Week 2 in Review: Wind, Rain, One Sunny Day and a Lot of BIG Fish

Sometimes the weather lines up, a light south wind, sun on the bays and anglers in shorts and t-shirts. This wasn’t quite week 2…Goretex, merino and boots were the order of the day as our intrepid group hopped in the boats and planes to explore almost endless waters on the 60^th parallel.  Good layers and a good rainsuit is all you need to ward off the weather and keep chasing pike and trout.  With the fishing as good as it was this past week, no one seemed to mind the challenge. The evening floor show with Nuggets and Sierra was jam-packed with some incredible catches, wildlife sightings and laughs. No wonder every member of the group decided to do it all over again in 2027!

An incredible 170 trophy-sized fish were taken by our second-week anglers; a tally that will be in the running for the top week of the season.  We were blessed with just enough heat to make the pike get up shallow and get hungry, with 131 Northerns over 40” coming to hand. The close quarters of pockets and bays are a perfect place to chase these big predators, the strikes are up close and personal, wakes come in from the shorelines as your lure hits the water, and often big fish are seen before the cast…it’s good fun; addictive really.   Top pike honours were shared by our guest emcee Ryan Luke and Mark Graf, both landing with a jumbo 47.5” pike. Right on their heels were Jimmy Betz and Rebecca Graf, who found some 47”ers on one of our flyout lakes. A 46.5” pike was the top fish for Tim Maier’s trip, then came a slew of 46 for Amy Oberloh, Judy Schmidt, Rebecca Graf and Ryan Luke. In total 16 supersized northerns exceeding 45” were caught, stellar fishing indeed. With nearly 2.5 million acres of water, we are watching our fisheries management plan spread pressure, and the fishing is as good as ever.

A few groups hit the rapids in search of Grayling, that stunning, northern sailfish that photos hardly ever do justice. Iridescent purples and blues shimmering in the sun make it something you need to see to appreciate. Brian Demos set the bar high for the season with a 19.5” fish from the Dubawnt River, George Halper and Peggy Light were up on the rapids at Wholdaia Lake and found a lot of eager Grayling willing to take their well-presented flies.

Our anglers found lake trout still haunting the shallows, presenting some incredible sport of lighter tackle. Hooking into a giant laker on spinning gear will have you thinking you’re snagged until the rock starts swimming the other way.  Brian Odelson hooked into an absolute tank of a 45” trout, braving the rain and wind for a big payoff. Peggy Light trolled up a 43”er, Brian Demos a 41 and Karen Odelson a 40” fatty, these were on top of another 17 trophy-sized trout from sand flats on Scott Lake.

The fishing was stellar, food and drink the same, but most importantly, the smiles and memories created for this group will endure until the next time we convene 360 days from now!

Are you interested in getting on the list for 2027? Send our Sales Manager Jon Wimpney an email j5@scottlakelodge.com