It Begins: The Week 14 Blog and Fall Fishing

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.

OF FUN, FISH AND FIRE: The Week 10 Update

OF FUN, FISH AND FIRE: The Week 10 Update

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.

The Heat is On: The Week 8 Update

The Heat is On: The Week 8 Update

THE HEAT IS ON!

SUMMER FISHING AT IT’S BEST

This has been generally a very cool summer, but this week the heat was turned on for summer fishing at it’s best. Everyone loved it, including the fish. For this far north it’s been HOT. The week started just nicely warm, then the knob kept turning higher until we hit 90 on the last day, a rare number to see in these parts. Finally, it was summertime. What do people do in the summer? They go fishing, have fancy dinners and outdoor cookouts, drink a few (or more than a few) beverages and just have a great time. We checked all those boxes and more this week. Fortunately, we had a group who knew how to party. The atmosphere in Laker Lodge when the guests come together as one large group for dinner and the evening program was lively, to say the least. To say the most, it’s possible that our nearest neighbors, just over fifty miles away, might have heard the roar of the crowd as huge fish after huge fish was shown on the TV screens during the nightly “fish du jour” experience. There was some high-octane energy in the room every night. We had a five-day celebration of great fishing, good times and enduring friendships, new and old. There was even a Hawaiian Night (it’s too long a story).

In between the fabulous shore lunches, the cigar puffing, the card games and the wildly competitive corn hole games, there was some summer fishing. And lots of big fish were landed, 170 to be exact. As is typical this time of the season, most of the trophy fish were northern pike. 133 to be exact again, but the lake trout started to make some guest appearances and the arctic grayling, well they are always cooperative. With warm temperatures and just the right level of wind, there were some incredible days. Longtime guests, Dave Wallace and Joe Wright, had the trip of a lifetime. One day they landed nine trophy pike. The next day they had only eight. And the biggest, caught by Joe Wright, was only 47”. Slackers. Other regulars, Tom Matthew and Rusty Brown, had four pike-trophy days. Jessica Word-Booth had a four trophy pike day as well. When pike are on, they are ON. Lots of guests had three trophy days. In the very big fish department, Gordon Jumonville got a 44 on his first day at Scott Lake. Jessica Word-Booth landed a 44 and a 45-incher, but the spotlight was directly on her ten-year-old son, Cole. His picture was on that TV screen every night. Last season he got a 48” pike. This kid is hooked for life, and summer fishing in the far north.

This was finally the week where lake trout made their presence known. They had been in the nowhere zone for several weeks, between their shallow water (but could be anywhere) period and their deep-water summer homes in 60-100’ of water, a nice cool place for fish that don’t care for water temperatures over 50 degreees. Well, they are home now and our guides have their addresses. Mark and Rebecca Graf love catching the big lakers (they are actually a char not a trout but that’s semantics—they are an incredible game fish). On the last day of this group they found the key to unlock the trout door. The each landed a girthy 41-incher along with a few dozen smaller lakers. Mark had taken a 40-incher earlier in the week. Some other dandies were caught this week. Lakes of 38 inches were scored by 14-year-old Jayden Brown, Brad Barousse, Mike Johnson and our Assistant Manager Dani Grunberg who managed to sneak out for an afternoon troll. Another Scott team member, Jesse Sawchuck, got a 39-incher. As the big lakers continue their descent to the deeper water they will be even bigger targets for our guides. Stay tuned for the full lake trout story.

There was just enough grayling fishing to create some Trophy Triple and 100+Club activity. Mike Johnson and Trevor Meyers waded some rapids catch some grayling and earn their Trophy Triple hats. Rebecca and Mark Graf had a banner grayling day with over a dozen trophies each. Mark’s 18.5” and Rebecca’s 19.5” arctic sailfish put them into the 100+Club’s custom jacket.

It was a great week with a fun group: good summer fishing, good times, leisurely evenings on the big deck overlooking the lake made it a memorable week for our group. It’s what a vacation is all about.

Some Hot Fishing & The Case of the Missing Terns: Week 7

Some Hot Fishing & The Case of the Missing Terns: Week 7

WEEK 7 UPDATE

SUMMERTIME FISHING UPDATE AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING TERNS

First, the terns. The Common Tern is a striking beautiful and elegant bird: sleek in design, graceful in flight, wearing a smart black cap and sporting a very sharp red bill that leads the bird’s watery plunge to capture small fish. They are often seen flying with their small, silvery trophies. Just a very cool bird. We have been graced at Scott Lake Lodge with a colony of Common Terns within sight of our island. Every year they arrive and depart (early June and mid-August) on the same day. This has happened for the three decades of current ownership and probably for countless decades before. Except for this year. They arrived on time, and everything was normal with their excited vocalizations and aerial dances delighting our guests and staff. Then one day just over a week ago they were gone. All gone. Not a feather could be found on their breeding site, a non-descript exposed cobble reef perhaps sixty by ten feet and only a couple of feet above the water line. They had prospered there for years. Avian influenza? Their sworn enemy, the herring gulls? A parasitic jagger wandering by from it more northerly home? A mink, pine marten or wolverine that swam to their home? Only questions. No answers. A Scott Lake mystery. Our terns will be missed and remembered.

What’s not a mystery is why so many of the homo sapiens species return every year to their summertime fishing home. It’s obvious. They love the fishing, the food, the world class guiding and customer service, the serenity of our pristine wilderness backyard and of course the warm companionship of like-minded people. Our Week 7 guests had all of the above. The summertime fishing was wonderful. The catching wasn’t the best of the year, but it wasn’t the worst either. Sometimes good is simply good enough and it was. There were 99 trophy fish brought to the boats with plenty of heavyweights led by Nick Manship’s 46” pike. His dad, Mike Manship, on the last day weighed in with a fat 45. Other 45s were taken by Don Mewhort, Russ Gesme and, of course, Peter Myhre who continued his torrid run through the Scott Lake Lodge fly out lakes. Peter loves climbing into our vintage (but trusty) De Havilland Beaver, GQD, and exploring some of the nine million acres of northern Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories that we call home. What a week he had. On his first and second days of fishing he landed seven trophy pike (yes each day). On his third he got six. Then he had to rest on the fourth due to the wild storm that shut down for a day not only our fly outs but nearly all of the fishing on our main lake. Over his three five-days trips to Scott this season Peter has landed 47 trophy pike, an astonishing number. And he is coming back for more later this season. Tom Granneman and Russ Gesme were also into the multiple trophy game, getting nine trophy pike on a single day. Ron Donnall and Alan Carney had plenty of big pike also, each landing a 44-incher.

The lake trout summertime fishing action picked up considerably this week. It helped Tom Kehoe with his quest to join the 100+Club. Tom landed a 39” laker that with a big pike and grayling gave him 100 total inches from those three fish. His fishing buddy, Mike Sackash, had trophies of all three species and got the Trophy Triple hat but just missed the 100” mark. Other big trout were taken by Mickey and Randy Moret. The Kings of the Trout for the week though were two first-timers, the father/son team of Mike and Nick Hylant. They really got into vertical jigging for lake trout, a technique preferred by some guides. It worked. On a single day they landed 101 lake trout. Mike ended up with two trout trophies at 36 and 37 inches. Both anglers enjoyed a trophy experience with almost constant bent rods. They also had plenty of pike action.

The summertime fishing excitement wasn’t limited to fish. On a fly out to Smalltree Lake, all four of the visiting anglers—Tom Kehoe, Mike Sackash, Tom Granneman and Russ Gesme—watched a lone bull muskox swim across the Dubwant river. When the huge animal hit shallow enough water to walk he was a raging bull throwing a “bow wake” comparable to their boats. Check out this National Geographic quality video .

Lot of fish. Lots of fun. Wonderful memories were made. We expect most of our guests will return to our island next summertime fishing season, just as we hope our terns will come back to their rocky home.

Scott Lake Lodge Living: Week 6 Update

Scott Lake Lodge Living: Week 6 Update

WEEK 6 UPDATE

THE RHYTHMS OF SCOTT LAKE LODGE LIVING

It’s been a month now since the first floatplane landed at our dock on this magical island in the wilderness border country between the endless tundra of the Northwest Territories and the boral forests of northern Saskatchewan. Life has now settled into predictable, satisfying rhythms. The island wakes up around 6:30 AM when breakfast service begins, and the guides start filling their coolers and getting their gear set for the fishing day. Around 7:00 AM the pilots fuel their planes for the first flyouts at 7:30 AM. The breakfast traffic in Laker Lodge is hitting it’s stride around now and the activity across the island is picking up. Between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM our anglers are stepping into their guide’s boats for a day’s fishing on Scott Lake or it’s two adjacent lakes, Wignes and Premier, or climbing aboard our Beaver and Otter floatplanes for a trip even deeper into the empty lands to the north. Then by 9:00 AM the island rests with all the guests and guides off on their daily adventures. The kitchen, hospitality and maintenance staff members relish the quiet and begin their daily activities keeping the island running perfectly and preparing the rooms and the dinner for the return of the anglers and guides around 6:00 PM. Everyday for 95 consecutive days these patterns unfold with a crescendo of energy and excitement after the evening dining when the trophy announcements detail who caught what where. The showing of all the big fish landed that day on the two TV screens in the dining room puts a capstone on yet another day of life at Scott Lake Lodge.

So, what did our Week 6 guests see on those screens last week? Plenty of big fish for sure. We had a good week but not a great week of fishing. It was week of unstable weather with a bouncing barometer, lots of wind changes, and precious little sunshine. Not the formula for the kind of pike fishing we expect here. It begs the question: How can a fish be some violently voracious sometimes and with some rapid weather changes become a shy little puggy dog hiding in the corner. Forget what a biologist might say. Pike act like emotional, sensitive creatures, reacting petulantly to any change in their environment. They like everything “just right” which means warm, stable and sunny conditions. Things haven’t been just right for a few weeks. Our guides had to dig deep and count on the patience of our anglers. Both did their job.

The trophy count at 99 big fish was lower than many weeks but there were some dandy pike taken. Twenty of those trophies were pike over 44”. Long time guests Peter and Kay Myhre together landed eight of those twenty. And Peter added four more at 45”, a remarkable run of big pike. Lots of our guests get into that class of 44-inchers: Brendan Ysura, Charlie Crawford, Jeff Parts, Nate Valenti, Josh Makal, Tarek Arafat found two 44″ pike on his trip as well. Nate Sonstegard had his personal best pike at 45” only to top it a few minutes later with a 45.5”. Brendan Ysursa hit his personal best with a 46-incher. At the very top of the pike parade this week was Nate Valenti who got a perfectly proportioned 47-incher on the same day he got three other trophy pike. Brian Kozlowski, Justin Philips and Peter Myhre also had four trophy days.

It was a weak week in the lake trout department. This is the transition period from cruising the shallow sandbars to their summer homes in the deep holes (70-150’) on Scott and the flyout lakes. In this in between time it’s tough to target lakers. Only Todd Phillips got a trophy laker this week. Things were quiet on the grayling front as well. Only the New Fly Fisher TV production team went after the arctic sailfish. The show hosts, a father/daughter team of Jeff and Alyx Parks, caught a bunch with an 18-incher their biggest. They also landed on camera some very nice pike including a 44-incher by Jeff. Watch for that show next winter. We will be sending out a reminder when it airs.

The week in summary: not the best week we’ve had, not the worst. We just take what the weather and fishing activity offers and encourage our guests to enjoy every fish, every meal, every shorelunch, every sighting of a loon, osprey or eagle, and every moment in this pristine wilderness. Every week is a good week to be at Scott Lake Lodge. No one gets on the floatplane back to civilization with anything but wonderful memories of an escape into a rhythm of life that only happens in the far north.That’s what lodge living is all about.