Eagle Falls Lodge founders

While Carrie and I were in Milwaukee for the sports show in March we had the pleasure of visiting with Walt and Millie Rundle, the founders of Eagle Falls Lodge.  They had the foresight to build the lodge on the unique piece of property between Parker Lake and Red Lake.  The first group was hosted at Eagle Falls Lodge in 1985.  While the lodge has undergone many positive changes over the years we think it still retains the charm created by the Rundles starting in the 1980s.

My first trip to the lodge in 1995 was hosted by Nick and Wendy Mateja, but the Rundles still provided transportation to the lodge at that time on their houseboat.  I have always known them to be great storytellers and this trip was no different.  Walt & Millie both reminisced about their time at Eagle Falls Lodge and their lodge careers prior to that including time spent building Black Bear Lodge in the 1960s.

We certainly have it easier at the camp today thanks to the hard work of the Rundles, Matejas, & Aikens.  It is difficult to imagine building a camp from scratch in the 1960s or 1980s primarily with hand tools, hard work, and plenty of sweat.  Thankfully that's what the Rundles did and we are fortunate to enjoy the fruits of their labor over 25 years later at Eagle Falls Lodge.    

Buster's BBQ

Looking for a pit stop on the way to Red Lake?  Carrie and I have a new favorite - Buster's BBQ located in Vermilion Bay, Ontario.  The restaurant is located on Highway 17 about a mile west of the turnoff for Highway 105 to Red Lake.

My family turned us onto the place after stopping there in 2009 on a trip to the lodge.  They brought us a couple bottles of the now famous Blueberry BBQ Sauce and we were hooked!  If you're thinking that sounds familiar, you're right.  We use and serve the sauce with some of our meals at the lodge.

Buster's boasts an array of BBQ awards including several from the prestigious American Royal BBQ contest.  Growing up in Kansas City, I can tell you that is DEFINITELY a big deal.  The assortment of hardware, plaques, and award certificates in the restaurant is impressive, but don't leave it to the awards.  Go judge for yourself!

Whether you're a fan of smoked ribs, brisket, chicken, or pork you'll find something delicious.  They also serve an assortment of burgers, wraps, and salads.  Carrie and I stopped on the trip home last fall and we can definitely vouch for the Chopped Pork Sandwich and the Brisket Sandwich.  Our only regret is the restaurant isn't closer to Red Lake since we only have the opportunity to eat there twice a year.  For those of you passing through Vermilion Bay on Saturday mornings en route to catch The Barge out to the lodge, you'll be interested to know that Buster's also serves breakfast.  While we can't vouch for the breakfast, if the food is anything close to their lunch it will be well worth your trip.

Give Buster's a try this summer and let us know what we need to order on our trip south next fall.

The sauce picture is courtesy of Buster's website which you can check out here www.bustersbbq.com

Northern Pike Retrieval Patterns

There is plenty of material out there on catching Northern Pike.  Much of it advocates an erratic retrieve to attract the attention of fish in the area.  I won't disagree with the experts.  An erratic retrieve certainly draws fish in, but also leads to a poor hookup percentage especially when fishing topwater lures.

Watching a 40+" Northern boil, swirl, or hurdle your lure is pretty exciting.  An erratic retrieve may have drawn that fish to your lure, but also caused it to miss its target.  Many guests comment on the poor aim of these fish.  One thing to remember is that the eyes of a Northern Pike are essentially on the top of its head, especially on bigger fish.  So when they open those giant jaws to strike at your lure, their vision is temporarily gone since it is blocked by their massive open mouth.  The fish is aiming at the last place they saw the lure and an erratic retrieve will put your bait out of position for a direct hit.

Try a steady retrieve and watch the number of misses drop.  Don't focus so much on either a fast or slow retrieve as that can depend on a number of factors including weather, lake conditions, lure type.  Just concentrate on a steady pattern even if it involves some tricks such as a pause.  You will improve your hookup success if you can find a rhythm that produces strikes.  Crank-pause-crank or a similar rhythm replicated over and over will likely yield more fish than seeing how fast you can crank your reel or popping your rod so erratically that your fishing partner thinks you've gone spastic.  Give it a try this summer and see what you think!

We survived Milwaukee!

Hello everyone!

We got back last night from our big Milwaukee adventure and I thought I would share some photos from our trip.  However, I must share a quick side story from the trip home first.

Travis and I drove separately (an unfortunate circumstance of his work schedule) and we split off near the end of our journey so he could pick up Cosmo while I headed on to the house.  We are spoiled because Cosmo gets to stay at Travis' parents house whenever we are traveling out of town - which Cosmo REALLY loves.  I arrive at the house at 10:30ish very excited to be home at a somewhat decent hour.  Right about the time I turn off the car I remember that Travis has the house key.  Oops.  I figure he is maybe only 20 minutes behind me so I unload my stuff, put it by the door, and sit on the porch swing (which I love) and swing away.  Well, over an hour goes by and there is no sign of Travis.  You are probably wondering why I didn't just call him when I realized I was locked out.  That would require my husband to have charged his phone prior to our journey home.  His cell phone is long dead, while I am swinging away on our porch.  Did I mention that it started raining?  Anyway they finally show up and I ask if something happened to them (in other words: where the heck were ya?)  Turns out he got a nice 30-45 minute visit in at his parents before he headed home.  He is just as curious as to why I am standing in the driveway while its raining at almost midnight.  Good grief.  Makes us excited to be at the lodge - where its next to impossible to be locked out, but very possible to be standing in the rain at midnight.  Can't wait!

Anyway, our trip was really great and the Milwaukee Sports Show was very well attended while we were there.  I started off the show by myself on Wednesday and Thursday (with some help of our loving guests) and Travis joined me Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Black Bear Lodge was also at the show and Jillian rocked her booth alone for all 5 days!  She is a trooper.  I think her husband, Jim, and Travis would definitely agree that we represent the better half of our respective ventures.

We had several guests from the Milwaukee area stop by our booth during the show - which was awesome!  It is so great to see everyone and we appreciate you sharing all the reasons why you have made Eagle Falls Lodge your fishing destination.  Below are some photos we took with guests during the show.

We probably owe Andy and Jeff (pictured below) a special shout out for all of their assistance at the show.  They stayed until the bitter end while we packed up the Eagle Falls Lodge mobile, which was parked on the Milwaukee Mile race track (kinda cool, right?)  We sure do appreciate their help and all of the kindness shown by other guests while we were at the show.  It was a lot of fun to talk shop and think about the upcoming summer.

PS.  We leave in approximately 52 days!! How long until YOUR trip?