Bait of the Year!

Our Bait of the Year award for the 2010 season goes to Nubaits for their line of fish dominating lures. These lures boasted a better catch ratio than any other Northern or Muskie lure we tried this past season so needless to say, we were impressed!

Check out their website - www.nubaits.com



They have five different lures to pick from with the ability to customize your lure's components with your trusted colors. My personal favorites were the white-tailed "Maverick" (above) and the Red-tailed "Chopper" (below) which outperformed my Mepps on more than one occasion. Also check out the three-bladed "Trippler". It looks wild, but yielded several nice-sized fish.



Let us know if you have some favorites that we may not know about. We love checking out new lures and we're certainly glad we found these!

That's a wrap!

2010 By the Numbers

4 months of fishing
1 lightening struck generator
7 new 20hp motors
2 fish hooks removed from fingers
136 sunsets overlooking Parker
0 search & rescue missions
3 added weeks to the season
48 trips to town
45 boat oil changes
4 portages
1 eagles nest
2 visits from grandmas
5 pairs of ruined work pants for Travis
2 pairs of remaining pants for Travis
5 brave swimmers on Parker
9,754 liters of gasoline used
4 doggie play dates for Cosmo
112,500 estimated pumps on the manual bilge pumps to keep boats dry (battery pump is officially going on our Christmas wish list)

Eagle Falls Lodge 2010 edition is complete! A big thank you to everyone that came up to fish this summer, we hope to see you again next summer.

We have already been back in the states for a week and have started to look back on what an awesome season we had at Eagle Falls Lodge this summer. Travis bravely started working at his other job on Monday and we both have felt a world away from our lifestyle of this summer. As I ironed piles of work clothes that had been boxed up for the summer it seemed unreal to think that just days prior I had been out at camp full of wildlife and crisp clean fall air.

Don't feel too sorry for us though, we realize how lucky we are to spend so much time up north running the camp over the summer and are already looking forward to the 2011 season. We have been brainstorming about how to make next year even better, so if anyone has any thoughts let us know! Also, if you are ready to make reservations for next season, you can call our number here in the states: 417-522-3163 or email us at eaglefallslodge@yahoo.com.

Skunker!

We had a first for the Mack family during our last week here at Eagle Falls. Cosmo got SKUNKED!! It is probably more of a surprise that it hasn't happened before, but let me tell you...he got it good. The smell immediately came into the kitchen as I was doing dishes after BBQ Chicken night (Wednesday for those of you who have yet to come visit).

I only have one other experience with skunks. Growing up we would vacation with some family friends who had a black lab named Molly. Molly got skunked. I was pretty little and was astounded that grown-ups were pouring tomato juice into the bathtub late at night. It shocked me further when they plopped Molly in the tub with the tomato juice.

This memory came rushing back as Travis comes in the lodge to confirm my fears that Cosmo had indeed been skunked. So like most situations out at the lodge we do some quick creative problem solving to see what we can do with what is out at camp, because taking a boat ride into Red Lake after 5pm won't do any good. I scan the dwindling pantry shelves (remember this is the last week, so things are clearing out) and spot a few cans of Campbell's tomato soup. Not exactly tomato juice or anything that probably comes close to an actual tomato. In a perfect world we would log into google and search for skunk remedies, but alas we just have the insight of some guests, tomato soup, and one very stinky Cosmo. Travis corrals Cosmo to the dock on Parker and gets him in the water. He then lathers the tomato soup on the stinkiest areas, which proves difficult because Cosmo is now licking the tomato soup off his body faster than Travis can rub it on. Back in the water he goes. At this point neither of us are a good judge as to whether the smell is gone, or at minimum subdued. Cosmo has gotten very excited and licks any remaining soup bits off the dock before his long night holed up in the bathroom without his blankies.

Thursday morning I find a very sad, yet slightly less stinky, puppy staring at me while I brush my teeth. He spent the next few days with an orange tint to his undercoat. Rest assured, he is back to his usual blissful self. It remains to be seen whether he learned his lesson or not.

Top Northern Pike Surface Lures

As summer progresses you may encounter more weed growth during your fishing exploits. Don't shy away from these areas since many big northerns love to ambush baitfish in the weeds. Instead try these surface baits. Here are my top 5 from this season.


5. Floating Rapala

Rapala makes a great lineup of baits and you don't want to pass up the floaters. A classic lure with proven results.


4. Buzzbait

Buzzbaits aren't just for bass. The noise they create as they churn across the top of the water drive northerns nuts. Get ready for some vicious hits and pack some extra skirts since the originals will likely get torn up.


3. Suick

The biggest northern of the season came on a Suick this year. These lures weigh the most of the top 5 so make sure you have a heavier rod to handle casting them.


2. Zara Spook

Spooks are famous for great action with a very simple "walk the dog" presentation. This is achieved by simply twitching the rod tip with a jerk of your wrist. The lure bobs back and forth on the surface and sometimes northerns will miss 2 or 3 times coming clear out of the water before they take the bait.


1. Creek Chub Darter

This has been my favorite for over 15 years. The lure floats when first casted, but on the retrieve it plows a couple inches under the surface and produces an irresistible wobble. In most lakes you can still see the lure while reeling it in and watch all the vicious strikes.

Red Lake Fall Classic

This year two Eagle Falls guests participated in the 2010 Red Lake Fall Classic - a popular walleye catch & release tournament. Don & Phil Krohn finished in 27th place out of a field of 140 boats including several pros. This is especially impressive considering they were in 66th place after the 1st day. A strong 2nd day weight of 12.56 lbs. (5 fish) propelled them up the leaderboard. Congratulations Don & Phil! For more information on the tournament visit - www.redlakefallclassic.com

Top Northern Pike Lures

This fishing season has proved terrific for walleye and northern pike. Many of you enjoy pursuing walleye on your Canadian trip, but don't overlook the northern pike. As of today, 20 northern 40" and up have been caught this year and the season is not finished yet. If you're looking for a terrific battle with a ferocious fish you've met your match with a monster northern. Here are my top 5 specific pike lures this year excluding surface baits (I'll cover them in my next post). Let us know your favorites.



#5 - Johnson Silver Minnow

The big advantage here is the ability to go weedless. Parker Lake is terrific for big northerns, but sometimes you have to go into the weeds to find them. Don't forget to bring along at least a couple weedless baits.



#4 - Spinnerbaits

I especially like the perch colored blade. The extra flash is sometimes all you need. A wide variety of spinnerbaits prove irresistible for big northerns.



#3 - Red/White Daredevil Spoons

Spoons are deadly so I always keep a couple red and white ones in my tackle box. The familiar wobble will incite many strikes.



#2 - Mepps #5

Mepps makes a great line of spinners. For colors I like red, white, yellow and black and I usually prefer spinners with a skirt. These spinners will produce loads of fish. If you are specifically targeting big fish try using a larger Mepps designed for musky fishing. You may not get as many strikes, but you will typically catch bigger fish.



#1 - Len Thompson Five of Diamonds

This is my favorite bait for fishing below the surface. Don't leave home without one. Bring a bottle of ibuprofen along too because you'll need it after reeling in dozens of northerns. Whether this pattern looks appetizing or they can't stand it being on their turf, northerns will hit and hit hard!

Cosmo....Bear Defender

It has been a quiet year for bears in camp and that is mostly due to the efforts of our yellow lab Cosmo. He loves to run patrols around the camp and we've been fortunate to have only one bear visit all summer. Cosmo doesn't let his duties end there. He also enjoys keeping squirrels high in the trees, seeing if ducks can outswim him, and scattering the abundant population of northern leopard frogs in camp this year. It's comforting to have him along especially during the midnight trips to the generator in the woods. All it takes is one broken limb and he's off like a yellow bullet to investigate.



Of course it's hard work keeping all the wildlife in check so an occasional nap is required. Here's Cosmo and his visiting friend Phoenix.

Now we're certainly not complaining about the lack of bears in camp. But it is fun to see them and there's only one place you'll see this many. No, it's not the zoo, but the town dump. This photo comes courtesy of our friend Rob.

Family Visit

Hello everybody!

We have had some more crazy weather up here. The guys that were up last week will agree that it was a touch on the HOT side. We had temperatures in the 80's and even had some humidity. Well those days are long gone. The first few days this week were in the 50's and the wind has been whistling outside the lodge. Quite the temperature change!

Last time I posted was right before my mama arrived, who was anxious to get away from the Missouri heat. That is her beautiful face at the top of the post. They had a great week and enjoyed the cooler weather, although it was far from being this cool. My cousins Robert and Riley had a blast out on the water fishing and Robert did some canoeing out on Parker Lake. My mom caught a 26" Walleye below the falls on Red Lake, and my Gran caught several fish including a small Northern that she almost lost to a monster Northern that followed it up to the boat.

We were sad to see them go, but it was great to have some family make it up for a visit!

Below are some highlights of their week at Eagle Falls Lodge.

Monster Northern

The big generator has been repaired and the camp is running on full power again. We weathered more thunderstorms last week fortunately without incident. The guests last week did some traveling on Red Lake, but were able to find several walleye in the 24" - 27" range. See pictures below of Terry, Dean, & Kari. The big catch of the week was a 46.5" Northern (above) caught by Phil Krohn.

Hot Colors

Fishing continues to be productive and it's time to narrow down the top 5 colors of the season. This is based on our experience trolling lindy rigs and input from guests, but let us know if we missed your favorite color.

5.) White - I'm always partial to this color ever since I hooked a 50" musky while walleye fishing. Sure the fish was blind in one eye, but I like to think the white beads caught it's "good" eye.

4.) Combinations of the top 3 colors - Whether you buy them in the store or build your own, don't be afraid to try color combinations. Solid colors are reliable, but with experience you'll find color combinations that will trigger bites on a slow day. A couple of my favorites are yellow and red along with yellow and white.



3.) Orange - Worm-thieving perch also really like orange, but if you don't mind the occassional tat-tat-tat, pack some orange beads.

2.) Red - Always a favorite. I have had more personal success this year with red rigs on overcast days.

1.) Chartreuse (Yellow) - This is my go-to color. Always seems to produce and I usually only switch to other colors when I'm out or my boat partner is slaying fish on another color.

Mid Summer Report

Hello Everybody.

I have been majorly slacking on my end of the blogging world. Travis has written one too many if you ask me. Well, I decided to put an end to that.

Out at camp we are pretty much at the halfway mark for this season. I can't believe it. Time has gone by really quickly this year! Cosmo has managed to maintain his weight so far this year which Travis and I are really happy about. Nothing like having a starving puppy face watching you cook all day long. As much as he watches me I think Cosmo could pretty much take over KP duty if I got eaten by a monster Northern.

Cosmo had a special visitor last week. My grandma, Barbara Vestal, from Marshfield, MO came up as a guest last week. We had a lot of fun fishing and hiking out at camp. She also got to go to Red Lake's Norseman Festival which was this weekend. You can find out more about this event in Red Lake by clicking here. Below you can see that she enjoyed being out on the water and had some success of her own catching Walleye, Northern Pike, and Perch.





I am in town today (on Sunday, which is extremely unusual) to pick up my other grandma, mama, and two cousins, also from Missouri. I'm sure we will have some more pictures soon of all their fishing adventures.

Until next time...

Night of the Rock Bass

This is for all the rock bass fans out there...





That's right...two rock bass in one night. A pretty successful outing if you ask me.

Fish Photos!

Don't forget to send pictures from your trip if we didn't already get them! We love to see pictures of fish, wildlife, the camp, and all the great scenery. Email them to eaglefallslodge@yahoo.com or mail hard copies to us at Box 224, Red Lake Ontario P0V 2M0.



Here is a picture above of Tracy Mack's (yeah, that's my dad) 26" walleye caught in the falls at the back of Parker. He caught it on a yellow Creek Chub Darter that doesn't go more than a foot underwater believe it or not!



Above is Shawn Burns with a nice 40" Northern.



Check out Larry Andris with a huge 41.75" Northern.

Below are some of last week's guests - Brian, Zach, Rolly, & John with a nice stringer of fish from Parker.



I know a few of you enjoy exploring and many of you probably know there are several abandoned gold mines in the area. A few guests visited the Red Summit mine which is accessible off the Mt. Jamie road by a trail on the north end of Martin Bay. This is one of the older mines in the area. Unfortunately there aren't any building left at this site, just some racks of core samples, a bulldozed pile of lumber, and a large spoils pile with some quartz. Below is an old truck on the trail that couldn't quite make the trip back. That's all for now from the north. Until next time!

Wacky Weather

The weather has been wild this past week as you can see from the photos below. Rain followed by sunshine followed by more rain.









Fortunately, even with all the fronts moving through the guests still managed to catch some nice fish. See Scott Nelson's walleye below.



We also has a bonus visitor in camp this week - a baby bird which Carrie promptly named Chipper despite his grumpy outward appearance. Luckily Cosmo decided to not make Chipper an afternoon snack and after a couple sniffs, Chipper was allowed to bumble about the camp. After two days he flew (I'll use that word loosely since he was still pretty awkward) off into the Canadian bush. Maybe he'll visit again.

Power Struggle

Greetings from the north! Judging by the title of this post, most of you probably thought this blog might pertain to who is actually in charge out at the lodge. Even though Carrie and I (Travis) both own the lodge, everyone knows that I'm the one in charge. Everything usually runs smooth too, as long as I do what Carrie tells me to do.

Speaking of running smooth though, we had a little excitement this past week and unfortunately it was the wrong kind. Our generator that powers the camp was hit by lightning and the computer inside wasn't too happy about it. We do have the camp running again on a backup system so no worries if you are getting ready to make the trip up.

There has been plenty of the good kind of excitement too. Enjoy these recent photos of some trophy catches - Bob Gouge and his 42" Northern.



Annette Ragsdale and her 36.5" Northern



Matt Dillon with a healthly 34.5" Northern.



Happily, all fish were released! Also Jeff & Andy Zwieg have managed to locate a new eagle nest on Parker near the old one that many of you probably remember. Here's a shot.



The walleye are moving to deeper water on Red Lake with most of the fish now being caught in the 12-20' range. The fish are Parker are still being caught near the weedlines and steady wind has produced great numbers of fish the past week. If you have questions or comments about a specific area on the lake please write. Until next time...