Week 17 in Review: The Return of Summer

Week 17 in Review: Return of Summer

Once the leaves start to turn on the 60^th Parallel, you never quite know what to expect for the weather. This week, however, did not disappoint; the sun shone, and south winds prevailed. This combination got the fish excited and ready to snap up flies and lures, giving our seventeenth-week angling crew memories of a fat fall that will last a lifetime.  The shorter daylight hours this time of year seem to kickstart fish and game into overdrive, knowing the long northern winter is ahead. Bear sightings were frequent this week as they enter hyperphagia, eating up to 50,000 calories in berries each day, packing on the pounds for their long winter’s nap.  Bears don’t actually hibernate; they enter a deep rest called torpor and can still stir, rouse, change positions, and react to various stimuli.  Incredibly, they lose little muscle mass over the winter to atrophy, having developed a very efficient system of converting waste into proteins. A human lying in bed for a couple of weeks experiences significant muscle loss.  An unusual shore lunch sighting this week was a sow with three cubs, more frequent further south, but very rare in this subarctic forest, where food resources are scarce. 

Back on the water, the fish numbers were great for both pike and lake trout. 148 trophy-sized fish were brought to hand by our anglers.  One of the best angling days of the season went to Tom Granneman, who on the first day of the week landed nine trophy fish, including a 46-inch and the week’s largest, a 47” jumbo pike.  Kevin Edwards was on Scott Lake looking for big pike on the fly, and he found a 46.5”er with guide Spencer. Brian McGeehan found a 46”, as did Peggy Light, who upgraded her 100+ standing with that big pike. For the first time, Scott Laker Sherman McDonald was lucky on a 45.5” northern from the Dubawnt River system, that fertile chain of lakes that are a factory for big pike.  The fish between 30 and 40” carry their weight so well this time of year; it’s a treat to catch 10lb fish, hear the drag scream and see some incredible jumps.

The Lakers were starting to show up suspended over the holes and the smaller males on windy rock shorelines. It’s been an odd year for the trout, not showing up in numbers like we are used to. Cooler water, more spread-out fish- we aren’t sure. They are still there; we just need to get them lined up.  First time Scott Laker Time Dean led the way with a 41” trout, while good pal Kevin Edwards hit a 38”er. More 38 specials were in order for Chip Rowe and Dan Bergsten on Scott and Premier Lakes, respectively.  The number of trout caught was up this week, but the larger ones were still elusive.  The grayling, however, were eager to please, not just sipping dry flies, but leaving the water to attack them.  Some great days on the rapids were enjoyed by our crew, yellow birches, geese overhead and iridescent blues and purples on the grayling leaping in the sun…that is fall in the north. Waiting all the way until the final evening, the northern lights danced overhead, completing the adventure and making way for the final two weeks of the season. What a ride it’s been!

Check out the link to our Orvis Endorsed page. We’d love to be considered for the Orvis Fly Fishing Lodge of the Year; your reviews can help us achieve that lofty goal!

https://www.orvis.com/product/scott-lake-lodge/3GSF.html