Spring = Fishing

I know a few of you were able to make it out ice fishing this winter, but for the rest of us spring equals the start of fishing season. Before you head for the nearest water, check out our list of recommended equipment to give you some ideas when you find yourself in the middle of a spring fishing sale. You certainly don't need everything on the list to have a great week of fishing. Everything suggested is basic tackle and colors we have found to be consistently successful so you won't be wasting money. Good luck fishing near home and good luck planning your Canada trip. We'll see you soon!

Eagle Falls Lodge Suggested Bait, Tackle and Gear

Walleye:

ROD: Light to medium action

LINE: 6 lb. test for jigging
8-10 lb. test for trolling

LURES: Jigheads from 1/8 to 3/8 oz
3” Mister Twister tails
Little Joe live bait spinners (use 1/8 oz split shot sinkers for different depths)
Lindy Rigs (we use 3/8 oz egg sinkers)
Swivels for use with Little Joe and Lindy Rigs
Live Bait (Night Crawlers / Leeches) or Berkely Gulp
Rat-L-Traps
Rapalas (or similar minnow imitating lures)

COLORS: Chartreuse, Orange, White and Yellow

Northerns:

ROD: Medium to heavy action

LINE: 10 to 14 lb. test

LURES: Mepps Spinners #5
Spoons
Large Rapalas (or similar)
7” Suick (9” if your using a heavy enough rod)
Spinner baits / buzz baits
6” STEEL LEADERS

Additional Equipment:

Personal life jacket required by law (we have 50 life jackets at the lodge)
Fishing net
Rope / Nylon stringer (large fish will break metal stringers)
Fillet knife
Portable depth finders can also be handy

Gear:

Sleeping bag
Bath towels
Beverages and snacks
Camera
Rain Gear, rubber boots
Extra shoes
Insect repellent and sunscreen
Ice chest (to take fish home in)
Fishing license

Please note the camp will provide our guests with:

- Meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner)
- Freezing of fish
- Comfortable modern cabins
- Boat cushions & life jackets
- Beds with fitted sheets and pillows
- Unlimited gasoline for camp boats and if you choose to bring your own boat
- 14ft and 16ft boats
- Dependable Honda 15 & 20hp motor
- A great fishing experience!

Sports Show Weekend

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to remind you all that Eagle Falls Lodge will be at the Mid-Iowa Bass Masters Sports Show in Des Moines, Iowa this weekend. It is located in the 4H building on the Iowa State Fair Grounds this Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 26 & Feb. 27) You can find more information on their website by clicking here. Travis will be there talking up the lodge and would love to have anyone in the area stop by! Cosmo will be spending the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Mack and I am making a quick trip to Missouri to visit friends and family. The Eagle Falls Lodge family will be covering 3 states, lets just hope more nasty weather doesn't get in our way!

Cosmo update: He gets his stitches out tomorrow morning and has continued to heal well. Personally, I have grown quite fond of his new look!

Reminder: We will continue booking new guests at the sports shows, so if you still need to reserve your fishing trip for 2011 let us know.

Winter Wonderland

I'm amazed by how many people have expressed interest about spending time at the lodge during the winter months. Sure, the ice fishing is terrific as long as you don't mind chewing through 36" of ice and snowmobiling is a blast when you have 3-4' of the white stuff. But don't forget about the cold! It gets pretty darn chilly in Red Lake during the winter months. I think anytime the mercury climbs above 0 it's considered a warm day. Just in case you were wondering what Eagle Falls looks like during the winter here is a photo courtesy of our friends - The Aikens.

Happy Valentine's Day & Cosmo update

Hello everybody,

We are finally enjoying a warmer day here in Illinois. A balmy 45 degrees, but you'd think it was 70 out there. I sure as heck didn't wear my coat when I was out running errands. I'm sure I speak for most when I say "come on spring!" Here is a picture of Cosmo a few weeks ago after our big snowstorm in Central Illinois. He had trouble figuring out where he was supposed to go "do his business" outside when everything was obviously cleared and the rest he couldn't really see over the snow piles.




During the recent bitter cold days Cosmo has been fighting a tail injury. When he was a pup he injured the tip of his tail and since then if he hits it just right and with enough force it will open back up. You wouldn't think this is a problem, except that the time Cosmo spends each day NOT wagging his tail is about 6 seconds. So to try and heal this mess is next to impossible. He is constantly swinging into chairs, tables, doorways, Travis and myself, you get the idea. Well, we tried everything, We had it wrapped for over a month, most of which Cosmo spent with one of those cone collars on as well to keep him from bothering his poor tail. After countless trips to the vet (and countless dollars, not that it stopped us - but still!) we came to the very hard decision to have his tail removed. Our vet had recommended this as an option during our first Operation Troubled Tail visit back in January. Our biggest concern was making sure that Cosmo's ability to navigate and swim in the water wouldn't be affected. Travis is probably the most thorough researcher I know, so I can confidently say that we considered and researched all options.

Cosmo had surgery last Thursday and is doing great! He came home on Friday night and Travis' brother Carson and our good friend Matt Dillon came to visit and brought a giant bone for Cosmo. He is still taking it easy and has a follow up appointment on Wednesday. We are all getting used to Cosmo's new look, but he is still just as sweet and eager as ever. The decision to remove his tail will ensure that he doesn't face future tail injuries which will be great for him and for us. Someone told me "the silver lining was that we could put stuff on our coffee table now," and I said " are you kidding, now we can GET a coffee table!"



So, for Valentine's Day we will snuggle up with Cosmo and eat our heart-shaped Papa Murphy's pizza with smiles all around. Operation Troubled Tail made me realize how much we love Cosmo regardless of his appendages. We can't wait for him to test out his new and improved rudder this summer at Eagle Falls Lodge!

REMINDER: For those who have yet to send in deposits, please do so as soon as possible. We are offering up remaining weeks at our sports shows, but want to ensure that previous guests get their preferred week. Thanks!

2011 Fish & Feather Expo

Yesterday we wrapped up the 2011 Illinois Fish & Feather Expo here in Bloomington, IL. It was a great show and well-attended. We were rookies in the sports show world last year and we made some valuable upgrades to our display this year including a new banner, photo book, poster, & excerpts from our stellar reviews on fishingtraveler.com thanks to current guests.

The opportunity to talk about the lodge is getting us excited for the 2011 season. Don't forget to visit us at the Mid-Iowa Bassmasters show in Des Moines, IA on February 26-27 or the Northwest Sports Show in Minneapolis, MN on March 30 - April 3. We'd love to have you stop by. We're eagerly anticipating the chance to share all the reasons to visit Eagle Falls Lodge with more potential guests!

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