Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/25 to 9/1 2018
 |
| Impressive Trophy Northern Pike Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada by Paul Letourneau |
This week started out on the warm side with temps at about 80 and then the bottom fell out with a severe cold front moving in driving the temperatures down to highs of 50-55 for 2 days then moving to the mid 60’s the third day and into the low to mid 70’s for the end of the week. Sometimes summer cold fronts can be good for fishing after the first day passes, and that’s just what happened, as you will read about below.
 |
| Very Large 39-inch Northern Pike Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada by Nick |
 |
| GREAT Muskie Fishing by Michael at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
Long time return Guest Paul Letourneau from North Oaks, MN returned for his 2nd trip this year coming with son Michael from Metairie, LA who has been coming with his dad since he was 16 and now he is 34 and also returning was Paul’s nephew Nick from Maple Grove, MN.
 |
| Trophy Smallmouth Bass Fishing by Nick at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
 |
| GREAT Northern Pike Fishing with Dad at Fireside Lodge in Canada for 20 Years |
1st day they caught some fish and had a few Big follows but the fish today did not seem very interested, just looking at their lures and just slowly swimming away.
 |
| Large 38-inch Northern Pike Fishing at Fireside Lodge by Nick |
Day 2 was met with a severe cold front which got the pike moving and these three did well catching a bunch of Northern Pike 27 to 30–inches and Nick had the golden touch catching two BIG Northern Pike measuring 38 and 39-inches. That evening they added to their total of nice size Northern Pike. 3rd day they caught many Northern Pike and Nick was the numbers guy today plus he caught a Master Anglers Award 18.5-inch Smallmouth Bass. Wow, when your hot your hot!!
 |
| Cold Front Fishing for BIG Northern Pike in Canada by Paul |
4th day they had a great day catching Muskie landing 7 up to 32-inches, also having many follows and Michael said their were three different trophy size fish they saw but could not hook up on. Also Paul caught a very large 38-inch Northern Pike.
 |
| Many Trophy Northern Pike Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada by Paul |
5th day was a BIG day for this group and especially for Paul as he caught a BIG 37-inch Northern Pike and a 40.5-inch Master Anglers Award Trophy Northern Pike. 6th and final day they all caught plenty of fish and finished their trip fishing in the rain. All had a great time and are already planning their return in 2019.
 |
| The Letourneau Family Having a Blast Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
Long time return guests Joe and Marilyn Foos from Alpharetta, GA were glad to be back in the Northern Wilderness chasing Smallmouth Bass. 1st day was windy making it a challenge to surface fish but they caught 10 nice Smallmouth by the end of the day. 2nd day was better catching more but they still were not aggressive on the surface.
 |
| Marilynn With a BIG Trophy Smallmouth Bass Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
3rd day was a charm as they did excellent in the morning until about 1pm catching many BIG Smallmouth all on surface lures, Joe using a Wake Bait and Marilynn using her favorite Torpedo. 4th day was another fabulous day catching many Big Smallmouth all on the Wake Bait and Joe caught a Giant 19.5 inch Smallmouth Bass that he said had to weigh at least 5lbs, and Marilynn was all smiles in the dinning room at supper time saying the fishing action was great. 5th day was more of the same with both catching a lot of Smallmouth Bass, but Joie still had the hot hand with the BIG Smallmouth landing another 19-inch plus fish. Joe said it is attributed to his long precise casts and in Marilynn’s opinion it was luck, but I took the middle ground position saying it was a little of both. 6th day Joe and Marilynn both did great for the first half day catching many big Smallmouth Bass with the same lure presentation despite the crumby weather, having a severe cold front come through bringing rain and wind.
 |
| Joe With a 19.5-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada 1 of 3 |
Joe did it again catching the largest fish of the day a 19.5-inch Trophy before they called it a day at about 1:00PM. 7th day was a very good day for being the day after a cold front as they got consistent Smallmouth Bass action again on the surface, with Marilynn giving Joe a run for his money doing very well and making Joe catch up to her for a change. No trophy size today but a lot of good size fish. 8th and final day they had another good day fishing catching Smallmouth Bass and finishing strong while having a pleasant weather day. In addition to having great fishing Joe and Marilynn had a sighting of a Lynx walking right in front of their cabin, being able to view this wild cat for a few minutes from their living room. Both left having a great stay and plan to return to chase our Big Smallmouth Bass again.
 |
| Super Northern Pike Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
Bob & Jane Babcock from Midland MI arrived for their 21st consecutive year fishing with us at Fireside Lodge. 1st day out was very good catching some Northern Pike and seeing what they were looking for, some very large fish, Muskie and Pike, following their lures. Jane did best using what she called her secret lure, which was a spinner bait type lure with a pink silicone skirt dressed with a pink twister tail which did not last long. The twister tail in pink is hard to find and not having any in my tackle shop Jane had to revert to orange.
 |
| Great Tiger Musky Catch Fishing by Bob at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
2nd day was slower, having some big follows and catching some medium size Pike. 3rd day was a miserable cold front day with rain a wind but they toughed it out all day with good results catching some nice Northern Pike. 4th day was day after the cold front and they fished a new area getting very good results seeing and catching some nice fish and Bob caught a beauty, an extremely heavy, 35-inch Tiger Muskie. 5th and final day they had a very good numbers day catching many Northern Pike all day long. They left having another great trip with us at Fireside Lodge and as Bob said it’s been “21-years of good fishing, great fun, and meeting lots of Great people”.
 |
| One of Many BIG Northern Pike Fishing by David at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
Wade Keiss and David Goacher from Mount Prospect and Libertyville, IL
 |
| 90 Northern Pike in 4 Days about this size Fishing by Wade |
returned for their 3rd time to chase Toothy Critters. DOA fishing for a few hours before supper they got off to a good start catching 15 Northern Pike up to 32-inches and 3 Smallmouth Bass. 1st day they did well catching a dozen nice Northern Pike and Wade had the fish of his life on. While Trolling, after thinking he was snagged, Wade telling Dave to back up, then all of a sudden his rod tip started shaking violently. The fight was on and lasted about 10 minutes with the fish taking Wade through the weeds and jumping clear out of the water twice.
 |
| Trolling For Northern Pike Fishing by Dave at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
Getting a good look at the fish it was a HUGE Muskie, Wade saying the biggest freshwater fish he has ever seen, but in the end during another run the hook just came out. That evening we had to have Wade under psychiatric therapy recovering enough by morning to go fishing again. 2nd day the weather turned and the winds blew from the north with rain, and temperatures dropped into the low 50’s. Despite the conditions Wade & David did very well catching 27 Northern Pike between 28 to 33–inches. 3rd day after a sever cold front they did very well catching 21 Northern Pike having 6 over 30-inch two at 33-inches+. 4th and final day they had a very good finish catching 14 large Northern Pike with over half being 31 to 33 –inches. They also mentioned that all the fish they caught during their 4 days were very heavy and thick saying it was the best trip as for quality fish they have ever experienced. Before leaving Dave was already discussing their possible return in 2019.
 |
| 1st Time Fishing Northern Pike in Canada Fishing by Steve at Fireside Lodge |
 |
| Trophy Smallmouth Bass Fishing by Bruce on 1st Day at Fireside Lodge |
 |
| Very Good Northern Pike Fishing by Tom at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
Mac Fisher, Bruce Athman, Steve Halpin, Bob, all From Hannibal, MO, Al Durand from Palmyra and Tom Wooten from New London, MO were all fishing at Fireside Lodge for their first time. 1st evening out they all caught some fish to get started, fishing just a few hours before supper both Steve and Mac landed BIG Smallmouth Bass 17+inches. 1st full day of fishing was full of action with Steve & Mac catching 15+ nice Northern Pike on what had become a magic lure from my tackle shop, all purchasing at least two each.
 |
| Tackle Shop at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
 |
| Quick Results From Tackle Purchase Fishing by Mac at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
 |
| BIG Smallmouth Bass Fishing by Steve in Canada |
Bruce and Tom did very well on Smallmouth Bass with Bruch catching a 17, 17.5, and an 18-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass while Bob and Al also did well on a mix of Pike and Smallmouth Bass.
2nd day was very good for some even though they fished in miserable rainy
 |
| Bob Ned Rig Fishing for Smallmouth Bass in Canada |
cold front conditions with strong winds. Steve and Bruce seemed to do the best catching 15 Northern Pike and some nice Smallmouth Bass 16 to 17.5-inches and Bruce caught his 2nd Trophy 18-inch Smallmouth Bass. Bob and Tom also did just as well on the Ned Rig and Spinner they purchased from my tackle shop catching Smallmouth Bass on the Ned and Northern Pike on the Spinner.
 |
| Many Northern Pike This Size Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada by Steve |
 |
| Northern Pike Fishing is a Blast in Canada by Tom |
3rd day these guys just kept rolling along catching many Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike, Steve catching a 17, 17.5 and 18.5 inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass along with several 30+inch Northern Pike. Bob said his boat did very well again catching Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike on his new favorite plastic bait, The Ned Rig, and Mac caught the biggest fish of the group in all the years they have been fishing together and for his life a Muskie that absolutely filled our 48+Inch cradle, both him and Bruce saying it was every bit of 50-inches. It took both to lift the Muskie into the boat and with great concern about releasing the fish back to the water they opted for not taking any pictures to ensure the fishes survival, which took about 5 minutes, but it did swim away vigorously.
 |
| Beauty of a Smallmouth Bass Fishing at Fireside Lodge by Mac |
 |
| Many 17 to 17.5-inch Smallmouth Bass by Steve Fishing at Fireside Lodge |
4th day they all caught fish with some doing better than others but as a group they had a good day.
 |
| Friends Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Northwest Ontario Canada |
5th and final day was beautiful weather and they all did well catching fish. Before departing they all mentioned what a great time they had and really enjoyed all aspects of their trip at Fireside Lodge.
 |
| HUGE Tiger Muskie Fishing by Ryan at Fireside Lodge in Canada on a Krave Bait |
Fireside Lodge Long Timers Greg Benton, Randy Genord and his son Ryan from Grand Blanc, MI were back to comb the waters of Little Vermilion Lake for monster Toothy critters. DOA Ryan set the bar right away landing a very large bodied 38-inch Northern Pike. Severe cold front conditions on day one did not stop these three from catching some nice 30-inch plus Northern Pike and Randy caught a nice 32-inch Muskie. That evening after supper all caught more Pike and Randy caught a 36-inch Muskie that looked like it was bulging from the seams.
 |
| Fat Fall Muskie Fishing at Fireside Lodge by Randy |
Day 2 they were fishing in after cold front conditions so expectations were not high, but it was Ryan who came up with the fish of the day landing a very large very heavy 38-inch Tiger Muskie.
 |
| BIG 38-inch Northern Pike by Ryan Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
3rd day had Ryan again being the center of conversation as he had a HUGE
 |
| Greg with 1 of Many Nice Size Northern Pike Fishing at Fireside Lodge |
Muskie on, and after fighting it for a while, he got the fish up to the boat and in the netting process a hook got hung up in the net with the fish half in and half out. This situation never turns out well and this was no exception as the fish flipped dislodging the hook in splashing back into the water and swam off. Ryan was disappointed and Randy felt horrible but that’s fishing. Beside that event they all caught some nice Northern Pike.
 |
| BIG Smiles Fishing for BIG Northern Pike by Ryan at Fireside Lodge |
4th day Randy and Ryan did very well again with Ryan catching a fat 36-inch Muskie on the same lure he has been catching all the bigger fish on named the Krave. 5th and final day was planned as half day fishing as they wanted to be on the road by 4PM, catching some Northern Pike before being chased in early by some thunder and lighting. All left having a fabulous stay hoping to return in 2019.
 |
| Nice Muskie Fishing With My Son at Fireside Lodge by Randy |
Dave & Phyllis Hancock from SC were visiting Fireside Lodge for their first time. 1st day they were met with sever cold front conditions and opted to stay in for the day. Staying in your cabin at Fireside Lodge also brings you action of a different sort as while sitting on their deck after the rain stopped they spotted a Lynx walking across our lawn in search of their favorite meal, which is a snowshoe rabbit. 2nd day was great catching 15+ nice Smallmouth Bass, Dave landing an 18.5-inch Trophy, and about 8 Northern Pike up to 30-inches. Very good for their first day ever on Little Vermilion Lake during post cold front conditions and this was all accomplished within 5-7 minutes from the lodge. 3rd and final day, boy 3 days goes fast, they had an even better day fishing and Phyllis said it was so beautiful fishing in the wilderness atmosphere mother nature gives us at Fireside Lodge. They also met some wonderful people and had great conversation at suppertime in our dinning room. Both left saying they really enjoyed their first visit to Fireside Lodge.
 |
| Trophy Northern Pike Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada by Bill |
Bill Browne from Minneapolis, MN and Matt Bachinski from Ninety Six, SC
 |
| GREAT BIG Trophy Smallmouth Bass by Matt |
arrived for their first experience fishing at Fireside Lodge. Here to target Smallmouth Bass and Big Northern Pike and Muskie on their DOA they did just that catching some BIG Smallmouth Bass within just a few hours of arriving, Matt catching some in the 17-inch range plus landed a 18-inch Trophy.
 |
| HUGE Trophy Smallmouth Bass by Two by Bill Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
1st full day they were graced with a Classic Canadian Cold Front going from 80 degrees and humid to a high of 55 degrees, low of 43, with rain and wind. They did well for such difficult conditions and being first timers on Little Vermilion Lake as they caught over 20 fish mostly nice size Northern Pike along with a few Smallmouth Bass and Matt landed his 2nd Master Anglers Award Smallmouth measuring 19.5-inches.
 |
| Trophy Muskie Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada by Matt |
 |
| Bill With a Nice Muskie Catch Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
2nd day they were facing post cold front conditions catching a lot of fish with Pike up to 30-inches and Smallmouth Bass in a variety of sizes. 3rd day Bill was Muskie fishing while Matt was using plastics trying to pick up Smallmouth Bass in the weeds. Well both were successful with Bill having a very good day catching bigger Pike while seeing some Muskie having one very BIG Muskie follow, and also having the opportunity to hook a very large Muskie which took his drag screaming so fast he thought he was fishing salt water, only to have the hook pop out on the final run. Matt also did well searching for Smallmouth Bass with the Ned Rig catching many fish including some bigger Northern Pike.
 |
| Multiple Trophy Northern Pike in 1 Day Fishing by Bill at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
4th and final day was a super finish for these two catching a lot of BIG fish. Bill ended up with Northern Pike of 31, 33, 36, and a Trophy at 41.5 inches, a 36-inch Muskie, and his first ever Trophy Smallmouth Bass catching two at 19.5 inches and Matt had the biggest Muskie he ever caught measuring 40.5-inches. WOW what a special big fish day both saying is was their best day ever catching large fish. Both thrilled with their stay and upon departing said they will be contacting us in several weeks to reserve their dates for 2019.
 |
| 2nd Trophy Smallmouth Bass in 1 Day Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada by Bill |
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.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Pinterest
TripAdvisor
 |
| Tremendous Fishing for Very Large Northern Pike at Fireside Lodge in Northwest Ontario Canada |
Hot Lures: Mepps Muskie Killer, X-Rap Magnum Dive Bait, Blue Fox Spinner, Ned Rig, Wake Bait, Rapala Spoon, Mepps Spinner Aglia, Rave from Muskie Technologies, Spinner Bait, Rattln Rap
Catches of The Week: 41.5, two 40.5, 39, several 38 –inch Northern Pike, 38-inch Tiger Muskie, 40.5-inch Musky, and many Smallmouth Bass 18-19.5-inches.
 |
| Amazingly Awesome Sunsets While Fishing at Fireside Lodge in Canada |
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
http://www.firesidelodgefishing.com
http://www.firesidelodge.com
800-545-0815
Email at:fireside@xplornet.com
