Fireside Lodge Fishing News/Photo Report 7/4 to 7/11 2009 Part 1

This week temperatures were very pleasant staying between 65 to 70 degrees for highs with a mix of sun and cloud, lows in the mid 40’s and brief rain showers appeared towards the end of the week. You could almost mistake it for fall weather, but the Mayfly hatch, which happened this week is a dead give away it was early summer.

Mike and Dee Hummel from Urbandale, IA returned to Fireside Lodge for their sixth year. First day they did well despite strong winds catching Smallmouth Bass, and Dee had a HUGE toothy critter follow her lure but could not get it to Strike. Second day was great as Mike and Dee caught plenty of Smallmouth Bass from 13 to 17.5-inches. Third day was a superb day as in the morning they caught a lot of big Smallmouth Bass, and at noon fished for Pike catching well over 30 Northern Pike. All of Mike’s were caught fly-fishing with most of the Northern Pike being 28 to 30-inches, and the Smallmouth were 16 to 17.5-inches. Fourth day was another very good day fishing and catching as they caught a lot of Smallmouth Bass with Dee using a power worm and a slow technique, while Mike stuck to fly fishing using a chartreuse popper. With the mayflies hatching a slower presentation was working the best. Fifth and final day was very windy with thunderstorms in the area all day, and despite this Mike and Dee fished until 4:00PM when most others had come in early. They did well catching mostly Smallmouth Bass. Upon their departure they expressed the wonderful time they had and reserved their same dates for 2010.

Brian Borawski from Frederick, MD and Richard Fecht from Gaithersburg, MD were fishing at Fireside lodge for their first time. First day on the water was investigative trying to get the lay of the lake and find the weed beds. They found that the cold spring we have had limited the weed growth to date. They caught some fish and gained some valuable knowledge. Second day Rick and Brian found some good Smallmouth Bass fishing, Brian catching two Master Anglers Award Smallies at 18 and 19-inches. Third day they were in search of Pike and they found them as they landed over 60 Northern Pike. Fourth day, while in search of Muskie, caught some nice Northern Pike and had some follows but the Muskie won today’s battle. Fifth day was very windy which caused boat control difficulties, but they fished all day long and caught a few very nice Pike and had a few follows. Sixth and final day was their last chance at a Muskie and Brain was determined to catch one. Well he did even better than that, he caught two, the first being 35-inches and the second Muskie was a monster 45-inch Master Anglers Award trophy. Great way to finish.

Father and son Mark and Connor McDermotte from Chicago, IL were returning to fish at Fireside Lodge for Mark’s third consecutive year. First year was daughter Cailan, second year son Sean was with Mark, and this year it was Connors trip to Fireside Lodge. First day on the water, only fishing until 2:00 PM, they caught over 40 Northern Pike. Second day was dedicated to Muskie fishing of which they had one in and out of their net as the hook got caught near the hoop of the net, and the fish flipped out and swam away. They also had about 9 follows, and caught 9 Pike. Third day was great action as they caught 59 Northern Pike and a few Smallmouth Bass. Fourth day was extremely windy with thunderstorms, which found them back at the dock before noon. They enjoyed some other activities and a long nap, and felt re-energized for fifth and final day fishing. The energy helped as they caught 37 Northern Pike along with several Smallmouth and Conner caught a very large 17.5-inch Smallmouth, It was a terrific fishing trip for this father and son as they made many memories. Before departing Mark made reservations for the same dates in 2010.

Dave, Terri and daughter Kaitlin from Milwaukee, WI were back to enjoy the fishing and magic of Fireside Lodge for their fourth consecutive year. First day they caught some Smallmouth and Pike, and Kaitlin caught the largest Northern Pike. That evening Terri and Kaitlin took a short Kayak trip, and after returning Terri and Dave returned to fishing and caught some Smallmouth on the surface. Second day they decided to explore new waters and they caught some fish, recorded some new areas for future reference and had a fabulous experience watching a Bald Eagle try to attack a Loon. As Dave described the situation it was touch and go for a few moments but the Loon made it away safely and the Eagle went away still hungry. So who needs reality TV shows when you can experience nature’s reality first hand in our surroundings at Fireside Lodge? Third day the fish won as they caught a few, and enjoyed the wonderful wilderness around them. Fourth day was very windy conditions with thunderstorms moving through the area all day long, which brought them back early like 80% of the other guests. Fifth day was very windy conditions making it tough to fish many areas. They caught a few fish and enjoyed their last day on the water trying to soak up nature wonders before returning to the city of Milwaukee.

Ray and son Mike Heika from Inverness, IL were back for their third year in a row to enjoy the wilderness fishing at Fireside Lodge. These two had a fabulous first day as they caught over 75, (yes 75); Northern Pike and Mike came up with an 18.5-inch Master Anglers Award Smallmouth. Terrific start for Ray and Mike. Second day was not as active as their first but they did catch twelve nice fish, a combo of Smallmouth and Pike. Third day was fabulous fishing and catching as Ray and Mike landed well over 50 Northern Pike and Mike caught a HUGE 20.5-inch Master Anglers Award Smallmouth Bass. Fourth day had them fishing a portage lake for Muskie, but the high wind conditions created boat control difficulties resulting in having four follows with none hooked. Fifth day we had many thunderstorms in the area with high wind and Ray and Mike made the best of it fishing all day in this weather and caught 12 nice fish. Fifth day was a terrific combo day as they caught over 35 Northern Pike, over 20 Smallmouth Bass and all the Smallmouth were 15-17.5 inches, and 5 were over 18-inch largest being 19.5-inches. The Smallmouth were all caught with tube jigs fishing structure, and a slow presentation. WOW, what a great day fishing! Sixth and seventh days fishing Ray and Mike were hampered by the wind like everyone else, but they still caught a lot of Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass with Ray coming up with another 18-inch Master Anglers Award, which made their seventh in seven days. Ray and Mike had another memorable stay at Fireside Lodge and hope to return in 2010.

Please Read Part 2 of this Fishing Report

Make sure to go to our website listed below to see the 2009 Photos

Hot Lures of The Week: Sinking Worm, Tube Jig, Mepps Spinner, Blue Fox Spinner, Tubes,

Hot Flies of the week: Chartreuse Surface Popper, Streamers, Hexaginia Nymph, Crayfish Pattern

Catches of the Week: 20.5-inch Smallmouth, 45 and 42-inch Muskie, Over 75 Northern Pike caught in one day by two people.

Please note that we have a “NEW” email address below.

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
mailto:fireside@xplornet.com