Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 7/7 to 7/14 2018

Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 7/7 to 7/14 2018
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This week served up a multitude of weather combinations from a cold front to very warm weather, some rain, but the biggest factor was wind which seems to affect fishers the most with boat control and fishing presentation. Despite those continuous changing conditions fishing was very good and in some cases excellent.
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Donn Loy, Tom Wiersema, & Doug Richardson respectively from Kearney, NE, & Laramie & Casper, WY were back for their 2nd trip with us at Fireside Lodge. 1st day were brutal winds 20 gusting to 30mph but they made the best of the day catching Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike where Mother Nature allowed them to fish. 2nd day they had a very good day catching 16 Smallmouth Bass Donn landing a Trophy Smallmouth Bass at 18-inches, and they caught 5 big Northern Pike.
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3rd day they had a blast catching about 20 Bigger Smallmouth Bass, Tom & Donn landing a HUGE 18.5-inch Trophy plus the caught 10 nice Pike. The special catch of the day was when Donn hooked an over 30-inch Muskie on a Ned Rig fishing for Smallmouth Bass. Well the fight was on and Donn won, landing the Muskie with light tackle. 4th day was a great Northern Pike catching day as they landed 47 with having many follow, hit, or get off, plus 4 Smallmouth Bass. 5th day was extremely windy again and they struggled for the beginning part of the day, boat control being the main issue, but then they found the back side of windy points holding fish, just staying their was the challenge. They ended the day before supper with 16 nice Smallmouth Bass and had a few large Muskie follows. All enjoyed their stay a look forward to their return.
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Jeff Wilson from Nova Scotia returned for his 3rd time with his great friend Dennis Dillon Dennis from the Greater Toronto Area here for his 1st visit. 1st day was fun catching a few Smallmouth Bass and some Pike. 2nd day was GREAT as they had a blast catching one Northern Pike after another actually loosing count, plus Craig caught a Monster 19.5-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass. 3rd day had these two having another good day fishing catching 37 Northern Pike and 1 Trophy Smallmouth Bass by Dennis measuring 18.5-inches. 4th day was another banner day catching 51 Northern Pike with a lot 30 to 35-inches, the average size being 30-inches. Craig also had the Smallmouth Bass of a lifetime on but lost at the boat. He said it was the largest Smallmouth Bass he or Dennis had ever seen. The great thing about their last few days was they were catching the majority of their fish on Buzz Baits making it that much more exciting.
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5th day, just when you think it can’t get better than the last two days it did, as they caught 61 Northern Pike up to 33-35-inches, all on Buzz Baits missing about twice as many as they caught. 6th and final day they had another great day catching 35 nice size Northern Pike before supper deciding to pack and get ready for the departure in the morning. They had a great time catching up as friends spending 12 hours a day in the boat fishing in our wonderful wilderness lakes. Craig will be returning in August with his dad, brother and another friend and Dennis says we will definitely see him again.
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Long time return guests and lifetime friends Larry Hinshaw & Pat Hobson from Blue Grass, IA and Yorktown, IN were here for their 13th time to chase their favorite fish, Smallmouth Bass. 1st day before Supper they caught 13 Smallmouth Bass and 3 were Master Anglers Award Smallmouth two at 18 and one 18.5-inches. 2nd day they had a very good morning caching a lot of Smallmouth Bass 13 to 17.75 inches and after supper they did well with Pat landing two Master Anglers Award Smallmouth Bass both measuring at 18-inches. 3rd day these two had a great day catching over 30 fish almost a split between Smallmouth Bass & Northern Pike. Very windy conditions limiting boat control hampered their Closs Lake portage day but they scratched out a few fish here and there enough to keep smiles on their faces at suppertime. 4th day had them having spurts of activity adding up to two dozen nice Smallmouth Bass. 5th day they were struggling until Larry pulled out a new plastic rig he had not used yet and the story of the day was told. On his first cast with the new rig he caught a big Smallmouth Bass. They proceeded to catching 25+ more large Smallmouth including Larry landing 2 over 18-inches. After supper they added 10 Bass to their total making 40 and these were caught on their favorite presentation, surface poppers. 6th and final day they went back to the new plastic rig with great success catching 30 Plus Smallmouth Bass. Pat’s last comment while departing was “See Ya Next Year”.
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Steve Roodvoets from Alto, MI and Lynn Anderson from Grandville, MI were making their first visit to Fireside Lodge. DOA they did great catching over a dozen Smallmouth Bass and 6-8 Pike. 1st full day fishing they did well despite the wind catching about 20 Smallmouth Bass up to 18-inches and a half dozen Pike. 2nd day was great catching well over 25+ Smallmouth Bass & 8 Northern Pike 3rd day was FABULOUS catching well over 100 Northern Pike before 3PM, Lynn saying that it seemed that they were catching Pike as fast as they could make their next cast.
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4th day these two had an absolute ball catching Northern Pike all day long catching at least 100 and Steve also caught a few nice Smallmouth Bass. 5th day was very good catching about 20 bigger Smallmouth Bass and 10 good Pike. 6th and final day they did very well catching many BIG Smallmouth Bass and both landed a Muskie. Steve had a BIG upper 30-inch Muskie hit his Zara Spook while fishing for Smallmouth Bass and the fight was on with Steve being successful in the end. Steve also caught a 5lb Trophy Smallmouth measuring 19.5-inches.
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Exclusive Fly-Fisher Steve Jensen from Springfield, MO was returning for his 16th consecutive year with his wife Nancy for her 3rd visit with us at Fireside Lodge. Also good friends, Jerry & Jackie Jester from Springfield, MO arrived for Jerry’s 2nd and Jackie’s 1st time. 1st day was very productive catching over 30 Northern Pike mostly while fly-fishing. 2nd day the ladies stayed back do their hobbies for the day while Jerry & Steve went fishing on a picture perfect day to fly fish. They took advantage of these conditions catching a bunch of Northern Pike along with a few Smallmouth Bass fly-fishing. 3rd day was a rainy windy stay in day. 4th day was beautiful but very windy causing difficulty fly-fishing, but they did catch some fish and made the best of conditions. 5th and final day was windy and they all decided not to fight the wind and just have a relaxing day on the deck of their cabin enjoying the wilderness surroundings. All had a great time and reserved their dates for 2019.

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Long time guest Mike Gerulski from Huntington Woods, MI returned with good friend Dennis Wolf from Daisy, TN
DOA they got to it catching a few Smallmouth Bass and close to a dozen Pike. 1st full day they did very well catching Smallmouth Bass having spurts of action with lulls in-between, accumulating to about 20 Smallmouth Bass for the day. 2nd day started out great with them each catching a Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass, Mike with an 18-incher and Dennis landing an 18.5-inch fish. After breakfast it continued to get better & by supper they caught over 50 fish, most Smallmouth Bass with a lot on the bigger side & Dennis caught another trophy at 18-inches.
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3rd day was facing high winds making them really search for places that were fishable. They had short times of activity on and off throughout the day catching a mix of Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. 4th and final day they caught 45 to 50 fish, mostly Smallmouth bass with a good mix of Northern Pike, which is a GREAT finish to a fabulous fishing trip. Before departing Dennis and Mike said they will be contacting us early to make reservation for a group of 6 in 2019.
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First time guests Bill Koehn, Geneva, IL Paul Cheek, St Charles, IL Jerry Blattner, Tampa, FL, and Ted Knorring Wheaton, IL were here to explore the new waters of Little Vermilion Lake System. 1st day they did well each boat catching fish with Bill cashing in on the first day catching a 30-inch Muskie, which was a money fish. They had 4 competitive categories one having money going to the 1st Muskie caught over 30-inches. Bill also caught a Trophy Smallmouth Bass at 18.5-inches. 2nd day Ted & Jerry had a great day doing it with the basic Little Joe Spinner tipped with a minnow, catching 20 Smallmouth Bass, 10 Northern Pike and Jerry caught his 1st Muskie ever, a big 34-inch Tiger Muskie. Jerry was a day late & dollar short for the money pot. Bill and Paul had the same results with artificial lures catching a bunch of Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike, with most being sizable fish.
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3rd day they did well for the high winds they had catching some nice fish and enjoying a great shore lunch. 4th day, even though the action was on again off again they had another great day fishing catching many Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. 5th day they got off to an early start to beat the heat but still fished until 4PM. Well Ted, fishing with Paul, said it was day best day in his boat catching over 30 Smallmouth Bass and 20 Northern Pike while Jerry and Bill had almost as good of a day plus they had a special happening as a Muskie was chasing a Bass Bill was fighting, going back and forth several times right in front of their boat. 6th and final day all did well and went home making some great memories among fishing buddies.
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The Ramsey Brothers Mike alias Boomer from Penn Valley, CA, Don alias Blooper from Hillsboro, OH and Dan alias Bob from Germantown, OH returned for their annual fishing trip and joining them this year were father and son Norm and Reed Norman from Cincinnati, OH. DOA as a group caught 31 northern Pike up to 30-inches and 4 Smallmouth Bass in just a few hours. 1st full day this group knocked it out of the park catching 106 fish, mostly Northern Pike with a few Smallmouth Bass in the mix. 2nd day was search and seek for Muskie day having some follows landing one average 30+-inch Muskie, however Butch put on a great side show to the Muskie fishing catching a GIANT 20-inch Smallmouth Bass and a 38.5-inch very large Northern Pike. 3rd day was very windy but the three brothers made the best of it catching 33 Smallmouth Bass 14 to 17.5-inches, 11 Northern Pike up to 31-inches, and a walleye.
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4th day was FANTASTIC catching as a group 87 Northern Pike before supper and then the brothers three, Boomer (Mike), Blooper (Butch), and Bob (Dan caught 33 nice size Smallmouth Bass up to 17.5-inches using a new method they grasped from my tackle shop. 5th and final day Dan, went fishing with Norm & Reed in an attempt to have either Norm or Reed, maybe both, to catch a Muskie while Butch and Mike chased anything BIG. Well, after seeing lots of follows a bigger Muskie, near the boat, opened its mouth lunging to engulf Reed’s lure, but Reed being able to see everything went to set the hook too early and pull the lure right out of the fishes mouth. Dan said he was catching Smallmouth Bass at will while using their new method. Final total for the last day were 48 Smallmouth Bass, Dan with a HIGE 20-inch Trophy, 6 Northern Pike, and 1 Muskie 42-44-inches Dan had on and lost during the netting process. All went home sad to leave but already planning next year’s return.
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Father John Bahls from Hastings, MN returned with his three sons Don, Robert, and David for their 3rd consecutive year. 1st day Robert and John tried to get into Cedarbough but were unsuccessful. These 4 are mostly in the hunt for Muskie and they did well the first day having some nice follows, John had a good fish on but lost it at boat side after it jumped right in front of him making a large splash before throwing the hook and swimming off. Don caught a smaller Muskie and David had a good size Pike, plus Robert caught a Trophy 19-inch Smallmouth Bass. 2nd day they did great despite the high winds catching a total of over 55 Northern Pike.
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3rd day was a great day for all with Don and Father John teaming up to catch a lot of Smallmouth Bass on a new technique they never used before, purchased from our tackle shop, and did they ever catch some nice Smallmouth Bass. David & Robert had different goals chasing Muskie and Robert hit it big catching a very large 40-inch Muskie in an interesting way. Robert while fishing a large Bull Dog was pulling his lure from the water as he sighted a Big Muskie following, so without missing a beat he threw the Bull Dog back quartering away from the Muskie which then turned and attacked the lure with lighting speed making Robert’s catch that much more memorable. 4th and final day was exciting for David & Robert having many Muskie follows, hooking three but loosing all of them from acrobatic jumps. Don & John did well again catching a lot of Smallmouth Bass of all sizes. All left having another memorable father and son fishing trip at Fireside Lodge.
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Father & son Bob & Ron Ramsey from Leavenworth, KS & Arden, NC returned for their 14th consecutive year. DOA they got off to a good start catching some sizable Northern Pike fishing off shore humps. 1st full day of fishing, as always targeting larger fish, they did well despite challenging winds, catching 7 nice Northern Pike topping out at 35-inches.
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2nd day both had a terrific day fishing where they love to be while having great conversation and many laughs. Fishing to Bob & Ron of course means more than just catching fish. It is about a father and son getting together to do nothing but spending time together catching up on their everyday lives, remembering and reminiscing about years gone bye, and if it is there last moments together making another set of memories. There last day they again did well catching Northern Pike finishing on a high note. Before departing they made their reservations for 2019.
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Hot Lures: Buzz Baits, Doctor Spoon, Ned Rig, Twister Tail, Shallow Runner Crank Bait, Sinking Worm, Bull Dog, Mini-D, Yo-Zuri, X-Rap, Fat Rap

Flies of the Week: Murdich Minnow, Red White and Green Yellow Streamer,

Catches of The Week: 3-20-inch Smallmouth Bass, many 18 to 19.5 inches, 40-inch Muskie, 38.5-inch Northern Pike
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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