With
the recent heavy rains, the opportunity to fish familiar creeks was simply out
of the question. My friend Justin, who
is into such things, was interested in joining me for an adventure on a lake
when I suggested a nearby body of water as an alternative. Rain can affect lakes, but not to the same
degree as moving weather. Plus, we’ve
been itching to explore this little lake and its hidden secrets for a few years
now. If you know me, and you know
fishing, and you know anything about being a part of watching a day begin, then
you know that you don’t want to waste time, and you want to start early. Justin’s final text to me Saturday night was,
“I’ll see you at 5. Dark and early!”
As
promised, Justin was there at the appointed time. As promised, I had the necessary gear
ready. We loaded it into my old, green
Jeep, tied down the back hatch, and headed North. As long as we were moving, and had the
windows cracked open, the carbon monoxide wouldn’t affect us; the kayaks needed
to extend out the back an extra foot or two.
Fortunately we were able to have this extra day over Labor Day weekend
to take advantage of the brief reprieve between thunderstorms, and time that
was finally available. We did make a
quick stop at a Walmart in Janesville for some Johnsonville brats and a brick
of cheese. We needed those ingredients
to add into what we had brought for an “after fishing brunch.”
We
were to the lake about the time that images were becoming visible in the
morning light. As I was backing down to
the boat launch, the stillness was interrupted by loud explosions. At first I thought it was something shifting
around in the back of the Jeep, or that I had hit something. Justin was trying to figure it out too. Then we saw red flashes out along the far
shoreline, the honking of geese, and the white splashes of birds as they ran on
the water to try to take flight. Hmmmm, it
was early goose season. Note to self;
stay clear of the decoys and fish the other side of the lake! We weren’t expecting that.
Justin
and I unloaded the gear, parked the Jeep in the empty lot, and then prepped our
fishing poles. I decided to use a single
hooked spinner bait as my lure of choice; number one because it was less likely
to snag the many weeds in the lake, and number two because it’s what my cousins
use all of the time, and I’ve seen what they can do.
The
sun was just beginning to inch its way over the horizon; peeking up under a
blanket of lower stratus clouds. We
worked the lily pads and we worked the drop-off. Justin also worked on ripping out a few yards
of line that wanted to build a bird’s next rather than do what it’s supposed to
do. He was the picture of patience while
doing that, and floating out in the middle of the lake, but I’ll admit that I
allowed myself to smile when the fish were jumping and surfacing around him
while he was momentarily out of commission.
I
managed the “Lakes of the North Trifecta.”
Catching three different species of fish had me pretty pumped and
excited. The first fish was a 15”
largemouth bass that hit my lure just as it reached the water following a long
cast. He put on a good fight and brought
along a fair amount of weeds that were wound around him as well. After a picture I returned him to the water.
Soon after I caught a 21” pike near the
drop-off. I love this species of
fish. They are the personified element
of surprise; predatory, sleek, and fast.
Justin took a picture of me holding onto it, but they are so darn slimy,
and can explode when you least expect it, that they are difficult to
handle. When you see their teeth, and
are sitting low and personal within a kayak on the waters’ surface, you’ll know
what I mean. I slipped him back into the
lake nose first without a ripple on the surface, as if I was pitching cordwood
into the back of a pickup truck.
As the
action began to subside, I caught a real fighter that both dove and
jumped. It was a 12” smallmouth bass
displaying the traits it’s known for. I
snapped a selfie picture and released it back amongst the dinner plate sized
lily pads.
At
about that time, Justin and I met back up and decided to attempt our plan that
we had had all along. The lake we were
fishing has an inlet creek that feeds into it from another smaller lake. We decided to bushwhack and portage our way
along the creek up into the second lake.
It wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t easy.
We broke down our poles and paddles, and pushed our way along as far as
we could; often grabbing tufts of grass to pull ourselves against the current
as well. Once the creek narrowed to non-navigable,
we got out and dragged our kayaks. It
was about a 20 minute trek into the lake, but we both decided that it was well
worth it. I decided that because I
managed to catch a 16” bucket mouthed bass near an old dock. The largemouth exploded on the surface as I
was lifting my spinner bait out of the water to cast again. Justin decided that because again, the
setting was awesome, we had it to ourselves, and the lake held great potential.
After
circling the smaller lake, we plodded back through the marsh; splashing,
heaving, and hauling. It reminded me of
a pond my cousins have taken me to. You
don’t do it unless you’re willing to work hard and beat your body up with
little to no guarantee that you’ll catch anything at your destination. Either way you still have to fight your way
back. It’s at that time that you realize
that the journey truly is the reward; if you happen to catch any fish it’s
simply the icing on the cupcake.
THREE VIDEOS YOU CAN CLICK ON TO SEE THE PROCESS!
We
paddled quickly across the first lake, repacked our gear, and prepared our
brunch. We cooked over my classic old
Coleman stove. It tasted heavenly.
By this time others were already out on the
lake fishing; their trucks and trailers parked in the lot. We decided to rinse off in the lake before we
headed back. There really is no feeling
quite like getting up early, spending time paddling and/or fishing on water,
and then jumping in to it as a final act of thankfulness. It’s like a reverent baptism. And so Justin and I did just that. It was refreshing! Saying goodbye to the thing that has provided
you the opportunity to get away and relax is just short of a spiritual
experience. But don’t worry little lake;
we’ll be back again soon; dark and early.
See
you along The Way…
