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Hi Don and Lynn……….below is a full recap of our stay at your lodge that I sent to all my friends/fishing buds……we all had a GREAT time! Special thanks for making us feel welcomed and a heck of a first fly in trip for my son!

We thoroughly enjoyed Nielsen’s on Rowan Lake. They had around, oh, 20 some people in camp and the whole lake was ours. The lake was BIG……..only ventured out on the eastern third. Pre-downloaded maps and GPS in the phone were sure handy (something like over 60 islands in the lake). Tried a portage lake one day and in 2 hours of fishing time caught 19 northern and 3 walleye……reminded me of last year when a buddy and I boated 150 for an entire day’s fishing.

The fish in Rowan were the fattest for their size that I have ever seen…..they feed on bait fish very well up there. My father in law caught a 37″ pike…..yep, was FAT!!

Lake trout fishing was fun….never had done it and was surprised by how well they fight…

7lb lake trout:

Nice 19″ walleye that Will “snagged” 😛

18″ Smallmouth in the rain:

Happy kid:

Although we never landed any large ones, we caught several smaller muskies while trolling…..

Father in law’s first musky in his life……a smaller 25″ one….

Best day of the trip for muskies was Wednesday morning/afternoon……we venture out about 11 min from camp on the eastern side of the lake for the first time. Try one bay casting the shores and we have 2 follows and 2 that came up from the depths to follow on the figure 8. I had a mid 30″ musky hit right on the eight and was hooked for maybe 10 seconds, but came off…..the hit on the 8 was so powerful…..can only imagine the power of a 50 incher! Mostly smaller fish in that bay, so, we head back for lunch and try another bay about as far as we can go to the east in the early afternoon.

Then, a highlight of the trip…

Will casts into the shore with a smaller white spinner bait (his first cast as we get further into the bay) and after reeling it in for maybe 10 feet, in the clear water, he as a mid 40″ Muskie slowly following his bait to the boat (!!)…he realizes it, panics as it gets closer (looks like a giant log floating towards the boat!) and rapidly pulls the lure out of the water….too funny 😛 I quickly throw my bucktail into an eight and the musky switches directions and follows it around a few times and motors off then…..the boy got a little spooked then 😛

Then, maybe 10 minutes later I have THE biggest muskie I have ever seen in person follow my Mepps Anglia Tandem aggressively, flares it’s gills and takes a swipe at it and misses……dang, sooooo close! Had to be upper 40’s+……no joking….my heart just raced as it was following the bucktail. Best thing is I kept cool the whole time and reeled in properly.

This was all in 2-3 feet of clearer water, so, we saw everything happen.

Then, another 10 min later, I cast between some fallen trees and the water absolutely explodes as the lure hits the water…yep, another large musky swiping at it this time right when it hit the water. Then just a few minutes after that, another big one comes up from the depths and follows my lure in the eight for 3 times (where the boat was was about 6-7 feet deep)….talk about heart pounding!!

Man, 5 straight follows, and 4 coming up on the 8 in just a few hours’ time…..was a blast……just needed some more time to fish and I know I would have gotten one…..some rain came that night and could not go back…REALLY makes me want to go back already 😉

Besides that night and the following morning for only a bit, we had no rain at all……was a nice change from last year 😛

Our upgraded boat was amazing……..mainly got it for the open space and having 3 in a boat at once, but it was decked out with finders in the front and rear, trolling motor up front, 50HP tiller w/ electric start (we flew around the lake ;-), live well, you name it…..felt like fishing at home comfort wise.

We ate like kings………beef roast, chicken kiev, smoked pork chops and even prime rib……man, the food was restaurant quality…..and a very good restaurant at that! They provided sandwiches for lunch or all the fixins’ for a shore lunch….

I cannot recommend Nielsen’s enough for service, food and hospitality…….just top notch!

~ Don Pasch Group (2013)