The Momentum Continues: Week 5 Update

The Momentum Continues: Week 5 Update

by | Jul 6, 2023 | 2023 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

THE BIG MO

Trophy Fish Excellence

Momentum is a wonderful thing. We had big time momentum coming out of Week 4 when a season high (and one of our all-time highs) of 195 trophy fish were landed. The first day of fishing Week 5 picked right up where fishing Week 4 left off: it was gangbusters. The new group put 53 trophies in the boats on the first day, a top daily number for the season, and 44 on the second. The big pike were ravenous. Over those two days of warm weather four 44s, three 45s, four 46s and a 47 appeared on our nightly big fish of the day screening. That’s a season’s worth of big pike at most lodges. Then the temperatures dropped and so did our trophy fish totals, but we still managed to hit 131 for the group, not shabby at all. We did have some smoke in the air over the first three days which compromised the sight-fishing, but it didn’t seem to bother the pike. As long as the temperatures stay up so do the pike totals. And this was an almost all pike week. There were only a handful of lake trout and grayling (a dozen to be exact) landed.

Two of that dozen deserve a special mention. On the fourth day of our five-day “weeks” we had a Big Blow. The wind was ripping at over 40 miles and hour and the waves were a bit daunting. Most of our anglers liked the comforts of the lodge for that day with some card games at Laker Lodge, hikes on our Tundra Trail or just relaxing with a sauna or a book. But some did go out. Two of those brave guests were Julianne Harris and Chris Cervantes. They didn’t go far from the lodge. They didn’t have two. About two hundred yards from our main dock, they were trolling for lake trout in about 30 feet of water. Both got the lake trout of their lives, a supersized 40 and three-quarters for Julie and a 41 for Chris. Those were the only fish trophies of the day.

Our guests will probably remember those early days of the week when big fish seemed to be everywhere. It was a remarkable surge of wild action with so many quality fish. The big pike were the story. So many! Trophy northern pike of 44” were landed by Jim Kloote, Chris Cervantes, Adam Garvanian and Dave Morales II; 45s by Donna Quincey, Julianne Harris, and Susan Edwards; 46s by Dale and Jordan Pryor (same day), Jim Kusar and Steve Kozlowski. The best big fish story of the week though had to be Donna Quincy’s. On her first ever northern fishing trip she made her first ever pike catch quite memorable—a 47” monster. Yes, her first pike ever. She asked politely when it was in the net if it was a “big one”. Yes, Donna it was. Many hard-core pike anglers have fished for decades without getting one that big. She added a 45.5” trophy fish on the same day. Way to go Donna!

As it happens often, the big fish turn on at the same time. We had many examples of multiple trophies on the same day. Julianne Harris and Chris Cervantes really like Wignes Lake, a big lake connected to Scott and fished right from our dock. On two days they took the boat ride with wonderful results: nine pike trophies on one day and five on the other. A relatively new addition to our fishing empire, Wignes has become a popular destination for our guides. Our fly out lakes continue to pop out a lot of big fish. On Selwyn Lake the father/son team of Dale and Jordan Pryor landed eight northern pike trophies in a single day with two 46s. Another father/son team of Bruce and Steve Kozlowski got a cool dozen on the same lake with Steve getting a 46. (They also got five together on Sandy Lake.) Adam Garvanian and Andy Nardo picked up eight on Selwyn. Kevin and Susan Edwards got a mixed bag of six pike and grayling on Smalltree Lake. On the far east end of huge Wholdaia Lake, Gerry O’Brien and Andrew Troop got their mixed bag of nine trophies with all three of our species represented. Gerry earned his Trophy Triple hat there. Lots of big trophy fish. Lots of great memories, both on and off the water. It’s what we do at Scott Lake Lodge.

JULY 5

On his last day, Jordan reeled in this 40 inch fatty,

JULY 4

Sometimes you catch em’ right beside the lodge! Chris got this 41.5″ trout without going too far.

JULY 3

Andy and Paulie had a great time on a flyout lake today. Andy caught this beautiful pike and many more to go with it.

JULY 2

Steve and J5 found this 46.5″ Trophy Pike today on a flyout. Wow.

JULY 1

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It’s Summertime and the Fishing is Easy: The Week 4 Update

It’s Summertime and the Fishing is Easy: The Week 4 Update

by | Jul 2, 2023 | 2023 Season, Arctic Grayling, fly fishing, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WEEK 4 UPDATE

SUMMERTIME AND THE FISHING IS EASY

The famous “Summertime” George Gershwin song has been sung for eight-five years and has been covered over 25,000 times. It also became the anthem of our Week 5 group. Finally, it was summertime and the living, along with the fishing, was easy. While it was a long and sometimes frustrating wait, summer did arrive here at Scott Lake just a few days after the official start of the season. The trend line was clear: our first group enjoyed good fishing but not a single day of sunshine; the second group had one perfect sunny day with a ton of nice fish; the third pushed it up to two (maybe two-and-a-half). Then on June 25th the sun finally decided that it was time to warm up the northern world. Our fourth crew enjoyed five straight days of blissful sunshine. It was all sandals, shorts, T-shirts, sunblock and smiles. Our guests loved it and so did the fish, the fishing is easy in the right conditions. Our pike and grayling, our two sun-loving species, turned on big time. We had 195 trophy fish landed in just five days with 51 on the first day of fishing. And when guests weren’t catching big fish, they were catching lots and lots of smaller fish. The fishing was easy, and that’s just the way we like it.

Leading the big fish parade was 9-year-old Coyen Kristo. On his first major league fishing adventure he landed 17 trophy fish! On a single day, with six pike trophies, he brought 211.5 inches of pike to the boat, nearly four times his height of 56 inches. His biggest was 46” backed up by pike of 44 and 45. It sounds like a tall tale but it’s all true. With some big grayling and lake trout, Coyen also earned membership in the 100+Club as did his older brother Griffin.

The big fish came in bunches all week, both on Scott and on our flyouts. Cam Godden who is a bit taller and quite a few years older than Coyen also had an incredible trip with a dozen trophy pike, including a six-pack of trophy pike on the same day his son, Andrew, landed five. There were big fish in abundance: pike of 44 inches were taken by Cam Godden, Andrew Godden, Joe Novicki, Rich Kracum, Tom Kristo and, of course, Coyen Kristo; pike of 45 inches were landed by Mira Lechowicz, Andrew Godden and Susan Saraka; pike of 46 inches were landed by Andrew Godden who got a pair, Coyen Kristo (again) and 13-year-old Kai Boland. The bruiser of the week though was a gorgeous 47-incher caught by Bill Calabresa who, after a stellar performance the previous week, added to his season-leading 100+Club standing, reaching 106 total inches for his biggest pike, trout and grayling. That’s a number that will be hard to beat but the season is young. Bill’s long time fishing buddy, Joe Novicki reached a 104” total. All three of Joe’s trophies were taken on a fly rod, perhaps (our records on that are fuzzy) the first time that has happened. Lake trout are tough to land on a fly rod, but Joe subdued a 39.5” laker, a great angling feat. And it was within sight of the lodge. Other big trout were caught by Mark Mataczynski and Rich Kracum, both getting 39-inchers. That 39-incher for Rich put him into the 100+ Club. He had an epic day on a flyout to the far end of Wholdaia, our most distant flyout. He landed two trophy pike, two trophy lake trout and two trophy grayling on the same day—that earned him a rare “double” Trophy Triple. Rich’s son, John, also bagged his Trophy Triple that day.

Our group left with a lot of memories of both an exciting and relaxing fishing vacation. There were lingering evenings on the expansive deck overlooking Scott Lake, cornhole games, leisurely shore lunches and some late nights at the Laker Lodge bar. To put it simply it was a perfect week: going 5 for 5 on both sunshine and fishing is easy is something this group will long remember.

JUNE 30

Underwater action

JUNE 29

Two brothers, Griffin and Coyen, appreciating fishing together in the Great Canadian North together on their family trip.

JUNE 28

JUNE 27

Northern Saskatchewan from the air

JUNE 26

The heads on these old big fish are a sight to see.

A Great Average: The Week 3 Update

A Great Average: The Week 3 Update

by | Jun 27, 2023 | 2023 Season, Arctic Grayling, fly fishing, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

In baseball going 2 for 5 is a pretty good day, sporting a .400 average. So should it be in fishing. Not every day is great. For our Week 3 guests they batted .400, having two days of wonderful sunshine over their five-day trip. Add the last day of a little sun and no rain (call it a bunt single) and you have a week of decent weather. As we have often reported in this blog, sunshine and great pike fishing are inseparable. Never has that been more evident than over our June 19-24 adventure. We had for the first two days a hangover from one of the epic cold fronts of our history: a massive front that sat over the Scott Lake area for the first 12 days of the 2023 season. The fishing for the first two days was tough. Let’s put some numbers on it. Our total pike trophy count for Week 3 was 66, a respectable but not sensational number, but 56 of those big pike were landed during the two-day window of bright sunshine. This was the solstice week, the longest days of the year and the most intense sunshine. And when that sun came out our pike really turned on. It’s like a big switch in the sky. It was flipped ON.

We had a two-day bonanza of great pike fishing. Rachael Bandt thought she had a career day last season when she landed a 47” pike. This year she topped that big time. On a memorable day on Selwyn Lake, she bagged five trophy pike, including a trio at 44, 45 and 46 inches. Now that’s a day of great pike fishing!. Another long-time guest, Jim MacDougall, had the biggest fish of the young season. On Odin Lake armed with his fly rod Jim gently guided a 48.5” beautiful pike into his guide’s big net. He had two other pike trophies that day. Greg Larson had a four-trophy pike day on Ingalls Lake. Patrick Lynch had a impressive day on Wignes Lake, along with Premier Lake a body of water connected to Scott and accessible by boat. He landed three big pike, a 42.5”, a 44” and a heavy 46.5” beauty. Other dandy 44.5” pike caught in the two-day spree were taken by Hunter Larson and Steve Bandt (AKA “Big Dog”). Those were two days our group will remember for a long time, clouding out the memories of the two days of rain, wind and cold that opened their trip.

But that cool weather seemed to help the lake trout fishing. With the pike fishing slowed by the cold temps and dark skies many Scott guides just shifted to trout with good results. Lake trout don’t need sunshine to go “active”. Many were landed on Scott Lake, a fabulous trout lake, over those two days. Greg Larson got a gorgeous 40” laker that brightened up his day. Bob Mason ended up with three nice lakers, topping out at 38.5”. Dave Thome got a 38.5”.

The trout story and fishing story of the week though happened on a distant flyout to the east end of Wholdaia Lake, a massive lake about 100 miles northeast of Scott. Joe Novicki and Bill Calabresa had a day most anglers could only dream about. They both entered the 100+Club in dramatic fashion, the “Done in One” by getting all three of our gamefish in trophy size that hit 100 total inches. It’s quite a fishing feat. Bill got a monster lake trout of 41.5” to go along with a 41.5” pike and a 17.5” grayling. Joe landed a 42” pike, a 39.5” lake trout and a huge 19.5” arctic grayling. Quite a day and quite a week. The group enjoyed some great pike fishing, great lake trout fishing, great grayling fishing, great shore lunches, the fine dining at the lodge and the joy of sharing this unique wilderness setting with good friends, new and old. For most of our crew they simply hit it out of the park.

JUNE 25

David Thome picked up fly fishing and we’d say he’s been doing pretty well.

JUNE 24

Nothing quite like a sunny shore lunch.

JUNE 23

Sight casting at its finest,

JUNE 22

This is what we like to see!!

The Goretex Gang: Week 2 Update

The Goretex Gang: Week 2 Update

by | Jun 23, 2023 | 2023 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike, Website Fishing Blog

If only . . . If only the entire week could have been like the fourth day of our Week 2 adventure. On that day we were gifted the most precious far-north commodity—bright sunshine. The sun on the water woke up the big pike and brought them scattered from deep water to bask in the shallows. Amazingly, it only took one day. And with sunlight, you could see the big pike in the shallows! For our anglers, it was a glorious day. For the after-dinner trophy announcements at the main lodge, the stack of trophy slips filled out by the guides was thick, 38 slips thick. That’s a lot of big fish for a single day (for some lodges further south of here that could be a week’s, a month’s or even a season’s total). And they came in bunches. There were four-packs of trophy pike for Rory Wright who landed a 44” and 45.5-incher, and Jeff Berg, who landed the biggest pike of this young season at 47.5”. There were three-packs of pike for Abe Martinez, Vinnie Purpura, Don Luke and Erik Luke. There was even Julie Heinmiller’s 40-inch trout thrown in for good measure. It was a hell of a day, but historically not an unusual day for the spring fishing at Scott.

Unfortunately, it was our only day in the sun. The other days, well to put it in a single phase—they sucked. It was cold, rainy or windy or all three simultaneously. Our anglers often had to work hard and fly far to find fish. Despite the tough conditions, there were fish landed on other days. We had a total of 115 trophy fish, not bad. Don and Eric Luke each landed four big pike trophies on Day 3, Don with a 44” and Eric with a 45.75” pike (now that’s a tight tape). On the same day, Jeff Quick landed three pike trophies including a 45-incher. Jeff Berg got a 47 (yes, he got two monsters on his trip). On Day 2 Conrad Schmidt caught four trophy pike. Notable fish were scattered throughout the week. One of our rare “first timers” at Scott, Al Malinowski, got his first ever big pike on his second day here and it was a dandy at 45-inches. There were 44-inchers taken by John Heinmiller, Abe Martinez, Peggy Light, Chris Luke and Jeff Quick. On the last day Ross Purpura Jr, not far from the lodge, brought a fat 47-incher into his guide’s net.

Given the high winds and limited sight conditions a lot of guides and anglers opted to troll for lake trout. There were many hundreds landed. Among those trout were some good ones. Ross Purpura Jr got a 38” laker; Ross Sr got a 37.5” lake trout; Peter Schmidt got in the trout game with a 37; Connie Schmidt landed a pair of 36.5-inchers; Judy Schmidt scored a 36-incher. The big 40-inch trout for Julie Heinmiller, along with a big 18.5” grayling and a nice 43.5” pike, gave her the first 100+Club membership of the season at 101.5 total inches for her trophy trout, grayling and big pike. Congrats to Julie.
So, despite having to bundle up against the wind, rain and cold our group did great in the fish department. And they all were determined to make the best out of some tough conditions. Our hats are off to them. Next time we hope they get only one day of rain instead of one day of sun. Then they can enjoy our marvelous shore lunch experiences and the sight-fishing we’re famous for. Of course, as all anglers know you fish what you get and our gang did just that, quite successfully.

June 19

Abe and Poach were found some in the bays today

June 17

Jeff and J5 worked with the elements to get this big ol’ 46 inch Northern.

June 17

Julie got into some shiny arctic grayling today. Her biggest being an 18.5″ beauty.

June 15

Judy and Jan found a rainy day pike on beautiful Ingalls Lake

JUNE 19

Casey Johnston found this awesome pike in the sun!

2022: A Year to Remember

2022: A Year to Remember

by | Oct 8, 2022 | 2022 Fishing Season, Arctic Grayling, Guides, Island Life, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

At Last!

by Tom Klein, Managing Partner

We’re not sure who missed the two Covid shut-down years the most. Was it our faithful guests or our dedicated staff? We had guests weep for joy when they set foot on the dock at Scott Lake. And we had staff who worked 100 straight days but still did not want to leave the island. Let’s just call it a draw.

The Most Anticipated Fishing Season

Without any doubt it was simply good to be back fishing and back on the 12-acre island in the middle of nowhere. It was a picture-perfect fall day when on September 16th the final guests of the 2022 fishing season and some of our departing staff boarded an interesting mix of floatplanes—our flagship Beaver that celebrated its 75th birthday in August, a turbo Single Otter, a vintage piston Single Otter and a sleek Cessna Caravan—to head south for the last time of the season. So ended the most anticipated season in the lodge’s 27-year history.

Was it the best season we ever had? Not by the final trophy count, respectable but not record setting. Not by the weather which swung wildly between achingly beautiful and shockingly dreadful. Not by the late ice which cancelled the fishing dreams of our week 1 guests. But by the smiles and the written evaluations of our guests it was THEIR best fishing season ever. Our guests and staff were primed to have a great time in the far north and that’s just what they did.

Fishing Expectations

Fishing is always dictated by weather, plain and simple. There were perhaps unrealistic expectations by many that after two years of not seeing a spoon, spinner, plastic pike or fly every pike in our lakes would fight to grab anything. That might be accurate in lower latitude fishing areas like the upper Midwest where fishing pressure is the determining factor in fishing action. But here in the far north with the vast, sprawling lakes and just a dozen boats on the water it’s more fundamental elements like water temperature and sunshine that dictate the fishing action. So, the two-year break from fishing really didn’t mean a thing. Sunny days with high pressure, quiet bays and some windy shorelines had incredible pike fishing. Cold front cloudy days required a bit more patience. In 2022 we simply had more of the latter than the former. (Lake trout always have a mind of their own and always bite whenever they feel like it, but we did have a great year for big lake trout.)

It was an unusual see-saw season. For example, Week 17 was cold and foggy with only 62 trophy fish; Week 18 was warm and sunny and had 129; Week 19 was back in the cold soup and produced only 53, the season’s low, but Week 20 ended strong with a lot of huge fish and 100 trophies. That was the pattern all year—no consistency. If one could predict the weather on the 60th parallel a year in advance one would always be fishing on just the right week. The right week though is any week you can be in such a pristine, beautiful wilderness while enveloped in the finest customer service experience you can imagine.

Amazing Fishing Days

There were many amazing, over-the-top fishing days: many days of 100 pike per angler—yes, in a single day, and it was a season of BIG PIKE. We set a lodge record with 21 pike that measured 47” or better–what we call the “megas”. We love to celebrate really big fish. There were also many days of multiple trophies for all our species—pike, lake trout and grayling. One angler collected over a hundred pike trophies over his fifteen-day stay. We had 31 guests join the 100+Club by landing a trophy pike (minimum 40”), lake trout (minimum 35”) and grayling (minimum 15”) that collectively hit or exceeded 100”. Do the math. In any configuration that’s a group of very nice fish. We had over 100 pike of over 45”. We had two anglers who on a remarkable day brought ten trophy lake trout to their guide’s net with six of them exceeding 40”. We had a week in mid-August with 166 trophy fish, an average of six per angler. The great fishing was spread all over the calendar, depending of course on the weather. There were days where anglers jigged for lake trout and caught many dozens each. Or threw flies or small spinners in our many fly out rivers and found grayling that never stopped hitting. And there were days when ten fish was all the waters would give up. That’s fishing, even on the 60th parallel. It’s always unpredictable.

2023 Fishing Season

But what was predictable in 2022 were the good times in the boat and in the lodge; the fine dinners with friends; evenings by the bonfire; before fishing hikes on the nearby Tundra Trail; the haunting calling of loons at night; hot tub and sauna relaxation sessions; morning workouts in the gym; canoe paddles after dinner;  wildlife sightings, like the herd of musk ox right on the shores of Scott Lake, and a simple enjoyment of being with friends, old and new, in such a spectacular place.

It’s why more than half of the 2022 guests have already rebooked for the 2023 fishing season. It’s why you should consider doing the same: it’s a predictably wonderful experience, whatever the weather. Give our Sales Manager Jon Wimpney a call today at 306/209-7150 or send him an email. It will make your 2023 summer one to remember.