Sometimes your cherished guest is late, but you will let him (or her) in the door. So, it is this season: summer was very late but we’ll let her (summer is definitely a her) in with welcome arms. Summer gave early notice of arrival on the last day of our 5th group. It was sunny and pretty nice. From the first day of our 6th group, we had full blown summer and some very serious HEAT. At last. What do people do when it’s gets warm? They go out and play. And so do fish. But pike play for keeps. They attack, savagely. Due to a long-planned Cabelas’ itinerary, this group had only four days to have fun and catch fish. They made the best of it. Everyone got into lots of pike, even our youngest angler of the season. Gavin Faggen is only nine years old. He caught his first ever pike on his first day at Scott. He caught a 45-inch monster on his third day. Now that’s a learning curve. Where does a nine-year-old newly minted trophy slayer go from here? Back to Scott Lake Lodge of course. He will probably tag a 50 incher before he can legally drink a beer.
Gavin wasn’t the only big fish player. As he always does up here, Peter Myhre just keeping getting trophy after trophy. On one of his trophy-filled days he got a pretty good poker hand—pike of 43-44-45-46 and 47 inches. Yes, all in one day. There were plenty of others holding good cards. Scott Farrow, part of the Cabela’s Signature Travel group, landed a 45” and a 46.5” pike. Brian Kozlowski got a 45 incher. Everyone of our anglers got to wear the trophy pike pin, an impressive accomplishment. The trophy count just got over the century mark, also impressive. There were many lake trout caught in shallow water but only two hit the 35” trophy mark. One, a trophy trout on the last afternoon, got Kirk Carlson his coveted trophy triple hat.
There were a few sun-burned ears and noses but that was a small price to pay for welcoming in summer. We thank the group for bring the warm of the sun and their sunny smiles.
Imagine yourself in the middle of a pristine wilderness lake on the 60th parallel in northern Saskatchewan or the Northwest Territories.Your guide takes you to his favourite spot, a rocky ledge dropping off into a sandy basin…a favourite spot for summer lake trout to hang out waiting to slurp up Burbot, whitefish or Ciscoes in the cold depths. The guides fish finder has mapped this spot out and tells him when it’s time to drop down. With closely controlled depth and speed you probe the tradition between the rock and sand. All of the sudden the rod doubles over….snagged! Dammit…wait it’s moving! This is the experience fishing for trophy lake trout at Scott Lake Lodge.
Giant Lake Trout at Scott Lake Lodge
Lakers in our part of the world grow to trophy size slowly. a half pound or half inch a year in the cold water and short growing season. That 40″ trout could have been an egg on a rocky Scott Lake reef during World War II. These beasts demand respect in how they are handled. Big nets, bump boards, a quick photo and back down they go. The heads and face of big trout have character, it looks like they’ve seen a lot in their lives.
Each season brings a unique time to fish trophy lake trout at Scott Lake Lodge. Spring finds lakers shallow cruising sand, as water temperatures warm into summer they start dropping down into the depths 70 to 120 feet of water. Later August sees trout start a step stair climb shallower, everyday up closer to fall spawning reefs. This is one of the most exciting periods of the year, trout are in a few feet of water…alot of them and can be targeted with fly rods and lighter spinning gear. What a way to close out the season !
Check out the video below by our friends at Rawfish Creative that captures the essence of the hunt for this ancient giants.
To learn more about lake trout fishing at Scott Lake Lodge visit us here. All about Lake Trout
While up at the lodge this month the team discussed keeping in touch with our Scott Lake Lodge family now more than ever in these difficult times. So we started a podcast! Tune in to the first couple episodes as Happy Hour conversations…similar to summer at the lodge…cover a variety of topics.
We hope this is a way to capture the stories, history of the lodge and the people that make it so special. We’ll talk outdoors, fishing, hunting and generally have some laughs.
Let us know what you’d like to hear and be sure to tune in and SUBSCRIBE! Leave us a 5 star rating too if you like it!
