Fireside Lodge Fishing News Report 6/16-6/22 2001

Fireside Lodge Fishing News Report 6/16 to 6/22 2001

Good day to all you fishing enthusiasts, and thanks for taking time to read our Fireside Lodge fishing report. This is week 5 at Fireside Lodge and it started out with a bang, as the Kevin Marks crew returned for their 5th straight season. Kevin from Hebron, Ky., came with Jim Graham from Morningview, Ky., Rodney Osborne, from Ryland Heights, Ky., Mike Muir, from Knoxville, Tn., Dennis Toner, from Weston, Ct., Mike Strohl, from Indian Trail, NC., Mike Colitti, from Matthews, NC., and Jay Lind, from Hoboken, NJ. This group always comes for a 3 day stay, and have had such successful trips in the past, that they knew it would be a challenge to beat their record of 353 Pike and Muskie. Well in the first day did they ever get a great start catching over 200 Northern Pike and Muskie, and a most of these fish were 30"-35". WOW what a great day. When all was said and done at the end of their stay they recorded 506 Northern Pike and Muskie with most being in the 30" to 35" range with several in the high 30's. This group left for home full of excitement and in anticipation of their return in 2002.
A first time group to Fireside Lodge of John Crow and Warren Hillary, from Virginia Beach, Va., Vincent Shen and his two sons, from Salem, Va., and Steven Fong, from Sacramento, Ca. all had a good first stay. On their second day on our waters one boat of, John, Warren, and Steven caught up to 70 Northern Pike, each caught a Muskie, and had plenty of other action in the form of follows and fish that got off. A quote from John Crow the group organizer was " We've been to Alaska, South America, and many other places fishing and this day is better than any day we have fished elsewhere". Another one of their highlight days these three caught over 40 Northern Pike, with a lot of good size fish in the mid to upper 30's, up to 38", and they also caught 6 nice size Muskie. Warren on this day also caught some of these Pike on a Fly. Great 1st trip to Fireside.
Scott & Valerie Salminen, from Humble, Tx., were also first timers at Fireside and first timers to fishing in Canada period. Well they had a wonderful short 3 day stay. It did not take Scott long to catch on to catching Pike, as he did great his second day landing many Northern Pike, in the mid to upper 30"s. On their last day both Valerie and Scott had, as Valerie put it," A great day of fishing today, they were really biting". It was great to see these two in awe of the wonderful wilderness around them, which makes up a big part of most peoples fishing trips at Fireside Lodge. William Witte and son Tyler, from Westchester, Ohio, also had a wonderful first experience at Fireside Lodge. They did very well catching Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, and few Muskie. First day of arrival a few hours before supper Tyler caught 4 nice Smallmouth 15"-16, and a 28" Pike. Another day they caught many Northern Pike of great size, Tyler caught his first Muskie, and then there was the one that got away!!! "The one that got away from Bill, estimated at 50"++, he will be dreaming about for a long time to come. That's fishing Bill.
The Hestand family Russell, Philip, LlewEllyn, Frank, Albert, and Matthew all from around the Lexington, Ky. area were at Fireside Lodge for their long awaited wilderness fishing experience. They did just fabulous catching many Northern Pike and landing a few Muskie. In 1 day they caught well over 50 Pike and 3 Muskie with LlewEllyn catching a great looking Tiger Muskie. They next day they caught less but the quality was there with every fish being 30"-38" and half were in the range of 34"-38". Fun was had by all and their first Canadian Wilderness Fishing experience at Fireside Lodge was a successful one. Doug & Cindy Shelly, from Mount Joy, Pa. were back at Fireside Lodge with their boys Andrew and Brad for their 2nd consecutive year. Doug, by the way made the front cover of our brochure this year, so send in those pictures. On their first day at Fireside Doug and Andrew caught 21 Northern Pike and 3 Smallmouth 2 being Master Anglers Award Bass at 18.5" and 19". Andrew with much excitement explained how they lost two other HUGE Smallmouth. This family unit really enjoyed our wilderness setting at Fireside Lodge. Throughout the rest of the week they did catch many Pike with some in the mid to upper 30's, and also caught some Muskie and good size Smallmouth. Doug on his last night, last fish of the trip caught a 39" Northern Pike, which he explained as being enormous. What a way to finish. We hope Fireside has started a tradition for this family.
Another family Dennis, Cindy, and Denny Klopstein were at Fireside to celebrate Denny's graduation. This was Denny's request over a party or trip with friends. What a great compliment to Dennis and Cindy. Anyway on their 2nd day they decided to try out the Smallmouth fishing and landed 51 Smallmouth Bass with both Dennis and Denny catching huge 20" Master Anglers Award Smallies. Another day Smallmouth fishing they caught over 40, and during a Northern Pike fishing day landed over 35. It was very nice to see this family enjoying conversation at every meal, and watching them sit on our andorondak chairs after a day of fishing and just enjoying each others company. They had a wilderness experience one day while walking across a portage came upon a moose, presumed to have a calf with her as she would not leave the area, and persistently called for her baby (Big Baby). You should have seen the smiles on all three of their faces while describing this event. Fun was had by all three, and special memories were made for sure.
Doug Eberle and his sons Bernie and Peter, from Lafayette, In., were at Fireside for their fist time, and on their night of arrival had a very exciting fishing event happen to them. Just several hours after arrival Bernie hooked into and landed a 43" Master Anglers Award Northern Pike. WOW what a fish! This is a fish of a lifetime, and this one had Bernie's name on it. Then in the second day Peter caught what would be considered a Smallmouth of most anglers lifetime. Peter landed a 19.5" Master Anglers Smallmouth, so in two days Doug's sons, never fishing our lake system before, most likely caught their biggest, or at least one of their biggest, Northern Pike and Smallmouth of a lifetime. This trio continued on to do well all week catching Muskie, Northern Pike, and Smallmouth. They came with other family members Bill & Nora Bogan and son Bill Jr., also from Lafayette, In. This trio had some great fishing days landing many Northern Pike, Muskie and Smallmouth. Bill Jr had the hot hand with Smallies landing and recording 5 Master Anglers Award Smallmouth at 18",19",19", 19", and 19.5". GREAT FISHING!!! Funny story Bill Sr told, was on their second day Bill put down his fishing rod, with his lure dangling over the water, to go to the front of the boat to help Nora. Well before either could react a Muskie leaped out of the water grabbed Bills dangling lure and dragged his rod & reel in the water and swam off. All Bill and Nora could do is stand there in shock, and watch the rod disappear under the waters surface. I'm sure that story will be told a few times over the years. Couple Martin and Deloras Rupley from New York, were here for their 3rd time as a couple, Martin for his 8th. They did great catching all kinds of Northern Pike and Muskie in the low to upper 30's. Deloras when first getting here said she was definitely after the BIG Master Anglers Award fish and guess what, on her first day of fishing she caught a huge 19.75 inch Smallmouth. Way to go Deloras. This couple also helped another couple get started, and showing them around the lake system, which helped them in their success. This is a normal event at Fireside of people helping each other. Douglas Weber, from Evanston, IL., and Robert Marksteiner, from Bartlett, IL., were here from their fist time and did very well fishing. First day ever on the lake they caught 12 Northern Pike 25" to 32". Next day they ended up catching 15 good size Pike and 15 Smallmouth. Every day they did well catching some mid 30" Pike and some great size Smalllies.
Finally Dave Moon at Fireside Lodge for his 4th time, was here with his son Matt and brother Roger. Their from St Peters and Defiance, Mo. Thanks to Dave's experience on our lake system they had fantastic fishing. First day out they caught 33 BIG Smallmouth landing 8 Master Anglers Award Smallies two at 18.5" and the rest between 19.25" - 19.75". Also on this same day they caught 28 Pike with Dave landing a Master Anglers Award Northern at 40". Just a remarkable day for this trio. They had some other great days catching anywhere from 30 to 45 Smallmouth and ended up landing 7 more Master Anglers Award Smallmouth two 18.25" - 18.75" and five between 19"-19.75". On their last day they only fished until noon and still caught over 25 Smallmouth. Wonderful family fishing memories were made by these three.
Besides all the fishing we had many people see Moose this week, a few saw Black Bear, nesting Loon, and of course their are always sighting of Bald Eagles, Osprey, Beaver, Otter, ect. That sums it up for this weeks fishing report at Fireside Lodge, and hope to have you read next weeks. Until then "Keep On Fish'n". Alan