Walleye Fishing on Parker Lake Finishes Strong!

Hello,

We have been meaning to share the pictures from our last group of guests, especially the flurry of really nice sized walleyes that were caught and released on Parker Lake.  We had one guy who had the magic combination because he caught a 23", 24", 25", and a 27" walleye in the SAME spot within 24 hours!

Nice job Kendall!

Here are some of Dan's fish (Kendall's brother):

Nice smallmouth Dan!

And their cousin, Brad, with a few northern off of Parker Lake:

The other guys up that week had a nice week of fishing as well.  Here is Larry with some nice northern he caught and released on Parker Lake:

And Bob with a nice walleye on Parker Lake:

Larry and Bob had to take a lunch break after catching loads of fish!

We got in on some shore lunch action for the last time as well:

It is hard to believe these guys left a week and a half ago already!

As we stay busy closing up camp we are definitely soaking up the last few days of  being able to enjoy the view overlooking Parker Lake.  The weather has been PERFECT.  Getting to spend so much time outdoors is really nice.  Just a single boat remains in the water on both Parker Lake and Red Lake.  Travis likes to put that job off until the last possible moment.  The finality of it is a bit painful I think.  

It is hard to leave this place, as all our guests know!

Rare catch - Tiger Muskie!

The 2013 fishing season has been excellent so it was a fitting end to see a very unique catch during this last week.  Tom landed a 31" Tiger Muskie on Red Lake.  This is only the second Tiger Muskie we have seen this season.

  

Tom was by himself when he landed the Tiger Muskie so here's a shot of the angler that caught and released the elusive fish.  

Here is a photo of the first Tiger Muskie this season.  My brother Carson landed a massive 41.5" fish with a growth on top of its head.

A Tiger Muskie is a cross between a Northern Pike and a Muskie.  Pike usually spawn first, but once in a great while a Pike will spawn late enough to match the Muskie spawn and presto - the Tiger Muskie.  Tigers grow faster than either pure strain parent and are usually infertile - part of what makes them so rare.  The dark bars on the light background can look similar to a pure "barred" Muskie, but the giveaway is the more rounded tail lobes (same as a Northern Pike) which are unique to the Tiger Muskie.  A barred Muskie has sharper pointed tail lobes.  

Need help identifying your catch?  Most fish caught are Northern Pike.  I know you didn't forget what a Pike looked like, but here's a refresher - Tom's 43.5" Northern off Red Lake.  See the light spots on a dark background and rounded tail lobes.  

Muskies are rare, but we do see a few each season.  Pike spawn earlier than Muskies do and young pike will prey on the baby Muskies which is one limiting factor to the muskie population.  There are three distinct patterns of pure Muskies (clear, spotted, and barred) and the cross between Pike and Muskie (Tiger Muskie).  Most Muskies caught here are the clear variety.  A common factor in all Muskies is dark markings or no markings on a light background which is the opposite of Pike.  

See Mike's 41.5" clear Muskie caught earlier this year as an example.  

Below is a barred Muskie that Carson caught last year.  It is similar to the Tiger Muskie, but note the pointed tail lobes.  

         Cosmo wants to remind everyone that he is a "Tiger Lab" since he has a rounded tail lobe as well.  

A rare breed puppy for sure!

Another way to identify Muskies vs. Pike is to count the pores on the underside of the jaw.  A Pike will have five or fewer on each side while a Muskie will have six to nine pores on each side of the jaw.  You can't use this to distinguish a Tiger Muskie though since they can inherit the pore count from either parent.  

As a side note, Tom's Tiger Muskie pushed us to a new season high for muskies caught and released - nine!  Carrie and I have a few more days left to see if we can make it double digits!  

How to survive a Canadian heatwave...

Hi y'all!

We packed up another good group and they are now headed towards the border.  Would you believe that we have one single week remaining?  That is it.  Every meal we make this coming week will be for the last time in 2013.  I think if Travis was being honest he would say "woohoo!"  When you prepare, serve, and eat the same menu for 15 weeks in the row it can get a little monotonous.  Just a bit.

The guys up this week were troopers in the heat wave.  Good. Ness.  It was HOT.  Everyone stayed in good spirits and we compensated with extra scoops of ice-cream.  I just tried to imagine a blast of cold air coming from the imaginary air-conditioner we don't actually have at the lodge.

Just when I thought I couldn't drink one more sip of water I would grab a precious cherry coke zero brought up from the states (get with the program, Canada!) and plop it in the deep freezer.  That's right.  I said the deep freeze, my friends.  If you haven't tried this before get up right now and do so.

I know what you are thinking:
1. She is a desperate woman.
2. How long can you put a can of soda (or pop depending where you live) in the freezer before it explodes?

Well let me tell ya, because I googled it.  The internet consensus is that you have at least 2 hours before you need to get truly worried about an explosion.  Diet soda will explode faster than regular soda - FYI.  See how informative this blog can be?  You are welcome.  Soda is much more refreshing when it is truly ice-cold.  And anyone who says soda is better in a glass on ice is just nuts in my opinion.  I love it straight from the can.

 Hot, still, and sunny days can make for some tougher fishing for sure - but our guests persevered.  These guys caught some nice fish!

Here is Tim with his 17.75" smallmouth on Parker Lake

2nd biggest smallmouth of the season!

Tim also caught this 13.5" smallmouth on Parker

Here is Kyle with a nice 23" walleye on Red Lake

Kyle also caught and released a 41.75" northern on Red Lake

 AND a 42.5" northern on Red Lake

Kyle is here with his brother, Phil, to fish the Red Lake Fall Classic walleye tournament this weekend.  Too bad its not a northern tournament, eh?  We will try and keep you posted as to how they do this weekend.  Good luck guys!

We had a handful of new guests at Eagle Falls Lodge this past week.  They probably weren't expecting the heat we had the last few days!  

But they still caught fish!

And they enjoyed a nice shore lunch as well.

I love this next picture...

This is how I hope everyone feels when they are out on the lake.  

We had our first guest from Southern California last week.  Talk about a long trip up!  Wayne was super nice and super glad he packed some shorts at the last minute.  Who knew?  

He caught and released this 41" northern pike on Red Lake

Wayne and his fishing partner, Todd, spend the majority of their week casting for northern.  They visited lots of weed beds similar to the one below...

All in all another great week!  

Northern Pike have been plentiful and plenty BIG!

In last friday's post (which you can read here) I hinted to everyone that there would be some nice fish caught in the coming week.

Ladies and Gents....enjoy!

 Kevin - 35" northern

Kevin - 35" northern

 Austin - 41" northern

 Gene - 41" northern

Jim - 39" northern

Mike - 37" northern

Greg - 41" northern

Jerry - 36" northern

J.J. - 35.5' northern

 Ethan - 42.5" northern

Donnie - 35" northern

 Bill - 34" northern

 Dave - 36" northern

 Joe - 35" northern

Joe - 38" northern

 Mike - 37" northern

 Dan - 35" northern

Dan - 39" northern

Mark - 32" northern

 Mark - 32" northern

 Matt - 38" northern

 Tate - 39.5" northern

 Tate - 40" northern

 Tate - 42" northern

We also had three 44" northern pike caught this week in Red Lake.  What beautiful fish!

 Ethan - 44" northern

Troy - 44" northern

Tate - 44" northern 

We definitely had a camp full of northern pike fishermen, wouldn't you agree?  I think they had a good time.  They saw all types of weather: rain, heat, fog, and finally some cooler temperatures.

Some walleye fishermen arrive tomorrow, so we will see how they do out on Red Lake and Parker Lake in the coming days.

Have a good weekend!