Week 3 guests

Hi there!

We are constantly amazed at how lucky we are with the guests who choose Eagle Falls Lodge as their fishing vacation destination.  We look forward to seeing everyone year after year and they have all become very close members of our Eagle Falls Lodge family.  And the group we just wrapped up with in week 3 is no different!  

As hard as it to say goodbye each Friday morning, we know that the next day we have more smiling faces headed our way ready to catch up.  It's kinda like a 15 week long family reunion.  Oh yeah, and there is fishing.  Lots of fishing!

Here I am with one our beloved guests, Harry, from Ohio.  He has a great laugh and incredible stories.  His group stumbled on our website four seasons ago and they have been coming each year since.  How lucky are we?

These guys are from Sedalia, Missouri.  As many of you know the Matejas who ran the lodge in the 1990's and early 2000's are from Sedalia and we still have many guests from the Sedalia area.  This crew was last at Eagle Falls in 1995!  They certainly noticed a few changes since their last trip up.  We love hearing stories about fishing trips and adventures which took place well before our tenure as lodge owners.

Here are a few pictures from the past week of a big group shore lunch.  I love watching how seperate groups start to intermingle and get to know each other through out the week.  By the end of the week, everyone knows each other and sits together.  This shore lunch started out as just some of Travis' family, but by the end of the week most of the guests had joined in for a MEGA shore lunch!  Super fun.

Obligatory sunset picture...

And just for fun.... 

Any guesses as to what job I was about to tackle?  

Thanks for the photobomb, Travis (and Cosmo).

More big Northern Pike caught on Parker Lake this week!

Good morning everyone!

We dropped off another group of guests this morning who just wrapped up a great week of fishing on Red Lake and Parker Lake.  

We are still gathering and organizing some pictures from this past week - so check back later this weekend for some more fish pictures.

Below you will see some big northern pike that were caught and released on Parker Lake this past week.  These guys are dedicated fishermen who keep track all week of what they catch and may be a tad bit competitive.  

Shawn caught this nice 40 inch northern pike earlier in the week.

They definitely go after northern pike for the most part, but had some really nice walleye caught this week as well.  Here is Dan with a 25.5 inch walleye off of Parker Lake.

Here is Dan with another big walleye.

Nice work guys! 

For those of you wondering if our bear friend has been back, he/she has not been seen since Monday's initial sighting.  Just passing through I guess.  We will keep you posted if any more unexpected guests visit us at the lodge!

Happy Friday everyone!

Black bear sighting in camp!

Good morning everyone!

We are well into our 3rd week of guests (which doesn't seem possible) and they are having a great week so far.  Weather has stayed very nice, but we had an overcast day yesterday and we've gotten a little bit of rain in the evenings.

Travis' family is up here so he is finally making some time to fish with his siblings and dad while they are up this week.  Yesterday he snuck out for most of the day, so Mary-Jane and I had fun preparing the meals and hanging out around the lodge.

While we were busy making these.....

This guy (or gal) meandered into camp...

Yikes!  Before watching the video I need to do a little build-up for you all.

For those of you who don't know myself or Mary-Jane we have a TON of fun together.  Pretty much any mundane or undesirable task we face at Eagle Falls Lodge (or anywhere else for that matter) we can make fun.  So after our mountain of dishes yesterday morning we launched into pie making.  Mary-Jane was busy finishing the meringue on the coconut cream pie and getting it in the oven while I was battling a wasp in the hallway.  We have had our fair share of wasp battles this week for whatever reason.  Remind me to get Travis on that.

Anywho.   I had just swatted another wasp to death and opened the door to dispose of said wasp.  At this point I remembered I should probably do the cabin checks, so I start to leave the main lodge and head over to the big cabin.  I get just outside the door and I notice this big dark mass in front of me a little to the left.  My thought process is this: "How strange for Cosmo to be milling around outside.  Maybe he got stuck out here when everyone was leaving for the docks.  Waaaaaait a minute, my sweet puppy boy is yellow - not black.  Black = bear.  Bear = danger.  Oh crap, get back inside!"

For a timeframe reference, that entire conversation I had with myself took place in about the time Mary-Jane placed the pies in the oven to bake the meringue.

Panic and hilarity ensue.  Not once were we actually afraid.  I ran back inside yelling for the camera.

Sidenote:  Here at Eagle Falls Lodge the top of the refrigerator is a dumping ground for all random papers, screwdrivers, lures, pens, etc.  Naturally there is a camera waiting for us there for such an occasion.

We spend the next SEVERAL minutes taking photos and videos of the bear.  Where is our bear defender puppy, Cosmo, you ask?  Sacked out in his bed.  So much for that.  We didn't even start to think about having to deal with this bear situation until everything was adequately documented and discussed.  We were just getting ready to formulate a plan to get him/her out of camp when we realized THE PIES!!!  Drop the camera, oven mitts on, and swing open the oven door.  Whew, pies are fine.

Okay, back to the bear.  Mary-Jane did an excellent job scaring him/her back into the woods.  Oh, the adventures we have here at camp.  So much fun and excitement.  The best part was when Cosmo finally woke up and was outside he clearly could smell the bear.  With the hair on his back raised he quickly went into defensive mode - looking at us like "uh ladies, we should head back inside.  Seems we have a situation here - never fear, I will protect you!"  About 30 minutes too late, Cosmo.

You can hear us giggling in the background of the video.  Too funny.

You will be happy to know that the pies turned out beautifully!  Everyone seemed to enjoy them as a nice ending to the Monday night fish fry.

Did anyone else have unexpected guests yesterday?  We haven't had this type of unexpected guest in at least two years.  Sheesh.

Until next time.

Red Lake and Parker Lake update - week 2

The Northern Pike bite was great last week.  Lots of fish were caught including a pair of 38" fish on Parker.  Walleye fishing is still lagging behind the norm.  Several nice ones were caught though including Keith's 26" off Parker and Merlyn's 26.5" off Red Lake below.  

Fish were being caught anywhere from 7' to 13' feet deep.  We haven't had much time to fish, but the reports from guests indicate the walleye bite is still sporadic and it has been difficult to pin down a nice sized school of fish.  Guests also thought night crawlers were outfishing leeches last week.  We have another nice sized group in this week so we'll see if the walleye fishing picks up.   

The barge has been getting some good workouts.   

The weather has been great for being in the boat, but not necessarily ideal fishing weather.  Lots of warm temps, sunshine, and little wind.  The kids last week decided it was warm enough for a quick dip off the Parker dock.  Still a bit too cold for us, but Cosmo thinks the water feels pretty good.  

Coin Lake passage potentially open

Many of you are familiar with fishing Coin Lake.  It has become much tougher to get into in recent years due to an ever-growing beaver dam blocking the creek.  Long gone are the days when you could just motor up the creek.  The three to four foot tall dam required a short portage around it the last couple years.  Here is what it looked like last year.

Last week I checked out the creek and it looks like someone opened a portion of the dam.  You can see the remnants of the old height of the dam on the sides of the creek, but it looks open through the middle.  You may not be able to motor right up the creek, but it looks like with some boots on you could get out and muscle the boat through without having to take the boat off the water.  I didn't have time to attempt going up the creek, but snapped this photo of what it looks like now.

I also stumbled across this track near the creek on the old mining road.  It looks like a wolf print to me.  It was nearly the size of my hand and about twice the size of Cosmo's print.  We heard wolves howling a couple times last season.  Guests have occasionally photographed them out on the lake although it is rare.  Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see one this year (preferably from a boat).

You better come hungry here at the Eagle Falls Lodge

Ever wonder what making french toast for 22 people would look like?  Check out this stack of deliciousness from this morning's breakfast feast.   Yikes!

See the butter dishes behind the french toast ?  That is the Eagle Falls Lodge method of warming it up.  We use the steam and oven heat from all other breakfast preparation.  We have it down to a science here, people - ha!  I think everyone was happy to have a warm meal this morning, because it was CHILLY outside.  Never fear, the sun is out and it is now in the 60's.  Absolutely beautiful.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday afternoon.  I know we are....

Red Lake & Parker Lake Fishing Update - Lots of Nice Northern Pike

Good Morning!

I just finished helping our first week guests load everything up (in the rain and upper 40 degree temps!) for the ride home.  I'll be in town today making the usual stops to get our supplies for the group coming in tomorrow.  It looks like it will be pretty wet and fairly cool through the weekend but should be nice as we get into the work week.  By work week I mean fishing week, of course.

We will see what this brief cold snap does to the fishing, I guess that is why they call it fishing - right?

The first week ended much stronger than it started out.  The walleye are starting to turn on in their usual early summer spots in shallower water.  The water temperature keeps rising from the brisk 49-52 degrees I saw when I was out before guests arrived.  What we heard from our guests and the MNR officer that stopped into camp it didn't sound like anyone was having outstanding walleye action on Red Lake last week.  He was out checking fishing licenses, fish in camp, etc. and had already visited a few other lodges earlier in the day.

Plenty of walleye out there to keep you entertained and to enjoy a shore lunch if you choose!  What do you think - shore lunch or sack lunch?  The age old question of whether you take a mid-day break or are you one to fish hard ALL day?  I haven't made it out to a shore lunch yet this season, but they are definitely part of what makes a memorable Canadian fishing trip if you ask me.

We did have some guests catch some beautiful northern pike this week.  Josh caught this 44" northern pike on Red Lake on Wednesday afternoon.  He barely made it back for supper, he said the northern pike action was that good!  

Kim caught this 40" northern pike on Parker just yesterday.

Another nice sized northern caught and released this past week.

We are excited to see what happens in the coming weeks.  I think it should shape out to be a really nice month of fishing in June!


Oh, and then there's this.....

But, I'll let Travis tell you about his adventures another day!

Busy Beaver with Video!!!!

Travis and Travis and our friend Clyde were out catching a delicious walleye dinner just after season opener last week and they came across one of several beavers out on Parker Lake.  They managed to get extremely close to the beaver and captured some incredible pictures.  Apparently he wasn't too concerned with the audience he had while munching on a tasty birch log.  In the video you can hear the beaver eating, I kind of love it.  I can't decide if I think this beaver is cute or terrifying.  What do you think?  He/she is giant, for sure.

Did you know that beavers are Canada's national symbol and they can weigh up to 30 kilograms (or over 70 pounds)?  Beavers are North America's largest rodent.  Their teeth never stop growing, which is why they are always gnawing on logs.  They can be pretty dangerous in the water when threatened, which is why we keep Cosmo out of the water when we see one swimming by the docks.

Hope you get to see a beaver in action when you are at Eagle Falls Lodge this summer!

Eagle Falls Lodge week 1 is underway!

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!  I'm sure some of you are out fishing back home.

Everyone arrived safely to camp yesterday afternoon and as a bonus the weather was nice with no rain.  Woohoo!  I don't have much of a fishing report yet, as today will be the first full day out on the water for our guests.  I'm sure they would all agree that being in the boat last night, even for a bit, was worth the long drive.  We have a mix of repeat guests and new guests this week.  We are excited to get the new guys on some fish and feed them well back at the main lodge during their stay.

Our good friend, Travis Owen, FINALLY finished his PhD and has been keeping us company while enjoying some much deserved relaxation.  This picture is of Travis Owen, my Travis, and myself at the back of Parker Lake.  This is the area where we initially made it into camp.  Because Parker Lake is a much more narrow, shallow, and smaller body of water the ice typically breaks up and melts at least a few days before Red Lake.  A little unusual for us to rely on this point of entry when making it out to the lodge in the spring, but we were happy to see the A-frame main lodge and get all opening duties underway.

Here are a few more views from the point during the first few days after we made it out to our lodge.  Cosmo jumped right in and dodged ice chunks during his first swim, crazy pup!

Another incredible view of ice on Red Lake.  Everyone should happily know it is gone for good, and will be 75 degrees and sunny today.

I'm off to bake pies and finish dishes.  Jealous?

We will be back later this week with a more in-depth fishing report.  Until then.....

Red Lake 2013 Ice out pictures

Hello everyone!

* A real quick phone/internet update: everything appears to be fixed and working properly.  We apologize to everyone who had a delayed email response or was unable to get a hold of us by phone while we were setting things up/dealing with issues.  Lets hope all operates as it should for the rest of the season!*

Now, on to the good stuff.

I hinted in the last blog update that we were able to watch the ice out from the point overlooking Red Lake during our first few days out at camp.  Here are some still shots with the date and time taken.  It is incredible how fast it melted once it started breaking up.  We did have a few days with high wind and full sun which definitely helped as well.

View from the point

on Thursday, May 16th around 2pm

View from the point

on Friday, May 17th around 2pm

View from the point

on Saturday, May 18th around 10am

View from the point

on Sunday, May 19th around 10am

View from Red Lake dock 

on Sunday, May 19th around noon

Sunday, May 19th around 5pm

How cool is that!  It was very windy on Sunday, May 19th and as you can tell in a few short hours all the ice was completely gone.   We launched the barge this Tuesday and have been VERY busy getting all the supplies out to camp and will be happily welcoming our first group tomorrow!  

Have a great weekend!