Labor Day weekend always triggers a little stress in my life. First and foremost, my summer fishing feels like its going away. Its really not. The best is yet to come with fall. But it’s a natural instinct I can’t control. Then there’s the approaching show season. While the tour always goes well, the preparation … Read more
Early morning departures for fishing aren’t so early anymore. I had an old college buddy, Danny Zilker, swing through Hayward for about 20 hours. The short visit consisted of a nice dinner with beers at the Anglers Bar last night and today a full day on the water. We left my house in darkness to … Read more
The smallmouth bass fishing has been so good this month I can not stop. Despite getting home late last night from yesterdays fishing I got right back on the saddle this morning. At 5 AM, college pal Paul Cavanaugh of Colorado, pulled in the driveway under the first glimmer of daylight to help load up … Read more
Bob and I rarely fish on weekends because no doubt, here in Wisconsin the waterways are for sure at their busiest. But suddenly the days of summer are passing rapidly. Too rapidly. We decided to take a long haul down numerous dusty roads to a river where the mosquitos and horseflies carry you away. There … Read more
Wow. I actually went four straight days without fishing. It was no wonder I was driving Granny crazy around the house yesterday to get her stuff together so we could get going. Finally, around 6:30 PM we began the winding drive to one of my favorite fisheries in Wisconsin so we could get an early … Read more
Boy, it’s been hard to get my man Howie (Matt Norton) on the water this summer. Howie has more company visit than anyone I know. And when he doesn’t, he’s often busy getting the Norton estate ready for the next round of guests. I’ve been razing Howie, but not too badly because he has … Read more
I planned a big adventure with Granny this week to pack up our Outcast Striker Raft and explore a new river. Based on my Google Earth research of the stretch I chose, there were plenty of shallow raft-dragging rapids, a potential portage and being this is a boggy location, one could expect an abundance of … Read more
The man who helped Granny and I with this move to Wisconsin more than anyone was my old Northland College roommate Matt (Howie) Norton. In the process Howie and I talked often about how much fishing we’d be doing once I got here. But since officially moving here on May 9th, we have fished together … Read more
Fall is in the air. Bob Butler and I met at 5 AM in pitch dark. A month ago, we didn’t need headlights at 5. We drove an hour dodging deer the whole way to our boat launch on the unnamed river. Even at 6 AM, though dawn was breaking, it wasn’t easy to see. … Read more
1987, my first year working at the Jack Dennis Fly Shop, was a good one. At the end of the season Jack had a cancellation on a “Fly up to the Bighorn River in Montana” for two guided fishing days. The trip was fully paid for and the customer that cancelled told Jack to have … Read more
4 AM comes fast in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire when you haven’t adjusted yet from MST time. Therefore my fishing partner in crime today, Granny, was out for heading on a smallie feast with poppers early this morning. In fact, the 4 AM departure yesterday was too much for everyone except for Montana. So it was … Read more
For the third morning in a row I woke up feeling great despite this week being a reunion on Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota with some old Northland College pals. A group that when we get together have been known to get a little wild after a good day of fishing. But we were thrilled … Read more