Week 11 in Review: Big Fish and Northwinds

Week 11 in Review: Big Fish and North Winds

Usually not a combination that goes together, like peas and carrots, to quote Mr. Gump. North winds bring the cold air down across the barren grounds, dropping air and water temperatures as they gather speed.  Add some moisture into the mix, and we’ve got a poor combination of weather, usually resulting in low ceilings, not conducive to float plane operations. Unfortunately, that was the case as the weather didn’t work in our favour to complete the changeover. The crew had to overnight in Edmonton and let their anticipation build for one more night. Fast forward to the next morning, we did our best to get them up here and fishing asap; the staff did a great job making that happen, a few fish were caught, and we were off to the races.  The weather offered a variety pack most days, keeping the intrepid anglers’ dry bags close to hand as layers were donned and repacked often. The fish didn’t seem to mind one bit; heck, they even seemed to like it. Some incredible memories of days on the water were made.

Take Jim Ward and Luke Lukens, for example; they had a day pike fishing that neither will forget. In fact, I think Jim mentioned it was his best day of fishing ever! The day started off with a trophy and then intensified as their guide, Paul, made all the right choices. They ended up with five fish over 45, including a pair of 47s!  A pair of long-time fishing buddies will have a story to tell many times over.  More giant pike were in the mix this week; Tim Rogers led the pack with a 47.25” fish, while Aaron Savin and Priscilla O’Donnell added a 47 and a 46.5” er respectively.  Priscilla’s luck wasn’t quite done as she found a 47” pike on the final day’s fishing on Scott. The wind blew like heck on the fourth day, coming from the north at nearly 40 knots; as we rarely do, we made the call to pull all the boats off the lake just after noon hour. It was a day for shore lunch in the lodge, baseball on the TV, and some cards and naps. Incredibly, in the wild conditions in the morning, there were some fish caught…and some nice ones. By the numbers, there were 90 big pike over 40” caught this week. A great tally for a week shortened by a few bouts of inclement weather.

The high winds of the week kept most of the fishing to protected bays and shorelines for pike.  A few anglers trolled and jigged up some lakers, Mike and Dana Weiss had a blast dropping in for trout in the Northwest arm of Scott, these fish plain wear you out on light tackle.  Top trout angler Win Scott, got into 37.5 and a giant 43.5 laker while over on Selwyn, with Hammer. The grayling rapids were full…of anglers and fish; the fish were on and giving anglers some incredible memories. Whether from the jet board or wading boots, the Arctic sailfish is a blast.  In the end, the northern lights made their first appearance of the season, pale in the still partially light sky, but there nonetheless. The calendar flipped to August, and the first few hints of the change in season were seen. The winds calmed down, the sun came out and thank goodness this changeover happened all without a hitch.