Ontario
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Fireside Lodge

A Canadian Wilderness Experience

Your satisfaction is our uppermost consideration!

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The Fish Species

Smallmouth Bass are caught and released in large numbers throughout the year. Often, 3 to 4 pound Smallies are caught and 4 to 5 pounders are not uncommon. Guests at Fireside Lodge release Smallmouth Bass over 5 pounds every year. Although Smallmouth Bass will change their location during seasonal fluctuations, the consistency of the catch does not change for our guests. The practice of catch-and-release has kept our Smallmouth Bass fishing of premium quality, hard to be matched anywhere in North America.

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Northern Pike: Little Vermilion is known for its large-bodied Pike. Because of its cold deep water and excellent forage, Northern Pike grow rapidly and develop a healthy body. Many Pike are hooked every year that weigh between 10 to 15 pounds. A number of our guests have released Pike between 15 to 20 pounds, and there are pictures of over 20-pounders every year. Then there are those that got away?...

Whitefish: Little Vermilion has an abundance of this often overlooked species. Being flat, football shaped, and silvery white in color, they usually roam our waters in schools. Average size is 1 to 5 pounds with the potential growth of over 10 pounds. Locating Whitefish is sometimes a challenge, but when met under proper conditions you'll be rewarded with fast action and fabulous fun. Whitefish caught on light tackle are very scrappy; similar to Smallmouth Bass.

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Muskie: our lake system is unique to most in this category. Little Vermilion Lake is connected by creeks to three lakes that are Muskie Sanctuaries and were closed to fishing from the 1930's to 1993. These lakes are now opened under special regulations. This natural hatchery, coupled with its great forage, structure, and deep cold water, has conditions to fulfill any fisherpersons' dreams. Little Vermilion not only has numbers of Muskie but holds very large fish. One guest's best day on the lake is 14 Muskie. That's in just one boat. All released! In fact in 2007 many Muskies were caught, some very large, every one released. Yes, even the whoppers!

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Great Fishing in Beautiful Ontario (#29)

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Great Fishing in Beautiful Ontario

This goes hand-in-hand with fisheries management. At Fireside Lodge we manage all four portage lakes as catch & release only. Little Vermilion and Cedarbough Lakes are managed as conservation lakes and Maskinonge, Hooch, and Cloudlet are catch & release: barbless hooks only. This gives every Fireside Lodge guest the best possible opportunity to have the fishing trip of their life. Fireside Lodge guests catch many fish and very large fish. Just about everyone fishing in these lakes has experienced the fishing day, or catch of their lifetime. Many had both. After all this is what we all go on a fishing trip for. To give some examples:

130 Smallmouth caught in 6 hours, over 1/2 15-18", largest 19 1/2" - Little Vermilion
38 Northern Pike caught in 1 day, largest 20 pounds - Booger Lake
61 Smallmouth caught in 1 day, 50% between 16"-20" - Closs Lake
150+ Smallmouth caught in 1 day, many over 16" - Little Vermilion
5 Muskie caught in 1 day, largest 44" smallest 38" - Cedarbough
13 Muskie caught in 1 day - Closs Lake
101 Muskie caught, 150+ follows, 18 people, 5 days - All Lakes
4 Northern Pike caught between 39-40", 1 person, 1 day
14 Muskie caught, 1 week, 8 over 40" smallest 38" - Little Vermilion
51 Northern Pike caught in 1 day - Little Vermilion
96 Smallmouth caught in 4 hours, all 13 " - 20" - Little Vermilion
115 Northern Pike caught 1 day - Terry Lake
3 Muskie caught 1 day 46" 38 " 40" - Little Vermilion
7 Muskie caught 50+ follows 1 day one 42"- Little Vermilion
30 Pike, 40 Bass, caught in one day - Little Vermilion

These are just a small sample of what some of our guests experienced while fishing at Fireside Lodge.

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The Future of Fishing is in Your Hands (#31)

2008 Ontario Fishing Season: May 17th to September 13th

Special Seasons and Regulations

Muskie season opens June 21st.
Closs Lake opens June 21st.
Maskinonge, Hooch, and Cloudlet Lakes open June 21st.
Maskinonge, Hooch, Cloudlet Lakes, and all portage lakes are catch-and-release only.
Maskinonge, Hooch, and Cloudlet Lakes are barbless, one hook only & artificial lures only.
All guests fish under Conservation Regulations only.

Remember "The Future of Fishing is in Your Hands."

Curious about our guest's fishing experiences throughout the 2007 season? Of course you are. That's why we have included this page that depicts time of year against our guest's catches. Remember that all these fish were released so this in turn increases your opportunity as a Fireside guest to experience the same fabulous fishing. The information was attained randomly from Fireside Lodge guests at the end of their fishing day. They are a sampling of experiences. There are many, many more!

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Size of fish? We figured that would be your next question. At Fireside Lodge our guests catch a lot of large fish. As stated before, Fireside Lodge guests caught 325 Master Angler Awards fish. Check this out:

Smallmouth Bass: many caught are 15 to 18". This is a great sized Smallie. A lot caught are between 18 and 20". Largest caught was 25". What a monster.

Northern Pike: commonly are 28 to 36". Over 40"ers are released every year. Largest caught was 48".

Muskie: 32 to 42" are common and many guests have caught this size. We have catches between 43 to over 50" every year. The largest since our tenure is 54".