Annual Lake Trip to Break Out the Boat

I’ve fished a ton in 2025, however only a couple days fishing here in Northern Wisconsin.  Both WI jaunts were on Lake Superior.  Today it was time to get serious, so Granny and I broke out our boat, the blue bathtub, to get it warmed up for the season.  This meant a trip to a nearby lake that’s sort of become our annual first boat trip of the year (See 2023 & 2024).

It was a brisk one to say the least.  I get up with daylight which was at 5:10 am.  I promised Granny I wouldn’t drag her up until 5:30.  Well, I ended up letting her sleep till 6 because it was only 29° at sunrise.  That’s not a fun temperature for fly casting.  The good news is that by 8, when Granny made her first cast to the deep hole near the base of a newly built beaver lodge, it was already in the 40°s.

Granny lasted about ten minutes before handing me the rod.  Her hands get cold easy even when it’s sunny and in the 40°s.  I multitasked and rowed and fished at the same time.  It was probably best she didn’t waste energy because it took another hour before we saw the first fish even make a move.  It was this largemouth that was hiding deep under a tree next to an undercut bank of grass.

I figured once we caught one fish we’d catch more and that was exactly the situation.  The fish were absolutely buried deep in the cover in less than 2 feet deep of water.  It makes sense because it’s the shallow water that warms up the fastest.  Once we focused our fishing on these spots Granny’s Winston was bent often.

We caught about five of these beautiful little largemouth.  All were on an unweighted orangish yellow bunny fur fly.  The concoction would hit the water and within one strip the fish would be on.  It required some casting accuracy threading it between the lily pads making so it was a good tune-up for both of us.

We dabbled some deeper water in hopes of a pike big enough for dinner.  For us, that’s a pike about 26” or slightly more.  I say slightly because every time we catch a nice 30” or better we end up letting it go in hopes it will grow up to be a WI trophy someday.  Unfortunately, neither of the two pike we caught surpassed the 15” mark.

We packed it in around noon.  The bathtub is ready for a fishy season.  It was a fantastic morning with just the right amount of action.  We could have stayed longer but just like the rest of the world, this time of year there’s plenty of yardwork and more to save time for.  Plus, I’m headed back up to Lake Superior early tomorrow morning.  Stay tuned!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing