Fireside Lodge Fishing Report 8/25 to 8/31 2001

Fireside Lodge Fishing News Report 8/25 to 8/31 2001

Well here we are in the last week of August at Fireside Lodge, and the look of summer is fading away, and signs of fall are starting to show their face. Fall is a beautiful time of year around here with the crisp early mornings, and the pleasant warming of the sun by late morning. Leaves start to turn, wildlife start to show up more often, and the migratory birds start to group for the long trips to their winter homes. The fishing days are shorter as the sun rise is at 6:25 AM and the sunset is 7:45 PM, a far cry from the longest day of the year when these events happen at 4:57 AM and 9:22 PM. Well all you have to do is increase the leghth of your stay at Fireside Lodge and you get equal fishing time compared to June, and that's just what a group did. Dan & Danny Lesko and Robert Nelson, from Elmwood Park, NJ., and Joe Denise, from Aurora, IL., were back for their fourth consecutive year, and stayed for 9 days and 10 nights. These fellows caught a lot of toothy critters during their stay and relaxed every evening before supper on their deck, and retired to their cabin after supper to have good conversation, and measured everything in the cabin (private joke). Joe started a run on red eye wiggler spoons when he purchased 1 and had great success on his first day catching a lot of nice Pike and even had a big Smallmouth hit this spoon as it was just dangling over the boat. On Joe and Danny's second day fishing they caught 10 Pike and 2 Muskie all between 30" to 34". Dan Sr up to this point was not setting the world on fire but on the fifth day he landed a 39" Northern Pike, just 1 inch shy of a Master Anglers award Pike. This jump started Dan Sr and for the rest of the trip he did very well catching Northern Pike and Muskie, and he did end up getting a Northwest Ontario Master Anglers Award Smallmouth at 18", which he was the only one in the group to accomplish this, and does have bragging rights, at least until next year. Several other examples of their days were Danny and Bob catching 13 Pike and 6 Muskie over 30" and Bob Landing 5 Muskie in one day, WOW. Joe and Bob landed 10 Northern Pike each and they each caught a Muskie, and another day Robert caught 9 Pike 1 Muskie, and Danny caught 8 Pike and 2 Muskie. Almost all these toothy critters were between 30" to 36". When all was said and done these four had a fabulous fishing vacation, and made many memories. Thanks for making Fireside your place to make those memories.
Father and son Allen Wortz Sr and Allen Wortz, from Eagle River, Wi., and Howards Grove, Wi., were back at Fireside Lodge for their third trip in as many years. These two seemed to be after larger Northern Pike and Muskie more than ever, and went through their first couple of days with less action than normal. That sometimes happens when searching for larger fish. Then after a slow morning and Al Sr deciding to come back to the lodge and take a rest, his son, after going back out for just a couple of hours, caught 3 Pike at 33, 29, & 27 inches lost two Pike and one Big Muskie, and raised 12 other fish. What a flurry of activity. Al came back just full of excitement and eagerness to explain his happenings. That evening they Al & Al both hit the water and Al Sr had the hot hand landing several Pike. Even though these two limited their Smallmouth fishing to less time than normal, they both caught a Northwest Ontario Master Anglers Award Smallmouth with Al Sr catching a 19", and his son Al catching a 18.5 "er. Both had a great time as all of us did, having a lot of laughs within the many great conversations we had sitting around the lodge in the evening time. This is a big part of their fishing trip, as it is for many people. Thanks for coming back and hope to see ya next year.
Back for their second year in a row was Bill Frick and Jack Lessig, from Orange Park, FL., Jack's son Steve, from San Deigo, Ca., and Bill Mattingly, from LaHabra, Ca. Correction, this was Steve's first trip to Fireside but the other 3 were here in 2000, and said they brought Steve along because he was the fisherman of the group. Well I guess they were right because on their first day they caught a number of Smallmouth , with many 15 to 16 inches and four over 17". The next day Steve confirmed his title again by landing a huge 38.5" Northern Pike, and the group caught some Smallmouth again and several over 17 inches. Well fishing is just part of this trip for these close friends. Bill, Jack, and Bill told me that the main reason they come is just to get together and have fun. After all that is what a trip like this if for, however some of us get a little lost in the fishing end, and sometimes lose perspective of the fun. Well these four had so much fun they are already planing their next trip to Fireside Lodge in May of 2002, to catch Northern Pike in their shallow spawning grounds. Looking forward to seeing this group in 2002.
Arren and Michele Hayes, from North Aurora, IL., were back at Fireside Lodge for their second year in a row also. As soon as Michele arrived she was intently looking for her magic bait, which she had purchased in my tackle shop last year and lost on her last day, and she seemed relieved when we found one. Michele and Arren had a fabulous day Muskie fishing having 34 follows, seeing some monsters, and Arren landing a very nice 35"er. Another day the caught some very nice Pike, but their real highlight was getting a Moose on video tape while going through a creek to get to another lake. What an experience these two had as the Moose first bolted away, then stopped and looked right at them. You could feel the excitement as they explained this wonderful event to everyone in the lodge that night. On their last day they had fabulous opportunity, but slightly disappointing day as they located a number of active large Muskie and Pike but had trouble keeping them on after hooking them. These two had great fun and their parting words were "see ya next year" as they know those fish will be waiting here for them.
Another couple from Fort Worth, Tx., Edwin and Elizabeth Willett also had a terrific vacation here at Fireside Lodge. Edwin, a very intent angler was here primarily for our great Smallmouth fishing. Their first day they caught a few Smallmouth and had fun getting to know part of the lake system. The second day they did great catching over 20 Smallmouth. Now knowing a pattern Edwin and Elizabeth were consistent in their Smallmouth catch, looking for bigger fish, and found them landing a number of Smallmouth in the 16 to 17.5 inch range. Edwin was still hunting for that Northwest Ontario Master Angler Smallmouth, and found it on their last day, within the last hour of fishing, landing a big 18.25 inch Smallmouth. Congratulations Edwin. This couple also thoroughly enjoyed the wilderness we had to offer, and mentioned how walking down our road was so peaceful and interesting, with all their is to discover.
Brian and son Patrick Stanaway, from Zimmerman, Mn., were at Fireside Lodge for their second year in a row. Patrick left the 1st year not landing a Muskie, but took care of that on his second day by catching his very first Muskie. The rest of the week these two had a ball catching Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass and chasing Muskie. One day while Muskie fishing they raised 24 Muskie, Brian landed a 30"er and Patrick, 10 minutes before their quitting time caught his second Muskie, which was a heavy 35 inch beauty. They were doing well catching these toothy critters, and found it hard to pull away and fish for Smallmouth, but when they did they caught 24 nice size Smallies. Another great trip was had by this father and son, and they hope to return one day soon.
The Johnson brothers Ralph, from Overland Park, Ks., Marlin, from Albuquerque, NM., Stanley, from Villisca, Ia., and Doug, from Clarinda, Ia., were at Fireside Lodge for their first time. These four had a great time on their annual fishing trip catching Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. They had some 20 to 30 fish days, mostly fishing for and catching Smallmouth, and Stanley went home with bragging rights catching a Northwest Ontario Master Anglers Smallmouth at 18". Talk about a fish story, Stanley while fishing with Doug got up to net a fish Doug was catching and left his lure dangling over the side of the boat. Well after Doug landed his fish they realized that Doug's pole was gone. Yes over the side of the boat, and they did not even know it happened. Well after trying to hook it with no success they continued fishing in the same area. Well Stanley then snagged something, and as bringing it up saw a big Smallmouth jump, the realized he was actually hooked on the line he lost earlier. While attempting to grab the line it slipped off the hook, the fish jumped again and everything was gone. Stanley then ended up cathcing his line again, got his rod and reel back, and caught the fish which was a nice 17" Smallmouth. That's fishing unpredictable, and fun, and that is exactly why anglers get hooked on fishing. The Johnson's had so much fun they were already inquiring about next year.
Ross and Sherry Raliegh, from Toronto, Ontario were at Fireside Lodge for their first time also. Spending 10 days with us they had a good amount of time to learn our lake system, and did very well catching fish. They seemed to do well Smallmouth fishing just about every day, which was the main reason they selected us for their fishing holiday. They caught a lot of good size Smallmouth in the 15" to 17.5" range, just missing the Master Anglers Award size of 18" a few times. They also spent some time Northern Pike fishing and caught some nice fish with Ross landing his personal best at 36 inches. Ross and Sherry have gone on a lot of fishing trips in north and south eastern Ontario, so when they said that their stay at Fireside Lodge was one of their best fishing holidays ever, it was a high compliment. Thanks for coming and hope to see you both again one day.
Finally Don Plooster, from St Paul, Mn., and Michael Bell, from Nampa, Idahoe were with us four 4 days of fishing. Don is a long time guest of Fireside fishing Little Vermillion Lake for over 30 years, and this was a first experience for Michael. Muskie is Don's pleasure, and Muskie it was for these two. They had few slow days and a few active days. That's Muskie fishing as we all know. Every day they caught Northern Pike or Muskie, with the last day being their best, Don saying they kicked butt that day. They caught big 35 to 38" fish and saw some huge ones during their stay. Thanks for coming back.
That concludes this weeks fishing news at Fireside Lodge. Thanks for taking time to read our fishing report, and until next week, "Keep On Fish'n". Alan