Celebrating 60 Years Starts with Smallmouth on the Fly

College pals Mike Neuman and Mark Reesor rolled into Hayward last night just in time for a beer on our back porch then a walk into town for burgers at the Anglers Bar and Grill.  They’re here to fish but most of all, the three of us and several other college buddies turn 60 years in the next few months.  This week we’re all celebrating together.

The evening was an early one.  Despite not seeing each other in a while, there was no time for chatter and beers all night.  This morning I was French pressing the coffee at 4:30 am, sipped it on our drive and we launched my old boat from some precarious canoe steps at sunrise.  Soon after began our eight-mile float.

Mark has been fly fishing for a long time.  During summers in college Mark guided in Alaska.  But he works a ton and spent the last 20 plus years raising his family so its been a while for him.  Mike on the other hand dabbled with the fly rod until these last five years.  Now he’s gone completely bonkers and can cast and fish like a champ.  Mark tossed a popper from the bow and Mike launched a big slow sinking streamer from the back.

Fishing on this gorgeous river is so good it’s hard to believe.  It is chalk full with smallmouth bass.  While most are this size here and smaller, there are a few “chunkers”.  But even when the big ones don’t show up, how can you beat constant action with fish like this?

We caught approximately 30 smallmouth bass on the float.  That may sound like a ton but I honestly expected double this number.  I attribute the lower number of landed fish to high and slightly off-color water.  Wisconsin went from extreme drought at the end of May to well on its way back to normal with a June that provided us over 7” of rain.

There were a few pike caught today as well.  Pike tend to disappear when the heat of summer arrives.  The ones we saw today will likely be the last till fall.  All three of the pike were in that 20-25” range.  Last time fishing with Mike he donated a little blood to one when he unhooked it.  Today he was somewhat timid to say the least.  Luckily when this hammer-handle slipped from his grip it cleared the gunnels and hit the water just fine.

We had an amazing day together on the river.  We returned to Hayward around 7 pm – we got our money’s worth.  We were a little late for chicken breast on waffles at the Social, they stop serving dinner way too early.  If it doesn’t get dark until 10 pm, in my opinion you need to serve diner until 11.  Instead, it was right back to the Anglers for a pizza feast.

It’s off to Iron River in the morning to Howie’s for our official 60^th birthday party celebrations.  The party starts at noon.  While there’s about ten of us regular longtime buddies, almost all Northland College graduates of the 80’s have been invited.  Howie’s says so far there are 53 people for the party.  Should be a blast!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing