By: Ken C

Ken C — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:07:21 +0000

We stayed at Lost Lake Aug 8th thru the 15th 2009. ——–THE CHOICE——– We were looking for A) father (39) and son (16) trip; B) remote setting; C) quality fishing for Pike and Smallmouth; D) modern accomodations; E) helpful staff; F) driving distance from central Ohio and G) total all in budget of around $2200- $2500. After narrowing our trip down to 4 possible choices , we ended up selecting Lost Lake Wilderness Lodge. While driving to the resort you could just tell the fishing would be great. Passing beautiful lakes with perfect rock formations and tree lined banks. ——–CABINS AND HOST——— Upon arriving I did take pause because it was obvoius that the resort and adjoining buildings were older and in need of paint/maintainance( I hadn’t considered that it got down to -43 there over the winter). But as soon as we walked in the main office we were greeted by one of the truly nicest guys you would ever hope to meet , Ed, the owner. I was expecting the typical hotel check in expierence , but that was not the case. Ed handed us the key and told us to go to the cabin, unpack, and rest a bit , then stop back down and we will handle business. After a rest and unpacking we went down and checked in. This is where Ed spent time with us making notes all over lake maps and giving us tips. He even gave , yes I said GAVE, us a few red/white spoons that he knew would work. Then on to our boat, where we met his son Brian ( super cool guy as well). He gave us the instructional tour and also gave us trouble shooting tips for the varity of motors we would be using. While we were there we needed items like butter, milk , bait etc., they had what we needed and just ran a tab for us. It also became clear to me why some of the cabins needed painting. Because whenever a guest needed something he stopped what he was doing and helped, always with a smile. As for the cabins , they were nice and they were VERY clean. They did have time to paint ours before we arrived. ——–FISHING——— Lost Lake offers different lakes to choose from. We foucsed on Lost, Dinny, Hodge, Leroy and Everett. Lost is the home lake , we really didn’t have much success on this lake. A few bass and pike were had here. We had more success fishing for Pike in the feeder river into Lost Lake using the lures Ed had given us. Dinny – To get to Dinny you boat across Lost Lake and dock. You then put your gear in a cart push it through a forest path and after a short ( and easy) walk Dinny appears as well as the other boats. We really didn’t give Dinny the effort it deserves as we found success on the others and you don’t want to mess with success. Other guests fished this lake and did well using red/white spoons, 1/4oz red Erie Deiries, jig tipped with minnows and #2 silver worm harness (trolled). Catching nice sized walleye, smallmouth and pike. Hodge- Probably one of the most amazing looking lakes you could fish. This lake is catch and release and home of the monsters. We were unable to unlock the “secret to the monsters” , but I know there are there. There were others that caught 36in Pike there consistantly , but we “only” managed to catch 24 inchers with the largest being 30in. We did have a trip highlight there, as a huge and I mean really huge Pike followed my sons lure to the boat. We tried and tried to catch him , but he was wise to our attempts. Looking back, I’m not exactly sure what we would have done if we had caught it……scary. The same lures used at Dinny worked at Hodge. But our most productive lure used was a #2 silver Blue Fox spinner. To get to Hodge, you follow the same route to Dinny, but this time you cross Dinny and follow a small river to get to another trail to Hodge. This trail was more rugged and longer than the one to Dinny. I highly reccomend buying a $20 pair of rubber boots for this leg of the journey. The beavers up there really made a mess of things and there were sections where you would be 8 inches deep in muddy water.. The river you travel has dozens of places you would want to fish, but we went straight through to Hodge. Everett Lake- For this lake you need to drive about 5 miles. In your car you follow Brian ( the owners son) with your motor and gas in his truck , get’s you set up and leaves. That way you have a way home if you want to head back earily. But there was no chance of us leaving early. The Pike in this lake were hot.We had a blast there catching those toothy critters. The lake is known as being a Pike lake , but some years ago smallmouth were introduced and never looked back. The lake is full of smallies now and they really resoponded to the call of the #2 silver Blue Fox as well. We fished this lake 3 days when we were there with great success. And when I say we, I mean my son and I. That’s it knowone else on the water , just us. No houses, no docks, no F—-g jet skies , I mean this place was perfect. Leroy Lake- Another drive to lake, but this one is closer ( about 2 miles). Again Brian toats your gas and motor in his truck and you follow him to the lake. Now I must admit , this was the lake that I looked forward to the most. It is a smallouth lake and for me ( a smallmouth junkie) it is heaven. Think about it , 400 miles north of the border , in the middle of know where , fishing on an uninhabited lake for smallmouth with my 16 yr old son. I can’t hold back a smile thinking about it. We really crushed them on this lake. I had heard that there wasn’t much size to the smallies in Leroy. Well I’m very pleased to dispell that myth. We caught very big ,well fed smallies there 17 to 19inches , not to mention the “pounders” that seemed to be everywhere. This is also where my son caught the fish of the trip, a 21.25 in 5.9 lb smallmouth. It had probably the widest back I’d ever seen on a smallmouth bass, a real pig. On this lake I switched to my Canada smallmouth go-to lure, the Zoom speed worm , watermelon with red flake , with the twisty tail pinched off and a Gamagatsu hook. As you had no chance of getting a spinner to work correctly in the thick weed growth. ——–WEATHER/CONDITIONS/FISH PATTERN——– We had to wait for summer baseball to be over before going, so I believe we went during the hottest part of their season. And the fishing reflected it. Every fish we caught was holding very tight to the weeds. So much so that you didn’t really mark fish on a finder, just structure. It rained only one day we were there and was in high 80’s almost everyday. Also they had a very dry summer , which lowered the water levels adding an additional challange when fishing weeds. We labeled our selves the “good spot killers”because we would find a productive area , catch a fish or 2 then cast into the trees or a brush pile. Then of course you have to take the boat into the “good spot” to get your lure unstuck, and we learned very quickly the down side to a low/no pressure lake- we sounded like a tank driving through a building. Certianly not very stealthy. The good news was that there were so many good spots , we just moved to the next break, rock pile, or bay. ———LESSONS LEARNED——– 1- My son is a very good fisherman 2- Slower is better when working lures up there. 3- Bug spray from Ohio is actually bug attractant in Canada. 4- Your hosts can make or break yor trip. 5- Use samll lures , 2.5 inches 6- Use wire leaders and quality snap swivels. 7- Your never to busy to find time to fish with your son. 8- Never let your gas tank get below 1/2 tank 9- Bring rubber boots 10- Definitly return to Lost Lake Wilderness Lodge Many thanks to ED, Judy, and Brian. And of course Chris at FishingTraveler.com for the recommendation and tips on Lost Lake. We both got our trophy, my son a monster smallmouth and for me the chance to watch him catch it. Ken & Zach

Overall Rating
Fishing
Staff Helpfulness
Value

By: Chris D

Chris D — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:06:04 +0000

We enjoyed our stay at Lost Lake Wilderness Lodge in 2006. You can check out the full report here.

Overall Rating
Fishing
Staff Helpfulness
Value

Comments on: Lost Lake Wilderness Lodge Fishing Trip Information and Reviews

By: Ken C

By: Chris D