Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/11 to 8/18 2012 Part 1

[Alan Brandys]

Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/11 to 8/18 2012 Part 1

This week had weather for every fisher starting out with warm and sunny for the first several days. Then some rain moved in followed by a severe cold front with high winds. By the end of the week we had moderately cool temps with some clouds mixed with sunshine. This also brought with it some pretty great fish stories.

Father & son Jim & Mike Stalknecht from Ringwood, NJ & Guthrie, IA with very good friend Rick Crescente from Highland Lakes, NJ returned for their 5th time. 1st day was a very good day as they all caught Northern Pike and each lost a Musky which were coming out of the water performing acrobatics. Jim had the best day catching a 38”, 36”, & 31”, all having BIG girth. 2nd day Mike & Rick portaged to a lake doing well catching all the Pike they wanted & 12 Walleye, mostly between 21” to 26”. Jim fished alone catching both Smallmouth Bass & Northern Pike, nothing huge but fun. 3rd day was a portage to a Muskie lake having a ton of follows. Sometimes 2-3 at a time. Rick hooked a Monster, and during the fight it leaped completely out of the water showing it’s full body, threw the hook back at Rick & waved goodbye with it’s tail. Painful for Rick?? Yes, but very exciting. 4th day they pulled their boat through Cedarbough creek and were the fish ever active having follow after follow all day long. Mike said they were a lot hot after his figure 8, however most short hit. One he hooked but lost, and between the 3 of them they landed two smaller Musky 28-30”.

5th & final day they caught over 25 Northern Pike, with a lot of nice 30”+ fish up to 36”. Rick changed to a spinner with a pink blade & skirt, and after taking some jazz from Mike & Jim caught 5 pike in a row. Well, this had them scrambling to find something pink in their tackle box. After supper their goal was to catch a Musky to finish their trip. After discussing a few new spots, Mike accomplished their goal by landing a BIG heavy 36” Muskie. Great end to a fabulous memory making fishing trip.

Father & Son Brian & William Reames from Nashville, TN were fishing at Fireside Lodge for their 1st time. 1st day ever on Little Vermilion Lake Brian caught 12 Smallmouth Bass & William caught 17 Smallies, 2 Northern Pike & a 28” Tiger Muskie, Terrific 1st day Fishing Little Vermilion lake for this father & son. 2nd day these two had an adventure traveling through a long creek and working 60 minutes to break up a beaver dam. After reaching the lake they had a wonderful time catching 10 Northern Pike & 6 Smallies. 3rd and final day they finished very strong having their best day yet landing 41 Smallmouth Bass, 3 Northern Pike 28-30” and Brian caught his first Musky ever. Terrific finish to a FABULOUS father & son fishing trip full of memories.

Glen Babka & Dan Zeiler from Columbus Oh returned for their 3rd trip bringing with them Phil Valbert from Bend, OR and Tracy Zeiler from Annaplois, MD. 1st day out all had a great day catching Smallmouth Bass & Northern Pike.

Tracy was the story of the day as she caught her first ever Northern Pike & Smallmouth Bass. Phil’s story was not only about the fish he caught but the one he had seen. After seeing a big 36 “er, which he thought was big, he had a follow from a massive Northern Pike. Being a tournament angler Phil has seen a lot of big fish, but this one really had him excited, and it really showed through when he told his story in the dinning room. 2nd day they caught a lot of Smallmouth Bass along with some Northern Pike and Tracy, the newcomer to Pike fishing caught the biggest so far at 36” and had a HUGE Pike bite her off.

Her and Phil thought it might have been the one the saw the day before. 3rd day all caught plenty of Smallmouth Bass & Northern Pike and enjoyed the beautiful 75-degree day. 4th & final day was a Great finish catching bigger Pike in th3 28-31” range along with many Smallmouth Bass. They also visited our fabulous “Twin Falls” enjoying lunch and some viewing time. Tracey really loved doing this and said she would come back just to see the Falls again. All left having made some long lasting memories and hope to return for future trips.

Gary Johnson with sons Pete, Josh, & Kevin from Midlothian, IL returned for their 2nd trip along with father & son Steve & Steve Trafficanta from Oak Forest, IL. 1st day on the water Gary & son Kevin had terrific Smallmouth bass fishing with Gary catching a 4lb’er but the BIG catch was Kevin landing a Master Anglers Award Musky measuring 44”. WOW what a catching for a 16year old. Congrats to Kevin. Pete & Joshua caught 10 Northern Pike & 25 Smallmouth Bass & Steve & Steve caught a bunch of Smallies and 6 Northern Pike. 2nd day was a portage day for Steve & Steve 2 and they had a fantastic day catching 30 Northern Pike & 25 very large Walleye. The other four caught about 20 Smallmouth Bass & 10-15 Northern Pike per boat. Also, Gary & Steve missed a Big Musky in the evening. 3rd day was fishing after a heavy rain a cool down so the fish were a little slower on taking any presentation, however this group still caught Smallmouth on a live bait presentation. Also Pete & Joshua had a great day catching 20+ Walleye 22-26” along with about 10 Pike. Steve Sr also had a few BIG Musky follows. 4th day Joshua had a FABULOUS Musky day, while fishing with his dad Gary & brother Kevin, as he landed three between 28 to 33” & a BIG 36” Northern Pike. That evening while fishing with father Gary, Pete caught a 37” Tiger Musky WOW, What a terrific day catching Muskie in Gary’s boat. Pete, & his father & brother in law Steve & Steve had another Great day catching 15 Northern Pike & 15 Walleye which were all huge. Steve 2 had a 24”er that was exceptionally fat & Joshua caught a 27” trophy. 5th day was in general a slower day for the group but Joshua again had an opportunity to land an over 40” Musky, but the Musky won this battle. After supper however, Gary, who seemed to guide all three of his sons to Musky catches, was rewarded “BIG TIME” as he caught a GIANT clear Musky 44-45”. 6th day they were facing severe cold front conditions with high winds after very heavy rain, but still managed to catch a few fish. 7th & final day ended with a Pike bonanza catching 20-30 per boat with many being between 26”-35”, Pete landing the biggest at 37”. All left having a trip full of family memories & fishing fun to last a lifetime.

Make sure to go to our website listed below to see some GREAT Fish Photos. For Fabulous Fishing Video, Wildlife Events, and Current Happenings go to our Social Sites Below.

FaceBook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fireside-Lodge/304211179043?v=wall

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/FiresideLodgeFish

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Hot Lures: Pointer Minnow, Sinking Worm, Tube Craw, Blue Fox Spinner, Jig & Live Bait, Black Bucktail, Rattl’n Rap, Tube Jig,
Magnum Rapala, Mepps with Pink Blade & Skirt

Catches of The Week: Muskie 1-45” 1-44”, 37” Tiger Musky, Smallmouth Bass 19”, 2-18.5”, 2-18.25” 5-18” Northern Pike 38”, 37”, 5-36”
1-27” Walleye and many 20-26”.

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