Fireside Lodge Opening Week May 17th, 2008

We’re open! It seems like the last two weeks flew by. When I arrived at the lodge on May 7th there were still large snow banks behind the lodge and between all the cabins. The lake still had a significant amount of ice cover. In fact, there was still ice on the lake when Alan, Dan, Kyle, and I ventured out to set up the portage lakes this past Wednesday. When we arrived at the trail over to Terry lake we found that there was still ice up on shore. We had to tie our boat to the ice and drag it out into the lake so that we could get up to shore. It was close, but the ice was gone for opening day!

Consistently cool days and even cooler nights have kept the water temperature very low for this time of year. That does not seem to deter some of our die-hard opening week regulars. They bundle up in their gore-tex suits and stay out all day long. That’s what fishing in the north is all about. Sometimes you have to battle tough conditions early in the season, but the quality of fishing makes it worth it.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to go out for about an hour last night. I had a decent outing....9 Northern Pike and a 16” Smallmouth Bass. Thanks to the late spring, the Northern Pike spawning period is happening right now. While on the water yesterday I drove right to the backs of some of the smaller bays. I saw lots of big fish in the shallows. There was a lot of commotion and thrashing around. The spawning fish are uninterested in feeding and therefore are difficult to catch. The trick is to find them once they have moved out of the spawning area. Post-spawn Northern Pike fishing is quite an experience. I’ll let you know how I do in about a week!

It felt great to get out on the water again. Yesterday evening in the lodge while talking to Alan about work plans for today, Audrey’s father “Big Steve” said to me in a loud voice “You know, you’re pretty lucky to be able to go out fishing after work...I could never do that!” He’s right, I feel very fortunate to be able to take off on fishing adventures at the end of every work day.

I am looking forward to another four months of hard work and great adventures!

Sincerely,

Tom Bradstreet