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!  

Eagle Watch 2013

Here's the thing....

We like the eagles.  And its not just because we'd be feathered and tarred if we didn't (is that too ironic, perhaps?) but we genuinely like them.  I think they are quite moving really.  Such a regal creature.  Its not too surprising that we see a fair amount out at the lodge - I mean its call EAGLE Falls Lodge!  Many eagles are viewed daily, from out in the boat and from on the deck back at camp.

When looking out onto Parker Lake from the main lodge you will commonly see several on the first point to the left.  This is not by chance.  These birds may or may not be used to finding some fish scraps out on those rocks.  Here is the view I'm talking about....

Not a bad view from the office, huh?

Anyway.  The point on the left is where we see our friends the eagles.  Bald eagles.  GIANT bald eagles.  Here is that point a little closer.

See the eagles on the shore there?

So a common string of events goes as such:  

eagles fly over the water 

eagles circle closer to the point

eagles land on shoreline

they have secret eagle meetings

eagles finish secret eagle business

other birds are then allowed to come in to land.  

The eagle rules the roost up here so to speak.

This guy must have forgotten something in his office.

Oh good, he made it back before the snacks were gone.

This year there has been a ripple in the eagle SOP (standard operation procedure - as Travis likes to say).  There has been one eagle that we have yet to see fly.  Remember: birds = flying.  This said eagle prefers to either swim (again, remember: fish = swimming) or walk (various other creatures, i.e. NOT eagles = walking) to the point.  

The first time we saw this eagle swim was incredible.  Its wing span seemed to double in size!  Here is the point in the story where I remind our readers that Cosmo likes to make the trip out to the point.  Cosmo also has great interest in any stick, rock, beaver, etc. that he sees in the water.  What was that you say?  Oh, no big deal.  Just Cosmo jumping out of the boat and swimming towards a BALD EAGLE!!!!

Yea.  That happened.  More than once.  

Luckily, Cosmo is an excellent listener and we called him off.  Not before he and the eagle had some sort of deep animal world face-off that was simultaneously terrifying and unbelievably cool.  

We don't have any pictures of this, unfortunately.  But we do have some pictures of the eagle on land.   

We have tried to respect this eagle's space and not disturb him too much, but we are getting a little worried.  Why won't this eagle fly?  Is it having some sort of animal identity crisis?  We wish we knew so that we could do something.  At first we assumed it was sick or hurt, but it seems to walk and swim no problem.  Very odd.  

We will continue to monitor the situation for you and if anything radical happens we will let you know.  

Also, if I am able to get my hands on any secret eagle meeting itineraries I'll be sure to leak them on the web.  

Happy Tuesday!

Mega Shore Lunch!!

Hello all!

I hope everyone is settling back into their routine after the holiday weekend.  

I wanted to share a bunch of pictures with everyone from the incredible shore lunch which took place last week.  We have a father/son duo that have become known around Eagle Falls Lodge for their annual shore lunch extravaganza.  They are nice enough to plan it around our daily chores, so we usually try to make an appearance.  

This year, someone very special got to attend!

Jeff and Andy do all the traditional shore lunch dishes, but also make some delicious extra sides that make it memorable.  These guys plan everything out and do all the cooking.  We just show up and chow down!  It was a beautiful day last week and one of the other groups at the lodge ended up joining in for MEGA SHORE LUNCH!

Here is Jeff frying up some delicious walleye!

Oh baby!

Some of you may recognize this shore lunch spot out on Parker Lake

Our good friends the Dillons

This guy...

Cosmo had a blast!  He had a whole new island to explore.

Mary-Jane and me chilling after a delicious meal

Who are these weirdos?  We look like we have never ventured out into nature before.  Like ever.

And, yes, he did wear his life jacket the entire time.  I don't know why.

 Good looking group!

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.

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!

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.

Cosmo's spring training

This is Cosmo. He is the biggest, sweetest, most loyal goof you will ever meet. I got Cosmo as a “you are done with school forever” gift for Travis about 3 and half years ago. We got to experience the challenges that accompany a yellow lab puppy while Travis also bought his first home. Needless to say we could create a separate blog about all those trial and errors. Despite Cosmo’s past he quickly became a very important and loved member of our little family. Lucky for him he gets to spend lots of his future doggy days in Canada and had a blast during the 2009 season. Swimming comes naturally for him and he spent much time in Red Lake and Parker Lake as Travis and I learned the ins and outs of lodge ownership last summer.

Travis, Cosmo, and I are getting anxious to head up north to get the the 2010 fishing season started. At Travis’ parent’s house in central Illinois the temperatures have just recently started to feel like spring. A few weeks ago the sun was shining and their pond was just starting to thaw. Cosmo was out patrolling in the back and got called inside. Smart lab that he is he took the shortest route and started to run across the pond to get to the back door. I looked in horror as he fell through the ice into the freezing water. This is where the goof part comes in. Cosmo attempted to swim to shore and made a good run at busting up the ice that stood in his way. I ran outside (in my pajamas) and was standing on shore encouraging him. He was shivering and cold. He was also getting extremely tired. I was FREAKING OUT as the need for a rescue was becoming near. Cosmo’s eyes met mine and he had a panicked look like “Why is this happening, and more importantly why aren’t you doing anything about it?” I did what any stupid person who loves their dog would do….I went after him. I was able to walk out on the pond to where he was struggling and I bent down to pull him onto the ice. Sounds like a reasonable plan, right? Hmmmm, turns out not such a good plan. Soon I was in the frozen icy pond as well. I quickly went under and pushed Cosmo towards shore. He was able to get over the last hunk of ice and swim the rest of the way. I wasn’t far behind him. As we sat on the bank sopping wet my panting was about as bad as Cosmo’s. He smothered me with those famous sloppy lab kisses. I couldn’t believe what I had just attempted, but was extremely thankful it had a happy ending. Cosmo seems to remain grateful and is perfectly fine. He is one lucky pup, but not as lucky as Travis and myself who were blessed with such a perfectly imperfect companion.

Note from author: Cosmo has since enjoyed several early season swims and continues to train for the blissful summer awaiting him in Red Lake, Ontario. Stay tuned for more Eagle Falls Lodge updates.