Sund's Lodge

Every summer, one of the most popular questions we get asked is: so what do you do in the offseason?  Well, the right answer is that we keep working: selling trips, moving boats to have service done, fixing up the property, having business meetings with the slew of lawyers, attorneys, accountants, and other professionals which help keep our business strong, etc.

But the right answer?  We go golfing.  Or fishing.  Or travelling.  Or just take a few moments to enjoy time with our customers.  Recently lodge guest Sam Spiller invited Scott out to golf at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge golf course in Washington State for an awesome afternoon of golf and good times.  Thanks Sam!  And if anyone else out there wants to get onto the blog…just invite one of us out golfing! 

Best wishes fishing friends!  See you next summer!

Despite a challenging economic climate, the season of 2009 will definitely go down as one of our best in the past 27 years.  The weather was just unreal and the salmon runs came back in ways we haven’t seen for years.  The coho fishing was definitely the best we’ve seen in a decade and although they were late, when the pinks came in, they were as dense as we’ve ever seen them and stayed through ealry September.  The chinook run was also epic, matching run sizes we hadn’t seen since 2006.  The biggest fish of the year was 41 lbs but tons of fish were caught from 22-29 lbs and lots of new members of the tyee club.  But what made the season the most successful was our fabulous staff- the best ever.  It was an fantastic year…have a great winter and we’ll see you next summer!  Check the blog as we’ll post updates on next summer as we get them!  Best wishes for big fishes!
-Scott

Guide Sam and Guest Chris with the biggest salmon of the season

Last full day of fishing was an exciting one for some of our guests.  Doug and Tracy Lape celebrated their 20th anniversary in style: with Doug’s 36 pound salmon and Tracy’s 22 lb halibut.  Nothing is better for the romance than big fish!  Their boatmate Tom landed one of the biggest halibut of the summer wiht a dandy 78 pounded guided by Captain Mike.  All in all, it was one incredible box of fish.  There were a number of nice wild coho taken out of Beaver Cove and a few other chinooks as well.  All in all, a fantastic last full day of fishing at Sund’s Lodge!

Today was truly a highlight day for us here at Sund’s Lodge.  We started the day fishing for salmon and although the salmon bite was slow, there were a few nice fish taken.  Tom once again took honor with this nice chinook caught off Bere Point. 

After a fabulous beach lunch, guests continue to fish and found some pinks and cohos.  Everybody had a ball and the weather was great.  The real highlight of the day was the cooking class on the back deck by guest chef John Sundstrom of Lark Restaurant of Seattle, WA.  Chef John, along with Sund’s Lodge chef Paul Shand, put on an hour class showing how to work with salmon to filet and de-bone and then put together a few great dishes with fresh picked mushrooms from the island and tri-colored carrots from Andrew Stout’s Full Circle Farm.  Guests even got their hands dirty as they worked on the dishes.  Later, Chefs John and Paul collaborated on what was probably the finest meal of the summer.  It was a divine night of epic culinary proportions.  A truly great experience at Sund’s Lodge today!

Sadly, August the mustache month has come to a dramatic close.  Shortly after the first annual Paul Shand basketball tourney on Monday afternoon.  Paul had originally cointed the term and many on the Sund’s Lodge staff jumped aboard for this joyous occasion.  Once September hit, and mustache month was over, it was time to say goodbye.  Said fishmaster Geoff Millar about his mustache: “it was very hard to shave the ‘stache.  It had become like an old friend to me and now I feel naked without it.”  The other staff members have been counseling Geoff and our hope is that his spirits quickly rebound.  Truly for all involved in mustache month, August was a growing and moving experience.  “I doubt I’ll ever be the same,” ruminated Chef Paul, “I’m not sure I can ever really experience joy again with that little furry mustache hanging over my lip.”  We wish you well Paul, and to all the Sund’s Lodge 2009 staffers.

Coho coho coho!  Day 1 started with a bang with a TON of catch and release opportunities on BIG coho- up to 20 lbs!  There were also a few nice hatchery coho that we could bring back to the dock.  Patsy Gasser had the first runner up- which she claimed made her the first loser.  Big fish of the day honors went to Tom McDyer with his beauty hatchery coho caught in Double Bay.  It was a fun and festive crowd with 10 couples and Andrew and John and their sons.  We’re off to a great start!

The last morning gave us 4 hours to fish and some more nice fish rolled in.  Rick took big fish of the day honors and some of the guys even got into some nice chicken halibut.  A fabulous trip concluded at Sund’s Lodge.