Pack Crayfish Lures

If you're planning on chasing Northern Pike during your trip it might be a good idea to pack a crayfish lure or two. We've lost count of the number of crayfish we've found while cleaning Northerns this summer, but they seem to be a popular forage. The photo above shows two that were found a couple weeks ago. I had one buried deep in my tackle box, but I dusted it off and have had success with it.

Sadly there are only a couple weeks remaining in our 2011 season. We hope you make plans to fish with us next year. We know we're already looking forward to it!

Big Fish Week

Most of the group last week targeted Northern Pike and they came away with some beauties.

Troy's 44" Northern on Red Lake



Denise's 38" Northern on Red Lake



Ralph's 40" Northern on Parker Lake



Bob's 42.5" Northern on Red Lake



Cody's 42" Northern on Red Lake



Mike's 41.75" Northern on Parker Lake



Ralph's 38" Muskie on Red Lake



There was a good split on fish caught either by trolling or casting. The group also caught several muskies which is neat to see since we don't typically see many caught through the year.

It's supposed to be 92 here tomorrow which may be summer's last gasp since it is starting to feel like fall in the evenings. Until next time, tight lines!

Eagle Falls First

Welcome to a first at Eagle Falls Lodge - the first blog ever posted from the lodge! We are used to only posting once a week when we are in town, but we finally have internet working at the lodge.

Many of you know it has been a battle to install working internet service at camp. Satellite internet service was poor to non-existent the past two years so we tried a new system that works off the 3G phone network this year. The test unit worked great, but when we made the purchase our unit could not pickup a signal. We ordered a booster antenna and 8 weeks later when it arrived we thought we were set. After setting up several fancy roof mounts in various locations and failing to receive a worthy signal we were frustrated and back at the drawing board again.

Carrie and I resorted to walking around camp with the router plugged into a Power Pack in a last ditch attempt to locate a signal. Failing yet again we were walking back across the yard with the antenna pointed toward the ground when Carrie realized we were finally getting a signal! She had left the computer open and the internet was working! Upon further inspection, we determined there was only a two foot window of signal. So this is what the new antenna mount looks like.



Yes, that is a bungee cord. The whole process reminded me of foiling the antenna on the basement TV when I was a kid.

Everything worked perfectly for 24 hours, until disaster struck. Cosmo was chasing a squirrel at full speed and tore right through the newly installed cable. The cable tore out of the antenna and the router. Thank goodness for duct tape. We are back in business now. So you can now bring along your wireless devices if you wish. And if you don't want to, we totally understand. Sometimes having no cell phone or internet is better. The good news is we can get accurate weather forecasts and respond to emails faster.

Until next time, tight lines!

Red Lake Forest Fires

There are currently 93 forest fires burning in Northwest Ontario. See the thick smoke on the horizon above. We have been fortunate with wind direction lately to avoid heavy smoke like we had a week ago. Thick smoke and ash drastically reduced visibility for one day, but most of this week was much better. There was only one day since where you could actually smell smoke. Cooler weather and some light rain have improved the fire situation. The closest large fire is burning about 20 miles northwest of camp with plenty of water in between.

The fish don't seem to mind and the guys last week caught several nice ones. We are seeing fish caught in a variety of depths on Red Lake - from 12 feet all the way down to 30 feet deep. I am still catching plenty of fish on Parker in 7-13 feet of water, but some guests are also catching them in 15-20 feet too. There is no present danger to camp so if you haven't made your trip yet, not to worry. Those of you who enjoy fresh fish for lunch will be glad to know shore lunches are still allowed. You may deal with some smoke depending on wind direction, but hopefully the weather will continue to assist the fire fighting efforts.

Here is a link to the Ministry of Natural Resources site including many pictures of the fires
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/AFFM/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_088522.html

Until next week, tight lines!

Have you heard?

Hello everyone,

I am hear to tell you that we have two new rooms as of the 2011 season here at the Eagle Falls Lodge. Remember last year when we were attempting that crazy addition project that everyone (including myself) thought would NEVER get finished. Well, miracle of miracles they are done. We wrapped up some finishing touches early in the season and I think it is safe to say that we have had some very satisfied guests stay over there already. We can now offer two additional rooms to our beloved guests, and these rooms are fancy pants if you ask me. You know, in that "I'm staying at a fishing lodge in remote NW Ontario" kind of way. Anyway, without further adieu, here are some pictures I took last night (Thursday = steak night) of our handy work.



This is the expanded deck that wraps around to the deck overlooking Parker Lake. The sliding door enters into a little hallway that runs on the side of the rooms closest to the main lodge.




This is the new sink and mirror. We went with a hotel type set up where the sink is outside of the bathroom. Behind that closed door you have a very energy efficient toilet and a lovely shower.



I know you are asking yourself, "Is that a queen sized bed I see, with a bunk bed to the right?" You betcha! We are excited about these new rooms because it provides better accommodations for couples and families. Complete with bowling alley flooring. Told ya it was kinda fancy pants.

In other news:

We only have 5 weeks left of the season! It has gone by so incredibly fast and I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has already been up this year and helped make it super fun. Travis and I were just talking about how we pretty much have the best job ever - when there is a slow day around camp instead of sitting bored at the computer we just hop in a boat and go fishing!

Until next time,
Carrie

Into the Wild...

In addition to some great fishing this season, we've been fortunate to enjoy plenty of wildlife around the lodge.

A ruffed grouse hen has been running around camp since we have arrived and now has a large following of chicks. She gets pretty defensive when Cosmo gets too close to investigate. Mother grouse pictured below.



Here is one of the chicks making a break for it.



We have also enjoyed watching two baby eagles grow in the nest on Parker Lake. This is the 3rd season for the new nest and the 3rd season for two eaglets to hatch out. They are now learning to fly which is really fun to watch. The nest and young eagle can be seen in the lower part of the picture below and notice the mature eagle in the upper right.



There are also several bunches of ducklings on both lakes. A few have fallen victim to Northern Pike as snacks, but several have survived and they are growing fast.



Several loon nests have been spotted on both lakes. Here is a picture of the nest on the island closest to the lodge on Parker. Both eggs have since hatched and the chicks have already more than doubled in size.

Double Smallmouth Surprise!

Whitney continues to dominate the leaderboard, this time adding a nice 17" Smallmouth Bass caught on Parker Lake within a stone's throw of the dock. The next night Riley O'Dell wrangled a 16" Smallmouth Bass just a few yards away. If you've visited us before, you probably know how rare it is to catch a Smallmouth on Red Lake or Parker Lake so needless to say, we're pretty excited about these two fish.



Whitney, Riley, and I made the short trip down the highway to Flat Lake to chase Muskie and Smallmouth Bass. While we weren't fortunate enough to land any Muskie, we did catch two more Smallmouth Bass.

We are finally seeing an end to the drought with plenty of rain in the forecast this week. There are several forest fires burning in Northwest Ontario so hopefully the rain will aid the fire fighting efforts. Just a reminder - we are currently under a fire restriction so no open fires are allowed.

1st Annual Parker Classic

Last week we organized and hosted the first fishing tournament ever (to our knowledge) on Parker Lake. The tournament was held during the few hours between breakfast and dinner. The 1st annual Parker Classic was a single day, two category tournament with prizes for the best four Walleye lengths and best four Northern Pike lengths caught and released per boat. There was no official weigh-in since we were working off the honor system. We also threw in a rock bass bonus although no one was able to take advantage.

Jeff and Andy Zwieg topped the Northern Pike division with 95" of fish and there was a tie in the Walleye division. Carrie and I tied Team Mercer consisting of my sister Mercer Mack, Matt Dillon, and Heather Cottle-Dillon with 74" of fish. The big Walleye of the day was the 22" fish (pictured below) that I caught right off the point from the lodge where we dump the food scraps. Carrie and I fished close so we could also handle some dinner prep duties.



We are still catching plenty of fish on Parker in 6'-12' of water. The fish on Red Lake are being caught in a variety of depths although some are starting to move deeper. Last week our guests had the best luck in 10'-18' of water. Forecasts are calling for temps in the upper 80s this week so the fish should continue to move to deeper water.

Until next time, tight lines!

New Walleye Leader!

This week my sister Whitney broke the stalemate atop the walleye leaderboard with a massive 28" fish! The exciting thing about this fish was that it was caught on Parker in sight of the lodge.



Water levels have been dropping due to the extremely dry weather we have experienced over the last two weeks, but fishing has still been good. We haven't seen as many lunker fish this year as some years, although total fish counts are as good as ever. We still have over half the season remaining to find some more.

Hope to see you here soon!

Introducing....

The NEW BOAT SEATS!

For those of you who are still counting down the hours until you get to spend a week fishing with us, we thought we would give you a little sneak peak of what you will be riding in around Red Lake & Parker Lake. Oh yeah, those are high backs baby. Thanks to Cabela's, and your loving hosts, you will be sitting in Pro Fishermen highback boat seats this year. Boy are they nice!


We also added another new member to the Eagle Falls Lodge boat fleet! It has a flat deck in the front of the boat, with walk through seats in the middle and back. I wish it came with a trophy fish guarantee - but you can't have it all I suppose. This new boat still needs to be named - any ideas are welcomed!

We just dropped off our last group and town is pretty quite up here on Canada Day. We wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July and hope that anyone traveling to family and friends does so safely!