These Boots Were Made for Wading...

...And that's just what these Bums will do!

It’s not every day that you meet a fisherman that wades all day long with only the nourishment of water for miles on end. Oh sure, in the pictures we look cool, calm, and collected Perfectly lipping that fish, posing and putting on a smile. Or, in Dad’s case, making sure his frown is tight enough to hold his cigar in place. But, behind the scenes, where the river runs wild…there is consecrated chaos.


SATURDAY

The best kept secret this side of Green Bay!

If you ask the average fly fisherman how far he travels in a day of fishing a river, he will snort. Yes, snort, we like to think they snort. That’s because the typical river fisherman doesn’t travel far at all. He focuses on an area for an hour and moves down a few feet to focus on another spot, for another hour. Standing in one position for a very long time. While the average fisherman travels a block in one day, the Riverbums travel miles. We wade through rapids, over giant boulders, through brush, under downed trees, and even take our chances in the deep. No matter what is ahead, we wade through. Eager to see more of that magnetic water, thirsting for the chance to strike a spot never thus stricken.

Range of Structure in the River

But, it’s no easy task. Take it from us; it takes years of practice to walk the way we walk. Starting out we never traveled miles in one day, let alone be out in the river for that long. But as time progressed, our bodies evolved to withstand hours on our feet. We learned to rely on resting against the current. When our backs become restless, we stand in deep water and lean back to allow the current to hold us. But, back aches are not the hardest part. It’s the boulders you have to watch out for. Wading, looking out for jumping fish, casting, and keeping your eye on the water level is a lot to do at once. But, we do it. Imagine a soldier in the jungle as he navigates nimbly in and out of the vast foliage while tactfully allowing his finger to graze the trigger and focusing his sharp eye on everything that moves. Can you see him slowly lunging to and from, rising over tree trunks, and at times gliding backwards all the while keeping the same pace and a steady heartbeat. Ok, well, we aren’t that good. However, it feels like that at times. Stepping carefully in the precise spot between boulders, feeling with your toes where the obstacles sit before you, judging whether you should step over, beside, ontop, or backwards. That’s what wading is like for us. Observing the water, judging the terrain, making a decision, and most importantly sticking to that decision. Because the worst thing a Riverbum can do (other than lose a huge lunker on the retrieval) is not follow through. Always trust a decision and go with it, backing out last minute could mean falling in or worse not embarking on the adventure itself.

So you may be asking yourself, why go through all that trouble to catch some fish? To you, it may seem like trouble, a hassle, messy, tiresome, and just plain boring. But to us, wading in the water is like walking on another planet. Even if it’s the same river. At first, you enter the water and you feel out of sorts, like you just stepped in the wrong house. Everything is foreign and odd. But then, your legs begin to feel at ease, your mind adjusts and as if Spock enabled his mind meld over you, suddenly, you are being teleported to a new space, a new land and you feel completely at ease. Your body loses all tension, your head clears, heart begins to pound in a consistent pattern and you are at peace. It’s more than just catching fish, my friends. It’s about walking a mile in your own shoes, without the noise of the world around you. Suddenly, the sound of your breath, your legs splashing against the current, the trees creaking, your line spooling, a kingfisher chirping, and that jump of a fish in the distance is all you hear. Nobody telling you what to do, where to be, and how to be. Imagine it. Imagine being able to transfer your mind and body to a completely different universe where all that matters is getting over that next boulder and casting as much as you can, wherever you can. There are no directions, plans, and meetings. Dreams seem real, thoughts you have never thought appear, and you start to see things differently. Everything is possible and anything is probable. Don’t believe us? Good, cause it’s not for the faint of heart. Because, once you step in, stepping out is twice as hard. Once you step out, and your wader boot drops that last bit of river water and you are back on dry, solid land, the withdrawal begins to set in and you miss the other world, the other you.

But, it is the time spent sweating, falling, soaking in mighty strife that matters the most. It is the journey of trying, trying with all you have to obtain a fish. The symbol and reward of all that effort. But, why tell you about it, maybe seeing us cemented in time may give you a clearer picture of what it’s like for us to wade away…

AC's first bass of the day on the ************ River

So, as usual we took this Saturday to visit our favorite river that shall go unnamed. We visited an area that we hadn't seen in over a year. Despite the many rafters and floating beer cans, we were the most successful we had ever been this side of the river. With about 20 smallies and 2 northerns reeled in...

Dad fishing the rapids...

A dark bass hiding on the bottom

(but a yellow twisty with an orange jig was sure to drag him out)

Net and Release...

When we emerged from the river, tired and pleased with the days outcome we were met by a wonderful gentleman by the name of Bill. So, please welcome a new segment of the blog...

"I've Met the Riverbums"...

Bill lives along the river banks and was kind enough to hand us bottled water as we waded out. He is a fishermen as well and enjoys time out on his boat. A shout out to Bill, thanks for the water! :)

Nothing like a jumping bass to make the day...

SUNDAY


We left our favorite river behind to move on to the Little Wolf River near Royalton, WI. We arrived early and were able to fish a good 10 hours in 89 degree weather and clear skies. The water was crystal and perfectly leveled...

Netting a Lunker

The Northern of the Day

Gorgeous Coloring

"I've Met the Riverbums"...

We ran into a pleasant man named Rich as he floated down the river in a PFD (personal flotation device) built to float and carry a fisherman down rivers, over lakes, etc. His device looked like this...

A shout out to Rich who also provided us with bottled water. We must look thirsty :). Enjoy the top water Rich!

AC caught this last one while Dad was chatting with the float fisherman.

So, it was a great weekend with final numbers...

SATURDAY: 20 smallies and 2 northerns

SUNDAY: 35 smallies and 1 northern

LURES: yellow twisties with orange jigs, green/white/yellow/red dotted chuggers and one spinner bait with crawdad pattern.

So, until next time...We'll see ya on the other side of the river...

Cast Away,

AC & Dad

Cry Me A River

(Please fight the urge to scroll down and see the DOUBLE WHAMMY as you read the text below. Ok, fine,  you may scroll! But come back cause we really want you to read this…)

See that face? No, not that one. The one up there. That there is no ordinary face. Oh no. That face says, “Yes, I have caught a fish. Yes, I caught this fish right after my dad cast to the same spot and got nada. No, You cannot have my autograph.” It is never a good sign to find AC smirking in the river. This only means that she is too embarrassed to smile because she feels badly for kicking Dad’s bum in the river.

Yep, that picture up there was the last fish AC caught this weekend. Per tradition, they hit the other side of the river wading back to the car after a long day. Up until that point, AC had pretty much commanded, overruled, dominated (ok, that’s enough) the day. It was her compassion that got the better of her as she slowed to “fix her hair” when in reality she was allowing her underdog patriarch (So getting in trouble for that one) to take the lead and cast to this one spot that mirrored the gates of fish heaven itself.So, he flung the cast and retrieved what the little boy shot at. He walked on to pursue better water. But, AC had a feeling, call it women’s intuition or just a hunch that something big and slimy was hiding nearby. One cast, that’s all it took, to place that lure in the precise spot. Not a second passed between the contact of the lure and the water, that a bass bit and she was reeling him in to the sounds of Dad’s flabbergasted swears and mutters of surprise. 

So, you may be asking, why name this week’s post: “Cry me a river?” Why? Cause we can, that’s why…But, to the creative point, this week’s theme is about starting off on a bad foot. Sometimes, when the day starts out poorly, we imagine the rest of it going just as bad. Want some advice? DO NOT DO THAT! Simple. Projection of negativity is a downer. Cause you might just find $20 in your jeans pocket, or feel good after holding the door open for somebody or realize that you don’t live in the slums of some 3^rd world country and life is good.

Whether flying high in April or shot down in May, we try to keep a positive outlook on our fishing expeditions as often as possible. But, there is the occasional flooded river, storm, lightening, tornadoes, and crowds that can put a damper on a trip. However, the act of not catching fish in beautiful weather, clear rivers, and happy days is just plain FRUSTRATING!

SATURDAY

Well, that’s exactly what happened to AC on Saturday as the RiverBums embarked on another adventure to the ********* river (You know what we would have to do to ya).  Yes, clear skies, 80 degree weather and fish to boot. What could go wrong? Try 2 feet. 2 feet of flooding from Northern rains could go wrong. And that’s exactly what happened. 

Flooded and Chocolatey

So, with only an hour under our wader belts of desperately trying to cross the river, we hung our heads and walked back to the car. It was disappointing indeed, but not the end. So we drove in the direction of this local fair in when all of a sudden a national landmark jumped out at us. Well, of course Dad turns the car around and we head into a gravel driveway that came to a sudden stop between a large pond and a landmark sign. It read all about a great man by the name of Homme, who was a local hero, ran an orphanage, created a dam and managed many small businesses, blah blah blah blah. Well, he died a while back, but the pond and dam that he created was still there. With that being said, we paid our respects to Homme, unloaded the rods and hit the pond from the shore...

Smallie off the Pond Shore

With that being caught, we noticed the banks of the pond were semi-wadable. So we suited up and walked the perimeter.

First Time Wading a Pond

Boy, do we feel like some "Dam Takeout" or what?!?

Crossing Homme's Dam...without permission :)

Dad caught a few more in the pond until we couldn’t wade it any longer and we walked back. The Embarrass River was the result of Homme’s dam and so we decided to fish it a bit for trout…

Embarrass River-Best for Trout

Embarrass-Cold Creek

On the Edge of Riverbumming

So after a day of 3 different bodies of water, 3 fish for Dad, and 0 for AC, we headed towards the hotel around 7pm. When we arrived in Weston, we suddenly realized we were starved after only 12 hours on liquids.  We decided to try this great restaurant called Basil that had been featured on the Food Network Channel…

  

Shout out to AC's local friends Johnny and Ben from OshKosh who recommended!

SUNDAY

So, we headed to New London where the Little Wolf River awaited our arrival. We had fished the Little Wolf about 6 years back, and caught nothing but northern. So, for the hour drive we had our hearts set on catching northern. When we arrived at the river, this is what we saw…

Rafters

The good news was they were heading down river and we were heading up. 

But, it was the emerging fly fisherman who passed us on the way out as we were heading in, that seemed to worry us the most. "Only caught  a few incredibly tiny small mouth. Not much left on this river." Smallies huh? Maybe we weren't in the hall for northern... Despite the warning, Dad and I just said our friendly hellos and waded in anyways. Ya see, we know these waters and of course, we know small mouth. Fly fishing is fun and all.  And we fly fish almost all fall and early Spring. But, when it's hot, middle of Summer and the smallies are hitting, the lunkers want nothing more than a casting rod topped with a cherry of a lunker or twisty at the end. 

Seemed the fisherman was right about one thing. There wouldn't be much left, after the Riverbums fished it. Because within an hour, Dad caught 3 huge smallies...

One Fish...

Two Fish...

Three Fish...

AC was disgruntled, tripped about 4 times, and had some issues with her line.  It seemed all was going down hill for her. She struck out the day before and her smiling face began to fade as her hopes in catching anything were wilting away. Would it be the demise of AC? Would her sulking get the best of her?

We think not…

The Heaviest Smallie She has Ever Held

(Took 5 minutes to get the hook out of it's jaw)

Had to Get a Closer Look

After a short dry spell, AC was back in the game and leading the race. Turns out a little encouragement from Dad, new lure, and a smile on your face can get you places…

Another One...

And Another...

(With the Backwards Hollywood Pose, of course)

And Another...

Ok, it's getting ridiculous...

Seriously, it's just gross now...

But, Dad didn't stay out of the game for long. No, he made sure to get a few punches in there...

His first River Walleye! Jump'n Wally

Her 10th one caught on top water! 

(White belly with green speckled top and 2 trebles)

AC's first Northern of the Year...

(Trying to turn around and bite her)

Dad casting the Eddys near a short Rapids

Dad hooked on another smallie...

So, for the moment you have all been waiting for…

As the day started winding down, we began casting towards the shore under the shade. On a particularly hot day like this, the lunkers were hiding in the cool spots. So AC sent a long cast to the other side of the river. In an instant something hit her line. But, this retrieval was…different. That was an understatement; the retrieval was odd as she was being pulled in 2 different directions. Confused, AC let out some line, hoping to tire the individual fish out. But, it was stronger than she thought and with more line, she almost fell forward as it pulled all over the place. Suddenly, she reeled in quickly, only to discover that she was seeing double. Convinced she had been in the sun to long, she pinched her eyes as she reeled even harder.

A sudden “Hey” came from behind her as she noticed her dad had one on the line at the same time. “A double” he said. AC turned back to see that it indeed was a double, or shall we say, a triple. Cause, while Dad was fighting a bass, AC was fighting 2. TWO! Feast your eyes on RiverBum History:

The Double Whammy...

2 for the Price of One Lure!

She Couldn't Stop Laughing...

(At this point, 2 canoers stopped to take photos too, AC was obliging and turned to pose)

2 Fish in the Net are Better than One

It turned out, that one bass had gone after it and been hooked, then another saw what he was missing and grabbed on too. Only to be hooked by the opposite treble hook. It was a greedy sight to behold.

All that moping and sulking AC had done was just a waste of bum time. Ya see, it’s better to accept failure, laugh at it, learn from it and try harder next time. Realizing that the only way you can fail is if you try in the first place. And you never know, your day may start out pretty bad..but in the end, there is always that possibility, no matter how rare it is or hard to obtain… there is always that possibility that your day may turn out TWICE as good. 

Saying Goodbye to the river

10 hours, 35 bass (AC's Doing mostly) and 2 miles waded

Until next time, we’ll see ya on the other side of the river…

Cast Away,

AC & Dad

Deja Bum

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.

                                                -Heraclitus

That, my friends, is the reason we keep going back to that river we shall not name. Sure, it’s the closest river to us that has impeccable amounts of fish and a beautiful environment. But, Despite that, the river, the fish, and experience are never the same. No matter how many times we visit or how many times we fish it, no river bum adventure, on any river, regardless of the frequency…is identical.

You could be standing on a boulder that you stood on yesterday, same time of day, same posture, same getup. But, the cast will be different, the outlook changes, and the odds...just that more possible.

That is why we choose to visit our river that shall go unnamed countless times throughout the summer. So, for the 5^th or 6^th time this year (sorry, already beginning to lose count) we decided to go back to the bountiful waters of northern Wisconsin to fish for…what else? Small mouth bass.

It was a dryer drive than last week through dairy land as we picked up breakfast at the local piggly wiggly and arrived in town around 7:56am, just in time for 8:00am mass. Which brings us to a new segment of the blog and something we have been wishing to do for a while…

Church Scenes

We have been in hundreds of Catholic churches around the nation and it has been one of our dreams to capture the beauty of each one. So, better late than never…

Sacred Heart Church, Green Bay, WI

 

After praying for big fish, we b-lined it to the river, suited up and waded in…

 

Reelin the Rapids

 

 

Hiding on a Log

 

First Top Water of the Day

 

You may be asking yourself, when do you make the “top water” call as we like to put it? Good question. Deciding on a lure takes one major skill when riverbumming it and that is reading the river. Top water is best in deeper and slower water. Due to a top water lure being very buoyant and light, it needs slow water to work most effectively. There, the spinners, chug, or flap, can create the noise it was made to create in the type of environment it is most comfortable in. But there is more than just the depth and pace of the river. On a hot day, fish are more likely to be curious and venture away from their hiding places down below. They hit the top of the water looking for bugs on muggy and humid days.

Also, when water clarity is low, top water lures are great because the sound of their accessories entices the fish to the top. The fish follows the noise and strikes when it sounds the loudest. Compared to a subsurface lure that makes minimal noise but attracts more with its movement, shape, color and or reflectors.

Of course, there is another time when you put on a chugger (type of top water lure) and that would be when they aren’t hittin anything else. Yep, sometimes when the fish aren’t biting, you just stick on a noisy chugger and they come reeling in with passion...

The Snapper with the dinosaur tale

Oh Mama that's big...

Perfect Bass Coverage... Boulders, sticks, and pools oh my!

Always a good sign, when a bum reaches for a net!

This poor guy's been beat up a few times...Survivor of the elements

Butterfly Smorgasbord

Check out the rod holder...So Irish

                                                She's at it again...

Rainbow Trout

Releasing a Rainbow...

Sanctuary...

So it was another glorious weekend on our favorite of waters. The hard work paid off with about 11 fish each as we spent the day relaxing and doing what we do best…Reeling in the bass.

Until next time...we'll see ya on the other side of the river!

Cast Away,

AC & Dad