Then Ma Nature and the weather Gods had a little conference, and each seemed to leave this summit rather angrily.

I fished, and fought wind & waves the second week with Brian King, co-founder of riversmallies.com. Our mutual friend and RS co-founder, Marc Hutchison, could not make the trip this fall and was sorely missed. I fished the following week (and fought wind, waves, and snow!) with savvy bronze anglers from the Heartland, characters like Josh McDermott, Dan'l Wirrig, Ken "on fire-fire" Kirby, Ron "Riverdog" Bell and Josh's brother, Matt. Make no mistake these gents could catch fish out of an Iowa mud puddle, let alone the bountiful waters of Waterfalls Lodge.

Indeed, the fall pattern of large Canadian smallmouths returning to the shallows for an urgent feeding binge can be spotty at best. Wonderful angling if you hit it just right, and painfully frustrating when you don't. Yet I've taken autumnal smallmouths in excess of 6 pounds during each and every of my trips to Waterfalls Lodge since 1994. This year was no exception despite the less than exemplary weather conditions.

Ken Kirby enjoyed a true beast of a smallmouth, a "toad" as he called it, which blasted his beloved Splash-It top water bait twice. Evenings and mornings were by far the most productive for the top water bite.

Mr. King and I enjoyed some rather nervous top water action a couple of odd mornings when we were graced with calm winds. Quite memorable was a northern pike that elected to absolutely obliterate Brian's bass-intended Storm Chug Bug. I just didn't have the touch this trip for the top water bite, but Brian exercised several dandy smallmouths on the surface lures.

When daily cold fronts started blowing through we elected to move offshore just a bit and throw weighted Case SS Shads on 3/0 Magic hooks in the lighter chop hoping to tease suspended, browsing bass. We kept Jann's Mud Puppi tubes with ¼ ounce insert heads at the ready on rod #2 for the periods of rougher water. The bigger bass appeared to be scattered and grumpy, yet this one-two punch brought the odd, larger bass to thumb. At the peak and post of fowl weather scouring through we simply went "low & slow" and fished specific, main lake areas more thoroughly. Some of the bass were glued to timber and some were in the shallows of what looked like classic pike water. Dan'l, Josh, Matt, Ken, and Riverdog all cashed in on this "grumpy bite" as all of them are moderately deadly with a low-n-slow, jig-n-pig presentation during those conditions. I'm admittedly tube stubborn, yet we all took our fair share of 3 to 4 pound bass. Riverdog tried a funky, squash/glitter tube that I recommended for walleyes and ended up catching his best ever walleye, a shade over 10 pounds, brandishing huge marbled eyes the size of Mr. McDermott's when we ran out of beer.

Hints of fair weather ushering episodes of calmer winds found us out in the front of secluded, protected coves and bays on Kecil Lake with Brian laying down the law via his patient, twitch-twitch cadence of the Case SS Shad. These heavily forested pockets of refugia definitely held more bass than in years past.

Most of the SS Shad and Super Fluke bass were browsing & suspended over 10 to 15 feet, and they sure didn't seem to stay in one place for very long. We agreed to move and browse main lake points, humps and offshore shoals as much as we thought the fish were doing.

Obvious that the weather and aquatic conditions can never be perfect multiple years in a row, no matter how much we want them to be. Fall fishing is spotty at best, but it will often deliver the largest fish of the season. Sometimes the angler should take a break from the grumpy, intended quarry and simply pursue other species. Yet another luxury at Waterfalls Lodge is the availability of multi-species should the autumn bass be indifferent to your offerings.

Water temperatures just were not fixed on a stable warming trend as in years past and, in fact, were dropping rapidly. Many of my historically productive ambush spots - "milk runs" - if you will, swiftly became dominated by the pike. I seemed destined to keep us in pike filets all week and was perfectly thrilled to do just that. The northerns were really tuned in to a tuned, #18, floating perch Rapala. We thoughtfully released our larger pike over 8 pounds as the smaller ones from 3 to 6 pounds are the perfect eaters.

And let me tell you, when properly cleaned & dressed northern pike are superb table fare. If you haven't tried them you really should. As the Bluegrass State is a bit lean on northern pike resources, I'm fairly certain that I've converted Mr. King from Mrs. Paul's to the Gimp's deep-fried, beer-battered pike chunks! Another luxury that you will discover at Waterfalls Lodge is the skill level of their guides. Should you visit Waterfalls Lodge and you aren't quite secure with your filleting skills, simply poke Richard, Ed, Edward, or Jerome and they will make swift work of your toothy critter catch of the day. Richard, especially, has a wonderful technique for taking out the Y bones of these delicious water wolves. He's also a peach of a guy, definitely a keeper! I highly recommend booking Richard for half a day, or a full day, during your initial visit to Waterfalls Lodge. He may be married to the jig-n-minnow, but he knows these lakes like the back of his hands.

While the outrageous fall feeding binges simply did not transpire for us this year like they did last year, a mediocre day at Waterfalls Lodge sure beats a sharp stick in the eye. I sincerely enjoyed the fellowship of my friends and value that fellowship far more than the size or numbers of the fish that I am catching. This year was equally rewarding for me despite some personal setbacks. The warmth of Waterfalls Lodge, the staff, the accommodations, the food, and the Lodge itself truly make this a luxury in the wilderness.

Waterfalls Lodge is a rather easy drive from most of the mid-West states and Bob & Marilou Rogers and staff will go out of their way to ensure you or your group a quality experience. I truly look forward to the next www.riversmallies.com Canadian adventure at Waterfalls Lodge and feeding that water with both familiar and new faces. Should anyone have any questions about the Lodge or want basic yet sound advice on how to fish the main lakes or the Lodge's outpost lakes, feel free to contact me privately.

For more information about contacting Waterfalls Lodge, see Brian's editorial Fishing Canada: Waterfalls Lodge.