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
This week
the weather was in the mid 70�??s concluding the week with T-storms & heavy
rain but the Musky & Big fish were biting.
Father
& son Bob & Ron Ramsey from Leavenworth, KS & Asheville, NC
returned for their 11th consecutive year. DOA & 1st
day they did well catching what they come for, Northern Pike. They caught pike
up to the mid 30�?� range with Ron having a HUGE Muskie follow his lure several
times.
2nd day was very similar to the 1st. 3rd
day they had plenty of action catching 8-10 nice size Pike, but lost twice that
many. They could not pin point why they lost so many & just laughed it off
figuring tomorrow will be another day. 4th day was off to Closs Lake
to fish Muskie, finding plenty of big Musky following their offerings but had
no takers. 5th & final day they caught Pike & soaked up
their last moments on the water together. They left making many memories &
also reserved their dates for 2016.
Here for
their 1st time were father son Jeremy & Austin Zellers &
Grandpa Randy Wedel from Wichita, KS. DOA they caught 6 nice Northern Pike,
30�?�+, in just 2.5 hours before supper with Randy landing a BIG 38.5�?� Pike. 1st
day ever on our lake system & these 3 caught 105 Northern Pike with Austin
leading the pack catching 51. 2nd day was very windy creating a
challenge, which they met by catching 21 Northern Pike by days end. 3rd
they had to resupply at my tackle shop which meant they had a great day
catching Northern Pike, most on the bigger side. 4th day was another
over 100 Fish day most being Northern Pike. All lefty having a wonderful stay
with us & making three generations of family memoires.
Craig
Roberts & Madeline Wedge from Spooner, WI arrived very happy to be hear
after a yearlong wait. This trip was a very gracious wedding gift from Craig�??s
parents. Craig fished with us before with his dad Pat when he was 16.
1st
day was FABULOUS as they caught over 50 Northern Pike Craig saying that the
fish were so active they couldn�??t miss. Madeline came up with the Big catch of
the day landing a HUGE Trophy Muskie at 45�?�. They also enjoyed seeing the
blooming water Lilies & Wild Iris. The best thing about this day is it was
Craig & Madeline�??s 1st anniversary. 2nd day was a
large day catching slightly over 50 Northern Pike but the bonus was seeing a
HUGE Moose feeding in the water. After realizing what they were seeing they
enjoyed in amazement. 3rd day they started the morning off fishing
before breakfast with Madeline catching her 2nd huge Musky landing a
43.5�?�er. Then it was off to a portage for Muskie, catching one mid size Musky,
but being tormented by many follows, Craig saying that one looked like it was
over 50�?�. 4th day they had some fabulous Smallmouth Bass fishing
getting into such a hot bite they fished right through suppertime. Big fish
Madeline amazingly did it again by catching a BIG 41�?� Musky. 5th
& final day it was all about finding a Big Pike so Madeline could get a
Tri-Fecta Master Anglers Award for all 3 species. They did well finding a lot
of Pike over 30�?� but trophy evaded them. Both left making many life memories
together.
Long time
return guest from the 1990�??s was Bill Hochstetter, Rockford, IL with return
guest James Trier Byron, IL bringing his grandson Aaron from Sycamore, IL. DOA
they caught a lot of Smallmouth Bass using leeches. 1st day was
great as they caught a bunch of Smallmouth Bass & Northern Pike with James
catching his 1st 4 Northern Pike. 2nd day was interrupted
by a severe T-Strom but did not stop them from having another good day catching
fish with more focus on Toothy Critters. James seemed to been hooked on fishing
after landing his first few fish. 3rd day was a gangbusters
Smallmouth Bass catching day as they landed well over 40 fishing ranging 14 to
17.5�?�. Also, Aaron caught a 28 & 32�?� Northern Pike. 4th &
final day they finished catching a combo of Pike & Smallmouth Bass with
Bill landing a trophy, all leaving with many family memories.
Steve
Falkenthal with good friend David Botkin from Bumpass & Ruther Glen, VA
were here for their 1st visit. 1st day was fun with Steve
catching a Big Smallmouth Bass & Dave caught his 1st Muskie
ever. 2nd day was all Steve as he caught 11 fish, 6 Pike & the
rest SB. 3rd day they had great action for Northern Pike catching
close to 30 & David caught 5 on his fly rod. Their last 3 days were all
good catching mostly Northern Pike with a few Smallmouth in the mix. Both left
saying that they had a great time never experiencing such great service, food,
& hospitality.
Tom
Miller with son-in-law George Carney from Madison, WI returned for their 9th
time. 1st day they caught some nice Northern Pike up to 34�?� &
Tom caught a mid 30�?� Muskie. 2nd day was mix of Smallmouth Bass
& Pike with George catching a BIG Smallmouth Bass surprising him by
exploding up on his Buzz Bait. 3rd day was a portage & George
had the hot hand catching one Smallmouth Bass after another including 2
Trophies one at 18�?� & a GIANT 20�?�er. They also saw Muskie one being every
bit of 50�?�. 4th day was a blast a when Big Smallmouth started
hitting their Buzz Baits. 5th day was super day Northern Pike
fishing catching over 70 and missing another 50 all on Buzz Baits. While coming
to grips that it was there last day they spent it soaking up every moment while
catching Northern Pike & Smallmouth Bass. Both left hoping to return in
2016 for their 10th visit with us.
Long time
consecutive year guests the Spahr family of Phil, with sons Tim, Brad, &
Greg and Grandsons Stephen & Christopher from Fairborn, Oh & Maroboro,
MA were all thrilled to be back. 1st day they caught a lot of
Northern Pike & Phil set the pace catching a 35�?� Muskie & a Trophy 19�?�
Smallmouth Bass. 2nd day was a big fish day as Steve caught 2 Muskie
and several big Northern Pike but Tim, on a special lure from my tackle shop
that morning, landed a HUGE 40�?� Muskie using a specialized technique. 3rd
day was fabulous as this group accounted for 38 Northern Pike, all bigger fish
between 28 to 35�?� plus Phil caught a Trophy 18�?�SB. Tim was hot on the Yo-Zuri
sinking twitch bait catching 3 on 3 casts, & Christopher found a Mepps to
be his hot lure.
4th day was a huge Muskie day for this group
hooking up on 13 Muskie & landing 7 as a group. It was definitely a group
effort a every member caught a Muskie Stephen catching 2, Christopher catching
his 1st ever & his 2nd, Brad & Tim both caught
one in the 30�??s & Phil came up with the largest landing a BIG 39�?� heavy
Musky.
5th day brought them in just after the noon hour because of
T-Storms with very heavy rain. They all caught fish & Stephen came up with
a nice Tiger Musky. 6th & final day was spent catching 28-33�?�
Pike while chasing after more Muskie to add to their weeks total of 16, which
did not happen but all were plenty happy with 16. All made wonderful family
memories & were already planning their return trip in 2016.
Martin
Duda, Belleville, MI back for his 3rd time with his wife April for
her 1st experience. DOA they got chased in by severe T-Storms but
not before getting into some Northern Pike. April was thrilled as she caught 7
having never caught a Pike before. 1st day they caught some nice
Smallmouth Bass with surface poppers.
The 2nd day they continued to
do well on Smallmouth Bass catching the early morning bite, but this time using
a Bass color crank bait. After breakfast they did great catching over 30
Smallmouth Bass, 10 Pike & April lost two large fish, one being a Muskie
hitting & breaking off at the boat. 3rd day was another god day
catching many Smallmouth & Pike plus an afternoon nap.
That�??s a vacation!!
After some discussion about location of Big Smallmouth Bass these two went out
and found them. On the morning of their 4th & final day they
caught 15 Big Smallmouth Bass, including 1 trophy before breakfast using their new
fish location knowledge. Rest of the day they caught more Smallmouth, a few
Pike & Martin landed a big Musky just at 36�?�. They left having an
absolutely �??FABULOUS�?� visit that they emailed me while on the way home for mid
July availability.
Ewell,
Adam Scott from Moorhead, KY returned for their 9th visit bringing
Adams son Mitchel for his first time. 1st day was quite an amazing
day as a group catching 104 Northern Pike & 2 SB. This was Mitchel�??s 1st
experience fishing for Northern Pike. 2nd day the target was
Smallmouth Bass & did they ever do well catching 45 plus 6 Pike, Ewell
landing a huge 37.5�?�er. 3rd day was better than their 1st
catching 109 Northern Pike & 1 Smallmouth. 4th day was another
great Smallmouth Bass day catching over 40 at 14-17�?�. 5th &
final day was a repeat of day 4 however the fish were 15 to 17.5�?�. All left
having a great time & made wonderful 3 generation memories together.
1st
time guests Joe & Cynthia O�??Connell came all the way from Las Vegas, NV to
visit us at Fireside Lodge. This was a walk back in time trip as 45 years ago,
being newly weds, they visited the area. 1st day they went right out
and caught some nice Northern Pike, and had to visit me at my tackle shop to
replace some torn up tackle & line. 2nd day they were pushed in
by late morning from bad T-Storms with lighting lasting the remainder of the
day, cramping their fishing time. 3rd day they did well catching
more Northern Pike but Cynthia lost a 3rd large fish at the boat. Joe, after
closer inspection, realized Cynthia�??s drag was not working at all so for day 4
she was fixed up with a different reel. 4th & final day they
were mostly rained in, however the small amount of time they were on the water
they caught some nice Pike. They left saying that they enjoyed themselves
thoroughly loving the Fishing, Service, Food, Accommodations & most of all
the very nice people they met. Before departing they mentioned several times
that they would be returning in 2017.
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