Week 10 Recap: Of Wind, Waves & Big Fish

Week 10 Recap: Of Wind, Waves & Big Fish

by | Aug 1, 2024 | 2024 Season, Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

OF WIND, WAVES, BIG FISH AND FUN

The Week 10 gang had a little of everything for their trip: sunshine, heat, clouds, cold, flat water, big waves, big fish and most importantly FUN. It was like three or four trips in one. While it wasn’t the record-setting week we had for Week 8, it was much better than the tough fishing we had back on Week 7. This one was right in between which is not a terrible place to be. Predictably the weather was the controlling variable during the trip. On warm, sunny days like Day 4 the fishing was gangbusters with 41 trophy fish landed. On the Big Blow of Day 2 with outrageous wind and waves, it was a different story; most of the group followed the adage: discretion is the better part of valor. The elements made traveling around the lake nearly impossible and certainly not comfortable. Avoiding the vicious north wind that day was probably a good call—the cabins and main lodge were warm and inviting. As with all cold fronts up here, most of the fish landed that day ran from small to medium except for two trophy pike brought in by two brave souls named Ken Williamson Sr. and Doug Stepansky. Congrats to them for their stamina. The storm blew itself out in a day and we got back to business as usual, catching a lot of big fish. The week ended strong with a final trophy fish count of exactly 100, not a record but not too shabby. Most of those fish were pike with 77 landed along with 11 Arctic grayling and 14 lake trout.

Historically that’s not a big number for trophy lake trout for this time of the season when the big trout should be deep in their summer holes, but some very big lakers made an appearance on the TV screens during the nightly Fish-of-the-Day program. We saw Kathy Clay on the screen often. She loves those hard fighting speedsters. She had two 37-inchers and a 38 along with dozens of smaller fish on a memorable day. Fat 38s were taken by Dylan Williamson and Tony Trusso. Mike Trumbower added an inch to hit the 39-inch mark. From there the tapes just kept getting longer: Jim Williamson got a 40; Dave Hawker caught a 41 on his first ever lake trout trip, and Jacob Williamson caught the Trout of the Week with a very girthy 42-incher. That impressive fish pushed Jacob into the 100+Club ranks with 102 total inches of trophy trout, pike and grayling. Jim Tallman and Dylan Williamson came up just a little short on the 100-inch peg but took home the Trophy Triple hats.

There were plenty of big pike in guide nets as well this week. Pike of 44” were taken by Jim Williamson, Jimmy Kozlowski and Dan Romaine. It was a great week for the 45” supersized category of northern pike. Many guests got into those memorable fish: Todd Kalish, Brian Kozlowski, Mike Rogers, Ken Williamson Jr., Dave Hawker and Dan Romaine. At times the trophy pike came in bunches. Both Al Willaimson and Mike Rogers got a four-pack of trophy pike on the same day. Again, this week there were many interesting wildlife encounters with several muskox sightings and one enormous bull moose. For unknown reasons, it’s been our most active year for spotting wildlife. It added a new level of excitement to the trip for many guests. So, all in all, it was a great week to be at Scott Lake Lodge. After passing the halfway point of the season this week, we now look forward to “fall fishing” when the pike move into deeper water and begin their late season feeding binge and the lake trout are fully settled in their deep holes where with the aid of experienced guides (and fancy electronics) the big fish can be targeted and hopefully caught. Stay tuned for a lot of big trout action in the weeks ahead.

July 28

Big fish & big smiles! It’s what we do #pikefishing #catchandrelease #findyourwild #canadianfishinglodge

July 27

Wind, waves, & even a couple thunderstorms didn’t stop Ken and Hammer from finding this big Pike! #pikefishing #orvis #canadianfishinglodge #catchandrelease

July 26

Dan and Poach caught this tank today! Fishing truly never gets old! #pikefishing #orvis #catchandrelease #canadianfishinglodge #getoutthere

July 29

Every year Jim & Nick Tallman make their father/son trip up to Scott Lake. They even outfit their guide!

July 30

Just some of the things you see in the NWT! What a massive animal!

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Week 5 Recap: So Close… to 200 Trophy Fish

Week 5 Recap: So Close… to 200 Trophy Fish

by | 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 3: Much Better Than OK Fishing

Week 3: Much Better Than OK Fishing

by | Jun 27, 2024 | 2024 Season, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

WEEK 3 RECAP “MUCH BETTER THAN OK”

At Scott Lake Lodge there are OK Weeks, Good Weeks, Great Weeks and Fantastic Weeks. Our Week 3 anglers who made the journey to the 60th parallel in far northern Canada had one of the latter. The week had it all: an incredible total number of fish, a very respectable number of trophy fish and most importantly an impressive number of monster fish. Our group landed fourteen pike over 44” and two lakers over 40”. For many Canadian fishing lodges that would represent a full season not five days in June.

The big fish came fast and furious, and in bunches. We had some over the top single days of fishing excitement. Like Patrick Lynch landing eight trophy pike on Wignes Lake (an adjacent lake reached from our dock); like Dave Thome putting nine huge pike in his guide’s net including a 44-, a 46.5- and a 47-incher on Wholdaia Lake; like Greg Larson bagging five trophy pike with a 44- and 45-incher on Ingalls Lake; like Rachael Bandt and her dad, Steve (AKA Big Dog) getting ten big pike on Selwyn Lake, like Rory Wright and John Kroner landing the same number on the same lake, or like Joe Novicki having another of his sensational days with five trophy pike topped by a massive 48-incher, the biggest pike of the season. So far.

The really big fish were well spread out among our angling group: Barbie and Ross Purpura, Rachael and Steve Bandt, Rory Wright, John Kroner, Hunter Larson, Greg Larson, Joe Novicki, Debbie Creigh, Boyd Meyer, Troy Phillips, Pat Lynch and Reggie Sullivan all landed pike over 44 inches. Ross Purpura got a 45, Rory Wright and Reggie Sullivan topped 46 and Joe Novicki had the 48. Everyone of our 28 guests landed at least a pair of trophy fish. We had a dozen trophy lake trout as a bonus with a 40-incher taken by Grant Larson and a magnificent 43-incher taken by Bill Calabresa.

And that’s just the fish! With a few pleasant, sunny days there were many epic shore lunches, served with skill and ceremony on rocky points throughout the 250,000 acres of the connected lakes of Scott, Wignes and Premier. And our Executive Chef always tries to outduel our guides by serving up epicurean dinners every night at Laker Lodge. And our course we have continued the long tradition of our “fish du jour” show, putting up photos of big fish, wildlife sightings or just pictures of guests caught having fun. With many of the photos of trophy fish that graced the TV screens, there were cheers and gasps. We had so many huge fish to show off. Our guests love all fish but there is a special recognition of the BIG FISH; honoring the big ones really gets the crowd going. Trophy pins were handed out left and right every evening. Our goal is always the same: having fun. That can be done with big fish, small fish, many fish or few fish. It’s all about spending time with friends and family in a spectacular corner of the world surrounded by a team that loves to define what customer service is all about. It’s all part of the summer scene at Scott Lake Lodge. Definitely “MUCH BETTER THAN OK FISHING”.

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

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

by | 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 . . .

Let the Games Begin! The Week 1 Fishing Report

Let the Games Begin! The Week 1 Fishing Report

by | Jun 16, 2024 | 2024 Season, fly fishing, Lake Trout, Northern Pike

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! WEEK 1 FISHING REPORT

It was a classic opening week with cold nights and mornings but hot fishing. For weather we had it all: wind, cold rain, clouds and just enough intense sunshine to wake up the slumbering giant pike. While it’s been reported in these posts often, it’s simply a fact that great pike fishing and sunshine go together like peanut butter and jam. We had just enough to drive a sensational week. While each day produced plenty of trophy fish, the fourth day of our five-day weeks was incredible. On that single day our guests landed fifty (yes, that’s 50) pike over our trophy standard of 40-inches with three trophy trout (35-inches) thrown in as a bonus. That’s a decent total for an entire season at many other Canadian fishing lodges. And there were some real hogs caught that day—four over 45-inches including a 47.5-inch beauty and a massive 48.5-inch tundra shark. Of course, that was the one day it was full sunshine all day throughout our nine-million acres of fishing territory which encompasses our 22 fly out lakes and the quarter of a million acres of productive water accessible from our docks at Scott.

The other four days weren’t shabby either: the week tallied 140 trophy fish—127 pike and thirteen lake trout. Four of those lakers found the end of Andrew Horan’s line and really made memories. He had a DAY on Smalltree Lake. At the inflow of the Dubawnt River into the lake, he found some dandy lakers, landing fish of 35, 36.5,39 and a monster of 43-inches. While lake trout numbers like that are fairly common in the deep water “trout season” of mid-July to mid-August, they are exceptionally rare for our shallow springtime fishing. And a trout of 43-inches is rare anywhere, anytime. To get a fish like that in water only a couple of feet deep is the angling thrill of a lifetime. Jim Meyer had a similar trout experience. At an inflow (lake trout love moving water in the spring) on Selwyn Lake, Jim found heavy lakers of 38 and 40 inches.

But the week still belonged to the big pike. The big screens at Laker Lodge were filled with huge pike photos every night at the “fish du jour” post-dinner show. Some barely fit the screen. The stats are impressive: seventeen pike taped at 44-inches or better. A bunch of those big ones were landed by Peter Myhre who had an epic pike week. It went like this: Day 1—six trophies; Day 2—six trophies; Day 3–three trophies (an off day); Day 4–eight trophies, and Day 5—eight trophies with a 46 and a fat 48. Peter had eight pike over 44 inches. That’s a trip. Stay tuned. Peter is hard at it right now on his second five-day stay. He did cover a lot of our huge fishing universe, flying to four of our fly out lakes—Selwyn (twice), Gardiner, Sandy and Wholdaia. He’s got some frequent flier miles going.

Sam Hana and Colin McConville also experienced the adrenaline rush of seeing a giant gaping mouth open to engulf their lure. Sam landed a 47.5-inch beauty and Colin saw his guide’s tape reach 48.5-inches end to end and 20.5-inches around the middle, a massive girth. We had so many big fish and big days. Chase Masuga had a seven-trophy day; the father/son team of Harry and Aris Moulopoulos put eight big pike in their guide’s net, including a 45.5-incher that Aris got on the fly rod; Paul Hana also nailed a 45.5-incher on his fly rod, and other 45s were taken by Bubba Morrill and Rob Shaffalo who also got a 44. Pike of 44 were landed by Tom Goebel, Ben Russert and Chase Masuga.

As if all these fish-of-a-lifetime weren’t enough, there were some exciting wildlife encounters. There were four black bears observed on Scott Lake while a wolverine and a muskox were seen at fly out lakes. Of course there were loons, osprey and eagles seen every day on all our lakes. While the weather for the week was variable, there was one constant—FUN. Our guides and customer service team know how to facilitate that #1 Scott Lake metric. While we do count and celebrate big fish, this place is about having a good time, on the water and on our island. Fun is difficult to quantify but easy to spot: it’s the big smile on ten-year-old Landon Gobel’s face as he pulled in his first pike or the smiles all around the room as the image of Andrew Horan’s giant lake trout hit the screen. Fun and food often go together. From our guide’s creative shore lunches to our Head Chef’s magnificent dinners, we satisfied every appetite. The only trouble was that no one wanted to leave. And nearly everyone signed up for 2025 hoping to repeat a memorable week.