Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 7/27 to 8/3 2019

Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 7/27 to 8/3 2019
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This week started out with a few warm days in the mid 80’s but a cool front came in Monday dropping the temps to the mid 60’s but then rebounded the next day giving us beautiful summer weather with highs in the 70’s. Many Fish were caught and some experienced the best fishing of their lives.
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Ed & JoAnn Piotrowski from Hampshire, IL returned for their 6th consecutive year and 7th trip and with them were Larry Starzec Hainesville, IL returning for his 5th time and Rich Starzec from Round Lake, IL for his 3rd visit. 1st day out both boats did well catch a lot of Smallmouth Bass after the skies cleared and it became sunny. The activity came in short bursts with JoAnne being the first to catch a Trophy Smallmouth Bass at 18.5-inches. Ed also had an exciting Muskie catch hooking it on a lite Bass rod, and after a good fight Joanne netted it for him but as Ed was attempting to pick up the Musky for a picture it jumped right out of the net and swam off. They estimated the fish to be between 35-38-inches.
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2nd day was almost a repeat of day 1 with out the Muskie escape incident. 3rd day Larry and Rich managed to catch 25+ nice Smallmouth Bass despite a typical Canadian cold front with high winds from the north and on and off rain spurts. Ed and JoAnn also faired well for conditions and JoAnn caught her second Master Anglers Award Smallmouth Bass at18.5-inches. 4th day had Ed and JoAnn catching 18 Smallmouth Bass while Rich and Larry caught 26 Smallies. 5th day all had a great day Smallmouth Bass fishing with Rich and Larry ending up with 32 Rich having 2 trophies over 18-inches plus Larry had the largest Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 19-inches along with them catching some 15,16, and 17-inch plus fish.
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6th and final day started with T-Storms first thing in the morning but turned out to be a great day fishing with calm and overcast conditions. They did well with Rich and Larry catching 37 Smallmouth Bass in their boat and Rich caught another Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 18-inches. Larry and Rich had 186 Smalllmouth Bass for the trip, while Ed and JoAnn had 118 for the trip. JoAnn won hands down, the retro lure contest catching fish on 3 of the 6 lures she used throughout the 6 days of fishing. Ed, Larry, and Rich all decided this was more of an accomplishment than Ed catching the biggest fish on a retro lure, a 14-inch Smallmouth, which was suppose to be the qualifier for the contest winner. All left having another wonderful stay at Fireside Lodge and already made their reservations for the same dates in 2020.
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Marty Sugerik from Wilmington, NC and Ty Trbovich from Columbus, OH were fishing with us at Fireside Lodge for their first time. DOA they did well finding their way around a new lake system and did very well catching Northern Pike. 1st full day they did good catching Northern Pike again but they also each caught a Muskie plus they had about a dozen other follows and one was a Gigantic Musky. Very good results for never fishing Little Vermilion Lake before.
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2nd day was very windy with cold front conditions but they cleaned up on the fishing, catching upwards of 40 Northern Pike having several big Muskie follows, and Marty landed another big Muskie which makes it two for him and two for Ty in just 2 full days of fishing. Sometimes a summer cold front gets Musky and Northern Pike active, which is the opposite of how most fishers think. 3rd day they had another great day Muskie fishing having over 50 follows and each again caught a BIG Muskie making 6 total in 3 days. Marty had something happen to him that I never saw or heard of before when a big Musky followed his figure eight over 40 times, and when Marty tried to switch his grip position from arm fatigue, his lure hesitated and that’s when the fish became disinterested and swam off. Also, Ty told me that one of his follows was from the biggest fresh water fish he had ever seen.
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4th and final day they had another great Muskie day catching 3 more, Ty had 1 and Marty landed two plus Ty had two come unhooked right at the boat along with both having a lot of follows. That makes 9 Muskie landed, a half dozen hooked and lost, and countless follows in 4 days of fishing. That’s GREAT Muskie Fishing at Fireside Lodge. Marty and Ty when checking out expressed how this fishing vacation was better than ever imagined, not only for the GREAT fishing they experienced but the service, meals and accommodations were outstanding. They left saying they intend on reserving for 2020 with 4 people in August.
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Returning for their 3rd time were Paul Barlak, Jeff Wensing, & Pat Swinger from Broadview Hts, Strongsville, & Fairview Park, OH, brother John Barlack from Seven Hills, & Phil Billick From Lower Salem, OH. First two days were full of fun catching Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass fighting off some tough cold front conditions. 3rd day the weather really turned around becoming a beautiful 72-degree sunny day with a light breeze. Well they had a fabulous day fishing with each boat getting continuous action all day long and each boat caught 40-50 nice Northern Pike. Sometimes weather could mean that much difference in fishing, especially the wind that affects the most important part of catching fish which is boat control. There were all smiles in the dinning room telling the fishing stories of the day.
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4th day Jeff joined the group for a shorter 3 day stay because of work commitments, but what a fabulous commitment to friends and family for Jeff to make the effort to travel by himself to join them for their traditional fishing trip. Highlights for todays fishing was Pat catching some monster Smallmouth Bass, several trophy fish between 18-20-inches some looking as round as a football, plus Phil and Paul caught some over 30-inch Northern Pike on Spoons they purchased from my tackle shop that very morning.
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5th day had them psyched to catch Muskie, making some purchases of lures from my tackle shop that Ty and Marty (above) had success with. Well they had numerous follows and Paul caught a nice Muskie, on his new lure, and as a group they caught some Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass. 6th and final day they had fun searching for BIG fish catching some nice size Northern Pike up to the mid-30-inch range. This group had such a blast that Patrick expressed how sad he was that he had to leave and could not stay and fish the rest of his life. All went home having another great traditional group fishing trip. Thanks for choosing us at Fireside Lodge for your special trip.
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Long time guests Jim McCollam, son Ryan, Jim Havlin, son James, Ron Tucker, son Shane from Orland Park, Orland Hills, and New Lennox, IL. were glad to be back fishing at Fireside Lodge. 1st day fishing all had fun fishing between the afternoon thunderstorm activity catching Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass. 2nd day had Jim and Ryan Muskie fishing doing very well having many follows and Jim hooked and landed a nice 36-inch thick-bodied Tiger Muskie. The others caught a lot of Northern Pike.
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3rd day all said they had a good fishing day. Jim, Ryan, Jim and James catching a mix of Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass despite the windy conditions, with most fish being good size. Ron and Shane teamed up for a day of Muskie fishing having a fabulous day catching two up to 36-inches and had many follows with some being very large Trophy Size Musky. 4th and final day was a variable weather day having some lingering T-Storms, but they made the most there last day catching some very nice Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. This group has been coming to Fireside Lodge since Ryan, Shane, and James were in their teens and a few are in the 30’s. Imagine all the wonderful father and son memories made fishing at Fireside Lodge together, which is the biggest catch of all.
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First Time guests at Fireside Lodge were Mark Jones, and good friends father and son Timmy, and Josh McDaniel all from Pembroke, VA. Mark had been referred to us by a Fireside Lodge guest and has been reading our Fireside Lodge Fishing Reports for years finally deciding to make the trip for their first Canadian Wilderness Fishing Adventure. DOA day on the water was very windy which is tough on anyone especially if you’re new to a lake. They managed and all caught fish, a mix of Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. 1st day was tougher facing severe cold front conditions that came in during the evening before. It came with high winds and cold rain. They still persevered catching some Pike and Smallmouth. 2nd day they did good catching Northern Pike by the Smallmouth Bass seemed to be difficult for them to make contact with so we discussed some new techniques and locations for them to try.
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Day 3 they did very good on Smallmouth Bass concentrating on the depth of 8-10 ft. and using a slow or do nothing approach with the excellent worms they make. 4th day these three had a fabulous day finding the Smallmouth Bass hitting well on the surface, having perfect overcast and calm conditions, catching many Smallmouth throughout they day. 5th day they had another very good day catching mostly Pike. 6th and final day was another very good day catching many Smallmouth Bass along with some Northern Pike. Before supper while checking out and giving me their fish pictures, as they intended to leave early in the morning before breakfast, saying they will only see me again if they caught a picture fish. Well at the end of the evening fish they came to see me with picture of a 17.5-inch Smallmouth and Josh caught an 18-inch Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass. What a GREAT way to end a special and memorable fishing trip. All said they will be back.
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Jeff Wilson from the Burlington, ON here for his 4th time arrived with his brother Craig from Hubbard, Nova Scotia returning for his 5th trip. DOA these two did very well catching 7 Northern Pike a Muskie and seeing several other very Large Musky, plus landed 3 large Smallmouth Bass. 1st day they did great catching 50+ Smallmouth Bass, each landing a Master Anglers Award Smallmouth Bass over 18-inches and surprisingly a lot of action was on top-water despite the windy, wavy conditions. 2nd day was spent chasing Muskie having dozens of follows, landing two plus they caught a couple of HUGE Smallmouth Bass with Musky Bucktails, Craig’s having a very impressive girth.
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3rd day they caught about 10 nice Pike before supper and had a planning session in the dinning room and caught a few more in the evening fish. Day four Jeff had some battery issues with his boat taking up a half day, but they made the most of it catching a nice mix of Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. 5th day was a very explosive literally getting a very active top-water bite catching large Smallmouth Bass and several large Muskie with a few Pike in the mix. They caught anything from Trophy Smallmouth Bass to Musky in the 38-inch range. They were so pumped and excited that they came in the lodge and to show me their very impressive pictures. 6th and final day they both said was unreal, catching 32 very large Smallmouth Bass and 20 were 18-19-inch Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass, 6 Northern Pike and a big Muskie, all while fishing surface lures. It was just the perfect day with calm winds and partly overcast skies for a top-water presentation. This was all done before suppertime and they had the whole evening left. The end total was 37 Smallmouth Bass with 22 being Trophy fish from 18-20-inches. They said the fishing was just unreal making memories between brothers that will last forever, and said they will definitely back for more.
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Long time guest Charlie McDermid from Bozeman, MT arrived with excitement and anticipation glad to be back fishing at Fireside Lodge. With him for the first half of Charlie’s stay was a good friend Don Kauffman also from Bozeman, and he is an astute Fly-Fisher who has never done lake Fly-Fishing. The second half his daughter and her husband Jennie and Criag Klann also from Bozeman, MT will be joining him. Charlie’s love of chasing Muskie is what brings him to Fireside Lodge, but for Charlie I believe the real reason is fishing in the North, as he has done since he was a youngster, is engrained in his soul. During Don’s first half with Charlie they chased Muskie without much success however caught Northern Pike in the process and fished for Smallmouth Bass for a day. Don never caught Smallmouth Bass Fly-Fishing so he accomplished his goal by catching several, and he also caught his first Northern Pike on a Fly Rod. Don left having a great time and really enjoyed his first take on Lake Fly-Fishing.
Charlie had Jennie and Craig chasing Muskie on their first day fishing without much success, besides the follows that Musky are well know for. 2nd day Charlie and Craig were out fishing by 5:30 AM to catch the pre-thunderstorm activity and hopefully catch the big fish moving, and they did catch several nice Northern Pike in 1.5 hours before the thunder and lightening started. The rest of the day and on their 3rd day they spent a lot of time covering some new water looking for Charlie’s BIG Muskie catching Northern Pike along the way. 4th day had them making plenty of contact with Muskie getting many follows but could not get a strike. That’s Muskie fishing!! 5th day was fishing their way up to Twin Falls catching some Northern Pike. They all enjoyed the falls and a beautiful day. 6th and final day was they grand slam catching one Northern Pike after another with seemingly non-stop action for several hours. This had them all leaving on a high note full of anticipation until the next time.**
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Darling Group, Bill Darling who was with us with his wife before, came with his son Mike, and two long time fishing buddies Ed Hammer and Bob Foreman all from Centerville, Maryland. DOA Bill and Bob caught some Smallmouth bass to get started. First day all caught fish while learning the lower half of Little Vermillion Lake and they were all impressed after receiving Audrey’s signature huge full rack of fall of the bone ribs at suppertime.
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2nd day they did well catching Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, and Muskie with Bob catching a few of the largest Smallmouth of the group, Ed with the largest Northern Pike, and Mike, never having caught a Muskie before in his life caught two and lost another all on a lure he purchased from my tackle shop that morning. That’s a good day fishing for all and the chatter and excitement in the dinning room was obvious. Also, both Ed and Bob purchased the lure that Mike had such great success with for the Muskie. 3rd and final day, after talking with Mike, Bob, and Ed, they had caught a lot of Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike using a variety of lures. All left having loads of fun making many memories among family and long time fishing buddies.
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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: The Worm, In-Line Spinners, Mepps Musky Killer, Blue Fox Spinner, Mepps Aglia, Zara Spook, Whopper Plopper, Sinking Worms, Rattl’n Rap, Yo-Zuri Vibe,

Catches of The Week: 9 Muskie and 6 lost in 4 days with countless follows, 22 Trophy Smallmouth Bass out of 37 Caught, 20-inch Smallmouth Bass
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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
800-545-0815
Email at:fireside@xplornet.com