This Labor Day Mrs. Lew allowed me to set aside my honey-do list to reconnect with nature. As some of you already know, I spend most of my fishing time hunting smallies in the streams relatively close to home here in SE MN.
This was going to be my first time in the water since July. (Nearly a criminal admission right there). It had been a couple of weeks since the big rain and I really had no idea what condition to find the stream in. The only thing I felt confident of was that the water would be deeper than past Septembers. This was correct. What I didn’t expect to find was crystal clear water flowing through this particular south branch of the Zumbro River. As you may recall, Labor Day was a hot one and I contend that there is simply nothing better to do on a hot day then wade into a cool clear stream and chase smallies. Again, this too was correct.
As is my habit, I headed down stream leisurely casting my tube bait across the stream or ahead of me into those darker pockets that might hold fish. I choose to do this as I have the stealth of a Guernsey cow when I wade the stream. I know my streams fairly well so I generally wade to a known point, cast for a while and then head back upstream a bit slower and hopefully a bit more cautiously to hook up those fish that have returned to their feeding ground after my initial pass.
It seems that I am always surprised when I make that lazy cast ahead of me in what appears to be a slower, wider stretch of water. That seems to be the time that I’ve caught some of my larger bass. That was the case on Monday. When I made the cast I’m not sure if I dropped the tube into a pocket, near a large rock that the smallie was hiding behind or if I just happened to drop my jig right in front of a rouge fish, but there was my first nice fish of the day. A 15 inch smallie is always fun and I fish these smaller streams with a light rod and 6 pound test.
I was still about a hundred yards from my turn around point and I actually asked myself, “Do I want to make this trip?” Fortunately the answer was yes. On this stream my turn around point is a wide bend in the stream. Several years ago I was completely surprised to catch northerns in the 26 inch range. At that time this area was mostly sediment and aquatic growth. Now there seems to be more rock underfoot and the grasses are gone.
I had no real expectation when I made my first cast towards the middle of this open area, but the sharp tug on the line let me know that I had company. I just had no idea how big this party was. With the clear water and my polarized glasses I watched this nice sized fighter come on in along with 8 or 9 of his closest friends. When I brought in my bruiser he measured in at 15 inches. I spent about half an hour not moving more than 20 feet from my first cast and managed to hook up with 6 beautiful smallies 15 inches or longer. The largest one being about 17 ½ inches and weighing 3 lbs. I’m certain I didn’t catch the biggest fish in the party who appeared to be about 19+ inches long.
It wasn’t all that long ago that I was excited to catch anything over 10 inches long in this stretch of water. Having this ‘Up North’ opportunity so close to home was a sweet day to spend the holiday. I didn’t even bother casting my line on my way out of the water. It was time to go home, share my story and get back to my list.
And this fall is looking to be like a great time to be on the water. 