Fishing reports are written weekly throughout the open fishing season based on Fireside Lodge guests reports of their daily fishing experiences while fishing at Fireside Lodge
Weather
was, Tough, Tougher, and beautiful starting with several cold fronts having
lows at 32F and one day it was still 48F at 2PM with a strong wind. By the
weeks end it turned sunny having highs in the mid 70’s.
Horace
Philips from Oklahoma City, OK returned with his son & group of 12 friends Perry,
Steven & Ethan Culpit, Bob Murrell, Tom Green, Barry Bennett, Tim Turner,
Van Shelton, Keith Mitchell, & Dan Jollif all from the same area o Edmond,
Newcastle, Moore, & Okarche plus a few from Canyon & The Colony, TX. 1st
day was just coming off cold front conditions so the fishing was slow but by
evening this turned around with Tom, Barry, & Perry getting into some nice
Smallmouth Bass & Pike after supper. 2nd day this group did very well with
Horace & Dan alone catching over 35 Smallmouth all BIG including Horace
with a HUGE 21” Trophy plus 20 Northern Pike, keeping my Tackle shop busy after
supper. 3rd day was gangbusters as all caught lots of Smallmouth Bass
& Northern Pike, with 3 of their 5 boats catching 40-50 Smallmouth each,
most being 16-19”. Tim & Perry had a fabulous day catching 131 Northern
Pike. 4th & final day was a continued effort from day 3 some
catching 30-40 Smallmouth Bass between 15-19”, many pike being caught, Perry
caught a Muskie, and the biggest catching was had by Bob as he landed two
Muskie, 37” and 38”. Plus two Pike measuring in the 35-36” zone. All left
having a blast with all intentions of returning.
Long Time
consecutive year return guest Paul Letourneau from N Oaks, MN was here for his
1st of 2 trips in 2016 bringing a friend for his 1st
time, Christopher Honda from Roseville, MN. These two wasted no time catching
big Smallmouth Bass within a few hours of arrival, Chris with 2 17.5”ers and
Paul a Trophy 18.5”. 1st day they caught over 40 big Smallmouth Bass
including 10 over 18” and 15 Pike. Chris had 7
of the Trophy SB & commented
that he never thought it possible to catch that many big fish in 1 day. 2nd
day was 18 Northern Pike, 6 SB. 3rd day while struggling through a
cold front they still managed to catch 12 Pike & several Smallmouth Bass
plus Paul had a very exciting time landing a 28” Tiger Muskie on 6lb test while
jigging for Bass. 4th day they caught over 30+ BIG Smallmouth Bass,
including several Trophy fish, each landing a 19”er. Chris also caught his 1st
ever Northern Pike fly-fishing, a nice 28.5” fish.
5th day was a
portage lake adventure for Pike catching over 30 & Chris accomplished his
goal landing 10 Pike in a day Fly-Fishing. Final day had them catching 28
bigger Smallmouth Bass with just a few shorty’s mixed in, several Pike up to
30” & the BIG surprise was Chris hooking into & landing a HUGE 33” Lake
Trout. Chris left having a great 1st experience and Paul counting
his days down until his return in August.
Ken Elmhurst,
IL with son Kenny Heflin, Berkeley, IL retuned for the 7th year with Ken’s
brother Dennis 1st timer, 2nd timer Anthony Miceli,
Somonauk, John Healy, Franklin Park, & Lon Adams, Sandwich, IL both 1st
time at Fireside Lodge. Ken set the pace for the group catching many Smallmouth
Bass 14-16” several 17.5” and an 18” Trophy on the DOA. Ken & Dennis did
the best on the 1st day catching many 17.5” Smallmouth Bass &
Dennis had 1 Trophy over 18” & Ken caught 3 more. This whole group had a
special 2nd day catching lots of Smallmouth Bass between 15-19”,
Anthony & Lon landing 7 Trophies over 18”, Ken having 3 more with 1 at 19”,
and John also had a 19”SB. Their 3rd plus 4th & final
day were full of Smallmouth Bass action catching countless fish between 16 –
17.5”. Total they caught 28 Trophy Bass between 18 to 19.5 inches. John also
caught his 1st & 2nd Muskie and Dennis landed his 1st.
All had a fabulous time making many fishing memories together.
3rd
time return guests Dan Garry, Willoughby, OH & Neil Newman arrived 1 day
before the other 6 members of their group and did well catching 12 Northern
Pike in the 30” or better class fly-fishing. Second day these two had 12 NP by supper
before the rest of their group members arrived, Mike Pece, Paul Cardinale &
Son Paul from Solon & Mentor, OH Mike Stauffer, Rod Dennison & Dave
Caldwell all from the greater Cleveland, OH area. 1st day for the
whole group was slower mostly due to the cold windy day only having temps of
48F at 2PM. For their 3 day stay fishing was good and very good for some, with
Mike P landing a number of bigger Pike, Mike S & Dave catching numbers of
Pike, Paul & Paul Jr catching 18 in one day & Dan & Neil caught
more 30+ Fly Fishing. Neil commented that he had a 4ft+ Muskie open its mouth
ready to inhale his fly but turn away at the last second. This would have been
a record at Fireside Lodge for a Pike on the Fly. All left having a wonderful
stay and plan on return visit.
2nd
Time Return guest Lewie Barber and fishing buddy Ron Baker from Austin, TX
started off on the day of arrival with 6 Smallmouth Bass, Ron with 2 over 17”
plus a Trophy 18.5”. 1st day was good action for Smallmouth up to
15”. 2nd day they caught a lot of Smallmouth up to 17”. 3rd
day had them catching 4 Pike plus many Smallmouth Bass including a number of
15, 16, 17 inches & Ron caught his second trophy Smallmouth Bass over 18
inches. 4th & final day was great for Smallmouth with Ron
landing his 3rd trophy Smallmouth bass at 18.5 inches plus many more
15-17”. The big bonus was Lewie getting excellent pictures of an adult eagle in
the neat with the eaglet. Amazing photo, which is the first captures for the 27
years Audrey and I have owned Fireside Lodge.
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.
