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
Hello from Fireside Lodge in Northwest Ontario, Canada. With
signs of fall staring to show up it�??s not surprising that we had unpredictable but
gorgeous weather with highs in the mid 70�??s and lows in the 50�??s along with
unbeatable orange sunsets, & fabulous nightly star displays that would put
anyone in awe.
David Bone, Dean Taylor from Woodland Park & Colorado
Springs, CO returning f or their second trip brought Mark Forsyth from Gold
Canyon, AZ.1st day was
slow so the second day they approached the lake differently on day 2 deciding
to fish a different depth zone. Well, it worked as they caught a bunch of
Smallmouth Bass along with a few Pike. Dean also caught a trophy size
Smallmouth Bass weighing in ay 4.5lbs. As we all know making adjustments is the
key to fishing success. Day three they decide to portage to a lake & got
more than what they bargained for by accidentally taking the wrong trail and
going an hour out of their way. All were great sports about it and continued on
getting to the lake and having a ball catching a bunch of Northern Pike. After
a rain delay on day 4, a great excuse to take a morning nap, they got on the
lake about 2:00PM and did well catching Smallmouth, Pike and David caught a
nice Musky. See what relaxing can do for your fishing. Days 5 & 6 were both
on the windy side but they managed to work around this and did well catching
Smallmouth & Northern Pike. Also, David was able to celebrate his birthday
with us on Friday. All left saying they hope to see us again in the near
future.
Bill & Tim Stayer from New Freedom & Mifflinton, PA
returned to experience Fireside Lodge in the summer as apposed to opening week.
They had to change their trip this year because of Bill having shoulder surgery
& will see if a BIG fish can put his recovered shoulder through its test.
First day they were greeted with high winds that kept most from fishing but
they managed to catch some Pike. Next day had Tim having the hot hand catching
Pike with a new lure purchased from our tackle shop. Tim was attentive on
working the lure as we discussed, which paid off. 3rd& 4th days they had had a
cold front storm system with high winds. Doing their best in these conditions
they caught some Pike. Throughout the rest of their stay they stayed on the
Pike search & Tim continued to do very well with his secret lure. He was
using a #6 & #5 all gold Blue Fox Spinner, not so secret but very affective
when fished slowly. They also enjoyed a portage lake for their last day
expressing how the serenity and the short hike were special. They also enjoyed
seeing those BIG Musky that lazily followed their offering. Tim hooked up on a
nice fish but lost it as fast as he hooked it after the beast rolled on the
surface. Both had a great stay and hope to return.
Steve & Debra Johnson from Haltown, MO were back for
Steve�??s 5th & Debra�??s 2nd trip. 1st day
started with T-Storms along with a cold front & high winds & this they
still caught about 8-10 Smallmouth Bass. 2nd day despite cold front
conditions, was very good as they got into good Smallmouth activity early on,
catching many along with bigger fish. Debra caught two 17-17.5-inches and Steve
caught two trophy Master Anglers Award Smallmouth at 18 & 18.5�?�. 3rd
day was great as they caught 19 Smallmouth Bass, most on the larger side,
including three at 17-17.5�?�. 4th and final day they stuck with their
pattern of fishing wind blown rocky/weedy areas, again getting good results.
They caught many good size Smallmouth Bass over 15�?�, and up to just under 18�?�.
Debra lost one that would have probably topped the 19�?� mark. Both had a
fabulous stay relaxing while fishing in our great wilderness setting.
Mike & Dee Hummel from Urbandale, IA returned to
Fireside Lodge for their 10th time. Even with cold front conditions
these two did great on their 1st day and had a fabulous time
catching many Smallmouth Bass 14 to 18�?�. Dee caught 2 Master Anglers Award
Trophy Bass over 18�?�. 2nd day was also a very good Smallmouth Bass
day with a few Pike mixed in and many of the Smallmouth Bass were 14 to 17�?�.
Dee did very well again using both live leeches and a plastic bait named �??Yum
Dinger�?�. On their 3rd& final day, when I asked how their day was, Mike said he thought
the fish were on to them. They did catch some but not like their first two
days, but that�??s fishing. Both went home having an enjoyable stay and said they
hope to return in 2012.
Charlie McDermid from Gardnerville, NV returned for his 2nd
trip to Fireside Lodge with first time guest Chris Stromm from South Lake
Tahoe, CA. These two were here primarily to hunt Musky. First day they faced
cold front & windy conditions, caught some fish, however the Musky eluded
them. 2nd day was excellent, catching a lot of Northern Pike with
some size to them, 30�?�+, but did not raise a Musky. In talking with Charlie
& Chris at supper Charlie indicated that he really wanted to catch a Musky
and said he had the fever. So the third day they changed tactics, made some
purchases, and after going over the map they were off to catch a Musky. Well,
they did just that as they had many follows and Charlie hooked and landed a
36.5�?� very heavy Musky that gave an exceptionally strong fight. Leaving their
fish cradle in the other boat they found themselves without a net so in order
to take proper care of the fish they actually got in the water with the fish to
unhook & release Charlie�??s fish. Great effort by two avid sportsmen!!
Fourth & final day these two tried to re-capture that Musky success and did
to some extent. Even though there were no hook ups they had close to 30 follows
and some of the fish were huge. Both were so excited that the stakes at that
evening�??s cribbage game was a subscription to Musky Hunter Magazine. Chris
& Charlie left having a fabulous stay with us and hope to return one day
soon.
John Eakle & Jim Pauley from Summersville & Blue
Creek, WV returned to fish with us for their second time. 1st day
had them catching some Pike & Smallmouth Bass. After reviewing the map and
deciding they might be fishing two shallow they were off to be more successful
on day two landing some nice Pike and Smallies. Day three they decided to go
though Musky Creek and into Muskie Lake, which has been a challenge with us
having no rain all summer. After some great effort getting through a silt bar
& three beaver dams, they made it in and were rewarded catching 42 Northern
Pike. 4th day gave them a rain delay until about 1:30PM afterwards
catching several Pike & Smallmouth while dodging a few storms. 5th
day they had a FABULOUS fishing catching close to 50 Northern Pike and Jim
caught the biggest Smallmouth Bass of his life measuring 18.5�?� with a humongous
girth. Last day was TERRIFIC also, as they caught over 60 fish, mostly Pike,
& a few BIG 17�?�+Smallies. Both had a FABULOS stay and made some memories to
last a lifetime.
Returning for their 11th consecutive year were
father & son Tom & Mark Reese from Bartlett, TN & Alexandria, VA.1st
day had them in a rain delay waiting out heavy rain and high winds, but by 1:00
thing got good enough to give it a go. They did well for a half-day catching 4
Pike & 8 Smallmouth. On their 2nd day they had a successful
morning locating and catching some nice Smallmouth Bass in several new spots
they never fished before. Always great to find new fishing locations. That same
afternoon they experienced some serious fishing equipment malfunctions, which
took a good chunk of their fishing time up. Both were able to tease and laugh
about it at supper knowing tomorrow will be a whole new day. 3rd day
was very active on the catching end landing many Smallmouth, Mark catching a
Trophy 18.5�?�er, and Northern Pike. The pike were hitting their Smallmouth baits
which resulted in many bite off�??s. 4th & final day was great
weather wise and they had a good day fishing catching Smallmouth Bass &
Northern Pike. The biggest catch for these two is their father & son time
spent together. You never know what the future holds, and if possible you
should try and capture special moments with parents, family, & friends.
Congratulations to Mark for doing just that with his Mom & Dad, and thanks
for choosing Fireside as one of the places to make your special family
memories.
John O�??Neil fromHolland, OH was fishing with us for the first time. 1st day
was a half day of very heavy rain but John did get a few hours of fishing
before supper and landed 8 Pike and saw a very big Musky. 2nd day
John said he had a terrific day, catching 8 Northern Pike & 10 Smallmouth
Bass including a 18.5�?� Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallie. At supper he said
he was worn out and did not fish that evening. 3rd day had him
catching about 10 fish and he had several very big Musky & Northern Pike
follows.
4th day John said was absolutely fabulous,
hooking 40+ Smallmouth Bass & landing another 18.5�?� Trophy. Also, as he was
fishing on a big reef area he had a follow from a big Pike however all of a
sudden a HUGE Musky came from the side and chased the Pike off. Then this
monster followed John�??s lure back to the boat twice, swirling at he lure the 2nd
time. Very exciting as John explained his experience at suppertime. 5th
& final day John caught 12 Smallmouth & a nice 35�?� Northern Pike. He
left having had a great time and said he would love to come with his wife &
son next year. By the way John�??s son is currently serving for the US Special
forces in Afghanistan and we want to thank him very much for his service to his
country.
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