Fireside
Lodge Fishing Report 8/20 to 8/27 2016
The
weather this week was mostly in the low to mid 70’s and had one rain even with
winds & a slight cool front.
The nights
were cool and a slight change in the foliage gives every indication that fall
is very near. As for the fishing all guests enjoyed catching many Northern Pike
& BIG Smallmouth Bass along with a Muskie or two.
Joe &
Marilyn Foos from Alpharetta, GA returned for their 7th visit
with
us at Fireside Lodge. 1st day was very good fishing catching over 30
Smallmouth Bass. 2nd day they had another great day Smallmouth Bass
fishing using a slow surface presentation with a wake bait. 3rd day was
slower and Marilyn was bummed after losing her favorite bass lure to a Northern
Pike. 4th day was another great day for
Smallmouth Bass fishing catching a lot
of quality size fish. 5th day was all about catching many bigger
Smallmouth Bass their current favorite lure, The Wave Bait. It runs to about 6ft
deep max but Joe & Marilyn have been working it on the surface with a very
slow retrieve giving the lure a slow walk the dog presentation which is
effective over weed beds without getting hung up. 6th day was an unusually
slower day for them but the 7th day they had a hot bite in the
morning then a lull, then having great action later in the day. 8th
and final day was not fast action but they caught several good size Smallmouth.
Both had a great stay & hope to return soon.
Trophy Smallmouth Bass Fishing by Joe Foos |
Marilyn Surface Fishing for Trophy Smallmouth Bass |
Pat
Hobson from Elwood, IN and best friend Larry Hinshaw from Blue
Grass, IA
returned for their 9th visit. 1st day was about BIG fish
as Larry caught an 18” Trophy Smallmouth Bass and Pat caught two measuring 18
& 19”.
Larry Himshaw With a Trophy Smallmouth Bass Fishing at Fireside Lodge |
BIG Smallmouth Bass Fishing Is Great at Fireside Lodge |
2nd day Larry seemed to have the hot hand catching
Smallmouth Bass into the 17.5” range plus 5 pike. 3rd day had them
catching 14 fish on post cold front conditions including Pat landing 2 trophy
Smallmouth Bass at 18 and 19.5-inches. 4th day was a portage day for
Smallmouth Bass hoping to replicate a day they had in the past where they
caught over 40 BIG Smallmouth Bass, but the fish were not that cooperative today.
As they say that’s why it’s called fishing not catching.
5th day
they lost a half-day fishing however they still caught some nice Smallmouth
Bass, Pat seeming to have the advantage on larger fish. 6th day they
really got into the Northern Pike saying they caught as many as they wanted to
but lost actual count. 7th day a good cool front moved in with heavy
rain which put a damper on the day. 8th day they had a great day
catching a mix of Northern Pike & Smallmouth Bass. 9th & final day it
poured on them for a few hours but they made the best of it catching their
favorite target, Smallmouth Bass.
Return
guests from 1998 Bob & Sandy Veitch from New Wilmington, PA and Carolyn
Mullinax from Fort Wayne, IN were glad to be back. 1st day fishing
they really enjoyed getting back on our waters to rediscover what they learned
18-20 years ago. It was a very windy day causing some boat control issues,
however they did catch Pike. 2nd day they waited out the rain until
after the noon hour to fish and had a good time catching Northern Pike.
3rd
day 4th day were spent fishing for a catching some Northern Pike. Bob
really wanted to duplicate what he did on his last stay with us, which was
catching a Trophy Muskie & making front billing on our brochure. That did
not happen but it was not for lack of trying. The last day they faced heavy
rain plus a cold front, and after the noon hour they waved the white flag and
came off the water. All had a fabulous time enjoying the sport they love,
fishing, while absorbing all the wilderness atmosphere and wildlife that
surrounds us at Fireside Lodge. We thank them for returning to see us and hope
to see them again.
Ed Tieman
& Dan Brennen from Cincinnati, OH were thrilled to be
revisiting us from
their last visit in the 1990’s. They have of recent years started fishing in
kayaks so they brought them along as an option. 1st day they opted
fishing in a boat as it was a rainy cold front day and they did well
considering the conditions catching both Smallmouth & Pike. 2nd
day was a Kayak day portaging from Back Bay to Portage Bay to fish the Upper
Arm of Little Vermilion Lake. They did very well with Ed catching several
17-17.5” Smallmouth plus he landed an 18” Trophy. 3rd day was even
better catching many Northern Pike & Smallmouth Bass with Dan catching an
18” Trophy, plus Ed caught 3 at 18, an 18.5, and a MONSTER 19.5-inch Smallie
and had one at 17.5”.
HOG Trophy Smallmouth Bass by Dan Fishing at Fireside Lodge |
4th day they had terrific Northern Pike
fishing catching 37 along with lots of other action. 5th & final
day was spent on another portage lake catching some fish and enjoying the final
hours in the wilderness they enjoy so much.
John
& Nancy Czernek from South Carolina, were visiting us for the first time. 1st
day they enjoyed catching Smallmouth Bass the simple but forgotten way, using
large minnows on a jig. 2nd day John & Nancy had a good day catching
Smallmouth Bass and Nancy had a nice Muskie follow her lure right to the boat
and just hung out for a while, until it slowly swam away.
3rd day in
pursuing the fish of a lifetime they again had some Muskie follows that seemed
interested but not aggressive. 4th day they again found Muskie
having some nice follows but just could not hook up. 5th day was met
with heavy rain followed by a cold front having some Muskie follows and
catching some Pike. 5th and final day the weather rebounded giving them a good
last fishing day and a nice send off until the can return.
GREAT Northern Pike Fishing at Fireside Lodge by Rick |
Return
Guests Rick and Nancy Hoffman from Olathe, KS were glad to
be back. These two have
been fishing here for a long time, first time being 1985 and Nancy has been
fishing here since she was a young girl. 1st day was GREAT catching
27 Northern Pike while having other action on hook ups and lost fish. They
really enjoyed the creek ride and seeing white & yellow water lilies in
full bloom.
Big Smallmouth Big Smile Fishing by Nancy Hoffman |
2nd day was even better catching over 30 Northern Pike
fishing on the windy side of the Little Vermilion Lake. 3rd and
final day was their best yet catching 35+ Northern Pike up to 31-inches before
4PM as they had to leave at 5:30 to catch an early morning flight home the next
day. Both had a fabulous time and will return one day in the near future.
Jim and Kim
Thomison from Silver City, NM were visiting us at Fireside Lodge for their
first experience. 1st day was very fun taking a creek portage to an
out lake catching about 20 fish, with Kim stealing the show catching the
biggest Smallmouth Bass at 17.5” and the largest Northern Pike. Side story was
when Jim rigged a plastic worm Texas style to teach Kim how to use it, on her
first cast as Jim was describing the technique, Kim hooked into and landed the
largest Smallmouth Bass for the day. Great teacher and fast learner.
2nd
day they did well catching more Smallmouth Bass with Jim catching the bigger
fish today including two Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring
18”. That evening while fishing for Pike & Muskie Jim had a BIG fish on
which they both got a good look at as it jumped & completely cleared the
water before cutting Jim’s line with one quick shake of it’s head. 3rd
day they caught 12 fish being a mix of Smallmouth Bass & Pike. 4th &
final day was spent fishing and soaking up the scenery & wildlife. Kim’s
goal was a Muskie which just was not in the cards, but gives them every good reason
to come back to try again.
Long time
guest Bill Aulenbach from Barberton, OH was thrilled to be back after a two-year
absence. Bill is 83-years old and in fantastic shape. In fact he just retired
this year but is already arranged to start working on a special project for the
company he worked for 60-years. Congratulations to Bill on his retirement. Bill
has come with groups of 4-6 people, & his son Michael in the past, plus
several times by himself. Bill is a toothy critter guy always shooting for a Trophy
Northern Pike or Muskie, coming close a few times with his personal best being
a 39-inch Pike. Bill had a wonderful week catching fish and being where he
loves to be; out on the water among the quiet wilderness we have at Fireside
Lodge. Bill left saying that he now has a year to work on getting hos son Mike
to return in 2017.
Fishing
at Fireside Lodge for there first time were Keith Dedrick &
Scott Link from
Avilla & Huntertown, IN. DOA they caught a good number of Smallmouth Bass
before suppertime. 1st day they also caught a lot of Smallmouth Bass, most
being larger and 5-6 in the 17-17.5” range and Keith caught a HUGE 40-inch Muskie
that was remarkably fat and the picture verifies that story.
Scott Fishing with a Nice Trophy Smallmouth Bass |
2nd day
was also good catching some bigger Northern Pike and some Smallmouth Bass and I
found out that Scotts go to lure was soft plastic spinner frog not only for
Smallmouth Bass, but some bigger Pike & Muskie bit him off several times. 3rd
day was another very good day catching Northern Pike up to 36-inches, Scott
landing a BIG 38-inch Pike, plus some nice Smallmouth Bass. Scott caught two
trophies both measuring 19-inches.
One great story is when Scott was using a
suspending twitch bait a big Muskie attacked his lure biting through his line.
Scott then watched the Muskie spit it out and with the lure just suspending in
the water and slowly moving the Muskie attacked it again only to spit it out a
second time and swam off. Good news was Scott was able to reach down with the
net and retrieve his lure. 4th and final day they had another very
good Northern Pike day catching many until about 1PM. Both left have a great
time as said they will return.
Make sure to go to our website
below to see some GREAT Fish Photos. For Fabulous Fishing Video, Wildlife
Events, and Current Happenings go to our Social Sites Below.
Hot Lures: Wave Crank Bait, Soft Plastic Frog,
Mepps Muskie Killer, Johnson Silver Minnow Spoon
Catches of The Week: Smallmouth Bass 4-19”, 5
18.5”, 8- 18”, Muskie 39”, Northern Pike 38”
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
800-545-0815
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