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!

Red Lake and Parker Lake fishing report - early August

We are already getting the next group settled this weekend, but wanted to share some awesome pictures from the past week:

Craig and Mike did some fly-fishing on Parker this week with some excellent results.

Here is Craig with a 35" northern pike on Parker Lake

And Mike's 20" walleye also on Parker Lake

Mike also tracked down a 41.5" Muskie! 

These two also got some nice fish off of Red Lake as well.  

Here is Craig with a nice 24" walleye.

And Mike with his 42" northern pike

Not a bad week with several big fish caught and released!

We also had a bit of a family reunion this week as well.  We had four brothers up for a week of fishing.  These guys grew up fishing with their dad and now try and get together regularly for fishing trips.  

Can you tell they are related?

Their group got adventurous and did some portaging earlier in the week before the rain set in.  They got to test their strength, endurance, (and patience!) hauling these boats in and out in one day.  I think they had fun!

We also had another contender for biggest northern pike off of Parker Lake this week.

Here is Lynne with her 42" Northern - its huge!

Gotta love when the ladies catch the biggest fish!

Over on Red Lake Tom caught a monster northern as well.

43.5" northern pike - caught and released!

Tom was here with his son and son-in-law, both from Colorado.  

They definitely have one of the longest trips home!

Tom's son, Courtney, with a northern on Parker Lake

and his son-in-law, Marshall, with one of many more northern pike on Parker Lake

And here is Barry with a walleye on Red Lake as well 

If you couldn't tell from some of the pictures it was a bit cooler yet again last week.  Definitely feeling like September around here - not sure what the actual month of September will bring.  Yikes!  However, the forecast for this week looks great - so maybe it was just a random cold snap.  Last week's guests also battled some wet weather, but as you can see they still managed to catch lots of nice fish!

Live Bait Tutorial

There are plenty of decisions to make when it comes to live bait so we'll try to make your choice easier by giving you all of the basic information on minnows, night crawlers (worms), and leeches.  

Minnows  

Pros - Most effective live bait, can entice bite on a slow day, keeps boat clean

Cons - Most expensive and most difficult to keep alive

Local cost - Regular or medium size $4.75 - $5.00 per dozen including tax.  Large minnows run about $6.75 - $7.00 per dozen including tax.  

Storage - Minnow bucket with aerator.  We have a couple minnow buckets at camp you can sink off the dock to get to colder water, but no aerators.  

Extra info - Our experience is you don't catch quite as many fish with large minnows compared to mediums, but the average catch size increases.  We haven't used frozen or salted minnows enough to vouch for them, but some guests have reported success using them.  Just a reminder, you cannot bring live minnows across the border. 

Night Crawlers

Pros - Most popular live bait, consistent fish catcher, easy to keep alive, can bring from U.S. in bedding, cheapest live bait per unit

Cons - Easier for fish to pull off hook, patient hook sets required, dealing with worm bedding in boat

Local Cost - A flat (500 crawlers) runs about $79 - $85 including tax.   

Storage - A small cooler or container will hold a flat of crawlers.  You can bring them across the border as long as they are in bedding and not dirt or soil.  We have smaller containers at camp for storage in the boat.  

Extra info -  A flat will usually last all week for a group of eight fishermen.  If it's easier to figure, use about a dozen per angler per day as a starting point.  Usually you can catch more than one fish on a crawler and cut long crawlers in half to make the bait last. 

Leeches

Pros - Most durable bait, clean to use in boat, hang tough on hook allowing you to sometimes catch several fish on a single leech.  

Cons - More expensive per unit than crawlers, not for squeamish anglers due to leeches latching onto you while trying to put them on the hook.  

Local cost - $51 - $57 per pound (16 dozen on average in a pound)

Storage - Leech tote or cooler.  Keep water cold and change water mid-week.  

Extra info - We figure about a dozen leeches per angler per day.  Also, they don't sort leeches by size here so if you buy a pound you get a mixed bag with most of them being on the smaller side.  Leeches cannot be transported across the border.  

Not every angler brings live bait and it's certainly not required to catch fish here.  It is effective though and that's why the majority of fishermen purchase one of the three kinds.  Remember, we don't sell any live bait at camp so you will want to purchase it before we leave the landing.  Small quantities are usually available in town.  For at least a pound of leeches or flat of crawlers, we recommend calling ahead to reserve bait at Red Lake Marine (807) 727-2747.  We have two refrigerators just for bait storage and some smaller containers for storing leeches and crawlers in your boat.  If you misjudge your quantity or encounter some excellent fishing, we are happy to pick up more live bait for you during our Tuesday town trip.  Let us know your favorite live bait!  

Eagle Falls Lodge Stained Glass

I'm back on the blog to brag about our guests and how great they are.  Which is easy to do, and we don't do it enough.

We definitely count ourselves lucky in the guest department.  Everyone is courteous, respectful, hilarious, full of good stories, and many are fairly cut throat when playing cribbage or any other card game.  Which I can appreciate.  We also have some insanely talented guests.  They are ALL talented anglers, but I'm talking about other special talents.

Beth is my friend Bevin's mom and she made her first trip up after Bevin and Bevin's dad, Frank, had such a good trip in 2012.  We live in the same town as Bevin in Illinois and LOVE her to pieces and it has been great for Travis and me to be able to "adopt" her parents a bit as well.   Here is a picture of all three of them from their trip this summer...

Now I knew Beth dabbled in the stained glass department, but I had NO idea how talented she was or that I had my very own piece headed my way.  Check this out...

Isn't it incredible?  

She and Frank hand-picked all the glass and designed it all themselves!  They have a small studio area set up at their house in Illinois where they do stained glass as a hobby.  I am amazed and have no concept of just how difficult putting something like the together would be.  

We (very delicately while holding our breath) hung our latest Eagle Falls Lodge art piece in the main lodge looking out on Parker Lake.  While Beth was up in early July we debated whether we now need another one on the other side of the door.  I like symmetry because it brings my anxiety level down a few notches.  I try to be a free spirit, really I do, but I fear the whole world is potential off kilter now.   Travis says its just an excuse to get another piece of stained glass from Beth.  I admit NOTHING!

A big thank you to Beth and Frank!  We LOVE our one-of-a-kind stained glass - and so do all of our guests!  

Red Lake and Parker Lake fishing report - end of July

Happy Friday!

We just wrapped up another great week and I wanted to share some amazing photos from the guys that just started their journey back home.

The weather continues to be optimal for walleye fishing.  A bit cooler, nice wind, with occasional rain showers is just what the walleye ordered!

Lots of quantity and quality again this week for walleye.  The guys had success jigging and backtrolling lindy rigs or snells.  Some boats reported leeches working better and other boats stuck with crawlers most of the week.  Fish were caught as shallow as 13' and as deep as 30' on Red and 6' to 17' deep on Parker.

Here are some of the bigger fish brought in the boats - all of which were caught and released!

Bill's 25.5" walleye off of Red Lake

Nice hat Bill!

His fishing partner, Jerry, also caught a 25.5" walleye on Red Lake on the same day!

Jerry also caught this nice 24.75" walleye this week on Red Lake

Tom caught this 26" walleye on Red Lake before breakfast...

...while Kermit reeled in a fish for a double!

And here is my 28.75" walleye off of Red Lake again...

Tom and I both caught our big fish with Dave this week - he is a professional guide!

Here is Dave with a nice northern on Red Lake

40.25" caught and released

Over on Parker we had yet another nice smallmouth caught and released.

Here is Jim with his 17" smallmouth.

It looks like a football!

And here is Jim with Mike and a couple nice stringers!

They enjoyed a nice shore lunch at the lodge this week with their sons, Mike and Andy.

Here is a picture of our youngest angler in camp this week - Jack and his dad Jim.

He was out there ALL day EVERY day - impressive!

Everyone braved the tough and unpredictable weather we had this past week quite well.  We got some awesome pictures as a result!

 Double rainbow!

Thanks guys for all the great shots from the past week.  We can't wait to see what August brings!

Why Did the Boat Cross the Lake?

Each season we get several questions on how long it will take to get to a particular fishing spot or exploration site.  To give you an idea of what you can expect with the new Honda 15hp and 20hp motors I broke out the map and did some math.

The new 15hp electric start Hondas on Parker Lake average between 16 - 20 mph depending on several factors.  Most notable are how windy it is, how heavy the boat is, and how much your tackle box weighs.  We'll use the average of 18 mph for the math.

Travel time - Distance Covered for 15 hp on Parker Lake
5 minutes - 1.5 miles
10 minutes - 3.0 miles
15 minutes - 4.5 miles
20 minutes - 6.0 miles
25 minutes - 7.5 miles

So, how about the 20hp electric start Hondas on Red Lake?  Well, they are a bit faster although several of them are pushing the Lund SSV models which are a bit wider and heavier model.  They handle any kind of rough water nicely though.  Speeds average 19 - 23 mph so we'll use 21 mph.

Travel time - Distance Covered for 20 hp on Red Lake
5 minutes - 1.75 miles
10 minutes - 3.50 miles
15 minutes - 5.25 miles
20 minutes - 7.00 miles
25 minutes - 8.75 miles
30 minutes - 10.5 miles

So what does that look like on the map?  Glad you asked.  Here you go...

Parker Lake

Central part of Red Lake

West end of Red Lake

Northeast Red Lake (Slate Bay area)

Southeast Red Lake (St. Paul Bay area)

East Red Lake (Howey Bay / Lower Chukuni River)

Sure it's not exact, but it gives you a ballpark idea.  I could keep you busy all week with fishing spots within a 10 minutes boat ride of the lodge.  But, if you like exploring this will help you plan your day so you can make it back in time for supper.

Travel times to some popular destinations:
Mouth of Young's Bay     5 minutes
South Narrows                  5 minutes
Halfway into Martin Bay  10 minutes
Wolf Narrows                   15 minutes
Para Creek                        15 minutes
Back of St. Paul's Bay      15 minutes
Barge landing                   15 minutes
Back of Parker Lake         15-20 minutes depending on which fork you take
Mouth of Slate Bay           20 minutes
Potato Island                     20 minutes
Back of Slate Bay             30 minutes
West Narrows                   30 minutes
Post Narrows                    35 minutes
Keg Lake                          40 minutes

Do these match what you thought?  Let us know!