Week 13 in Review: A Return to Summer and the Start of Fall

In five days, it happened… we felt summer’s fleeting grip on our subarctic home slip away for another year. There were clues for a few days now, the fall skies turn a slightly different shade of blue, our resident tern colony headed south for warmer climes and most notably, it’s getting dark.  Sitting a few hundred yards from the 60^th parallel, so much of our summer is characterized by almost twenty-four-hour daylight. Not too long after the evening trophy announcements, the sun is setting, letting those northern lights shine over Scott Lake. It’s a great time of year.

Our guests for the thirteenth week enjoyed samplings of both seasons, hot and calm to rain and wind, it didn’t dampen their spirits, nor did it slow the fishing down. This week, big fish were coming in with great frequency; exactly 200 trophy-sized pike, lake trout, and grayling made their way into the nets for a quick measurement and release.  That’s incredible fishing! By the numbers, 123 pike over 40” were landed, 20 big lakers, and a season best 57 grayling trophies.  As with many of the other weeks, once the guides and guests found the big fish, they came in bunches; many of your week 13 guests enjoyed days with 4, 5 and 6 big pike. Many photos were Airdropped in the office with well-deserved bragging rights going out to friends and family at home! Scott Lake veteran Jim Williamson was a top trout man this week, hauling a 42.5” fish up from the depths of Selwyn Lake. Jack Chapin got his arm workout in reeling up a big 42” trout, as Skylar Hribar did with a 41”er. Tyler and Bill Williamson added a pair of 40” brutes as well.  The strength and stamina of lake trout is almost unmatched in the world of freshwater fishes. They grow slow, live long and are top predators in these deep northern lakes. The minute you hook into on…you know it!

We waited until the last few minutes of the week for the biggest northern to be caught. In the final moments, Amy Brown hooked into a giant. It finally hit the net, and the boat broke out in celebration…good thing her husband Matt was paying attention, the net with 48” of jumbo pike almost took a swim toward freedom. It sounds like a fishing story that will be retold more than a few times! Earlier in the week Fin Higginbotham scored on a fat 47” pike, to one up himself from an earlier 46”er.  Fin’s big one ties the pike larger than 47” tally from the whole season in 2024!   Matt Brown tossed a fly out and got a big old 46.5” northern to chow down. Tyler Williamson added a 45.5 and a 45 while Bill Holvey a 45” to round out a fine week of supersized pike.

The grayling rapids were busy places; some walked and waded, others used the high water to advantage and fished from the boats. All our grayling anglers found success, and a lot of it! Wallis Higginbotham and Bill Holvey led the way with a pair of 19.5” grayling.  These arctic sailfish were key in the “Quest for the Jacket”, we had 4 new members of join the 100+ Club this week, Alex Mark, Skylar Hribar, Fin Higginbotham and Ken Williamson.

The sauna was lit most of the week, we drank wine by the fire, stared up at Northern Lights and the Perseid Meteor shower. We laughed, told fish stories, applauded the photos each evening and just had fun. Enough fun, the group decided to all come back next year to do it again.

Week 8 in Review: Island Vibes

Northern Summer Fishing

Every week, we do everything in our considerable power and experience to control every variable we can, from airplanes to food and drinks, warm, comfy cabins and more. If we had a way to figure out weather and fishing, we would have something.  The wind and cool of the previous week gave way to high pressure, south winds; something in that combination makes the fish get active. This week showed some more glimpses of the northern summer fishing we all look forward to…sunny skies, puffy clouds and big pike lying up in the shallows just waiting for anglers. A balanced mix of returning guests and first timers were treated to a beautiful week of fishing and sun that left this island on the 60^th Parallel feeling like the tropics. Cold drinks on hot days on the patio, swimming, paddle boarding, saunas, some amazing meals and BIG FISH on the nightly photo show.

Our total count of trophies hit an incredible 213 during the eighth week, pike still accounted for the majority with 177 northerns over 40” coming to the nets of the Scott Lake Guide Team. Trout and Grayling made a few more of the big fish count this week as some of our first anglers made the flight to the tundra, plying the waters of Mosquito Lake at our newly acquired Tukto Lodge. The aptly named Land of Little Sticks as the native peoples called the tundra, didn’t fail to disappoint. Caribou sightings, some lingering ice and a truly barren and wild landscape treated our adventurers to a show.

Top trout honours went to our youngest angler this week, Cole Booth hauled in a 43” hog that may have weighed nearly as much as he did!  Eddie Brown played tug of war with a 40.5” trout, while Caden Burnside got into a 39.5” tundra shark.  Some nice grayling were on tap this week. Flyrod Burnside found a 20 and 20.5 that were leading the season’s tally. Steve and Christian Parminter had a big day in the rapids for grayling, as did Eddie and Jayden Brown, finding these striking fish in great numbers.

Pike were the main attraction as they often are at Scott and the surrounding flyout lakes; they came in size and numbers this week as the bays warmed up again after some windy weather mixed the waters. Incredible days of fishing were not unusual; Dave Bensema, Mike Johnson, and Joe Sauger all tallied 5 pike over 40. Rusty Brown and Joe Wright had 4 overs also. Top pike catches were a pair of 47s for Chris Hermans and Steve Keith, Eddie Brown was close behind with a fat 46.5” er. Tank northerns of 46” were on tap for Marian Bensema, Peter Myhre and Adam Pirtle. Simply put, the pike action was incredible.

Two anglers earned the Trophy Triple designation, catching all three species in trophy size were Alex Clifford and Alex Roznik. We added 3 new members to the 100+ Club, also with Caden Burnside, Fllyod Burnside and Eddie Brown earning this lofty goal.

The group fished hard and relaxed with equal vigour, the happy hours and evening games had laughter echoing across the calm waters. The nightly bonfires drew anglers young and old as they always do, camaraderie, a cocktail, and campfire tend to transfix anyone nearby.  The last evening brought about our annual Eighth Week Mahalo night, where a wild collection of Hawaiian shirts made an appearance, and the Island vibes were turned up for the finale evening.  Something about the mix of fishing and fun hit just right. All of our guests decided to book and do it all over in 2026. Mahalo!