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Week 13 Recap: The (Hot) Dog Days of Summer Fishing

by Jason | Aug 17, 2024 | 2024 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

“THE HOT DOG DAYS OF SUMMER FISHING”

If, like many of our customers, you hail from the upper Midwest, you’ve heard the expression “The Dog Days of Summer”, referring to the hot, muggy often miserable weather of late July and August. For anglers though it specifically referred to that time of summer fishing when you just can’t catch fish, especially pike. According to this perspective, pike lose their teeth in August and can’t feed at all. Of course, pike don’t lose their teeth and don’t stop feeding, but in the overly warm waters of the northern US this time of year, pike are very hard to catch. In the cool waters along the 60th parallel, our pike love heat and sun. We had it and that Northwoods legend was contradicted 147 wonderful times at Scott Lake Lodge during our early August, Week 13 session. And these big pike had plenty of teeth, somewhere around 700 each. Our pike know that fall is coming and they are putting on the feedbag.

It was, on all fronts, the perfect week to be in the far north. There were five consecutive blissful days of sunshine, warmth (shorts and T-shirts were the uniform of the week) and highly cooperative northern pike, Arctic grayling and lake trout. At Scott Lake the “dog days” became the “hot dog days” where everyone felt like the King of the Lake and feasted on all the sight fishing opportunities as the big pike moved into the warm shallow water. The result of the great weather combined with the experienced guides and enthusiastic anglers was a total of 181 trophy fish. In that total were some dandy big fish: there were 21 pike over 44 inches with seven of those at 46 inches or better, including two 48s, and six lake trout over the magic mark of 40 inches. Add a bunch of nice grayling and you have an incredibly productive week of summer fishing.

John Underwood led the pike parade with a day every angler dreams about but few realize. On a flyout to Selwyn Lake he landed dozens of pike. That’s not unusual, but to connect with pike of 40.5, 43.5, 45.5, 47.5 and 48.5 inches on one day is quite unusual. His fishing partner for the day, Brad Chapin, had the same kind of day with trophy pike of 41.5, 42, 43.5, 44.5 and 47 inches. That’s ten huge pike in one memorable day. The father/son team of Scott and Will Bixby had the same kind of day on a fly out to Wholdaia Lake where they caught 11 trophy pike including a 45 and 47-incher. Ketta and Russ Roberston had an eight-trophy day with a 45 and 46-incher. Those are all big days. But almost everyone at Scott had a big day. Pike of 44 inches were taken by Steve Pfeifer who got a pair, Dave Underwood, Will Murray, Ken Williamson Sr, Scott Bixby, Amy Brown who also caught a 45-incher. Scott Bixby got one of those and Will Bixby ended up with two 45s. Upping the ante Ketta Robertson, Jason Loughran and Bob Weyers landed 46-inchers; Will Bixby and Brad Chapin got 47s and the monsters of the week, girthy 48s, were caught by John Underwood and Steve Harty. Giant trout were taken by Lachlan Williamson who caught a 40.5- and 41.5-inch laker; Will Murray had a 41-incher; Wallis Higginbotham pulled in a 41.5-incher and topping the trout list was Taylor Rizza who on the last day at Premier Lake, adjacent to Scott, landed one of our biggest of the season at 43.5 inches. Bunches of trophy grayling were pulled out of flyout rivers by Taylor Rizza, Wallis Higginbotham, Lachlan Williamson along with Bill and Chris Hudspeth. Those grayling, along with their trophy lake trout and northern pike, gave Taylor Rizza, Chris Hudspeth, Wallis Higginbotham, Will Murray and Lachlan Williamson the Trophy Triple hat. Wallis, Will and Lachlan got enough total inches of our three trophy species to join the elite 100+Club.

With the warm weather there was plenty of water sports with some swimming, kayaking and paddle boarding. As frosting on the cake, the northern lights made an appearance. And there was plenty of real cake in the form of tempting desserts after the elegant evening dinners. Everything was sweet during this glorious week of summer fishing in the far north.

August 14

On the last day of Tayler’s trip, she hooked onto this big ol’ Lake Trout!! This, along with a trophy pike and grayling, brought her into both the Trophy Triple and 100+ club!

August 13

To finish off the week with this monster Pike, what great memories! Joe and Biff enjoyed the sun, good fishing & smiles all around! #catchandrelease #pikefishing #OrvisEndorsedLodge #makingmemories #seewhatsouthere #findyourwild

August 12

Will caught this mega Pike with Poach today! With the sun shining and the fish biting, the days keep getting better and better! #catchandrelease #pikefishing #canadianfishinglodge #makingmemories #seewhatsouthere #findyourwild

August 11

What a way to spend your summer vacation, catching big Pike on a beautiful summer day in the NWT! #makingmemories #pikefishing #catchandrelease #canadianfishinglodge #OrvisEndorsedLodge

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Week 5 Recap: So Close… to 200 Trophy Fish

by Jason | Jul 6, 2024 | 2024 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WEEK 5 RECAP “SO CLOSE” TO 200 TROPHY FISH

At Scott Lake Lodge our fishing is all about having fun, not setting any records. Over the years we have probably set a few International Game Fish Association (IFGA) line class records but we’re not into that. We’re into guests enjoying their experience of world class angling with opportunities for catching that fish of a lifetime. But we do keep an account of the success of each group. And our fifth group at the lodge had extraordinary success. They were so close to hitting a number we’ve never seen—200 trophy fish in just five days. The cool, cloudy last day dampened the surge toward that lofty number with only four trophies on the final day. But the total was still 195 trophies (an all-time record of 169 trophy pike, 21 trophy arctic grayling and a lonely five trophy lake trout). Don’t worry about that trout number. Our hot “trout season” will start in a couple of weeks. With the kind of pike fishing we had no one wanted to stop to fish deeper for lakers. We know one thing for sure: we had a lot of happy guests. Every one of our 26 guests participated in the trophy haul with an average of 7.5 trophies per guest.

Our pike were on a search and destroy mission, attacking everything that came near them. There is a measure of skill involved with both our guests and our guides, but to understand what drove this fishing bonanza one simply had to look up. In June and early July, it’s sun on the water that makes our pike go a bit crazy. The first three days of Week 5 had abundant sunshine and high temperatures. It’s no surprise that 80% of the big pike (135 of the week’s 169) were landed during those three sunny days. Our shallow, silt-bottom bays were swarming with eager water wolves, attacking our guest’s offerings—flies, spinners, plastics, anything thrown at them.

When the guides found hot spots, those spots produced in abundance. Our guests were often getting more than one big one a day: 52 times our anglers landed two or more trophy pike in a single day. Jim Kusar and Ron Juergens accomplished that feat seven times out of their ten chances and ended up with an astonishing 37 trophy pike between them. We had a lot multiple trophy days. Four trophy pike a day were taken by Andrew Troop who accomplished that twice, Christal Stover, Kevin Edwards, Nancy Wahl, Gerry O’Brien, and Ron Juergens; a five trophy pike day was enjoyed by Bruce Kozlowski, and a six-pack of big pike was taken by Ron Juergens while his fishing partner, Jim Kusar, was landing 10 trophy pike—that’s a day of fishing. On the Dubawnt River Andrew Troop had a nine-trophy arctic grayling day, getting a trophy lake trout as a bonus.

So many huge pike. The angler list is long, but each fish represents a lifetime memory. Pike of 44” were landed by Darin Lyn Williamson, Cody Slover, Christal Slover (2), Chris Harris, Larry Noesen, Jim Kusar (3), Brian Grossenbacher, Marvin Wehl and Bruce Kozlowski (2); pike of 45” were taken by Christal Slover, Marvin Wehl, Cody Slover (2), Debbie Harris, Jack Libra, Bruce Kozlowski, and Larry Noesen who along with Jim Kusar got a 46.5-incher. The top fish of the week belonged to Nancy Wehl at 47.5”, a fish that at many Canadian lodges would be the biggest of the season. This year it’s just one of many of that size. At Scott Lake we think of the “good ole days” of fishing as right now. Week 5 was one for the books. When else can you almost, to 200 trophy fish.

Week 2 Recap – When The Going Gets Tough…The Tough Catch Trophy Fish

by Jason | Jun 22, 2024 | 2024 Season, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH CATCH TROPHY FISH

Our second week at Scott Lake Lodge, typically June 14-19, can be absolutely idyllic with blue skies, warm southwest breezes, warming waters and aggressive, hard charging pike that just engulf anything that comes near them. Can be. However, that wasn’t the case this year. The second chapter in the Scott Lake Book of 2024 was a lot more challenging than most years. Except for a very pleasant first day (a day with 40 trophy fish), the weather conspired against our intrepid group of anglers. Even though they had to layer on the layers, they made the best of the conditions and pressed on. And they did just fine. It was cold and windy without a lot of aggressive fish, but with the help of a guide team averaging over 20 years of experience, they caught plenty, a total of 113 trophy fish, mostly pike. In cold conditions everything has to slow down–the retrieve, the hook set and handling the fight. With a surface temperature of only in the mid-40s, more finesse was required than in warmer water conditions when anglers just need to cast, crank and hang on. A lot of slower moving plastic baits and flies were in order. The group did great in adapting their techniques to the tougher than normal conditions.

And we had some nice surprises like Don Luke’s 40.5” gorgeous lake trout caught on Scott Lake on a fly on Day 2. And the number of really big pike. Cold conditions and huge pike usually don’t go together up here, but we did have some very impressive fish. On that first day Mike and Kent Mathis had an incredible day on Wholdaia Lake, one of 24 of the lodge’s flyouts. They boated nine trophy pike including a 45-incher by Mike and a 46 by Kent. In between stormy weather and yes, even a snow squall, some big fish were taken. Pike of 45 or 45.5 inches were caught by long time guests Judy Schmidt, Clayton Jennings, and Peter Myhre (a pair). Barbie Purpura got a 44-inch pike as well. Despite conditions not conducive to fishing for arctic grayling, a species that loves warmer water than what we had this week, Don Luke got a few trophy sized grayling and earned the Trophy Triple hat, catching a trophy in all three of our species—lake trout, northern pike and arctic grayling. Hats off to Don. And hats off to Brigitte Jennings for also leaving the lodge with her Trophy Triple hat.

In our twenty-six years of operation, we have averaged just one “lodge day” a year—a day when it’s so ugly that all or most guests just don’t want to get out on the water. We checked that box on Day 3, a day with clouds, wind and even some snow. Just plain miserable. That didn’t stop some anglers though from getting out even if for just a few hours. Don Luke got his second big trout, a 38.5-inch beauty, while fly fishing in less than desirable conditions. On that tough day only three trophies were taken–Don’s trout, a 36” trout caught by Jonah Oberloh and a 40.5” pike landed by Jeff Quick. We salute these hardy anglers. Obviously a day with only three trophies did depress the weekly trophy total but card games, a hot lunch in the main lodge and a mid-day nap by some eased the pain of missing a day on the water. Scott Lake Lodge has plenty of creature comforts.

The week was a reminder for everyone on our island that fishing in the far north is not always predictable, but it is always inspiring. Fishing is never predictable. If it were, it would be boring. That’s one thing that never happens at Scott Lake. Our service team makes sure of that. A testament to the quality of our customer service program and the loyalty of our guests is one number: twenty of our twenty-six Week 2 guests, despite the tough weather, rebooked for next season. We thank those guests and thank our staff for making a wonderfully sweet lemonade out of the lemons the weather handed us. In fishing (and sports) there is always next year . . .

It Begins: The Week 14 Blog and Fall Fishing

by Jason | Aug 21, 2023 | 2023 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

IT BEGINS – FALL FISHING

Sometimes you know in an instant when something is about to change. It was on the last day of the Week 14 group: a flock of 50 or so geese in an almost perfect V (the right side just a little longer than the left) flew right over our 12-acre island on the 60th parallel. They weren’t the first of the season, but they were low and loud, a reminder that fall is knocking on our door. There have been plenty of other signals that the season is about to shift gears. We had our first vivid northern lights show just a few days ago; the number of bright yellow leaves on the birch trees are multiplying exponentially, and a humble little plant, improbably named the Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata), has started its transformation to brilliant red, the start of creating the multi-colored fall carpet for our tundra landscape. It’s early fall here and for most of our guides it’s the start of their favorite fishing period, fall fishing.

Fall fishing is often fewer fish but bigger fish. For the Week 14 anglers, it seemed like they got the best of both worlds—the action of early season and the size of fall fish. When the water starts to cool our pike and trout put on the feedbag, getting much more aggressive. Flies and lures are often inhaled rather than just taken. And their fight is definitely more prolonged and spirited than the same fish might have offered two months earlier. Our thickest girths and heaviest fish always come in late August and September. Fishing now is not in our shallow bays as in June but in or off structure—any structure like weed beds, rocky points or drop-offs. Wind on deep shorelines is often the guide’s first line of attack. And it’s been working. Our group had just over 100 trophy fish but in that number were some monsters.

Lake trout again were the top billing, both on Scott Lake and our fly out lakes, notably Selwyn. The father/son team of Dave and Adam Schauer had a banner day on Selwyn, landing seven trophy lakers with six of them over 39”. Adam had already taken a 40” lake trout off Scott. John Duro had a big trout day on Scott getting dozens including a 39-incher. Carl Tanner, his fishing partner, caught a 41.5” and a 43” lake trout on Scott. Chris Ellis bagged a 39.5’, a 40” and a 41” on Selwyn. Shane Fifield was on Selwyn for a 40-incher and long time Scott regular Frank Saraka got his tank of a trout there as well—a girthy 44.5” monster. The biggest of the week though came right the lodge’s backyard and it was massive, a 45-incher pulled in my Linda Watt. Linda also landed a 45-inch pike. Not bad for her first trip to Scott.

Yes, there were plenty of pike, both in numbers and size. Pike at 44” made their appearance on the big TV screen, during the after-dinner fish show, accompanied by their angling friends—Cave Schauer, Cooper Allen and Johnny Davis. Pike of 45 were landed by Cooper Allen and Jim Loken. Bobby Regan tied Adam Schauer with the biggest pike of the week at 46.5 inches. There were a few Trophy Triple hats handed out as well this week. Graham Allen, Cooper Allen and Johnny Powers all pulled off the hat trick of getting all three of our species (northern pike, lake trout and arctic grayling) in trophy size. Cooper and Johnny had enough total inches of their three biggest to earn entry into the 100+Club. They will be wearing a custom jacket from this fall fishing.

It wasn’t a particularly sunny week and there were a few showers but the atmosphere in the lodge was always bright and sunny. We couldn’t help but notice how the dozen first-timers at the lodge arrived as strangers here but left with many new friends. Sharing the experiences of fall fishing in this remarkable wilderness surrounded by a team of customer-focused lodge staff creates just the right environment for friendships to develop. It happens all the time. It’s a Scott Lake Lodge tradition. It’s why we often use the slogan “World Class Fishing and More”. That’s the “More” and it’s the best part.

AUGUST 19

When flying from Stony Rapids over the northern tundra, you will be surprised as a small city on an island appears beneath your float plane. The unique experience is bound to be worth it.

AUGUST 18

Watching storm cells but still catching fish in the sun on the fly!

August 17

As summer starts its transition to fall, we are seeing these big pike carrying a lot more weight. This is bulking season

AUGUST 16

This massive trout gave a great fight for Frank Saraka today. All of its 44.5 inches was the first fish of the day! Catch and release will let this old girl grow.

AUGUST 15

Kimiwan Falls is always a beautiful spot to check out when you’re here fishing on Scott Lake. Lake trout love the outflow and the water levels always fluctuate. Johnny and Cintia Powers had a lovely time checking it out!

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OF FUN, FISH AND FIRE: The Week 10 Update

by Jason | Aug 1, 2023 | 2023 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

Trophy Trout Lead the Way

Our Week 10 group had it all: good times at the lodge, giant fish and some drama to end the trip. The fun was obvious every evening. This was a group with long ties to Scott that knew how to have a good time. The evenings were celebratory and for good reason: the fish this group caught were huge. Our trophy count of 136 wasn’t top of the heap but the size of many of those trophies was extraordinary.

Where do we start? How about lake trout? We are in the middle of our prime “lake trout season”. The big lakers are now comfortably in their cool water-deep holes. Unlike anglers, lakers like water about 50 degrees which now translates to a depth of around 100’. On Scott, Premier, Wignes and the flyout lakes we have a lot of water that deep. Guides don’t have to motor far to stay in great lake trout holes. They found them this week. We had 45 trophy trout, our highest total of the season. These were not the barely over the trophy mark (35”) fish. Many were hogs with fins. Of the total trophies, 14 were over the 40-inch mark, our measure of “supersized” lake trout. Bill Williamson had a trio of monsters—a 40, 41 and a magnificent 45-incher. Usually, we get one or two 40s in a week and typically those would be the biggest trout of the week. This week we had 6 at 40. In addition to Bill’s trophy trout, other Williamson’s got in that game: Dylan Williamson, Lachlan Williamson and Ken Williamson Sr all got 40s with Ken adding a 41 and Dylan getting a 43. Nick Tallman and Jerry Kolek joined the 40” club as well. On the last very smoky day Mike Rogers landed a 41-incher which put him into the 100+Club at 104”. We’re not done with trout yet! It was our best big trout week of the season. Larry Rohan put on a big trout clinic. He got a 41 and a 45. One or two lake trout at 45 is typically a full season. We were at two early in the week. Then Connor Patrick, grandson of long-time guest Mike Rogers, added the third 45” trout, caught within 10 minutes of the lodge. It was 14-year-old Connor’s first trip to the far north. His fishing in northern Minnesota has been OK but he wasn’t prepared for what he experienced here. His giant trophy trout combined with a 46” pike and 18” grayling shot him into the front of the 100+Club ranks with a 109” total, showing grandpa just how it’s done. We thank our guide Steve Linder, better known as Biff Piston, for getting that big grayling after a three-hour effort. Everyone who knows Biff knows how much he loves fishing for grayling. Biff likes fish with big teeth. Congrats to all involved in Connor’s Quest. It was the Trip of a Lifetime at a very early age. We’re betting on 110 inches on his next trip up.

Our northern pike weren’t exactly shy this week either. In fact, it was also our best big pike week of the season. Ken Williamson Jr landed eight trophy pike on a single memorable day. Mike Rogers and Bill Harvey each had a single day with a 4-pack of trophy pike. The big news though was sheer size: we had 11 of our “supersized pike”, fish of 45” or better, in our week’s bag. The 45s came in pairs, at least for Mike Rogers and Jacob Williamson who both caught not one but two of those spectacular fish. Ken Williamson Sr got his 45 on the same day he landed a 42” pike and four trophy trout with two over 40 inches. Crazy wonderful day. At an inch up on the tape four anglers landed 46s, probably the first time ever we’ve had that many 46s in a week. In addition to the one Conner Patrick got, Rick Spork, Lachlan Williamson (you’ve seen that last name a lot) and Bill Harvey pulled a 46” beauty into their guide’s waiting net. Alex Spork had his personal best this trip, a dandy 47-incher. And on the last day in some of the heaviest smoke we have ever experienced here Mike Pendleton got a 47.5” monster to end his trip on a very high note.

But speaking of smoke we can’t leave this review of Week 10 without mentioning the f-word—FIRE. We have lived with fire here for nearly three decades. It’s part of the overall far north experience to see smoke in the distance. In this part of the world fires are not suppressed unless they endanger lives or significant infrastructure. We are in fact living in a fire dependent ecosystem in the Saskatchewan/Northwest Territories border region. It shapes our landscape. And it can shape our fears. Unlike many parts of Canada, we had a relatively low fire season in this corner of the north. Until last week. A major thunderstorm passed over the Scott Lake area just over a week ago. For 35 days we had not had any serious rain, even during those storms. The land was ready for the spark. It took quite a few days to turn those small fires into big fires, but with some fierce windy weather late in Week 10 we looked at a different world on the last day of our Week 10 group.

What had been irritating but tolerable levels of smoke turned into a thick blanket of heavy smoke on the morning of the final day. It gave us the worst smoke ever seen in our 27 years here. It was dead calm and the smoke just sat. To say the least, this was not good. We watched and waited for a safe window to fly our guests and many of our staff out in the floatplanes. The window opened just enough for just long enough. We got everyone safely to Stony Rapids in floats to the waiting Dash-8 to take them to Edmonton.

We could not in good conscience bring the new group north. A fire north of the lodge was just getting too close. It was a crushing disappointment for those who had assembled in Edmonton to have their shot at a dream fishing trip. But the rule has always been safety first here. We just couldn’t bring new guests into a situation with a known fire/smoke risk. It was the first time ever we have cancelled a trip during season (we’ve had a few ice-related cancellations at the front end of the season). We are currently preparing our island for the worst if a fast-moving fire to our north doesn’t burn out soon. With the right winds it could. The strong winds of July 30 did move out the heavy layer of smoke. Today looks better than yesterday. We will keep our August guests up to date on the situation. Rain is in the forecast.

WORD TO THE WISE:

SOME ADVICE FOR TRAVELERS GOING ANYWHERE IN THIS ERA: GET TRIP CANCELLATION INSURANCE. AIRLINE FLIGHT DELAYS/CANCELLATIONS COULD END YOUR TRIP TO SCOTT LAKE (OR TO ANY DESTINATION LODGE) BEFORE IT STARTS . WE STRONGLY ADVISE THAT TRAVELERS SECURE COVERAGE FOR JUST THIS SORT OF EVENTUALITY. THE RISK AT SCOTT LAKE LODGE IS EVEN GREATER SINCE THERE IS NOT A SCHEDULED FLIGHT BETWEEN EDMONTON (OUR HUB) AND STONY RAPIDS (OUR FLOAT BASE). IF YOU ARE DELAYED AND MISS OUR CHARTER IT WILL BE DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO GET TO THE LODGE. NOT TO MENTION FIRES UP HERE.