Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/31 to 9/7 2019

[Alan Brandys]

Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/31 to 9/7 2019

This week the weather settled into a fall like pattern with daytime highs from 58 to 64 degrees and nights falling as low as 39-degrees. This was a warning that winter weather is only 6-8 weeks away. As for the fishing it was fabulous for Muskie and Northern Pike for not only numbers, but also the big fish were showing up regularly.

20-Year guest Ron Vincent from Sherrills Ford, NC was making his second appearance in 2019 this time with good friend Jeff Fink from Mooresville, NC. DOA these two caught fish right away with Jeff catching 15+ Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass alone and Ron’s totals were about the same. For Jeff this is his very first Canadian Fishing Adventure and he could not have a better person to show him around Little Vermilion Lake for the first time. 1st full day they faced severe cold front conditions with very high winds but still caught about a dozen Pike along with some Smallmouth Bass, and Ron landed a Muskie.

2nd day was a super fishing day catching 5 Muskie, with Jeff catching his first and second ever being a 35 in Muskie and a 36-inch Tiger Muskie. Ron caught two Muskie and 1 Tiger Muskie and had one break him off. Ron hooked up 3 Musky on 3 consecutive casts landing two of them. Jeff’s story was after he purchased a lure from my tackle shop he asked if it would catch a Muskie and kiddingly guaranteed it would. Well it not only caught a 36-inch Tiger Muskie but the next cast caught a 34-inch Northern Pike. They also caught several very large Smallmouth Bass in the 17-18 inch range. 3rd day these two targeted Muskie. I guess they have Musky Fever, and did well catching two more; having dozens of follows and caught several BIG 17-18-inch Smallmouth Bass.

4th day they did great catching over 25 fish, Ron catching a 38-inch Muskie, both catching a lot of Pike over 30-inches and some Smallmouth Bass in the 16-17.5-inch range. 5th day was only imaginable by Jeff before this trip, as they caught over 100 Northern Pike and at one point Jeff told Ron he would never say he did not want to catch another Pike period, however for today he had enough of catching Northern Pike. They also caught some Smallmouth Bass and they were dandy fish with Ron landing 3 Trophy Size Smallmouth over 18-inches and Jeff had 2 over 18-inches. 6th and final day they caught lots of fish, nothing giant but a lot of nice size Northern Pike. This finished off a fabulous week of fishing for Ron and Jeff, sending Jeff home with a Canadian Wilderness Fishing Experience a Lifetime.

Long time return guests Steve & Debra Johnson from Halltown, MO. were back to chase Little Vermilion Lake BIG Smallmouth Bass. 1st day by noon Steve caught some nice 15-17-inch Smallmouth Bass, and after the noon hour started catching pike landing about a half dozen 30-inches the biggest was 34-inches.

2nd day had them getting into some Smallmouth bass 14 to 16.5-inches and Steve got a good one measuring 18.5-inches which is a Master Anglers Award Trophy qualifier. 3rd day was a really good day for Steve and Debra catching many Smallmouth Bass 14-17 inches; Steve landed two Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass 18-18.5-inches and had a special experience when trying to land a 17-18-inch Smallmouth Bass. As he was getting the Bass in position for Debra to net a GIANT Muskie muscled its way in by thrusting the net aside and snatching the Smallmouth Bass. The Muskie left with an explosive turn of its body splashing up water on both Debra and Steve. The fish paraded around with the Smallmouth Bass for a good amount of time before releasing it back to Steve. The fish had several large gashes in its sides and swam off, maybe back into the mouth of the Giant Musky? Steve said it was the largest fresh water fish he had ever seen and said it was at least the size of a 48-inch Mount we have above the entrance to our dinning room.

4th day started out rainy until about 1pm then turned nice. The fishing was not as active as the day before however they caught some Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. 5th day Steve and I discussed that the Smallmouth might be in transition from a late summer to an early fall pattern. In just 9 days the water temperatures dropped from 71 to 61.5 degrees so Steve was going to try some different locations. It helped as he had success catching Smallmouth Bass of all sizes however the larger 17-inch plus fish were in more typical early fall locations. 6th day had us into another cold front and this time the winds were from the Northeast. Steve, always searching for Smallmouth Bass, had a good day catching Northern Pike and did land a big 17.5-inch Smallmouth Bass.

7th day Debra caught Smallmouth Bass in the 14-16-inch range, and Steve had several larger fishing landing a 17.5-inch Smallmouth Bass and a 35-inch Northern Pike. 8th and final day was a cold, rainy, but calm day and Steve caught one of the largest Smallmouth Bass he has ever caught saying it had a very robust girth. No picture as Debra enjoyed her last day soaking up the wilderness that surrounds you at Fireside Lodge. They left saying the hope to return next year.

Long Time Return guests Chris Grimes & Bob Fischer from Thurmount & Frederick, MD were back to chase anything that swims. They got started by catching a few fish on their day of arrival. 1st day after some tackle purchases they targeted Muskie each catching one in the Mid 30-inch range, and seeing a ton of follows. They had an unusual experience while fishing a structure as Muskie jumped clear out of the water behind them over 90-100 feet of water, so they casted to this area and Chris hooked up on something. First thinking he snagged up he realized that was impossible in 90 feet of water and the fight was on. He got the Muskie to the boat but it came unhooked just before Bob could get it netted. 2nd day was a fantastic day Muskie fishing catching 9 total Musky in the 30-45-inch range with Bob coming up with the fish of the day, landing a HUGE Trophy 45-inch Barred Muskie.

3rd day they caught some Smallmouth Bass 15 to 17-inches and about 12 Northern Pike. 4th day they had one of those special days fishing catching over 100 fish, more than 80 Northern Pike and 20 Smallmouth Bass. The catch of the day was by Chris landing an 18.5-inch Master Anglers Award Smallmouth Bass. 5th day was another very good day catching all three species with the highlights being Bob catching a 34.5-inch Northern Pike and Chris caught two more Muskie, biggest was 36.5-inches and he caught two more Master Anglers Award Trophy Smallmouth Bass measuring 18 and 18.5-inches. What a terrific Muskie week for these guys, Chris catching 12 and Bob 2 but Bob had the Trophy Muskie measuring 45-inches. 6th and final day had them ending with 20 total fish split evenly between Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass. Both left saying they had a great time and we will definitely see them again.

Long time guests Gary Johnson from Midlothian, IL, with sons Pete, Josh and Pete’s father-in-law Steve Trafficanta were back for their second trip in 2019. 1st day one boat caught 8 Northern Pike and saw a few very large follows with the other boat catching 15 fish mostly Northern Pike and a few Smallmouth Bass. Pete landed the first Trophy of the trip being an 18-inch Smallmouth Bass, Steve and Pete said the Pike were huge in girth and most were 30-37-inches.

2nd day Pete and Steve were searching for Muskie and they found them despite a Cold front from the Northeast having many follows and caught four from 35 to 42-inches, Pete catching the largest one, and two of the Musky jumped completely out of the water. Lure of they day for these two was Bucktails. Gary, Kevin and Josh also had a great day catching 28 fish, mostly larger Northern Pike and Kevin came up with the special catch in their boat being a large Tiger Muskie that jumped clear out of the water during the fight. Best lures were the Head-Banger and Spinner Baits.

3rd day was another very good day with each of their 2 boats catching 18-20 larger Northern Pike and Steve came up with the prize fish of the day landing a 40-inch Master Anglers Award Trophy Northern Pike. 4th day was a great day having Gary’s boat catching 21 Northern Pike while Pete and Josh went Muskie hunting hooking four and catching two 30-33 inches with plenty of follows.

5th and final day was a good day catching mostly Northern Pike in the 26 to 34 inch range. Gary and Josh found a new spot where they raised a very large Muskie banking it for future reference. All had great fun again making family memories at Fireside Lodge.

Long time return guests Paul Letourneau and Spencer Olson from North Oaks and Minneapolis, MN returned with anticipation of hunting our big trophy Northern Pike. 1st day they spent a lot of time on the water catching Northern Pike and while trolling Paul caught a 34-inch Lake Trout. 2nd day they had very good action on Northern Pike catching fish 30 to 34-inches.

Third day had these two catching 21 Northern Pike with a lot of nice size fish in the 30-inch range. Some of their efforts were using a new method of trolling around open water bait fish having some success in this area, but most fish were caught in their more traditional locations. 4th day was very similar to the 3rd however they did get into some fast action Smallmouth Bass fishing with Paul catching 5 on almost as many casts. Also, Paul hooked a nice BIG Muskie but it threw his lure in mid-air after making an acrobatic horizontal leap coming completely out of the water. Even though Paul lost the fish he had fun seeing the jumping Muskie and this memory will be with him for a long time to come.

5th day they had a great day catching Northern Pike, BIG Northern Pike over 30-inches with Spencer catching a 34.5-incher while Paul caught the largest two fish, one was 36-inches and the Biggest of the day was 39-inches with a huge girth. Last day they fished for Muskie with Spencer catching one, and they also caught many Pike and a few Smallmouth Bass. Both had a great time and before departing Paul was already in the planning process for a spring trip in 2020.

Long time consecutive year guest Mike Uebelherr from Stow, OH came with his wife Heather for her second time and her sister Stephanie from Juneau, Alaska for her first experience fishing at Fireside Lodge. First day out Heather ruled catching Northern Pike out-fishing Mike and Stephanie.

2nd day was a cold rainy day but you would have thought it was the perfect weather day as they were all very positive about their day catching more Pike, Heather still having the hot hand. Stephanie had her second big fish on but lost it after the fish shook her lure off. All caught fish and were full of excitement and chatter in the dinning room. Mike had made some lure purchases from my tackle shop which were working for them.

3rd and final day, boy three days of fishing goes fast, they had good action on Northern Pike and today it was Heather who had the big fish on getting it close to the boat but again it somehow threw the lure. They all saw the fish saying it had a huge head and seemed very happy just being able to see the fish. All had a fabulous time with Mike having the opportunity to do what he loves, fishing, while Heather and Stephanie had the opportunity to reunite and get some special sister time together. Thanks for choosing Fireside Lodge to make some of your family memories.

Long time Return guests Doug & Mary Bergman from New Lenox, IL retuned in celebration of their 25th anniversary. Day of arrival they caught 9 Northern Pike and lost a few in just 2.5 hours. 1st day they had a good day catching fish and enjoying the wilderness surroundings, which they enjoy as much as our fishing. 2nd day Mary and Doug had a great day catching over 20 Northern Pike up to 36.5 inches, largest caught being caught by Doug, and he also caught a small Musky. 3rd day they targeted Musky, which is Mary’s favorite fish. After fishing for several hours having Muskie follows they decided to make a change using trolling techniques. Well good thing they did as the Muskie responded and by days end they hooked 6 Muskie and landed 4 having several jump clear out of the water during the fight. Doug had a BIG Muskie up to the boat, getting off just before they had the opportunity to net the fish.

5th day was a rainy cold day but they had excellent success fishing for Muskie hooking 6 and landing two with Mary catching the largest being about 35-inches. They also caught some nice Northern Pike. 6th and final day was a great day fishing for and catching bigger Northern Pike landing a total of 21. Mary had the best days total catching 14 and her fish ran larger. Doug said Mary seems to do better on sunny days and he does better with rain and cloud cover. Both had a fabulous time with Mary saying it was the perfect vacation and anniversary celebration. Thanks for choosing us at Fireside Lodge for making your special memories.

Special Note: This Fishing Report concludes our 30th year at Fireside Lodge with our first open fishing season being in 1990. Audrey and I are very grateful to all of our guests over the last 30-years for your support and loyalty in choosing Fireside Lodge for your fishing destination and making the last 30-years possible. In 1990 this was a dream for Audrey and I, and all of you are a big part of making our life dream come true. We want to give you all a “BIG Thank You” for helping us accomplish our life goal at Fireside Lodge. We look so forward to the years ahead of us at Fireside Lodge and hope to see and visit with many of you in 2020 for our 31st year, and introducing new Fireside Lodge guests to our Canadian Wilderness Fishing Adventure. We have had a lot of early reservation activity and for those of you planning to visit Fireside Lodge in 2020 please email or call in order secure your preferred dates. Wishing you all the best, Audrey & Alan.


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: Spinner Bait, Blue Fox Spinner, X-Rap, Bucktail, Head-Banger, Husky Jerk, Mepps Spinner, Rattl’n Rap, Sinking Worm, Ned Rig

Catches of The Week: 45-inch Muskie, 42-inch Muskie, 40-and 39-inch Northern Pike Many Smallmouth Bass 18-19-inches, 41 Muskie caught in 6 days with hundreds of follows

Well, that's it for this weeks Fireside Lodge Fishing News Report and this is the final Fishing Report for our 2019 season at Fireside Lodge. Please stay tuned for our next weekly fishing report which will start at the end of May 2020. Until then "Keep On Fish'n" Alan

http://www.firesidelodge.com
800-545-0815
Email at:fireside@xplornet.com