Yes, you read that correctly: SHORE staff retreat.

For several years the Scott Lake Lodge Guide Team has made an annual pilgrimage to a fishing destination for critical team building and a chance to be in the guest seat of the boat. The rewards of making such a trip have been innumerable. And it’s, of course, a lot of fun for the team.

So, this year we decided to apply that model to our hard working, all-star Shore Staff Team. It was high time to thank them for their phenomenal work and commitment to our guests and our island. We collected a group from all over Canada and headed to the Fraser River, British Columbia for a couple days of preseason planning sessions and some quality time on British Columbia’s biggest river that rolls for 854 miles ending up in the Pacific right in the city of Vancouver.

The group had a blast, caught some amazing fish and came away with lots of great ideas and enthusiasm for the season ahead.

The river was high and fast but that didn’t bother the great guides of the Sturgeon Slayers, a top-notch sturgeon outfitter headed by Kevin Estrada. We thank Kevin and his guides for connecting our group with some very impressive fish. Our Head Chef, Nigel Rivera, took the honors for the biggest fish of the trip, a monster that taped out at EIGHT FEET, FOUR INCHES. On the Fraser they measure in feet not inches. Nigel had stiff and sore arms the next day but he was excited about besting a fish of that size. The wealth was spread around. Everyone landed a fish of at least six feet. We didn’t get the biggest ever off this massive river (sturgeon over ten feet and weighing up toward the 1,000-pound mark have been caught) but they were all big enough. Unfortunately some blizzards in eastern Canada kept some staff members from attending but the crew of  Eli Mahoney, Rachael Basler, Clare Markle, Dawson Sawchuk, Brenna Savery, Danni Grunberg, Nigel Rivera, our new massage therapist Tamsin Both and General Manager Jason Hamilton blended business and fun in a masterful way. The group had a blast, caught some amazing fish and came away with lots of great ideas and enthusiasm for the season ahead.