Fireside Lodge Fishing News Report 6/13 to 6/20 2009 Part 2

Hello from Fireside Lodge in Northwest Ontario. Our weather finally turned, having a few spring like days, and then we had summer temperatures move in with daytime highs reaching the mid-80’s. This weather sure helped the Smallmouth to start their yearly spawning ritual.

Allen Wortz returned to Fireside Lodge with his wife Patricia from Bluffton, SC to meet up with long time friends Bill Goodwin and Mike Dittoe (above). First day Al reacquainted himself with Little Vermilion Lake and Patricia with fishing as they had a fun day catching some nice Smallmouth Bass. It did not take more than a day and both were in top form as Al’s previous knowledge and Patricia’s fishing form coming back teamed up for a great day catching Smallmouth, and Patricia ended up with the two top fish of the day landing two BIG Smallies 17 and 17.5-inches. The photos are fabulous, as Patricia looks like and professional Smallmouth fisher holding her catch. Al, did what all good guides (husbands) do is drive the boat, catch some fish, but have his wife in front catch more and bigger fish. These two had a fabulous time eating in the dinning room with their friends, and the vivid conversation and laughter was very present at every meal. Third day of fishing was another great day as they did well catching Smallmouth Bass, and Al had a Muskie up to the boat for a long time, but after a few mishaps with the landing cradle the fish left Al’s lure in the net and waved goodbye to him and Patricia with its tail. Landing the fish certainly seems like a better ending to this story, but the story is sure to get more mileage with the mishap. Last day they fished a half-day having a wonderful time catching Smallmouth and enjoying the wilderness for what it is in the great Canadian Boreal Forest. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and reading in our huge historical lodge. As stated by Al and Patricia in their own words “this was the best vacation they had in a long time and would love to return god willing.” We would certainly love to see Al and Patricia again.

For the tenth consecutive year Walt LaCasse from Minnetonka, MN headed a group of friends John Hietala from Northfield, MN, Ron Ditillo from Pittsburgh, PA, Jim Jones from McKinney, TX and Dick Oksanen from Dallas, TX. First day Walt, Dick, and Jim fishing together caught over 40 Northern Pike and 5 Smallmouth Bass and most of the Pike were over 30-inches, up to 38-inches landed by Walt. All of these pike were caught between 2 PM and before suppertime. John and Ron after having a bunch of follows gave up on the Pike and started catching Smallmouth Bass landing a bunch. Next day the same threesome caught over 35 fish with Jim leading the way landing twenty. In fact Jim had such a good day going he even caught a fish while napping in the boat. Jim and Ron had another good day catching Smallmouth Bass and a few Northern Pike. After supper Jim still had the hot hand and caught a GIANT Muskie that got out of the cradle. The Muskie was qualified by all boat members to be at least 46-inches, but believed to be more like 48 to 50-inches, but and accurate measurement was not gotten before the huge fish exploded out of the net so 46 was the number by consensus. Wow!!! What a day for Jim. Third day was Walt’s day as he had a four species day catching Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, a Tiger Muskie, and believe it or not a HUGE Lake Trout fishing a rocky shore. This fish was so fat it looked like it was about to explode. Take a look on our website. All the others caught fish and Ron came up with an 18-inch Master Anglers Award Smallmouth. Their fourth and final day Dick and John decided to fish for big Muskie and Pike by throwing nothing but BIG lures. The original trio, Walt, Ron, and Jim decided to just fish, and did they ever catch. They each had the fishing day of their lives as they caught over 200 Northern Pike. The action was so fast and furious they often had double and triple catches. Ron also caught an absolute GIANT Smallmouth measuring 19-inchs and shaped like a football. All went home with many more fishing stories and great memories. So great that Walt reserved these groups’ dates for the same time in 2010.
For their fifth consecutive year father and son Bill and Mike Aulenbach from Barberton, OH and Ft Meyers, FL, Bill Rasbach from Hudson, OH and Jim Lowsway from Burlington, Ontario were back fishing together at Fireside Lodge. First day Bill A and Jim had fun catching Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike, Jim catching nice 31 to 33–inch Pike with his special Luck Strike spoon, and Bill caught the biggest Smallmouth at 17.5-inches. Bill R and Mike caught a lot of Smallmouth and Bill R caught 20 on a fly rod using surface poppers. Second day was almost a repeat with even more and bigger fish. Bill A and Jim caught some great size Pike in the 30 to 34-inch range, some Smallmouth, with Jims Lucky Strike spoon producing again. Mike and Bill R caught 32 Smallmouth Bass, Mike with an old fashion surface bait, the Jitterbug, and Bill R with surface poopers while fly-fishing. Bill R caught a Master Anglers Award Smallmouth measuring over 18-inches on his fly rod. They all had a fabulous day as the smiles on their faces told the whole story. The other four days were also full of fabulous fishing and loads of fun among family and good friends. A few other highlights were the four of them catching 103 Northern Pike in one days effort, Bill R landing another Master Anglers Award Smallmouth at a GIANT 19-inches, Bill A catching his second Muskie of his lifetime, first was last year at Fireside Lodge, and Jim catching so many Pike on his Lucky Strike Spoons that he made us believers in using spoons for Northern Pike again. All had a Great Trip and hope to return in 2009.

Father and Son Bill and Mark Westbrook from New Philadelphia, OH returned to Fireside Lodge for their seventh consecutive year. First day on the water Bill and Mark had well over 30 follows on BIG Northern Pike and Muskie landing one Muskie and six Pike between 30 to 35-inches. Second day they struggled finding the Smallmouth Bass as they were trying all the spots they usually fish in August. Being the first time here in June we made some adjustments on their locations and on their third day they were back to catching a lot, and quality Smallmouth. They caught 33 and 10 were over 18-inches all being Master Anglers Award Smallmouth. WOW! What a great day Smallmouth fishing. On their fourth day it was all about Muskie fishing as Mark landed 4 of these ferocious fighters between 30 to 39-inches, and missed a fifth estimated in the high 30’s to 40-inches. Bill caught one Muskie and a Master Anglers Award Smallmouth measuring 18.5-inches. Great Day and Great Photos as all the Muskie were wide-bodied beasts. See these photos on our website at http://www.firesidelodgefishing.com
They are truly worth seeing. Their fifth and final half day of fishing ended up with about 15 Smallmouth Bass and a few more Master Anglers Award Smallies, and Mark caught another Muskie. In all they ending up catching 15 Master Anglers Award Smallmouth ranging from 18 to 19-inches, and 7 Muskie 30 to 39-inches, one lost at the boat and countless follows. Both had a Fabulous time and Bill’s parting words were “see you next year”.

Jerry Amer, Dan Zeller, father and sons Bill and Adam Calhoon, and Glenn and Phil Babka from Columbus, OH. were returning for their fifth trip to Fireside Lodge. Day of Arrival from 4PM to 9PM these guys caught over 60 fish, both Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass, and almost all while fly-fishing. Great Start! First full day of fishing was targeting Smallmouth Bass and they caught a lot, anywhere from 40 to 50 per boat with a few nice Northern Pike in the mix. Second day was complete gangbusters catching over 100 Smallmouth Bass including 10 Master Anglers Award Smallies, and well over 200 Northern Pike. Over fifty percent of the Smallmouth Bass were on a fly rod and 75 percent of the Northern Pike were caught while fly-fishing. Unbelievable fly-fishing but true. With all those fish caught in the first two days it did not matter what happened for day three and four but all continued to have great fishing catching many Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike and finding BIG fish was not a problem. In the Smallmouth Bass Master Anglers Award category Jerry led by catching one at 19-inches, two 18.5-inches, and five measuring 18-inches, Father and son Bill and Adam had five each from 18 to 19-inches, both having two 19-inchers each, Glenn had 3 at 18-inches and one 19-inches, Phil caught a 18 and 19-incher, and Dan caught one at 18-inches. Fabulous fishing for this group and memories to last a lifetime were made. Thanks for choosing Fireside Lodge.

Make sure to go to our website listed below to see the 2009 Photos
Hot Lures of The Week: Black Twister Tail, Floating Rapala, Tiny Torpedo, Blue Fox Spinner, Ring Worm, Senko,
Hot Flies of the Week: White Deer Hair Pooper, and Frog Spun Deer Hair Pooper, Lefty’s Popper
Catches of the Week: 46-inch 30 pound Muskie, 20.5-inch Smallmouth Bass

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