Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 7/12 to 7/19 2014
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From week to week as we try to get into a summer pattern and one of those mean nasty cold fronts come through. This one had high winds however our guests adapted beautifully making the fishing fantastic.
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Doug & Mary Bergman from New Lenox, IL
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returned for their 3rd time and joining them for their 1st experience at Fireside Lodge were Brian & Sandra Rundio from Holiday Hills, IL & Scott Rundio from Mount Prospect, IL. 1st day was terrific as Sandra, Brian & Scott caught over 40 Northern Pike with Mary & Doug landing 21. 2nd day Mary & Doug located Musky getting a lot of follows & Doug hooked a monster which after a long battle they lost in the netting process. 3rd day Mary & Doug fished at one of our portage lakes in the rain with cold front conditions & had a fabulous day catching 60 fish, mostly pike with 3 walleye.
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4th day had Mary catching a big Musky & Doug losing an even bigger one plus catching some mid-30” Pike & a Big Smallmouth. Sandra, Brian, & Scott portaged to a lake and caught over 100 Northern Pike. 5th day this trio caught 20 Pike while Doug & Mary portaged to another lake having the fishing day of their lives catching 110 Northern Pike. 6th & final day was a super finish with Sandra, Brian, & Scott portaging again catching 160 Northern Pike with Mary & Doug catching 53 & Doug landed a HUGE 19” Trophy Smallmouth. All left having a blast saying the will be back
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Bill & Jill Westbrook from New Philadelphia, OH with son Matt & Haley Minner from Berlin, MD returned for Bill’s 12th & Jill’s 5th consecutive year. Bill’s 1st fish on the 1st evening was a 19.5” Trophy Smallmouth Bass. 1st day was a short day as a T-Storm with lighting brought them of the water by early afternoon but after supper all caught some Smallmouth & a few Pike. 2nd day both boats caught 20-25 Smallmouth Bass with Jill landing a few 17-17.5”.
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3rd day was great despite the cold front conditions. With Jill opting out it was Bill, Mark, & Haley which ended up catching over 30 good size Smallmouth Bass by 2:00PM with both Haley & Bill catching Trophy Smallmouth Bass 18.5-inches. 3th day was very good catching 25-30 Smallmouth Bass per boat & both Bill & Haley catching trophies over 18”.
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5th & final day was a great day catching about 25 Smallmouth Bass per boat & Mark caught a 36” Northern Pike after a long battle on lite equipment & after the fish rapped itself around the anchor. All had a great time & hope to return in 2015.
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The Spahr family of Phil, sons Brad & Tim, and Grandsons Steven & Christopher from Fairborn, OH & Maroboro, MA returned for this groups 16th consecutive year. In the evening of their DOA Phil set the pace by catching a HUGE 38.5” Tiger Muskie on a Beetle Spin of all lures. 1st day they had a great day Northern Pike fishing catching 67 total & Steven landed an 18” Trophy Smallmouth Bass.
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2nd day was a search for Big fish with Tim cashing in as he caught a beauty Tiger Musky, missed a HUGE Northern Pike after it broke his line, & had an over 40” Muskie get away after it rolled at the boat & broke his line. 3rd day they caught a lot of Pike 26-32” with Brad having the hot had catching about 10 in a row & he also landed a Musky.
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The final 3 days of their efforts went to Muskie & Large Pike & they did well catching 51 Pike most 27-36”, 3 Muskie including a Clear Musky with several Bass. By far the biggest catch for this group were the lodge conversations, daily planning, laughs, and wonderful family memories made among 3 generations.
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Joe & Marilynn Foos from Alpharetta, GA returned for their 6th consecutive year. Had a great 1st day catching many Smallmouth Bass up to 17.5”. 2nd day despite cold front, windy, rainy, conditions they did great catching many good size Smallmouth Bass. This happened after they started fishing the windy areas instead of looking for the calm areas. 3rd day was still in the 50’s but again they had great action for Big Smallmouth Bass on surface plugs.
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3rd day was another fabulous day catching Smallmouth Bass on surface lures. 4th day started out by, as Marilyn sated getting bit off by pesty Pike. After making a major move they hit into a bunch of nice Smallmouth Bass & had a ball. Days 5,6, &7 brought more great Smallmouth surface action, also catching some Pike on the side. 8th & final day was windy making Joe pull into an area he normally passes by & on Marilyn’s 1st cast she hooked into a monster Musky.
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After the Muskie tail walked on her she surrendered her rod to Joe who got it to the boat where Marilynn cradled this 45” beast of a fish. We determined the Trophy Muskie was caught by “Team Foos” Both had a wonderful stay & made reservations for 2015 before departing.
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Father / Daughter John & Cristin Cargal from Dyer, IN & Highland, IL were visiting us for their 1st time. On DOA within minutes of being on the water Cristin caught a HUGE 38-40” Northern Pike & they caught several others 28-32”. 1st day they caught some fish while exploring & learning Little Vermilion Lake.
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2nd day was spent catching some fish and visiting Twin Falls. 3rd day was a portage for Muskie & Smallmouth Bass having some Muskie follows and doing great on Smallmouth Bass & Cristin caught 3 Master Anglers Trophy Smallmouth Bass. 4th day had them getting many Pike follows, catching 9 in the 30” range & if they caught as many as they saw they would have landed 30. Both left having a fabulous memory making trip & hope to return.
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For their 15th consecutive year Ron & Lisa Vincent from Sherrills Ford, NC were back to enjoy our wilderness fishing. DOA they found large Pike right away with Ron landing 8 before suppertime 28-32” & Lisa caught a big Smallmouth. 1st 2 days they faced cold front rainy / windy conditions but still doing well catching Pike and Smallmouth Bass up to 17.75”. 3rd day the weather turned around & so did the fishing as they caught over 70 fish, mostly Northern Pike & Ron caught a 34” Musky, that was following Lisa’s Buzz Bait, by throwing a plastic worm as it was swimming away.
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4th day had them catching 50 Northern Pike plus some Smallies & both Ron & Lisa landed 19” Trophy Smallmouth Bass. 5th day at Closs Lake they had 1 Musky on and caught Smallmouth 16-17.5”. 6th day had them catching 12 Pike & 10 Smallmouth Bass. 7th day Lisa took off & Ron, fishing by himself, landed many Pike 28-35” & single-handed use the cradle for 3 fish in the mid 30” range. 8th & final day had these two catching “BIG” Pike, Ron landing a 35” & Lisa a 37.5” & a HUGE 39”er. They also caught many Pike in the 28-34” range. Both left having a wonderful trip & hope to return in 2015.
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Steven Griffith & Douglas Marks from Allen Park & Dearbourn, MI were fishing at Fireside Lodge for the 1st time. 1st day they caught nice Northern Pike & both said they caught the biggest Pike ever landing a big 35”er. 2nd day was terrific as they caught Pike, Doug caught his 1st Musky every, a Tiger Musky, and they caught a bunch of nice Smallmouth after discovering leeches.
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3rd day was fabulous as they caught plenty of Northern Pike & Doug caught a 36” and 40” Muskie. Also, Steve, while fighting a 31” Pike had a Muskie about 50” come up like a submarine to watch Steve catch his Pike then just disappeared. They also caught about 15 Smallmouth Bass with Steve catching a Trophy 19”er. 4th day was the best day they ever had fishing in their lives catching 170+ Northern Pike having 30 times when the doubled up. Both said the fish plain wore them out.
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5th day was a trip Closs Lake to fish for Musky, but the Muskie were not on so they returned to Little Vermilion Lake & caught many Smallmouth Bass. 6th & final day they finished strong with a 116 Northern Pike day. Both left having the best Pike & Muskie fishing of their lives.
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The Ziletti Family, father David & sons Austin, Kiernan, &, Henry, from Powatan, VA were very excited to be here referred by Fly Fisher Robert Thomas from Richmond. They had exciting action on DOA catching some great Smallmouth Bass with surface poppers with Austin & Kiernan catching their 1st pike ever. Next day was fabulous all catching Pike & Smallmouth Bass. Henry got his 1st Northern Pike ever, a dandy 37”er.
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2nd day they caught over 100 Northern Pike, 55 Fly Fishing by Dave & Austin, Henry catching a Trophy Smallmouth at 18”, Austin & Kiernan landed 17”ers, & Dave caught a 35” Pike Fly-Fishing. 3rd day was another terrific day as they caught many Smallmouth Bass with Austin catching 2 Trophy Bass over 18” & Kiernan caught several just missing at 17.5”. The best story of the day was after supper as “Big Fish Henry” landed a huge 40” Muskie, his 1st ever, after a great fight with the Musky tail walking right at the boat.
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Austin gets the assist. 4th & final day they finished with numbers catching well over 60 Northern Pike & Kiernan landed an 18.5” Trophy Smallmouth Bass. All left with a terrific Canadian Wilderness Fishing Experience and with a boatload of family memories, which is the biggest catch of all. Before departure all were planning for their next visit with us.
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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: Depth/Shallow Raider, Mepps, Spinner Bait, #18 Floating Rapala, X-Rap, Beetle Spin

Hot Flies: Chartreuse, Black, & Purple Streamers

Catches of The Week: 45” & 2-40” Musky 40 & 38” Tiger Musky, 19.5, 8-19”, 9 18-18.5” Smallmouth Bass 39”, 38” 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