Fireside Lodge Fishing News/Photo Report 8/1 to 8/15 2009

Fireside Lodge Fishing News/Photo Report 8/1 to 8/15 2009

We started off this week with a huge rain system that dumped one inch of rain on Saturday. Sunday was clear for the first half day but the clouds moved in again along with heavy scattered showers with high wind gusts, which continued through Monday. High winds with scattered showers hung around on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were very nice with temps around 70 and sunny.
Ronald Vincent from Sherrlls Ford, NC returned to Fireside Lodge for his tenth consecutive year with Larry Hoopaugh and Mike Bishop both from Charlotte, NC and Calvin Kenley from Mooresville, NC. Day of arrival they got right to it despite the pouring rain accumulating to 1-inch throughout the day. They caught some nice 30-inch plus Northern Pike and Calvin caught his first Tiger Muskie, making it a good one measuring 37-inches. First day Larry and Calvin caught 15 nice Smallmouth Bass and had a few BIG Muskie follows, while Ron and Mike had a fabulous day catching over 70 fish most being Northern Pike, Mike caught his first Muskie ever at a nice 35-inches. Ron caught a 33-inch Tiger Musky, and they caught 6 Smallmouth with Ron landing three Master Anglers Award Smallies between 18 to 19-inches. WOW, what a GREAT day. Second day Ron and Mike were in search for the BIG Muskie, so after discussing some locations they were off to Musky Hunt. They ended up catching 15 nice size Pike and Ron had an experience similar to one last year in the same location. While Ron was trying to land a Smallmouth Bass a HUGE Muskie came out of nowhere and attached the Smallmouth. Ron had the Musky on for 20 minutes until it got close to the net when it spit out the Smallmouth and waved goodbye to Ron and Mike with its tail. It sure made a believer out of Mike. Larry and Calvin also had a fabulous day catching 54 Northern Pike, six Smallmouth Bass and Larry caught an 18.25-inch Master Anglers Award Smallmouth. Third day came with gusty high winds but on Mikes very first cast he caught a 35-inch Northern Pike, Ron caught a 35-inch Musky and Mike caught a large 18-inch Master Anglers Award Smallmouth. Larry and Calvin also caught some Smallmouth and a few Northern Pike. Fourth day Ron and Mike portaged for Musky and Smallmouth catching 5 big Smallmouth right away only to have the Smallmouth action give way to Musky follows. No wonder the Smallmouth disappeared. After having many follows they changed tactics and started catching Northern Pike landing some nice fish between 30 to 35-inches, Ron catching a 37-incher, and Ron also caught a fat 36-inch Musky. Fifth day was a tremendous catching day as Larry and Calvin caught well over 100 Northern Pike, and Ron and Mike also caught over 100 Northern Pike. Ron landed a 35-inch Muskie and caught a Master Anglers Award Smallmouth on the surface using a Chug Bug. Sixth and final day Larry and Calvin focused on Smallmouth catching 20 nice fish, and Larry caught a great size Muskie. Ron and Mike were out on the water until the very end and had another great day catching fish, both hooking monsters. Mike first hooked a huge Muskie that fought so hard it came completely out of the water, tail danced going away from the boat and came down with such force it broke Mikes line. Mike was so close to catching a trophy Musky. Ron in the final minutes of fishing also hooked a huge Northern Pike and landed the Master Anglers Pike measuring 40.5-inches. Great finish to a Great week fishing at Fireside Lodge.

Brad and Sheri Pugh from Pandora, OH returned to Fireside Lodge for their seventh time. Day of arrival Sheri set the pace by catching a big 37-inch Northern Pike within 15 minutes of leaving the dock, despite the fact that Brad taped up the treble hook on her buck tail. First full day was fabulous as they caught 25 Northern Pike and each caught a Muskie, Brads being 33-inches and Sheri landed a 37-inch Muskie. Second day was very windy but Brad and Sheri still caught some Northern Pike. Third day these two caught over 70 Northern Pike for a GREAT day of fishing and catching. Fifth day was another fabulous day as they caught 36 Northern Pike with most being between 28 to 35-inches. Fifth and final day Brad and Sheri enjoyed the wonderful wilderness and had loads of fun catching 34 Northern Pike. Both had a fabulous trip giving them a break from their busy life in Ohio, and before departing said they will definitely be back.Al Sins from Ashville, NC returned to Fireside Lodge, as he has done every year except one since 1998, with good friend Don Funderud also from Ashville. Day of arrival Al and Don got started by catching nice Northern Pike and had two Muskie follows. First day was great as they caught 15 bigger Northern Pike had 4 Muskie follows, one being well over 40-inches, and Al had the catch of the day landing a 40-inch very heavy Master Anglers Award Northern Pike. Second day was all Muskie having 22 follows; Al hooked two fish and Don Landed a nice heavy 33-inch Muskie. Third day had them catching over 30 Northern Pike having many follows, and Al caught a 17.5-inch Smallmouth Bass. Don also had a follow that looked larger that the 40-inch Pike Al caught the first evening. Fourth day was all Muskie, all day long. At days end Al told me to remember the number of 20, 8, 5, and 2. I asked why and he said they had 20 Muskie follows, 8 Muskie swimmers, just swimming by the boat, had 5 Musky hooked, and caught two Northern Pike. Fifth day was all Pike as they landed 14 with Al catching 13, all being 28 to 34 inches. Don also mentioned he caught a 146lb White Sucker. This made some heads turn, but found out that he hooked himself while getting the hooks out of the Northern Pike. Sixth and final day was their final search for Bubba, the BIG Musky. They ended with a great Musky day as they had 8 follows, hooked up with 6 Muskie, and Al landed two measuring 33 and 37-inches. Al was a bit frustrated as he had 3 other Muskie hooked well but they still were able to get off. That’s Musky Fishing!
Father and Son Bob Ramsey from Leavenworth, KS and Ron from Swanee, TN were returning to Fireside Lodge for their fifth time. First day fishing they did great catching plenty of nice size Northern Pike between 28 to 35-inches, and because of netting situation Bob lost a huge Tiger Muskie at boat-side. Second day had these two fishing for Musky only, and along with many follows ended up hooking and landing a 32, 33, and 36-inch Musky. WOW, what a great day Muskie fishing. Third day their plan was to fish for toothy critters on rocky points with deep water and a weedy bay nearby. Well, their plan worked as the caught all kinds of Northern Pike up to 35-inches. Their fourth and fifth days were full of fun as the continued to do well catching a lot of Northern Pike in the 28 to 35 inch range and a Musky. Their biggest catch is another set of fishing memories made between Bob and Ron, that they will take with them to Leavenworth and Swanee, and continue to bring wonderful thoughts to their minds, smiles to their faces, and an occasional laugh out loud, remembering the moments they spent together at Fireside Lodge.Larry Hinshaw from Blue Grass, IA along with good friend Pat Hobson from Elmwood, IN returned to Fireside Lodge for there third time to fish for Smallmouth Bass. After some discussion of top-water fishing for Smallmouth these two left the dock wide eyed full of excitement. I have to admit I was so excited I wanted to go with them. First day fishing they caught Smallmouth, but found the Smallies a little apprehensive to surface fishing techniques. We have struggled all year getting those water temps idle for surface fishing, which is 70 degrees plus. Second day had the fishing action pick right up, but landing them became an issue. The Smallmouth were making spectacular jumps and getting off, but one Smallie hooked and lost on the surface can be so exciting it almost makes you forget you even lost the fish. Third day had them, catching a lot of Smallmouth Bass between Little Vermilion Lake and Cedarbough and Larry caught his first 18-inch Master Anglers Award Smallie. Fourth day was all Northern Pike catching 40-50, and that evening had some fun with Smallmouth Bass surface action. Fifth Day they had great action on Smallmouth Bass landing well over 20, all on surface lures, with Pat catching his first Master Anglers Award Smallmouth at 18-inches. Pat also had a special encounter with a Huge, over 40-inch Muskie exploding on his Bass surface lure. After a big battle the Musky ended up breaking of at boat side. While Pat and Larry were coming down off the excitement of what happened Pat’s lure popped up to the surface. Result of this battle is a draw to be continued at another date and time unknown to both Pat and Mister Musky. Four their final day Larry and Pat finished with a fabulous day, and probably the best they ever had fishing together. Several severe morning thunderstorms had these two on shore for a while and after things cleared they could not catch but one fish until mid afternoon. But then things started to happen and they found a pattern. Using surface lures where weeds were just topping the waters surface they started to get great Smallmouth action. They ended up landing well over 30 big Smallies with 7 being Master Anglers Award Smallmouth, Pat catching one at 19 and one 18-inches and Larry had two at 18, two at 18.5, and another at 19-inches. All the Smallmouth were fat footballs with most being 16 to 17.5-inches. Great finish and lasting memories at Fireside Lodge for these two very close friends.Father and son Tom and Mark Reese from Bartlett, TN and Alexandria, VA were returning to Fireside Lodge for their eighth consecutive year.
First day these two got right into the Pike catching over 30 with lots of action. Second day Tom and Mark intended on searching for Smallmouth with Mark landing a nice 17-incher, however could not resist the fabulous Northern pike action again catching a bunch of Pike, more that the day before. Third day was all Smallmouth Bass as they caught so many they lost count and they were all between 16 to 17.5-inches, with never leaving the lower arm of Little Vermilion Lake. Their fourth and final day was a near repeat as they caught 40 plus Smallmouth Bass in the 16 to 17.5-inch range and about 10 Northern Pike. Fabulous finish to a great father and son fishing trip where again many memories were made. Fishing is only a part of their trip together as the evening conversations in the lodge, and their time spent together is more valuable to Tom and Mark than any fish they catch.
Their departing words were “we will see you in the same place, same time in 2010”.


Greg Benton was returning to Fireside Lodge for his fifth consecutive year with friends John McDonough, Jerry Sears with son Michael, and Randy Genord with sons Dane for their third in a row and 10 year old Ryan for his first trip. This group always starts their trip with a friendly competition, where each boat keeps track of there total length of fish in inches. The end of the first day had Jerry and Michael catching 33 Smallmouth Bass, each landing two Master Anglers Smallmouth all between 18 and 19.25-inches. They were the leaders with 447-inches of fish. Greg and John did well catching some big Pike and John landed a GIANT 37-inch Tiger Muskie, a must see photo on our website 2009 photo page. Randy, Dane, and Ryan also had a great first day catching many Pike, with Ryan landing a 28-inch Pike, Dane a 34-incher, they caught several others 34 to 35-inches and Randy caught a beast 38-inch Pike. Before breakfast on their second day Greg caught a 19-inch Master Anglers Smallmouth and little Ryan also caught a huge Master Anglers Smallmouth measuring 18-inches. Throughout the day the group caught some nice Northern Pike, with Jerry and Mike landing 18 Smallmouth, Mike caught an 18-inch Master Anglers Smallmouth. Greg and John had some huge follows and the all saw the largest fish ever. While they enjoyed a terrific shore lunch a HUGE Muskie was spotted in the water by Mike, estimated at over 50 inches by Greg and over 55-inches by Randy. They got such a good look at it Mike got a photo that we have on our photo viewer in the lodge. Third day was a mixed bag as Jerry and Mike caught 18 fish, 11 Smallmouth and 7 Pike. Randy, Dane and Ryan did well with toothy critters, Ryan catching his biggest Northern Pike ever at 32-inches and Dane had the fish of the day which was a HUGE disagreeable 41-inch Musky. Greg and John did well catching Muskie and Northern Pike. Fourth day the sky was full of thunderstorms in the morning but Greg and John were out before they appeared and had pre-storm action on MONSTER fish. Greg had a GIANT Muskie follow estimated at 50-inches plus, and John had what was thought to be an over 45-inch, approaching the high 40’s Northern Pike explode on his lure right at the boat. With John being short lined the Pike had full advantage, and as a result shook off the lure before John could get any control. After the storms were over all had some fun catching Northern Pike and few Musky, with Jerry and Mike catching Smallmouth Bass. Fifth and final day the morning fish was delayed again by severe thunderstorms. Jerry and Mike decided to focus on toothy critters catching a 34-inch Musky, 36-inch Pike and several other Pike in the mid 30-inch range. Dane had a big fish day landing two 37-inch and one 34-inch Northern Pike and after supper on the last evening Randy, Dane, and Ryan were the only boat to go out and ended their trip with Ryan catching his biggest Northern Pike ever, which was a heavy 33-incher. All had loads of fun, made great memories, and were already discussing plans for their trip in 2010 as they were checking out. Quoting Randy he said, “It’s all about the memories made with my boys and the fish are just the bonus”. How correct Randy is, and thanks for choosing Fireside Lodge to make those precious memories.Make sure to go to our website listed below to see the 2009 Photos

Hot Lures of The Week: Blue Fox Spinner, Buck tail, X-Rap, Blue Fox Spinner, Tube Jig, Husky Jerk, Cisco Kid, Trophy Diver, Tube Jigs, Live Leeches, Mepps Spinner, Tommy Gumper, Bert Jerk Bait, Chug Bug, Hula Popper,

Catches of the Week: 40.5 and 40-inch Northern Pike, one 19.5-inch, one 19.25-inch, seven 19-inch, five 18.5-inch, three 18.25-inches, and six 18-inch Smallmouth Bass, 41-inch MuskiePlease note that we have a “NEW” email address below.

Well, that's it for this weeks Fireside Lodge Fishing News Report, Please stay tuned for next weeks report. Until then "Keep On Fish'n" Alan
www.firesidelodgefishing.com
www.firesidelodge.com
800-545-0815
Email: fireside@xplornet.com