8/23/08 – Our staff guide, Dave Freeman, sent us the following post:
Kim and Ian Vander Hoeven sent me a couple of photos of smallmouth bass that they caught on our recent trip. We base camped on Flame lake, and fished Smoke, Burnt, Kelly, and Peterson. We let most of the fish go, but we kept a couple to eat. At one spot we landed eight 14 – 20 inch small mouth in a matter of minutes and lost a bunch more. Plus, I had a huge northern pike rip a foot long smallmouth off my line. It was one of the most action packed 30 minutes of fishing I have had in a long time.
We also had some unusually friendly loons swim after our canoe. One loon in particular swam after our canoe several times and actually ran into my paddle. The only thing I can think of is that it was chasing bait fish that were startled by our canoe. – Dave

Ian Vander Hoeven with a nice bass.

Mother and son enjoy fishing success.