been hot with quiet water everywhere.
As with most things in life, there are tradeoffs with this heat wave. Sitting around the traditional open fire shore lunch is not as inviting as in most years; the heat has produced a bumper crop of misquotes, and it’s way too easy to take a mid-day nap, but on the plus side there have been no bumpy boat rides, no cold rain in the face and no need to fire up the stove in your cabin. Getting around our lakes has never been more pleasant: it’s been idyllic. Day after day the lake is like glass with only an occasional light breeze to provide a few riffles on the surface. And the swimming has been wonderful. Protected beach areas offer water temperatures in the mid-70s or even higher.
And thankfully the fish like it hot too. Fishing has stayed strong throughout this northern heat wave. Trophy counts are on par with last year’s great numbers and the count of really big pike (over 45”) is the highest in many years. Some customers like it hot and so do most fish. We’ll take it and just keep counting and enjoying the smooth boat rides, the shorts, T-shirts and sandals. And even the swimming. It’s a good life here at Scott Lake Lodge.
