Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/4 to 8/11 2018

[Alan Brandys]

Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/4 to 8/11 2018

This week started with a cold front, then went to average temperatures and slowly kept getting warmer reaching temperatures in the mid 80’s. Average for this time of year is 74F. The fishing also heated up and to many anglers who think Muskie fishing is off with hot weather after reading the fishing report below I think you might have a different perspective with the old adage.

Ron Vincent from Sherrills Ford NC returned for his 19th consecutive year with son Jake for his 3rd, son-in law Tim for his first, and good friend Steve Foster from New London, NC for his 4th trip to Fireside Lodge. 1st day they did great catching a bunch of Northern Pike and a few a Smallmouth Jake coming up with the fish of the day landing a 37-inch Pike.

2nd day was spent chasing Muskie with them getting lots of follows and both Jake and Steve caught a Muskie. They also caught some Northern Pike and Smallmouth in between fishing for Muskie Ron landing a Huge Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth at 19.5-inches.

3rd day Ron and Steve caught a lot of fish but no Monsters that they were hunting for, while Jake & Steve also had a good day with Jake landing another big 35-inch Northern Pike. 4th and 5th days were great fishing, catching a lot of Smallmouth Bass on day 4, and on day 5 Ron and Jake started out Smallmouth Bass fishing but got into some Pike so they switched tactics and ended up catching a bunch of nice Northern Pike.

6th day was great for Ron and Jake catching bunches of Northern Pike, Ron landed two Muskie 32-34 inches and a Giant 20-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass.

7th and final day was fabulous Smallmouth Bass fishing catching many bigger fish up to 18-inches, Ron catching an 18 inch trophy and Jake landed three Trophy Smallmouth measuring 18.5, 19.25 and 20-inches. Steve and Tim also a very good day as Steve broke out an old surface lure, The Nip-I-Diddie, catching Big Smallmouth Bass. For the week this group caught 10 Muskie and countless Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. All left really enjoying their stay with hopes of returning in 2019.

Doug and Sheryl Stratton from Philadelphia, PA arrived for their first visit with us at Fireside Lodge. 1st day they felt their way around Little Vermilion Lake catching some fish, Sheryl catching here first ever fish. 2nd day was very good catching some nice Smallmouth Bass as they started to get the hang of the lake system. 3rd day these two had a great morning catching many Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike with Sheryl catching her 1st ever Smallmouth Bass.

4th day had them having a good morning catching mostly Smallmouth Bass and with a few Northern Pike mixed in the batch. They got into some bigger fish with Doug catching a Master Anglers Award 18-inch Smallmouth Bass. 5th day was also very good finding some great fishing very near the lodge catching a bunch of Smallmouth Bass 14 to 17.5-inches. Sheryl caught several bigger fish, 11 Smallmouth total, and the 17.5-inch Smallmouth Bass she said was a challenge to land. They had loads of fun and took some great pictures. 6th and final day they had a wonderful day fishing, and finishing off with a shore lunch and being blessed with a beautiful day on the water.

Father and son Eric Hess from McLean, VA was back for his 4th visit with son Culley for his second consecutive year. DOA before supper these 2 got into a dozen Smallmouth Bass all over 17-inches Culley catching 1 trophy 19-incher and Eric landing 2 trophy fish at 19.25 and 20.5-inches. 1st day was a portage for Smallmouth Bass and Culley caught another Master Anglers Award Smallmouth measuring 19.25-inches. Eric also caught a very large 39-inch Muskie that rolled and twisted making every effort to get off but in the end took a nice picture with Eric. 2nd day started out with a bang with Culley catching another Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 18.75-inches and they continued to catch a lot of big Smallmouth Bass throughout the day in the 16 to 17.75-inch range plus caught two 32-inch Muskie and one 32-inch Northern Pike.

3rd day was great catching many Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass and Eric caught two more Trophy Smallmouth at 18 and 19.25-inches. When I asked at supper how their 4th day was they both said it was a quantity day catching about 60 fish being a combo of Pike and Smallmouth Bass. 5th day was the opposite of day 4 as they slammed the big fish catching many Smallmouth Bass in the 17 to 18 inch range, lost what appeared to be 4 trophy Smallmouth Bass and Eric landed two both measuring 19.5-inches. 6th day these two had a great day catching many Smallmouth bass 17 to 18-inches, Culley catching two Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass and a 30-inch Muskie. 7th and final day they had a good finish catching a 30–inch Muskie plus a lot of Smallmouth Bass in the 15 to 17.5-inch range. Both had another wonderful father and son fishing trip packed full of memories to be reminisced about for years to come.

John Papp and son Michael from Atlanta, GA were fishing at Fireside Lodge for their second year in a row. 1st two days they spent their time fishing new places catching Smallmouth Bass and few Northern Pike. 3rd day they did better after they started using a lure I suggested from my tackle shop that has been the best Smallmouth Bass lure since the introduction of soft plastics. It is a TRD Finesse Worm that floats fished on a mushroom jog head. It is a very simply rig fishing with a very slow presentation that just drive the Smallmouth Bass crazy. 4th day was good as the caught a mixture of Smallmouth and Northern Pike up to 31-inches. 5th day they enjoyed a beautiful weather day catching some Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike up to 31-inches. 6th and final day they did great finding some bigger Northern Pike landing well over 20 fish and the lure of the day was a small blue / silver Manns crank bait running about a 5 foot depth. Upon departing John was already talking about dates for 2019.

The Noblet Family, Vince & Judy from Speedway, IN and son Nathan from Fishers, IN were making their first appearance at Fireside Lodge. 1st day Vince said they did great catching a mix of fish, Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike & a Small Muskie. 2nd day was a fabulous day for this family as they caught a lot of fish, Nathan catching nice size Northern Pike at the same time Vince was catching Smallmouth Bass on surface lures, and Judy, making a selection of a Little Cleo spoon because of color, being silver / orange, and she was right on because a BIG 42-inch Muskie hit her lure right at the boat. It made for an exciting catch and it was a little bit of a fire drill in the boat but all went well as Judy landed the Muskie and got a great picture. They also enjoyed their lunch at beautiful Twin Falls.

3rd day these three had another very good day with Vince catching many Smallmouth Bass up to 17.5-inches while Nathan picked up on his Mom’s tip using an orange / silver spoon catching some nice size Northern Pike. After supper they all took a walk down the road to work off some of Audrey’s fantastic cooking and they were fortunate to see a very large Black Wolf cross the road only about 50-60 feet in front of them. This happened so quick that Judy was the only one to see this magnificent sight as Vince and Nathan had there heads turned the other way at the time. Judy said it was silent and appeared to have no stress from their close encounter. 4th and final day was another great day catching a lot of Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike using the same combination of fishing locations where rock structures drop off with weeds around them or nearby. All went home saying they had a wonderful time with high hopes of returning in the future.

Warren Tennant from Houston, TX was back for his 3rd time with good friend Joel Bourbeau from Flint MI for his first visit to Fireside Lodge. DOA was great in just a few hours catching 10 Pike, Warren saying hey should have caught 20, plus he caught a BIG 17.5-inch Smallmouth Bass. 1st day they did very well fishing for Northern Pike, caught 1 Muskie, and while doing so found a pocket of Smallmouth Bass catching many 17-17.5-inches and Joel caught a trophy measuring 19-inches. 2nd day they had a great Northern Pike day catching many fish 28 to 37 inches both saying the body thickness on all the fish were very impressive. 3rd day had these two chasing Muskie having a lot of follows, landing one, plus Joel caught a very large Northern Pike. Also, both caught several Smallmouth Bass 17-18 inches.

4th day was a very good day catching Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike and they landed 5 Muskie including a 35-inch Tiger Muskie. WOW a 5 Muskie day with lots of follows is an amazing day Muskie fishing. 5th day was a quantity day for Northern Pike while fishing for the big dogs, seeing a few. 6th and final day they caught a lot of fish but despite all their efforts to take a picture with one of the many big fish they saw follow their lures during their 6 days of fishing it was not meant to be on this trip. Both had a fabulous time reuniting after 20 years of not seeing each other, their friendship going all the way back to childhood years in Michigan.

Brian Schmidt from White Bear Lake, MN with his sons Dylan & Kyle were experiencing their first time fishing at Fireside Lodge. DOA these three found fish right away catching many Northern Pike before supper. After several purchases at my tackle shop they were ready for day one, with both lures working, catching many fish being a combination of Smallmouth Bass & Northern Pike plus Dylan & Kyle both had big follows that they were very excited about. 2nd day they portaged into Terry Lake for a few hours catching some nice walleye, then came back to Little Vermilion Lake so the boys could throw some big lures for Muskie and they brought up a Monster Muskie, the one they were looking for.

3rd day they had the best day ever having 30+ Muskie follows, hooking up with 6 Muskie and landing 4 between the three of them, and for both Brian & Kyle it was their first Muskie they ever caught. At supper that evening they were discussing a strategy to turn a few of those bigger follows into catches having one more day to apply their new methods. 4th and final day they had the fever, Muskie Fever that is, having a lot of follows again and catching one more Muskie. They ended their trip by each catching a nice size Northern Pike after supper at sunset time and when checking out Brian expressed what a wonderful time they had making fishing memories together, which of course is the biggest catch of all?

Long time guests from North Carolina Leon Robbins, Yadkinville, son Andy Thomasson Cary, returned with Houstin Butler from Jacksonville, FL for his second consecutive year. With this group was Michael Heath New London, NC returned with his son Tyler from Mount Gilead, NC for their 5th time, and son Walker for his 3rd, also Jeff Sepesi from New London, NC returned for his 2nd visit with us at Fireside Lodge bringing friends Richard Smithson, Milton, GA and Gary Moore from Concord, NC for their 1st time. First day out they spent an hour breaking us a beaver dam and caught a bunch of average size Northern Pike and Michael landed the 1st Master Anglers Award fish of the group catching a huge 18-inche Trophy and his son Walker also caught a Trophy measuring at 18-inches.

2nd day started with Andy catching an 18-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass on a surface popper and Tyler fishing with Houstin catching some good size Northern Pike all before breakfast. 3rd day it was Michael getting things started by catching Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 19.5-inches. Leon fishing alone caught 2 Muskie at 30 and 35-inches plus Andy while fishing with Houstin caught 3 Muskie. Tyler also caught a Muskie making it a 6 Muskie day by this group, which is a fabulous day Muskie fishing. 3rd day was a great for all catching a lot of fish but it was a special day for Leon landing two Muskie and a 19.75-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass, and for Walker it was an extra special day landing 5 Muskie in one day at 22, 34, 37, 38, and a giant 41-inch Muskie. WOW!! that is one for the special family fishing memory book.

4th day Michael caught a Muskie plus Andy had a Super Day catching a 35 and 39-inch Muskie plus a 19.5-inch Smallmouth Bass and Houstin landed a large 36-inch Northern Pike. Leon also had a special fishing happening catching a 19-inch Trophy Smallmouth Bass fly-fishing with a fly he tied himself. 5th and final day the group caught a lot of Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass and all ended their trip by having supper together and taking their traditional group picture. As a Group these guys had a great week catching a total of 24 Muskie, a lot of Big Smallmouth Bass including 10 Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth between 18 and 19.75-inches, and the largest Pike was a 36-inch fish by Houstin. All had a wonderful week fishing with family and friends and all mentioned their hopes to return in 2019.

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Hot Lures: Blue Fox Spinner, Spoons, TRD Finesse Worm, Yo-Zuri, Mini-D, Little Cleo, Sinking Worm, Mepps Spinner, Bull Dog, Mini-D, Silver Minnow Spoon, Nip-I-Diddie, Red & White Spoon, Bayou Boogie

Catches of The Week: 41-inch Muskie, 20-inch Smallmouth Bass, 52 Muskie caught for the week, 31 Master Anglers Award Smallmouth Bass between 18 to 20-inches

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
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