Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/19 to 8/26 2017

Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/19 to 8/26 2017
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It was a fabulous week with the weather being in the low to upper 70’s on most days, with one cool day having a little moisture and wind. All had fun and the fishing was very good on most days with the windy day being a bit of a challenge for most.
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Here for their first time were Ken & Ginger Sprague from Indianapolis, IN. 1st day on the lake they fished as they learned new waters catching some Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. 2nd day was productive with Ginger catching Smallmouth Bass up to 17.5-inches and Ken caught Northern Pike. 3rd day after talking at the tackle shop and deciding that they should try to position themselves in a certain depth of water while fishing similar areas they did very well with Ginger taking care of the Smallmouth department catching some nice Smallies up to 17.5 inches and Ken had the Pike touch catching all Northern Pike.
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4th day was very windy which caused some boat control issues but they caught some pike and smallmouth with Ginger losing a very large Smallmouth when it jumped and threw her lure back at her. 5th day they had a ball catching Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike with the magic lure since they arrived being a Mepps Spinner with a red and white blade. Last day was Very rainy and windy as a cold front moved in and being very satisfied with their fishing over the last 5 days they returned to the dock by mid morning and called it a day spending the rest of their time just enjoying their very comfortable accommodations in our wilderness setting. Before departing they talked about returning with another couple n 2018.
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Long time Guest Bill Aulenbach from Barberton, OH returned solo for his 12th trip with us at Fireside Lodge. 1st day was great catching many Northern Pike up to 33-inches, discovering the challenge of landing a fishing without help, but doing a fine job. 2nd and 3rd day Bill did well catching Northern Pike on what he described to be an ugly lure. It was a blue, red, and yellow Jake but as ugly as it is a big Smallmouth Bass even attacked it, jumped, spitting the lure out and waving goodbye to Bill with it’s tail. 4th day before returning at noon hour for some lunch and a rest Bill got into a bunch of Northern Pike on a spoon dressed with a yellow twister tail.
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5th day Bill, despite the inclement weather of rain & wind, got into a flurry of activity catching one Northern Pike after another until he hooked a 160 pounder, himself making him come back to get a little first aid. After that and seeing the weather getting worse he called it a day. 6th and final day was post cold front conditions, but Bill still caught Northern Pike. Bill left self-satisfied that at 85 he was able to make another fishing trip and did well catching his favorite fish Northern Pike. Upon departing he was hopeful to make it back next year with his son Mike.
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John & Monica Ziegler from Union Hall, VA returned for their 8th visit with us at Fireside Lodge and for their 2nd time were John & Monica’s son Dan & wife Crystal from Rock Mount, VA. 1st day on the water they did very well catching 28+ nice Smallmouth Bass with John landing a HUGE Trophy 19-inch Smallmouth Bass, and Monica caught one 17.5-inches. The fish kept them busy enough just making the dinning room hours. 2nd day was windy but they still managed to catch 16 Smallmouth Bass and several Northern Pike.
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3rd day was a good day for all 4 catching Smallmouth Bass and Dan was getting much more comfortable operating the boat for his first time. 4th day Monica and John had a very good day catching Smallmouth Bass even though it was a windy, rainy, cold front day, catching a good number of 16-17.5-inchers and Monica caught an 18.5-inch Trophy. Crystal & Dan did well on Northern Pike and Dan landed his first Muskie. 5th day was post cold front so the numbers were down a bit but Jon & Monica still caught Smallmouth 16 to 17.5 inches and John caught 2-30-inch Northern Pike while Monica lost a very large Pike. Dan & Crystal caught Northern Pike. Next day had Crystal and Dan taking a new adventure to a portage lake having a terrific day catching Smallmouth Bass with Crystal being hot catching two 19-inch Smallmouth Bass and had a BIG Muskie on that had her rod doubled over feeling like it was going the break her hand, as well as the rod, the fish coming unhooked under the boat. John and Monica again caught a lot of Smallmouth Bass, John coming up with an 18-inch Trophy and Monica finally caught a fish on her whopper plopper.
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7th day was the final one for Dan & Crystal doing fantastic easily catching over 30 fish mostly Smallmouth Bass with some Northern Pike. 8th day John and Monica missed not having Dan & Crystal around and their fishing was a little slower however they still caught several 17-17.5-inch Smallmouth and Monica caught an 18-icnh Trophy. 9th and final day they relaxed a bit more just to absorb the wonderful wilderness surroundings, that John says makes him feels so good. They only fished for a few hours with Monica catching all the fish. Their departure was sad but also glad at the thought of their possible return.
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At Fireside Lodge for their 1st time were Father David Cornwell and two sons Kyle and Ian from New Lenox, IL and North Liberty, IA. DOA fishing for just 90-minutes before suppertime had Ian catching a BIG Northern Pike smashing his lure about 10 feet from the boat while he was doing some adjustment on the trolling motor which means the pause got the fish to hit. 1st day these three did great catching both Northern Pike & Smallmouth Bass with Kyle having the hot hand using a 5 of diamonds spoon. They described the Pike as sizable and Kyle caught an 18-inch Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass. They also sighted a few BIG Muskie following their lure. 2nd day Kyle again continued his hot streak catching an even bigger trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 19-inches and had a HUGE Northern Pike to the boat, but it got off at the last second.
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3rd day was a fabulous adventure going to one of our creek accessible lakes and hooking up on at least 40 Northern Pike landing slightly over half, with most if the others lost at the boat plus Ian & Kyle both caught Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 18.5 & 18 inches respectively. 4th day was a super day actually catching over 40 Northern Pike, having many misses, and most were on a Buzz Bait or Spinner Bait fast retrieved very close to the surface. 5th day had them enjoying a shore lunch and catching some bigger Pike. Ian lost a HUGE fish after a few hard runs just shaking the lure loose. 6th and final day consisted of only a half day of fishing catching some good Northern Pike before they had to pack up for their return trip home. Taking with David he expressed that the fishing experience with us at Fireside Lodge was the best ever, and memories with his sons priceless.
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A guest since 1995, Jack Hires from Valparaiso, IN returned bringing a friend and first tine Fireside Lodge guest Eric Graham from Chesterton, IN. Here to primarily Fly-Fish 1st day out these two did well catching both Smallmouth bass and Northern Pike Fly-Fishing. Because of the windy rainy weather their fishing was limited but they did catch some nice Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass with Jack landing the largest fish of its class being a 17.5-inch Smallmouth Bass. 3rd day was a very cool windy day with rain on and off which limited their production. 4th day had Jack taking a day off for some rest, and deservingly being 85-years young. So Eric fished solo and realized how important a boat partner can be when catching fish as he did well with Northern Pike and enjoyed the challenge of fishing and landing fish himself. 5th day Eric found some nice Northern Pike right where they should be, in 10 to 16 feet of water with access to deep water. The 6th and final day Eric, fishing alone caught, some great Northern Pike and mastered taking a fish photo when fishing alone. Both departed having a great time fishing and socializing with others in the dinning room.
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Bob Duncan, Chris Hillard, Dick Niemann, and Bob Koehler respectively from Walnut Creek, Carkspur, Santa Rosa, CA and Naples FL, all fraternity brothers from college were fishing at Fireside Lodge for their first time. 1st day they tested the waters catching some fish but still needing some advise. 2nd day following some fishing advise they caught many more fish wit Chris catching his 1st ever Northern Pike plus many more and the others all caught fish. 3rd day was super good for these guys who were just learning about fishing in the north for Northern Pike. They all caught Pike mostly on lures purchased from our tackle shop, Chris caught 6, Bob 9, Bob K about the same, and Dick caught his first Northern Pike ever which was cause for celebration, which they did before and during suppertime. 4th day was a super good day as they all caught a lot of Northern Pike. This group had very little experience fishing for Northern Pike if any, with three catching their first ever so they were thrilled when they discovered trolling was productive catching more fish than they ever imagined. We also had a special celebration for Chris as it was his 67th birthday. 5th day was very windy and all returned early having some success but the weather gave them a good reason to just sit on the deck of their cabin to reminisce about the past 5 days, and 49 years spending time together, Thanks for choosing Fireside Lodge to spend special time together making memories among long time friends.
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John Bahls and sons Don, Robert, and David from Hastings, and St Paul, MN returned for their 2nd consecutive year. 1st day John & Don spent their time throwing large lures in search of BIG fish having some follows but no takers while David and Robert went after numbers catching 31 Northern Pike and several Smallmouth Bass with David landing an 18.5-inch Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass. 2nd day they all went Muskie hunting doing very well. They had a lot of follows, and caught three Muskie. Robert also caught a Big Northern Pike in the 36-inch range. 3rd day was fun day catching some Pike and chasing the BIG toothy critters around. 4th and final day Robert & Don had a special day Muskie fishing catching one each, Robert had a double follow by two 35 to 37-inch Muskie, they also had a 45-inch Plus follow, came back later and it followed again, third time not, and Robert while catching a Smallmouth Bass had his line break, but he managed to be quick enough to grab his line and hand line the fish to the net. David & John also had a fun day with John having his best day of the trip. All went home making great father & sons / brother memories and John mentioned a possible return in 2018.
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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: Blue Fox Spinner, Mepps Spinner with White Tail, Yo-Zuri, Red & White Mepps Spinner, Silver Minnow Spoon tipped with a Twister Tail, 5-of Diamonds Dardevle Spoon

Catches of The Week: 19.5-inch Smallmouth Bass with many 18-19-inches, 37-inch Northern Pike, Several Guests catching either their first Muskie or Northern Pike Ever
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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.firesidelodge.com
http://www.firesidelodgefishing.com
800-545-0815
Email at:fireside@xplornet.com