Week 6 in Review: The Pike Parade Continues

Week 6 in Review: The Pike Parade Continues

We kicked things off as we always do on the 4^th of July…with the whole group joining in to sing the Star-Spangled Banner, followed by a round of shots on the house to celebrate America’s birthday. It set the tone for the week; there were a ton of smiles and laughs the entire time. It seemed like the crew had a great time. The fishing was phenomenal, the big pike just kept coming as spring gave way to summer with some lovely weather. 

When the fish are biting and the sun is shining, it’s a recipe for a great week. When the crowd is willing to embrace the whole experience, well, it’s just a little better. Happy Hour was raucous, and fish stories flowed among our anglers this week. Our chefs hit the ball out of the park with the food, and the photos each evening told the story of adventures across a beautiful northern wilderness.

The BIG pike have been on the feed this year, high water has them turned on it seems. Bill Ball led the pike parade this week with a massive 48.5” northern from some shallow weeds on Sandy Lake. His pal Rallis Pappas was hot on his heels with a 48” of his own. Nathan Bender, who didn’t know he was coming to Scott Lake until about 24 hours before the trip nailed a fat 47 on the fly rod, talk about a whirlwind! GM Jason Hamilton even got out of the office to find a 47.5” pike that was interested in chowing down on a fly.  As with the previous weeks, the big pike seemed to be clumped up. When the guides found them, our anglers were able to get into some crazy numbers. Jason Sikkenga landed back-to-back 46” fish on his way to 6 pike over 40”, while Veronica Strobel and Mike Marco also added 46 “fish. The trout again took a back seat to the pike, fair enough with the days that our group had. Mike Marco got into a 40×25” jumbo laker and his wife Alison landed a 37.5” trout. This was important as they had planned a trip for Grayling later in the week, the feisty arctic sailfish cooperated, and both earned entrance to the 100+ Club. Josh and Larry Makal also had a great day in the rapids chasing those purple-finned grayling, finding willing biters. 

Overall, 176 trophy-sized fish came to hand over these 5 days. Incredibly, 20 pike over 45” were landed…21 if we add Bruce Bennet’s 44 and 7/8” pike!  The numbers tell just a part of the story, it was the laughs at the cornhole tournament, the early morning swims while loons chattered and the intangible feel of a tiny island on the 60^th Parallel that becomes a factory for memories for 100 days each summer. No wonder we had so many guests sign up to do it again this week.