Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 7/21 to 8/4 2018

Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 7/21 to 8/4 2018
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This week started out on the warm side and warmer than guests wanted. Well the old saying watch what you ask for applied later in the week when we had a severe cold front come in bringing day time highs in the very low 60’s and the low was 50. This weeks fishing had a lot of success stories that you can read about below.
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25 Year Guest Jerry Miller returned with 5 time return guest Duke Osborne both from Erwin, TN. DOA the caught 20 Smallmouth Bass in just a few hours of fishing. 1st day they caught 45 Smallmouth Bass lots in the 14 to 17.5-inch range plus Duke caught Trophy 19-incher and Jerry caught 2 Trophies at 18.75 and 18.5-inches. Not bad for being back at the dock by 3:00PM. 2nd day was absolutely amazing catching 53 Smallmouth Bass all on the larger side with all being 15-17.5-inches plus Jerry caught a 19.25, 3-18.25, and an 18-inch and Duke landed an 18.25-inch trophy Smallmouth Bass.
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3rd day was shortcoming off the water by the noon hour but they caught 31 Smallmouth Bass 5 being 19-19.5-inch Trophy fish and those 5 brutes were within their first 10 fish caught. 4th day they did well again catching 51 and Jerry caught 3 more Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass at 18, 18.75, & 19.25-inches to make a total of 16 Trophy Smallmouth Bass in just 4 days Fishing. 5th day they caught 62 Smallmouth Bass catching 3 more Master Anglers Trophy fish 18 to 19-inches plus Jerry hooked and landed a huge 25-inch Walleye. 6th day they caught 20+ Smallmouth Bass before the strong winds brought them in early, about noon, and they had 2 More trophy fish at 19+and 18.5-inches to make a total of 21 Trophy Smallmouth Bass in 6 days along with countless 16 to 17.75-inchers. When departing the asked to reserve for the same dates in 2019.
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A group led by Chris Hillard, of Bob Duncan, Dick Niemann, Dennis Peterson, and Bob Koehler respectively from Larkspur, Walnut Creek, San Rafael, Granite Bay, CA, and Naples FL, all fraternity brothers from college were fishing at Fireside Lodge for their 2nd consecutive year. 1st day on the water they all caught fish, Bob D catching a large long toothy critter Trolling a Blue Fox Spinner and the others caught a nice variety of Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. 2nd day all caught fish on a variety of lures from a floating worm, Blue Fox Spinner, and a crank bait. One thing you can count on are these guys having fun as their fraternity days come out in them when they are together. 3rd day they had some success with the plastics catching Smallmouth Bass and Bob K and Dennis had Great success with Blue Fox Spinners each landing a Trophy Master Anglers Award Smallmouth Bass, Bob with an 18.5-incher and Dennis had a 19-inch Trophy.
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4th day was even better as the two Bobs teamed up for about 40 Smallmouth Bass and Chris with Dennis caught a mix of 17 Smallmouth Bass & Northern Pike. Chris as he was fighting a Smallmouth Bass had a Pike try to eat his Smallmouth right at the boat. 5th day was difficult as high winds and a severe cold front drove them in by mid-day. 6th and final day all had fun fishing with Chris & Bob D saying it was one of their best days yet catching Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike and Chris caught his first Muskie ever. Living in California these guys never get a chance to catch fish that roam our waters. All left a little sad but glad they enjoyed another vacation together making another set of memories.
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Ed & JoAnn Piotrowski from Hampshire, IL returned for their 5th consecutive year and 7th trip and with them were Larry Starzec Hainesville, IL returning for his 4rd time with his daughter Liz for her first experience fishing at Fireside Lodge. 1st day Ed & JoAnn did well catching 36 Smallmouth Bass with a mix of sizes and a half dozed in the 17 to 18-inch range while Larry & Liz caught 20 with one Northern Pike. 2nd day all caught Smallmouth Bass but the story of the day was Larry while fishing for Smallmouth using a worm had a Tiger Muskie follow and quickly swim off, and a little later while using a small crank bait for Bass here comes the Muskie again, Larry stopped the lure, and after the Muskie eyed it up hit the lure and the fight was on with the conclusion of the story being a great net job by Liz and Great photo of Larry holding a 37.5-inch Tiger Muskie. 3rd day was another good day fishing with Joann & Ed catching over 25 Smallmouth Bass and 6-Pike, while Larry & Liz had 19 Smallies and 1 Pike.
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4th day had Ed & Joann catching 24 Smallmouth Bass with Larry & Liz connecting with 20+ but the story of the day was Liz catching her 1st Master Anglers Award Smallmouth Bass measuring in at 18-inches, and she caught it on JoAnn’s favorite lure The Worm. 5th day they were in early as a major cold front with cold rain and very windy conditions pushed them off the water. 6th day post cold front conditions had the fish off but Larry and Liz still managed to catch 16 Smallmouth Bass and each caught a 17-inch plus Smallmouth. All left having a wonderful time making memories together, and before leaving reserved their dates for 2019.
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Dan Spartz & and son Adam from Columbus, IN returned for their 5th time with Dan’s brother Jim from Naples, FL, for his first fishing experience at Fireside Lodge dad Jack from Sycamore, IL for his 3rd. 1st day they caught some nice Northern Pike Adam being top dog at 31.5-inches, plus they found a bunch of Smallmouth Bass after supper sizes ranging from 16 to 18-inches all hitting on surface poppers. 2nd day they had a good day catching Smallmouth Bass and after a discussion on fishing certain depths for Northern Pike using a suspending twitch baits with a certain technique, Jim and Adam caught some nice size Northern Pike applying this method, and on the first fish Adam said, Gosh it actually worked. 3rd day Adam & Jim teamed up to catch 34 Northern Pike and had a great experience a when walking into a portage lake coming up over a rise finding a Moose standing in the middle of the trail. Both, taken by surprise just looked in amazement at this huge majestic animal while the Moose turned its head and looked right at them. Then the Moose just turned and disappeared in the bush providing Adam & Jim with and experience of a lifetime.
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4th day was tough cold front windy conditions with rain on and off all day. Jim and Adam however still caught about a dozen good size Northern Pike sticking with the pause and erratic action technique. 5th day Adam and Dan portaged to Closs Lake getting many BIG follows and Adam hooked two Muskie both getting off, plus he also lost a HUGE Smallmouth Bass and both said they had a great day. 6th and final day was a super finish for this group catching many Smallmouth Bass as Dan said they were just attacking their baits plus Jack came up with a beauty Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 18-inches. Adam caught 2 Muskie and a trophy 19-inch Smallmouth Bass. On top of this they had a FABULOUS shore lunch by a special location at Twin Falls. This was a special family fishing trip being able to fish once again with Jack who is a remarkable 85 years young. They all made memoires to last a lifetime and are already planning their return trip to Fireside Lodge.

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16-years ago Tim Bergen, Palos Hgts, IL brought his 9-year-old sons to Fireside Lodge and for 16 years it has become a Bergen Family Tradition to fish at Fireside Lodge. This year Tim and Joe made it and Adam had to pass for the third year because of school. DOA they had a great start with Joe catching 9 nice size Northern Pike in just a few hours before supper and Tim had two HUGE follows on his 8.5-inch Polish Pike. 1st day they adventured into Cedarbough Lake taking some effort to get through the creek, having to traverse through low water and up over a beaver dam but using a push pole it worked out well for them catching some bigger Northern Pike, having good Muskie action landing 2 plus great Smallmouth Bass fishing as Joe caught a 19.5 and 20-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass.
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2nd day was very windy and a severe cold front moved through the area but these two caught some nice Northern Pike before surrendering to the weather about 1:30PM. 3rd day was post cold front conditions and they did well catching a bakers dozen Pike up to 31.5 inches while searching for that Trophy Northern Pike or Muskie. 4th and final day was a good finish searching for that lifetime trophy and catching about a dozen medium to larger Pike. Before leaving Tim talked to me about Adam, now out of school and working, will be able to join the next year for their 2019 traditional family fishing trip to Fireside Lodge.
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Bill & Jill Westbrook from New Philadelphia, OH returned for the 17th consecutive year. 1st night they stared out great each catching an 18 to 18.5-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass along with about 20 others in the 13-17-inch range. First day they had an excellent morning catching 35+ Smallmouth Bass, Bill landing an 18, 18.5, and 19-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass. They took it easy in the afternoon Bill mentioning how relaxed he has become taking in the whole fishing experience at Fireside Lodge. Bill fished alone in the evening catching 10 more nice Smallmouth Bass. 2nd day was their traditional Closs Lake portage day having fun catching 15+ average size Smallmouth Bass, then Bill fished after supper catching 8-10 more Smallmouth Bass including several 16-inches, several 17-17.5 inchers plus another Trophy 18.5-inch Smallmouth.
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3rd day they caught a few Smallmouth Bass but were in before noon as a cold front with rain and wind came in on them. Bill went back out that afternoon / evening and their total by days end was about 25 Smallmouth Bass with two Trophy fish right at 18-inches. 4th day was post cold front conditions catching about 15 fish with several being 16-17.5-inches. Bill after supper picked up another 10+ Smalllmouth Bass, all on the larger side, one being 18-inches. 5th and final day was a beautiful day weather wise and the fishing was also great catching a lot of Smallmouth Bass to end their trip on a high note, making their 2019 reservations before departing.

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Mike Stevens, with Son Brad from Lake Barrington & Barrington, IL, Paul Lampier, Phil Seroczynski, & Paul Douglas from Elgin, Palatine, & Hoffman Estates, IL and Bob Lauffer Clermont, FL with Johnny Sills from Orlando FL were back to visit us for their 5th time, and for Brad it was his first experience fishing at Fireside Lodge. DOA in just 2.5 hours they all caught fish before supper with Bob & Johnny landing 13 nice Smallmouth Bass.
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1st full day was full of adventure when trying to navigate a creek to get to Muskie Lake finding the beavers hard at work restricting their ability to get past it they retreated. All had a good day catching a variety of Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike and Phil landed the first Muskie in the group. 2nd day highlights, Mike caught a bakers dozen Smallmouth Bass while fishing alone, Bob landed a HUGE 19-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass fishing a surface Popper saying that the fish crushed it and leaped about 3 feet out of the water, making his catch all that more exciting.
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3rd day Mike and Brad had a special day catching many Smallmouth Bass with a lot 16 to 17.5-inches and Mike got a BIG 18.5-inch Trophy Smallmouth, while the others also had a good day fishing catching a variety of Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, and Johnny caught a nice 35-inch Muskie. 4th and final day (Boy 4 days Go Quick) Mike & Bob chased Muskie for the first half day getting many BIG follows & Mike landed one plus caught some nice Smallmouth with Bob catching a Trophy at 18-inches. Johnny and Brad had the same idea fishing for Muskie also getting follows but no takers, caught some Northern Pike & Smallmouth and Brad caught his 1st ever Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 18.5-inches. All left having a Great them among good friends and hope to return in the near future.
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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.

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Hot Lures: Sinking Worm Wacky Style, Blue Fox Spinner, Spinner Bait, X-Rap, Yo-Zuri, Ned Rig, Pop-R, Mepps Blckj Fury, Zara Spook
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Catches of The Week: 20-Inch Smallmouth Bass Plus 49 Between 18 to 19-inches, 25-inch Walleye, 37.5-inch Tiger Muskie
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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