Trip Report: Raised on Pike and Bass

I was Raised on Pike and Bass from a young age. My brother and I fished a few really good rivers in southeastern Wisconsin that held Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass, and we fished them often. We mostly used conventional gear until we reached 14 or 15 when fly gear became our tools of choice. I've focused so much on trout over the last 6 or 7 years that I've ignored a couple of familiar species in somewhat familiar environments (medium sized warm water rivers). My friend wanted to chase Muskie today so we did. The Muskies out ran us but the Pike and Bass contributed to an awesome day enjoying what Southeastern Minnesota has to offer!

This fish took a large, flashy streamer and fought well above his weight on a 7 weight. Notice the heron scar on his back. It looks like I have a mini dip in my lip but I can assure you I don't, not that there's anything wrong with that (Seinfeld fans?).

This fish smashed the fly and put up a great battle. The fly was languishing near the surface toward the end of my retrieve when he hit. It was one of those splashy pike attacks that makes you second guess dipping your hands in the water when you wash off the pike slime.

Jon got on board with this solid pike! It hit the fly as it dropped from the surface. After a spectacular battle, during which the slime rocket took strong hard runs against Jon's 8 weight, the fish came to hand. Jon released him to the chilly waters on a cloudy, cold day.

 I remarked to John as I made a few strips on my first cast in this spot that we would certainly get a fish right away. As I turned back to look at my fly this fish smashed it! We parked on shore while I landed the strong shouldered beast. Wire leaders and strong hooks were a must and our 7 and 8 weight fly rods handled these fish with ease.

 John hit this beautiful smallie in a neat piece of water. It put a surprisingly deep bend into his 8 weight. The bite started to shut down as temps cooled and cloud cover thickened. We also flew through a lot of water without fishing after allocating too much time to the first 1.5 miles of the 8 mile float.

 I am again appreciative to John for inviting me on a trip down the river in the Merrimack canoe. This was an awesome experience and has me pumped to chase smallies next summer!