silvercliff_46

I bought a book by a local guide. He covers early season, spawn, post spawn, but when it got to summer location, all he spoke of was river fishing. What about summer locations in northern flowages? Rocks, gravel, sand, points, they are pretty much deep water critters, right?

Hey wait a minute.., I'm a pretty old guy, and my wife of 50 years is my best fishing buddy. She loves bass fishing. The only thing is when we go to the Fleet Farm Store, I have to be the grown up, and say no to the basket full of fishing stuff she grabs. She is also a good Christian women, but I am sure if someone cast over her line they would get an ear full. If you remember the commercial where the gal in the fishing boat is a "Chatty Cathy" non stop talker while the guy just said "Yup or Nope", the wife said "If she was in my boat I'd drown her". I took the time to teach her, and now I've the best fishing buddy in the world, I hope we have 50 more seasons.

That sounds like a hell of an idea..., maybe I can get that going around here "UFFDA!, DER GOES ANUDDER ONE!"

Actually NOT! We pitch and flip shallow water wood along the bank, or fish the slop bays. We have been successful on large mouth, but NEVER caught a smallie. I have caught northern, musky, even walleye along the banks, and a brook trout at a feeder creek. We have caught our share of smallies in the river that feeds the chain of four flowages. Thanks to all for the tips. I guess my problem knowing where to look for them within the flowages. In rivers I fish them like I would trout, current breaks, deep holes etc., but still water???

I used to live in the town of Wescott in Shawano county. The Wolf river was open to fishing all year. That, and your area of Wisconsin is open when the general season is open in May. I'm up in Marinette county around Calderon Falls. Yeah we have a C&R season that opens when the general season opens. We also have an early C&R trout season that opens in March on the Peshtigo. The only way your going to trout fish the Peshtigo anytime in March is with dynamite, at least until around April 1st. I never miss a chance to go fishing with my best friend. My wife..., we have been together 50 years.

I usually wait until March before showing up around here. We will be making ice around these parts through February and the middle of March. Lots of looking at the Show-Down depth finder, and staring down holes yet to do. I enjoy ice fishing as much as open water. For me, except for the fish, it doesn't feel like the same thing. Open water seems more like a hunt, ice fishing feels more like a puzzle. With ice fishing you can set up right on top of a large school, throw everything you have at them, in every method you know, and nothing. I have seen them rush my bait, only to stare at it, and swim away (under ice camera). It can be tough in open water, but winter can drive you nuts. Mid-February is when I take inventory of my open water stuff. This is usually keyed more by the smell of vixen fox urine, (February is breeding time, and yeah if your aware of what it is, you know the smell)I place my orders (mail order)in March. The end of March, and April, I stand in the snow practicing my flippin' and pitchin'. Usually by the first of April the White Water rivers open up, preceded by the creeks and brooks. By the third week in April the small lakes open up, followed by the larger lakes and flowages (Up-north talk for reservoirs). We can have as much as a couple of feet of snow on the ground when Trout season opens the first week-end in May, or it could be 80 above (and snow a week later). It's a crap shoot! Catch and keep bass season doesn't open until the third week in June. By the second week-end in September, I'm in the woods deer hunting (I got three this year :-) ). Then comes the gun hunt, muzzle loader hunt, late bow hunt, and ice fishing. It's a long way before I can stand ankle deep in snow practice casting, longing for open water.....,SOOOoooo, why am I teasing myself now??????...,I think I'm getting old.

The township I live in, and year I was born (9 months after VJ Day). My God "86" all three of my sons were born before then. I have callouses older then that. I'm waiting to hear young folks say "What's V.J. Day grandpa?"

Thanks, I didn't know I had any replies to my inquiry. I sent for a couple of books by a local guide in the area. I'm sure he won't reveal his hot spots, but he should have some helpful info in his books or his reputation as a guide would suffer. Funny the wife and I have fished these lakes for years and never came up with smallies. As I said we are bank pounders and slop fishermen. Never happier then when we can flip, pitch or skip in or around wood, or slide something over the slop. Who knows maybe we can get along with some of those bronze back red eyes.

I fish almost exclusively for large mouth, and some pan fish. I fish a flowage (reservoir) small to you, large to me of almost 1800 acres. It is located in far northern Wisconsin. Slightly stained water. Lots of structure (some say to much). Some rocks, some gravel, sand, weeds, plenty of deep water. Northern Pike, musky's, walleyes, large mouth and my DNR friend says a very healthy small mouth population. The thing is I have only fished smallies on rivers and don't know a darn thing about smallies in lakes or reservoirs. I have 50# braid on my rods, which includes a half dozen bait casters and another half dozen spinning rods, a couple of flippin' sticks also decked out with braid. I fish shoreline wood, docks, and slop. I have a ton of frogs, hollow bodied swim baits, some solid body swim baits (I rarely use). Lots worms, creature baits, lizards, a few cranks baits (also rarely used). top water spoons, spinner baits, etc. It is a pretty good selection for large mouth, at least it serves me. So what do I have to do to go after smallies?????? Oh yeah, I use 8# test floro or mono on a spinning rod, using straight line spinners, small safety pin spinners or ball head jigs (crawfish color) with twister tails in rivers. I cast up stream and reel back just faster then the current past cover (trees, large rocks etc.), while slipping the river.

I think he was the first TV personality to promote catch and release. He drove my Grandpa nuts when he would throw back fish. When you came through the Depression, you had a different attitude about fishing.

Ah! I'm thinkin' that was his nickname?????

Your pretty darned old too!, ain't cha'

You didn't say if your Dad was around yet or not, but in either case you made his heart smile.

So what's the weather been like for you guys? We had a very cool/cold spring. We were burning wood well into May. In June we used the furnace a lot. It rained, or threatened to rain constantly. The shallow water fish movement, and spawn were behind by at least a couple of weeks. I am betting more then that. We were out fishing yesterday and I really think we are into "Summer Peak". The fish have spawned, rested, and are now on the feed. The summer switch was flipped the first of July. We went from cool/cold to stinking hot. Being a guy from far north-east Wisconsin it doesn't take long for summer heat to get old. So how about you guys?

I can't imagine any kid doing that today. There would be a half a dozen government studies on why that would be bad for you (at a few billion each). You would have to be supervised by a government approved czar. Your snow shovels would be replaced with government approved paddles or oars. Your state would be block granted 10 billion so you could have approved training by a government union worker in how to sit in a boat. I sometimes complain about the present generation, but heck the poor kids ain't got a chance.

I honestly don't know when I started. As far back as I can remember I had a cane pole, and a can of worms. Fishing, hunting, trapping have been a way of life for me from little on. I'm not sure what I'll do when I grow up.

Okay, In another post about line, leaders and such, I got to thinking about the gear I started with. My first casting reel was a Pflueger AKRON (I still have it). There were no buttons to push. When you cast out your Creek Chub,Pike Minnow, or Hawaiian Wiggler, attached with a wire leader to the black nylon braid, the handles spun like a fan blade. There were no fancy brakes on it. Everything was controlled by your "Educated" thumb. You used that thumb to control the cast, and pick out the back lashes on every third cast. The reel was mounted on a solid steel rod. You could tell how much a guy fished by the "Set" in his rod. Some guys fished so much their rods looked like a strung long bow. I don't believe I ever saw a spinning reel until I was 12-13 years old. The well heeled guys had those fancy Mitchell 300's. Although some of the WWII guys had some they got in France. They brought those back along with some of those "French Spinners" (at the time I thought that was what they were calling the gals on the post cards I saw, in the cigar box behind the old mans tackle box). Those were usually mounted on a solid fiber glass rod (the reels not the gals). By the time I saved up enough cash for one they came out with a tubular fiberglass rod. We had a new line for those called Monofilament line. It was nice line, but pike could slice it like a hot knife through butter. We got some new lures about then, Hula Poppers, Jitter Bugs and an old stand by the "Bass-A-Reno" made out of a new material..,plastic. They also came out with something I never thought would work, called a rubber worm. The darn thing had a propeller front, and back with some red beads fore, and aft. It had some of that monofilament stuff running through it with a loop on the front to attach to the snap on your line, and hold the three hooks, front, middle and rear. My first boat was a flat bottom homemade fishing boat propelled by oars. Later on it few across the water with a 1 1/2 hp outboard by "Damned If I know". I then moved up to 5 hp Scott Atwater. That one vibrated the slats when I gunned it. From there I got a 14ft Mirrocraft open fishing boat powered by 12 hp Johnson outboard. It was brown with white trim and the most reliable outboard I ever owned. The only thing I ever put in it was gas, oil, (mixed of coarse) plugs, lower unit oil, and that's it. I gave it to my nephew for his 18th birthday (he's 50 now), he kept it for years. He gave it to his brother in law, who still has it, and still runs it. I graduated to a 15 hp Evinrude. It got me on the road to my first bass boat. I got the idea from a neighbor kid, who's dad fixed one up for him. I put a indoor/outdoor carpeted plywood deck on the front half of the boat. I screwed a black post (they still sell them) to the floor and the other end to a padded seat. I started with an Eska electric motor, then a Shakespeare, and finally a Minn Kota.They were attached to the bow using a mini deck over the front gunnel's. Brother it was the "Nuts" and did I catch fish. Later I added electronics to it. A Lowrance flasher that you could set at 30 or 60 ft. I liked that flasher unit. I could read bottom content (wide bright line hard bottom, narrow weak line soft bottom. weeds (flickering thin lines). I used that thing until a couple of years ago for ice fishing (I still got that and it still works). Bass fishing knowledge came from two sources, a TV fisherman named "Gadda About Gaddis", and a kid named "Homer Circle" who dressed in a red jump suit (jeeze). Today I have a real bass boat, modern rods, and reels, modest electronics, and good trolling motor. It's getting old now too, but it will last me until I take a dirt nap (that may be, or not, as far away as I'd like it to be either). We have come an awful long way in fishing since I started as a kid. How about you? What are your recollections.

I'm sure you mean the super braid, as I cut my teeth on the old black braided line when the only control on a reel was your thunb, and the handles spun like a top. We used leaders then, but then were steel, just like the rod I had. I'm not kidding, but don't get me started. You know how old guys can go on.

Ya never know, you might be punchin' holes and setting tip-ups by then. :-)

Yah! snows gone! Had to leave when the ticks set up house keeping. Ticks left (well still in the woods, and tall grass) when the state bird showed up "SKEETS". I did start the ice auger the first of the month. I start it once a month. Ya never know, ya know! Truth is we're bustin' it trying to get the last of the wood split while we still got enough heat to dry it. It's been hot and humid. I'm waiting for the break, when we got to put the wool shirt back on. It'll come soon. I'll have to check the Walmart in Iron Mountain for those snaps. They are the nearest place to mine, only 45 miles up the road. By the way, what the hell's wrong with them Red Wings. I'm still bummed about that. Thanks for the advise fella's (all of ya)

So Okay, I use 30-50 pound super braid on all my rods. When I'm fishing plastics should I use a leader. What should I use? I was thinking 20 pound floro? What kind of joining knot should I use? A leader never seemed that important before, are they getting line shy all of a sudden? Also along this line, would it really be so bad to use a snap on my crank/spinner/etc. baits. I haven't done it yet, but arthritis/failing vision/general olditis would make it easier.

Any guy that can skip with bait casting stuff is my hero. I don't have any docks on the 1200 acre flowage I fish. Heck there aren't any houses on it. I do a lot of skipping under over hanging trees. I use stout spinning rods with super braid line. I have a 7ft+ Lacrosse flippin' stick to flip & pitch with. I just watched a segment by KVD that helped me. Someone else said it too, loosen your spool drag increase your brake drag. It helped me.

Ponds like that are fun to fish with a fly rod. Large hair bugs slowly wiggled and twitched are deadly. They fall to the water like dead leaves, appear natural on the surface, and alive in a basses mouth. Purple rabbit fur strips that work, and act like plastic worms are effective also. Those little ponds are like gems. I'm fishing a captive audience so I try to make it challenging. When I'm out on what we figure are fair size lakes around here (80 to 300) Large size (1000-3000) acre lakes I'm using casting gear with 50 pound test braid. So I'm no purest, little ponds are for "Communing With Nature" (God do you hate it when they use that expression...,I do!). If you don't use a fly rod give it a try. It's not really that hard to learn.

It's not just being on fish, it's being on active fish. No one south of the ice belt can truly understand what negative attitude is in a fish, until you fish them below 30-40" of ice. I have gone out with a very sensitive ice fishing narrow coned fish finder, AND a camera. I have found tightly schooled fish stacked like cord wood, yet using several presentations still drew blanks. On one occasion we did manage to take three crappies by bouncing the jig on their heads until they finally grabbed the micro jig. Isn't it great that with all our electronic equipment, all the acquired knowlege, the fish can still stump us. ;D

C'mon...It's "PRIME TIME" in the southern states. Step up to the plate and fish for giant bass! You have all year to chase baitfish and trash fish. "Bass fishermen" are targeting 10+ and posting a few in FL, GA, TX and CA. With a little effort, you should be able to land a few, too. If you are ever going to fish freshwater, now is the time! : HAHAHA....... I fished freshwater, in addition to saltwater, since December, now it's bug time and I don't like them. Had my wife been in town I'd have been out eating dinner instead of going in my backyard canal. Tossing a top lure I nailed a good bass and I couldn't get it's head out of the water. I slid down the canal to waters edge, lipped it and release it. Admittedly it was nice thrill, unfortunate this battle didn't last as long as I would have wished for this 9 or 10 pounder, but I will try it again as long as the bugs are gone and my wife isn't home at dinner time, lol. This memorable adventure will in no way replace my trash fish, been catching sailfish, cobia, kingish, spinner sharks, tarpon, snook, cuda and more. The only drawback is that we don't get 50 fish in an outing, real happy with 1 or 2. RW you have my personal invitation to come down and give it try with me, I guarantee I'll put a smile on your face. I went down to the river below the hill bordering my land. When I cast out the lure it went clink, clank, clatter, and disappeared into the snow bank on the other side. :-/